Buying a new Desktop PC, budget 800$

ZapaN

Hello everybody, it's gonna be one of those threads again.

I have a Dell desktop PC that I use a lot, as a media center as well as for gaming.
I'm looking to replace it by a newer one (this one is 7 years old, and can run games like Skyrim and Bioshock Infinite, but will eventually shut down due to too much heat coming from the graphics card).

I already have a screen (a Sony flat-screen TV) and a sound system (not the best, but I will update this later). I also have a good mouse and a keyboard.

My budget cannot exceed $800-$850, ideally $700.

I've looked through the existing threads, but all of them have larger budgets than mine. I've browsed on pcandparts.com, and they do have nice offers, but I've heard that they can be unreliable, and that sometimes their computers are not well-built. Is that true ? Do any of you have a good/bad experience with them ?
Anyway, I've seen this offer on their website :

Intel i7-3770 3.4GHz Quad Core System
( 8MB Cache- Quad Core ) Intel Power PCII

ThermalTake VO30001N2N Level 10GTS + Thermaltake LT-700P Litepower 700W PSU

Intel Core i7-3770 3.4GHz 8MB Quad Core LGA-1155 Original Boxed

MSI B75A-G43 GAMING B75 (DDR3) (LGA1155)

Seagate 1TB ST1000DM003 7200RPM SATA III 64MB Hard Drive

Kingston KVR16N11/8 8GB DDR3-1600 PC3-12800

LG GH24NS95-24X DVDRW - Dual Layer SATA

Sound Built-in

MSI GeForce N650Ti-1GD5/V1 GTX 650Ti 1GB DDR5 w/HDMI

LG IPS234V Wide 23" LED Full HD Monitor

Star 120W Speakers Black USB
Microsoft Wired Desktop 400 USB Key+Mouse Spill-Resistant Design

For $1105.00

If I remove the monitor ($177 according to their catalog), I'm at $928

So my questions are :
First of all, is that a good setup ?

Second of all, how can I optimize it?
(I'd like to have an SSD drive, and I currently already have a computer from which I could salvage a hard disk, and possibly other parts.
So I'm thinking of replacing the hard disk they propose with an SSD drive, and moving the current hard disk I have to the new computer)

And finally, how can I get the price lowered? Are there any parts that I can replace with less costly ones, for relatively the same performance?

Or I can simply not play during summer and wait for winter to play games so my computer doesn't shut down because of overheating...

AVOlio

You can start , by these things.
-Downgrading the cpu from i7 3770 to an i5 3570. That is a 100$ saves alone. If your planning to use it for just casual media center and gaming .
-Removing the Hard Disk from the list , as you mentioned you will be installing your old ones.
-You can also remove the DVDrw, but its only like 25 $ , so you still can keep it and get it, up to you.
-Remove the Star speaker and keyboard and mouse . They might be worth 50$ or something together, but still, you can have use in that 50$ in some other thing.
-And remove the monitor of course , as you said you already have one.

So by doing all of those, you have probably saved over 200 $ .
You can get an SSD with that amount . Let the guys here suggest you with the best brand and such.

Also, if you have the ability to put in like another couple of hundred dollars, i suggest choosing a better GPU .

ZapaN

Thank you for your quick answer :)

AVOlio wrote -Downgrading the cpu from i7 3770 to an i5 3570. That is a 100$ saves alone. If your planning to use it for just casual media center and gaming .

How much will this affect the performance ? I mean will I still be able to play new games at high graphic settings?

The i5-3570 costs $219 while the i7-3770 costs $298, so the difference is $79

I'll definitely remove the keyboard, mouse and speakers, which I can't find on their catalog, but I guess, as you've said, it should amount to around $50

The hard disk (Seagate 1TB ST1000DM003 7200RPM SATA III 64MB Hard Drive) costs $68

I'll keep the DVD drive, unless it costs more than $25, because although I have one, it's a bit old and it's a hassle for me to remove them from the current case I have to the new one, and not really worth it. (I don't use DVDs much anymore, but I still need to have one for the occasional DVD I put in the computer...)

So if I do all of the above and I remove the monitor,

I get : $738, to which I still have to add the SSD hard drive. The cheapest I've found is the Kingston SSDNow SMS200S3/120G 120GB 1.8" mSATA Solid State Drive, which costs $116

So that leaves me at $854, which is my maximum budget

Any ideas on what I could do to reduce it more ?

ZapaN

Oops, I just noticed that they do have cheaper SSD drives than the one I've found previously.

The cheapest is Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 2.5" 60GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) SV300S37A/60G
for $71, but 60GB seems a bit small if I want to install the OS and a couple of games on it.

Can anyone recommend a good SSD drive?

Thanks

AVOlio

@ZapaN
About the CPU, there will be no affect at all in gaming by choosing the i5.
I have an i5 myself too, and i chose that merely because i wanted my rig for gaming. and the difference was 100$ back then when i got it xD.
And i play all the latest and most demanding games you name.
So basically its quite the same when you get both i7 3770 or i5 3570, if its for gaming. And that 79$ will come in very handy to you,

The LG dvd rw is indeed 25$ , so yes, i suggest you just get a new one.

And i strongly recommend you to get a more powerful GPU ! If your planning to play new games maxed out !
The 650 ti will do fine, but you wont be that happy with it .
If you can add a few more to your budget , then get a i dont know, GTX 670 like me.
Your new build would be perfect for you then.

AvoK95

Zapan,Go lowest end i5 MSI H61 board, 8GB HyperX 1TB Seagate CM Elite 350 some random dvdrw the psu comes with the case. And wait for the 7950 restock (Avoid all Nvidia cards). If you still can't afford the extra 80 bucks, downgrade HDD to 500gigs and get 4gigs of RAM instead.