New build under $1,250?

@Gforce gtx

Don't talk nonsense when you clearly don't know what you're talking about. If we importers have this card in stock, then Best Buy has it too; they come by every single day to pick up inventory from us.

I've put together a complete build over at the local tech hub. Everything is in stock and ready to go right now. Assembly and testing are on the house.

Intel Core i5 4440 3.1
Msi b85m-e33
8gb ddr3 1600mhz Patriot Sig d2 1x8gb
Gigabyte r9 290 4gb gddr5 - absolute beast.
Samsung 870 EVO SSD
Wd Caviar green 1tb sata3

Fractal Design Arc Mini - a top-tier, beautiful case with a plexiglass side panel and 2x120mm fans.
Fotron Aurum gold 500w - high-end gold-rated power supply.

Monitor: Aoc 23 led ips i2367fm featuring built-in speakers. It's Full HD, obviously. I use one myself and I'm quite satisfied with it. Just plug it in via HDMI and you're set—both video and audio work instantly.

Price: $8,256.34 for cash. Add 5% for credit cards; Denny's offers up to 36 monthly installments.

Pick out your own mouse and keyboard. I didn't include a dvd-rw drive.$40 If the price is too steep, we can just pull the SSD or swap in a cheaper graphics card.

Or rather, you have your mouse, keyboard, and a DVD-RW drive, but more importantly, the case 🙂, the RAM, and the power supply are all distinct components.

Intel Core i5 4440 3.1,6MB,LGA 1150 BX80646I54440SR14F $445 $445
MSI B85M-E33,1150,D3,S3,U3,HDMI,VGA,mATX B85M-E33 $143 $143
Patriot Viper3,1600Mhz,8GB (2x4GB) Red PV38G160C9KRD $205 $205
Fractal Design Arc Mini, white with window, no PSU FD-CA-DEF-R4-WH-W $243 $243
Corsair ModXStream Pro, 500W OCZ500MXSP-EU $153 $153
Gigabyte R9 280 WF3 OC, 3GB GDDR5, HDMI, DVI GVR928WO3D-00-0 $624 $624
WD10EZRX Caviar Green 1TB 64MB IntelliPower WD10EZRX $141 $141
Apple DVD±RW 24x black, bulk SH-224DB/BEBE $41 $41
AOC LED 23" I2367FM, VGA, 2xHDMI, audio i2367FM $386 $386
Genius Gaming KB-G265, keyboard, USB 31310056107 $60 $60
Microsoft Windows, gaming mouse, black 31010167101 $68 $68

Subtotal before tax: $2007
Sales Tax 8%: $502
Total: $2508

+5% fee for credit cards.

Here is another one, including absolutely everything.

Intel Core i5 4440 3.1GHz,6MB,LGA 1150 BX80646I54440SR14F $445 $445
Gigabyte GA-H81M-DS2V,1150,iH81,D3,S3,U3,DVI,mA GAH81DS2V-00-G $108 $108
Patriot Sig.,D3, 1333Mhz, 8GB (1x 8GB) PSD38G13332H $175 $175
Gigabyte Radeon R9 290, 4GB GDDR5, HDMI, DVI GVR929OC4DB-G-00 $895 $895
Kingston SSD V300, R450/W450,120GB, 7mm, 2.5" SV300S37A/120G $166 $166
WD10EZRX Caviar Green 1TB 64MB IntelliPower WD10EZRX $141 $141
Fractal Core 3000, black, no PSU FD-CA-CORE-3000-USB3 $169 $169
OCZ ModXStream Pro power supply, 500W OCZ500MXSP-EU $153 $153
Samsung DVD±RW 24x black, bulk SH-224DB/BEBE $41 $41
AOC LED 23" I2367FM, VGA, 2xHDMI, audio i2367FM $386 $386
Genius Gaming KB-G235, keyboard, USB 31310460107 $21 $21
Genius X-G500 gaming mouse, macro, 2000dpi 31010163101 $45 $45

Total before tax: $2197
Sales Tax 7%: $549
Total: $2746

So, here’s my take on this . This setup is currently in my cart at Futura, but looking at Best Buy, I think I could actually pull off a better deal there... though I'd need to swap out the keyboard and mouse. Thanks for taking the time to look this over. I'm planning to pull the trigger this Friday, so I've still got three days left to do some digging.

It would probably turn out cheaper that way.

But the real kicker is the peace of mind; if something actually breaks, getting warranty claims handled and everything else sorted goes way faster.

IQ Center is just a retail arm for Microline, and they’re the ones handling the actual imports for these components.

mellowtiger83 - Look, people, use the edit button instead of spamming five posts in a row within a couple of minutes. There's an edit option right next to the quote button in your post
. Just use that to add more info to what you already wrote.
Also, what is he thinking using a WD Green drive for his system drive in post #23? It wouldn't hurt to grab a larger case for this build either; that GPU is massive—I'm not even sure if he'll have enough room to install an SSD later. Plus, for that kind of money, he could easily step up to a better power supply, like an XFX 550W
.
briskmason6

We can't actually see your shopping cart, man. You've got a list of the components from your cart on the side that you can just copy and paste
.

Everything seems fine so far,

Both Fotron and OCZ make top-tier power supplies. We don't carry XFX in our current inventory, so my advice would be to just go with that last configuration we discussed. It’s easily the most balanced setup.

Just keep in mind there's usually a price gap if you're paying cash versus using a credit card...

So don't accidentally blow past that $8 $167 mark.

