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Gaming PC build - around $1,200 budget

Started by cosmicseal98 · · 👁 10 views · 161 replies

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Participants cosmicseal98Larry Ortiz5Lawrence Phillipsgraniteharbor85dustyskipper77Amy Vaughn12Benjamin King2Drew Sanchez82David Sanders4Grace Peterson17Grace KernKimberly Gomez34crimsonstag84fadedorca66Alexander Moore67Robert Rodriguez2Ryan Fowler53Paul Wright7vividtiger3Susan Barnes5
Grace Kern Grace Kern Member
19 messages
joined Apr 2014
#21 ·
Why on earth is their warranty only two years for everything? Most other online retailers offer coverage for up to 60 months depending on the specific item, which gives you much more flexibility.
dustyskipper77 dustyskipper77 Member
40 messages
joined Jul 2010
#22 ·
@cosmicseal98/">@@cosmicseal98

You'll be waiting forever at the Apple Store... plus, from what I can tell, they don't even offer consumer financing there...

MSI Z77A-G45 motherboard, s1155
Crucial DDR3 8GB 1600MHz memory
WD Caviar Blue 1TB Hard Drive
Fortron Raider S 550W 80+ PSU
Thermaltake Chaser A21 case
Kingston A400 SSD 120GB, V300
Asus DRW-24F1ST optical drive
Thermaltake Contac 30 CPU cooler
SAPPHIRE AMD Radeon R9 290 4GB
Intel Core I5 3570 k processor

$2684 Best Buy + ARCTIC COOLING ACCELERO XTREME III cooler from the Newegg web shop$120
cosmicseal98 cosmicseal98 NewcomerOP
3 messages
joined Aug 2012
#23 ·
Larry Ortiz5 said:Apple is just an online retailer. The issue is that once you order, it takes them about 7-10 business days to actually ship anything. Plus, they email you payment instructions, so you have to head down to the post office to pay cash. Only after they get confirmation that the funds hit their account do they even start reaching out to suppliers in Italy, France, or wherever else.

In terms of competition, Apple is definitely the cheapest option among other web shops. But I guess if you don't have ten days to kill waiting for gear to arrive, then there isn't much choice. 😁

They take cash, which I don't have on me. Anyway, I decided to go with the suggestion from mklovin, though I did receive a quote from Instar for a Sapphire AMD Radeon R9 290 4GB GDDR5 full retail version at $0.85. Is that a good deal, or am I missing something? I also changed my mind regarding the hard drive, so I might go with the suggestion from that one user—sorry, I can't recall the name—the Seagate Barracuda 1TB at $101. Also, could someone please help me find a fan on the Instar website? They don't seem to have the specific one recommended by mklovin for the graphics card.

thanks
Grace Kern Grace Kern Member
19 messages
joined Apr 2014
#24 ·
I think you might be looking at some incorrect pricing somewhere:
http://www.google.com/search?q=sapphire+r9+290

$848 + sales tax = -> http://www.bestbuy.com/graphics-cards/sapphire-r9-290

$100 It looks like that card is more expensive there than at the cheapest local shop. On top of that, if you’re planning on paying in installments, the rates at $100 Best Buy are even worse. Why would you even consider buying from them in the first place?
Grace Peterson17 Grace Peterson17 Member
47 messages
joined Dec 2013
#25 ·
Robert Ortiz58 said:I honestly think you might be looking at some incorrect pricing here:
http://www.google.com/search?q=sapphire+r9+290

$848 + Sales Tax = -> http://www.bestbuy.com/graphics-cards/sapphire-r9-290

$100 Your card there is actually more expensive than what you'd find in the cheapest local shop. And if you're planning on using a payment plan, the rates at Best Buy are going to be even $100 worse. Why would you even consider buying from them in the first place?


You're probably just looking at prices without sales tax included—honestly, you should run the other way from Best Buy as fast as you can! And my advice? Avoid those specific links too; you'll have much better luck checking out places like Micro Center, Newegg, or Amazon...
cosmicseal98 cosmicseal98 NewcomerOP
3 messages
joined Aug 2012
#26 ·
Robert Ortiz58 said:It seems to me you might be looking at the wrong prices:
http://www.google.com/search?q=Sapphire+r9+290

$848 + Sales Tax = -> http://www.bestbuy.com/graphics-cards/sapphire-r9-290

$100 You're paying more there for a GPU than you would at the cheapest shop. Plus, if you go with financing, it’ll be even $100 worse at Best Buy. I guess why you'd want to buy there at all?

