Fourth Tier Gaming Build

The Build:

The Intel Core i5-2500 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor at around $209.99 and is one of the newest in Intel’s new Sandy bridge processor lineup. The Specifications for the Intel Core i5-2500 can be found here, as well with Intel’s new processor lineup requires a motherboard with a 1155 socket instead of the previous 1156. Please for a full review on the new Sandy Bridge line of processors visit Anandtech’s The Sandy Bridge Review as it is very informative. This processor also includes Integrated Intel HD Graphics 2000 right in the chipset itself.

The MSI N460GTX Twin Frozr II SOC GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 768MB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video card comes in at around $169.99, and is by far a great card with lots of power and low noise output. You should get a great performance of 1920×1200 resolution in most games. (If you want to get a slightly better graphics cards for a slightly slightly higher prices, consider the other cards in the “Budget Yielding Alternatives” section below)

The MSI P67A-GD65 (B3) ATX Intel Motherboard comes in currently at $179.99. This board comes with 2 X PCI Express 2.0×16 slots, 4 RAM slots for up to 32GB of DDR3 RAM. There are 2 X USB 3.0 rear panel ports, and 8 x USB 2.0 ports. As well, there is 2 x USB 3.0 and 2 X USB 2.0 onboard USB.

The ASRock P67 PRO3 ATX Intel Motherboard is along the new lineup of 1155  p67 Intel socket boards, which includes 4×240 pin memory slots allowing up to a maximum of 32GB of  dual channel DDR3 memory. A built in Audio chipset allowing 8 channels of sound using Realtek ALC892. As well,  includes 6  x USB 2.0 onboard connectors, and 6 x USB 2.0, and 2 x USB 3.0 rear panel ports, 1 x PCI Express 2.0 x16, 3 x PCI Express x1, and 3 x PCI  expansion slots.

In this build I included a high quality G.Skill 4Gb (2 x 2GB) DDR3 SDRAM 1333 (PC3 10666), a SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5″ Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive, a SeaSonic S12II 620 Bronze 620W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS 12V V2.91 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply, a good ASUS 24X DVD Burner – Bulk Black SATA Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS, and chose the COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UB Black /Blue Computer Cas

All parts have a set of constituent products under “Budget Yielding Alternatives” that you may feel like considering if you want to go with something a little different (especially with computer cases), or better (as in a hard drive with more space, power supply with more wattage for future use, or higher quality RAM).

Required Hardware:

Processor: Intel Core i5-2500 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500 $209.99
Motherboard: MSI P67A-GD65 (B3) ATX Intel Motherboard $179.99
Graphics Card:
MSI N460GTX Twin Frozr II SOC GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 768MB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video …
$150
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory $50
Hard Drive: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5″ Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $65
Power Supply Unit: SeaSonic S12II 620 Bronze 620W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS 12V V2.91 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply $85
Optical Drive: ASUS 24X DVD Burner – Bulk Black SATA Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS $19
Computer Case: COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UB Black /Blue Computer Cas $55
~SUBTOTAL (Before taxes): ~$812

Visual Representations:

Intel Core i5-2500 3.3GHz LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop ProcessorMSI P67A-GD65 (B3) ATX Intel Motherboard

 

SeaSonic S12II 620 Bronze 620W Power Supply

*Note: I try to include parts that will be of best quality within a given bracket, so if you notice a hardware part that may be of greater value within the same price bracket as any of these hardware parts do not hesitate to notify me. I’m always looking to improve, so any critic is welcomed.

Budget Yielding Alternatives:

Processor: Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor
Motherboard: Waiting until more P67 motherboards are released.
Graphics Card: HIS Radeon HD 6870 H687F1G2M Video Card with EyefinityXFX Radeon HD 5870 HD-587X-ZNFC Video Card with EyefinitySAPPHIRE Radeon HD 6950 100312-1GSR Video CardGIGABYTE GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) GV-N560OC-1GI Video Card

ASUS GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) ENGTX570 DCII/2DIS/1280MD5 Video Card

HIS Radeon HD 6970 H697F2G2M Video Card with Eyefinity

EVGA GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 015-P3-1580-AR Video Card

2 x GeForce GTX 460 1 GB in SLI Configuration

2 x Radeon HD 6850 in CrossFire

RAM:

*Note: When purhcasing RAM in quantities of 2+ memory sticks, to check how many 240 pin memory slots are available on the memory board you are purchasing
Mushkin Enhanced Silverline 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop MemoryG.SKILL Ripjaws Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory
Hard Drive:

Internal Hard Drive:

SAMSUNG EcoGreen F2 1.5TB 3.5″ SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F4 2TB 3.5″ SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Internal Solid State Drive:

OCZ Agility 2 OCZSSD2-2AGTE60G 2.5″ MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

OCZ Vertex 2 OCZSSD2-2VTXE120G 2.5″ MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

Mushkin Enhanced Callisto Deluxe MKNSSDCL240GB-DX 2.5″ MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

Power Supply Unit: CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 …CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-750HX 750W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active …COOLER MASTER Silent Pro Gold Series RS800-80GAD3-US 800W ATX 12V v2.3 / EPS 12V v2.92 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS …SeaSonic X750 Gold 750W ATX12V V2.3/EPS 12V V2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
Optical Drive:

Blu-ray Optical Drives:

LITE-ON Black 4X Blu-ray Reader SATA Model iHOS104-06

LG Black 10X Blu-ray Burner – Bulk SATA WH10LS30 LightScribe Support

Computer Case:

Quality Cases Around $50:

ENERMAX Staray ECA3171-BR-AP Black Computer Case – Retail”>ENERMAX Staray ECA3171-BR-AP Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case with 3 Apollish Red LED Fan and Mesh Front

NZXT GAMMA Classic Series GAMA-001BK Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

SILVERSTONE Precision Series PS05-B Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Tool-less Installation Design Computer Case”>SILVERSTONE Precision Series PS05-B Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Tool-less Installation Design Computer Case

NZXT Phantom PHAN-001BK Black Computer Case

NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White Computer Case

COOLER MASTER HAF 932 Blue RC-932-KKN3-GP Black Computer Case With Side Panel Window

Antec Twelve Hundred Black Computer Case With Side Panel Window

 

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