800$ i5 Build

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
900 max but trying for 800
3) Where do you live?
Michigan
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
Everything but a video card and monitor
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
XFX 5850 xxx
6) Will you be overclocking?
Yes - which heatsink should i use?
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
currently a 22in acer but also buying another 22in or maybe a 24in so i can run 1920x1080
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
this weekend
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
would like crossfire
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
no



Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz LGA 1156 $199
MSI P55-GD80 LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard $179
CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W $89
CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 $94
COOLER MASTER Storm Scout $89
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST31000528AS 1TB 7200 $89
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit $104
Sony Optiarc DVD Burner with LightScribe $33

After using my discount codes and combo deals it comes in around $810

that's an impressive list buddy, although I question the choice of Seagate, Western Digital is a better choice, generally.

Also, if you're a student or you have a valid college email address, you can probably get windows 7 for free through your school's IT program, or for $30 through the MSDNAA program, so you'd save yourself $70 right there as well.

It's worth looking into.

I have Windows 7 Enterprise for free through my college's IT program.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136284

slightly more expensive hard drive, but better

you could opt for the Caviar 1.5 TB for $89.99 if you want but you'll see a drop in performance, it's a good storage drive.

ok, if you get windows 7 for free or for $30, you save $70-$104, and you said you could go as high as 900, so you'd have about $170-200 to play with, you could opt for a SSD and use it as your OS/gaming drive and use the terabyte HD as your storage

just a thought pal, it looks like a solid build all around.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.294645
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231303

cpu/mobo combo saves ya $20
g.skill memory saves another $15 but has tall HS.

ill try for the msdnaa program since im in college atm and going for my network admin degree.

i was thinking about a ssd, but i might pickup 2 more of those seagates and do a raid 5 im not sure if i would take a performance hit then or not.

Despite being a data throughput performance increase, RAID5 with the onboard RAID controller wouldn't be so great, since it'll be using the CPU. For your uses, it would be best to avoid onboard RAID5. If you want speed, get a couple SSDs for RAID0 and do a regular backup image to your data drive. Do note that this will only increase your game level load times, not fps. Though, you don't even need a RAID0 SSD array, since a single Intel and/or Indilinx based SSD would be faster than any mechanical drive setup.
http://ssd.alphaq.org - my ssd page

The Seagate 7200.12 and Samsung F3 use 500GB platters, making them faster than the WD drives using 333GB platters. IIRC, WD's only 500GB platter drive is their 2TB, unless they recently released something new.

If you're near a Microcenter, they have the Storm Scout for $60. They also have the i5 750 for $150.

As enginurd noted, RAID 5 is not a good idea with the motherboard's onboard RAID. Especially if that RAID 5 array is on the main system. The few times that a RAID 5 using the onboard RAID would be advisable would be:
A) If it was pretty much a storage or file server only
B) If using Linux.

well i might pickup a ssd later and use it to install games on but atm i won't have enought cash for a 64gb or larger ssd.

if i do buy one in the next year would it be hard for me to transfer over my Games to a ssd or even my OS and use a normal HD as the data drive?

why not ask for a terabyte HD for Christmas? I see no reason you can't ask SOMEONE to buy you a HD for Christmas, especially with the prices they are these days. Or you can ask for small amounts of cash and it should add up to being enough for a HD at the very least, then you can splurge for a SSD and use the TB HD as an external.

Sounds like you could wait till Christmas to build this, it's not that far away anyway, and if you get cash it really helps your situation. If you think there's a good chance someone will give you cash this year, then bank on it