IBM. Item Code Description Quantity Unit Price Discount % Sales Tax % Total
1. Processor AMD FX-Series X8 8350
(4.0GHz,16MB,125W,AM3+) box
FD8350FRHKB 1.00 unit $1,296.66 5.00% 25% $1,231.83
OX
2. COOL-MA05 Cooler Master CPU Cooler, Hyper 212 1.00 unit $240.00 5.00% 25% $228.00
3. 0201586 Motherboard Asus M5A97 evo R2.0 1.00 unit $687.74 5.00% 25% $653.35
4. Memory Adata DDR3 8GB 1600MHz,
AD3U1600C2G11-R
0703267 1.00 unit $478.98 5.00% 25% $455.03
5. sap-r9-290-4g Graphics Card Sapphire R9 290, 4GB GDDR5, full Retail 1.00 unit $2,677.74 5.00% 25% $2,543.85
6. 0120410 Optical Drive LG GH24NS SATA Bulk Black 24x 1.00 unit $117.06 5.00% 25% $111.21
7. Power Supply XFX 80 650W PSU - EasyRail technology,
P1-650S-NLB9
XFX-P1-650S-N 1.00 UNIT $576.23 5.00% 25% $547.42
LB9
8. 0151079 Case Thermaltake Chaser A21 1.00 unit $377.08 5.00% 25% $358.23
In words: seven thousand six hundred sixty-one dollars and fourteen cents
Mark Cvetkovski, Motovun, New York City, Sales Invoice 5355/2013 (Order: )
Sales Representative: Administrator
sales@bestbuy.com
www.bestbuy.com
Total: $6,451.49
Discount: - $322.58
Subtotal: $6,128.91
Sales Tax: $1,532.23
Grand Total (USD): $7,661.14

I just printed out this quote.
Maybe I'm losing my mind, haha. Once I get home from work, I'll probably just mess around with this.
Grace Kern Grace Kern Member
19 messages
joined Apr 2014
#27 ·
Look, those prices are listed before sales tax. If you look closely at the breakdown, you'll see they provide the subtotal first, and then the sales tax is applied on top of that. I assume you're capable of doing the math yourself?
David Sanders4 David Sanders4 Member
47 messages
joined Feb 2015
#28 ·
Larry Ortiz5 said:Looking at the competition from other online retailers, they really are the cheapest option. But then again, if you don't have ten days to sit around waiting for your shipment to arrive, you don't really have much of a choice. 😁

From what I can tell, they aren't actually the cheapest. Their graphics cards might be the lowest priced most of the time, with a few exceptions, but the rest of their inventory is... let's call it "modest."
Kimberly Gomez34 Kimberly Gomez34 Regular
686 messages
joined Jul 2009
#29 ·
Pick it up at Best Buy

Consumer financing options:
MASTERCARD Chase (up to 36 installments) - 9.90% APR
Diners Club (13 to 60 installments) - 9.90% APR + a one-time 1.5% fee upon signing

EDIT

Here you go:
image

7,221 + 10% brings you up to $2667. Also, definitely ask if they can order and install that GPU cooler from Portia that everyone keeps linking you to.

Additionally, if you decide to go the Crossfire route instead of a single r9 290, I’d suggest using these two "Crossfire queens" instead:

They are in the same tier—actually even stronger than the r9 290—like the gtx 780 (I've included options for your specific resolution below).
r9 270 review

Or these two, which are even more powerful:
specifically the ones with different coolers.

r9 270x review

It's much simpler to just stick with one card, but if they won't install the cooler for you, consider a dual-card Crossfire setup. If you go that route, it's better to choose this one motherboard (PCI-E x16, x16), because this one (x16, x8) is cheaper and likely won't be available when you're ready to buy. That Asus model is only PCI x16, x4.

If you can swing it, definitely add an SSD.

By the way, I wouldn't recommend such high-end cards unless you absolutely need them for that insane resolution (assuming you plan on running the most demanding games at max settings).
cosmicseal98 cosmicseal98 NewcomerOP
3 messages
joined Aug 2012
#30 ·
Timothy Kim60;47795521 said:

Financing options:
MASTERCARD Chase (up to 36 installments) - 9.90% APR
Diners Club (13 to 60 installments) - starting at 9.90% APR + a one-time 1.5% fee upon signing

EDIT

Here is the info:
image

7,221 plus 10%, which comes to about $2667. I suppose you should also ask if they would be willing to order and install that GPU cooler from Portia that everyone keeps mentioning.