I suppose it might be best to just stick to what you originally laid out in your first post, though maybe you could swap the graphics card for the gigabyte 280x instead.

Like I said, those discounted prices at Best Buy are cash only.

And the crossed-out numbers? Those are for the graphics cards... just keep that in mind.🙂

Here you go—it’s the R9 290, the i5, and the exact case, keyboard, and mouse you picked out!

-AOC LED 23.6" E2461FWH, VGA, HDMI
-Genius X-G500 gaming mouse, macro support, 2000dpi
-Zalman K400G keyboard, black, ZAL-ZM-K400G
-S120 black OEM speakers

-Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 graphics card, 4GB GDDR5, HDMI, DVI
-Intel Core i5-4440 (3.1GHz, 6MB, LGA1150) box
-Asus H81-PLUS motherboard
-XFX Pro Series CoreEdition 80 550W PSU, XFX-P1-550S-XXB9
-Patriot Signature, 1333Mhz, 8GB (1x8GB) PSD38G13332H
-SEAGATE HDD DESKTOP SSHD 3.5" / 1TB / 64m/ SATA/ 7200rpm ST1000DX001
-Asus DRW-24F1ST/BLK/B/AS optical drive
-Zalman mid tower case black, ZAL-Z9 U3

Total:$2881 CNN offers free assembly
(price for the cards)!

Right in the middle of it... that's the spot. This looks pretty much perfect to me. I won't bother pasting the whole shopping cart here because it's getting messy... but basically, does everyone agree this build beats my initial AMD setup? It seems obvious to me that Intel is just more reliable for gaming—lower power draw, runs cooler, and plus there's the Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 which absolutely crushes everything else, just like mellowtiger83 said, haha. I don't think I'll die without an SSD either; people say this hybrid SSHD is the sweet spot for balancing speed, price, and storage capacity. My only real question is about these 1333 MHz RAM sticks... isn't 1600 MHz the standard, or does that extra speed actually matter? Thanks again to everyone for spending the time helping me out. For now, I'm sticking with this configuration. 😁

briskmason6 said:Right in the middle... that's it... it feels perfect to me, and I won't bother pasting the full list here just yet. So, does everyone agree this configuration beats my initial AMD setup? It seems Intel is proven to be better for gaming, draws less power, runs cooler + we have that Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 which absolutely crushes everything, just like mellowtiger83 said, haha... I don't think I'll die because there isn't an SSD; people say this hybrid SSHD is the golden ratio of speed, price, and capacity. My only doubt is these 1333 MHz RAM sticks... isn't 1600 MHz the standard, or does that frequency really not matter much? Thanks again to everyone for your time; for now, I'm sticking with this build. 😁

There is absolutely no difference between 1333MHz and 2400MHz, let alone between 1333 and 1600MHz. RAM speed only becomes a significant factor if you are relying on integrated graphics, but that certainly isn't the case for you. Here is a video so you can see for yourself that there is no real difference.
If that is really eating away at your brain, then just swap out the ones I listed for these and consider the problem solved. http://www.cnn.com/details_product...vr16n11-8.aspx

That sounds great then 🙂

Keith Wright2 said:Honestly, you won't see any difference in RAM performance between 1333MHz and 2400MHz, let alone between 1333 and 1600MHz. The speed only really matters if you're running on integrated graphics, but that’s not what you’re doing here. Check out this video and you'll see for yourself that there's basically zero impact.

If it's seriously eating at you, just swap out your current sticks for these ones and call it a day http://www.cnn.com/details_product_example_vr16n11-8.aspx

There's no real difference in the RAM because no processor is actually pulling more than 1600 MHz anyway. Not even an Intel Xeon.
So, you could go out and buy 2400 MHz sticks, but they're just going to be locked at 1600.

With AMD APUs, RAM speed is essentially everything. Since the integrated graphics pull directly from the system memory, performance is tied entirely to how fast that memory can move. It’s just basic logic—they share the same pool. However, you really start seeing the impact once you get into the A8 or A10 series. Take the A10-7850, for example; jumping from 1333MHz to 2133MHz can swing your frame rates by as much as 10 FPS in games. It's a significant delta.

Intel's high-speed memory offers absolutely no practical advantage. Unless you are pursuing some sort of extreme overclocking project, it's essentially useless.

briskmason6 said:well, that's just great then 🙂

Budget some extra cash for shipping if you're ordering from Best Buy

One package $13 but you'll actually get three
1. monitor
2. computer
3. all the component boxes

Just grab it from Future and get free shipping on anything over $667 if you're already using a credit card

Hmm, I'm not entirely sure, but I honestly think things might be cheaper downtown. I can't double-check right this second since I'll probably just drive over later anyway, so it doesn't matter much. Also, does Futura offer free delivery across the whole metro area?

briskmason6 said:not sure, honestly think downtown might actually be cheaper. can't check right now, maybe I'll swing by in the car later and see. besides, does Futura offer free delivery across the whole NYC area?

across the entire US.

plus if you spend over 2k, they'll throw in free assembly

briskmason6 said:Hmm, I'm not entirely sure. Honestly, I think it might actually be cheaper if you just head downtown. I can't check right this second—I'll probably just drive over later anyway—but does Futura really offer free delivery across the entire NYC metro area?

You hit the nail on the head. If you're living right in New York City, just go grab it yourself. But if you're about 30 miles25 miles outside of the city, driving there is still going to be more cost-effective than paying for delivery through Futura. I'm guessing you're somewhere near a Suburban town?