That’s basically it. This was Mark Cvetkovski's suggestion, which caught my eye immediately. Some of the other points in the thread seem interesting too, but I don't really have the energy to dig further. I wonder if anyone there has the connections to install that cooler if they won't do it themselves—and maybe squeeze them for a bit of a discount, haha.
I won't be sending thanks just yet since I haven't actually bought the PC, but you all were fine. Fair, polite, quick... pretty much a 5/5 experience.
One small thing—when I wrote my last post, I didn't mention those weren't the credit prices. I wouldn't want people thinking I was being totally clueless. 🙂
Best,
Kimberly Gomez34 Kimberly Gomez34 Regular
686 messages
joined Jul 2009
#31 ·
Look, just ask them about the cooler. Even if they can't do anything, you could still grab the card as is—that Sapphire R9 290 is going to perform exactly how it should, it's just going to be pretty loud. Honestly, it's totally standard for that specific card to hit 95 degrees under full load right out of the box, but having that extra cooler would definitely help dial those temps down. Who knows, maybe the noise won't even bother you 😬 — and if it does, you can always take it to a local repair shop later on to have an aftermarket cooler installed.
Grace Peterson17 Grace Peterson17 Member
47 messages
joined Dec 2013
#32 ·
David Sanders4 said:From what I can tell, they aren't exactly the budget option—their GPUs might be the cheapest ones around, with a few exceptions, but everything else in their inventory is pretty much just... "modest," at best.

Not the cheapest? 😂 Honestly, I have no idea which shops you're hitting up if you think they're cheaper than Micro Center.
cosmicseal98 cosmicseal98 NewcomerOP
3 messages
joined Aug 2012
#33 ·
Timothy Kim60;47795521 said:

Consumer financing options:
MASTERCARD Chase (up to 36 installments) - 9.90% APR
Diners Club (13 to 60 installments) - 9.90% APR + a one-time 1.5% fee upon signing the agreement

EDIT

Here you go.
image

Could you please repost that image? I'm away from my desk right now and feeling a bit lost. 🤷
thanks
Grace Kern Grace Kern Member
19 messages
joined Apr 2014
#34 ·
Just keep in mind that price is for a cash purchase. If you decide to go with an installment plan instead, the total cost is going to climb—it sounds like your colleague didn't mention that part to you.
crimsonstag84 crimsonstag84 Regular
518 messages
joined Jun 2010
#35 ·
Timothy Kim60 said:Maybe that's around 7.94, if you add 10% to 7.221. I guess. $2667 And you should definitely ask them if they’d be down to order and install that GPU cooler from Portia that everyone’s been linking to you.

Robert Ortiz58 said:Just so you know, that price is likely for cash only. If you end up financing it, I guess everything will go up—your sales rep probably didn't mention that part.

@Robert Ortiz58/">@@Robert Ortiz58 please 😬
Grace Kern Grace Kern Member
19 messages
joined Apr 2014
#36 ·
My mistake, I was just looking at the image. I thought there might be a way to indicate that card payment was selected so the shopping cart layout would update accordingly 😁
David Sanders4 David Sanders4 Member
47 messages
joined Feb 2015
#37 ·
Timothy Fisher79 said:Not exactly the cheapest? 😂 I honestly have no idea which stores you’re visiting where they'd be any cheaper than Micro Center.

I can't say I agree, but who even are you?

Take a look at the difference.

It’s the exact same product ID and it’s a full kit in both cases (full Retail 1.00 and free shipping, so $48 Edigital wins on savings here.))
And here are just a few more shops where prices are lower:
http://www.nabava.net/search.php?tp=...GB+840+Evo+kit
Moving on.

http://www.nabava.net/search.php?tp=0&q=razer+naga+epic
Once again, not the lowest price.

It seems like whatever component I’m looking at, Micro Center isn't the cheapest option.
http://www.nabava.net/search.php?tp=...viar+Black+1TB Even the hard drive I picked out isn't the best deal.

AMD FX-Series X8 8350
i5 3570K
Wow, Micro Center, where are you hiding?
I’m checking power supplies now, and they aren't the cheapest either...
Do I really need to keep going?
Corsair Obsidian 550 D
Even the case isn't.
Is it just GPUs left?
Sapphire R9 290 radeon
Basically, except for a few exceptions, most graphics cards are cheaper elsewhere. For everything else, it's hit or miss... but they are clearly not the cheapest, period.
cosmicseal98 cosmicseal98 NewcomerOP
3 messages
joined Aug 2012
#38 ·
Mclovin1;47780915 said:cosmicseal98

Here you go:

FX 8320
CM 212+ EVO
ASUS M5A97 R2.0 EVO
A-DATA 8GB 1600 MHZ
KINGSTON V300 120 GB SSD
SAPPHIRE R9 290 4GB + AC XTREME III
LG GH24NS95 SATA
FORTRON FSP 650W 80+ SILVER
THERMALTAKE CHASER A21

I was wondering if someone could check the website for me to find a power supply, since they don't have this one in stock. They suggested a 650 W Seasonic, but at $316, I guess that might be a bit much. I know I need 650 W, but still, $316 🤷.
edit: they don't have this CPU cooler either. They offered the Thermaltake Contact 39 for $99. Maybe that would be alright?
Kimberly Gomez34 Kimberly Gomez34 Regular
686 messages
joined Jul 2009
#39 ·
cosmicseal98 said:Could you please re-upload that image? I'm away from my desk right now and feeling a bit out of the loop 🤷
thanks

What do you mean? The image is working fine for me

cosmicseal98 said:Can someone help me find a power supply on the retailer's website? They don't have what I need in stock, and they suggested a Seasonic 650W, but the price is $316. That feels a bit steep to me—I know I need 650W, but still $316 🤷
Edit: They also don't have this CPU cooler in stock; they're offering the Thermaltake Contact 39 for $99. Is that a good choice?

According to the site, this one is available 🤷

Look, you don't strictly need 650W just for that single graphics card; a high-quality 550W unit will do the trick (your build should pull under 500W). Just make sure you don't buy some no-name brand

For instance, this one is in stock
I'd actually recommend these two if they have them (but double-check with them first)
http://www.retailer.com/details/product...650w-80.aspx
http://www.retailer.com/details/product...750w-80.aspx

Also, these two are solid options
http://www.retailer.com/details/product...modular.aspx
http://www.retailer.com/details/product...-pro-700w.aspx

This one is also listed as available on their site. It has Gold efficiency, and Seasonic is top-tier. You really need something along those lines; you don't need a power supply that costs a fortune

You shouldn't settle for a cheap case either, but if the PSU is driving up the total cost, you can cut back there—you can go cheaper on the chassis
for example
http://www.retailer.com/details/product...haser-a21.aspx
I'm not sure, maybe this one Just pick whichever one you prefer.

EDIT - I realized you were searching based on that specific build configuration. Think of me as your go-to contact for this stuff—I'm the guy who put those details in that photo. Since you're clearly hunting for direct links, here they are:

(Check out these two)
cosmicseal98 cosmicseal98 NewcomerOP
3 messages
joined Aug 2012
#40 ·
Timothy Kim60;47808257 said:what do you mean? the image works for me

Uh, I'm home now so I can see it. It was nothing at the office, but I was typing this from work earlier. I basically just got an offer from Best Buy
1. EVGA Radeon R9 290 4GB GDDR5 HDMI 2xDVI ....... 3,376.62
2. Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz 16 mb 125 W.....................1,254.93
3. ASUS M5A97 EVO R2.0 Socket AM3+...................842.72
4. 1x 8 gb DDR3 1600 MHz PC2-12800 Adata ................548
5. HDD 1 TB WD Caviar Blue SATA 3 ........................462
6. LG DVDRW............................................. ..142.18
7. Thermaltake Chaser A21 .................................393.76
8. Thermaltake Contact 39 CPU Cooler .....................297.86
9. Seasonic SSR 650RM 650 W ..............................949

Total: 8,268.55
I guess this is the price if I use a credit card, though I would definitely pick a cheaper power supply—not a weaker one, just less expensive than the ones you listed
I'll send a new inquiry to the store next
Thanks

Edit: My mistake🙂
First off, sorry, I don't really know how to quote properly. Second, I completely forgot that Gefutko mentioned on the site earlier that a GTX 780 might actually be better for some reasons I don't quite grasp. But it doesn't matter. What do you guys think would be the move if we assume the other option is about $267 cheaper?

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