Update: Buying a New PC!

[terminator363]

Intel Core i5 2500K Quad Core Unlocked Processor LGA1155 3.3GHZ Sandy Bridge 6MB
Please Use The Heatsink Included With My CPU -NOT Available With OEM Processors
ASUS P8Z68-V Pro Z68 LGA1155 ATX 3PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 2 PCI B3 Motherboard
Mushkin Enhanced Silverline Stiletto 8GB 2X4GB PC3-10666 DDR3-1333 9-9-9-24 Dual Channel Memory Kit
MSI Nvidia GTX 560 ti twin frozr ii
Antec Three Hundred Two Mid Tower Gaming Case 302 ATX 3X5.25 6X3.5INT No PS Front USB3.0 & Audio
XFX 750W PRO750W Core Edition Single Rail ATX 12V 62A 24PIN ATX Power Supply 80PLUS Bronze PSU
Corsair Power Supply 750
OCZ Vertex 2 Extended SandForce 120GB 2.5IN SATA2 Solid State Disk Flash Drive SSD
LG GH22NS70 Super Multi 22X SATA DVD Writer Black OEM

What does everyone think?

 

[Joey D]

www.tomshardware.com it's where I always start. They seem to give the best reviews and tests, while being completely sensible about it too.

Best Gaming CPU:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106.html

Best Graphics Card:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107.html

You'll see a bunch of other similar write ups on the site. They occasionally do full system builds too, it's how I ended up with my computer. I just took their mid-range $1000 PC and modified my choices slightly.

 

[Seismica]

First off, you definitely want 64bit. 32bit limits the amount of RAM you can have to under 4GB. For a gaming system it is worth getting 8GB of memory as it's cheap. A 64 bit operating system should be no more than the 32 bit version.

A recommended processor would be the i5 2500k; it is still the best bang for buck for gaming orientated systems (The newer 2550k is more expensive and effectively the same chip). You will want a socket 1155 motherboard; the best chipset at the moment is the Z68 I believe.

Recommended video cards for this budget; a Nvidia 560 Ti or a Radeon HD 6870. Both are very good. The 560 Ti probably has the edge but a 6870 will be significantly cheaper. If you can't fit either into your budget a HD 6850 is a reasonable option too.

I presume you want to build it yourself?

EDIT: Good advice from Joey ^ My recommendations are based on benchmarks such as those. Often it's better to see and compare them for yourself

 

[Pako]

First off, you definitely want 64bit. 32bit limits the amount of RAM you can have to under 4GB. For a gaming system it is worth getting 8GB of memory as it's cheap. A 64 bit operating system should be no more than the 32 bit version.

A recommended processor would be the i5 2500k; it is still the best bang for buck for gaming orientated systems (The newer 2550k is more expensive and effectively the same chip). You will want a socket 1155 motherboard; the best chipset at the moment is the Z68 I believe.

Recommended video cards for this budget; a Nvidia 560 Ti or a Radeon HD 6870. Both are very good. The 560 Ti probably has the edge but a 6870 will be significantly cheaper. If you can't fit either into your budget a HD 6850 is a reasonable option too.

I presume you want to build it yourself?

EDIT: Good advice from Joey ^ My recommendations are based on benchmarks such as those. Often it's better to see and compare them for yourself

👍

I would also recommend something very similar as well. Z68 boards are nice, just built a system for my brother with that chipset, a 2600k and a GTX570. Turned out to be quite a machine for him.

 

[Icarus25]

An Intel 2500k with a Z68 motherboard from a company like Gigabyte, Asus, ASRock, and possibly even MSI is where you should start. It's going to be tough getting a system to max everything for $700, especially if you need to buy a hard drive. Hard drive prices have gone through the roof thanks to flooding in Thailand a while back causing havoc with manufacturing.

You're looking at something like (in US dollars):

$200-225 for an i5 2500k, possibly less if you have stores there in Canada like Microcenter or Fry's.
$120-180 for a decent MB with enough features that it won't hold you back if you want to upgrade.
$45 or there about for 8 GB of memory
$75-100 on a quality power supply, 500-550 watt minimum. Corsair, Antec, XFX, Seasonic.
$100 at least for a 750GB hard drive
$20 for an optical drive unless you have one you can use
$100 for an OS

All that's left is graphics, and you're looking at about $180 for an AMD 6870, which will run Skyrim well at high settings but I don't think it can run a smooth FPS with all the goodies cranked. I could be wrong though with what the patches have done to tweak CPU and GPU usage.

That brings you up to about $900, give or take. Add another $100 if you want an SSD. I hate recommending a build with just one HD, especially when it's a really large one, but it's tough to recommend 2 with prices the way they are.

 

[bevo]

Make sure you get a graphics card with plenty of ram. I have 2 Gtx 570s and still have slow downs maxing out battlefield. If I had it to do over I would want at least a card with 2.5 gigs of ram. I would go with one of the newest cards with 3 gb.

Keep in mind that when you say maxing out games, that it's going to take a very high end pc with a 400$ graphics card. People may tell you to max out this or that you can get by with a 560ti or something but you can't if your running at, at least 1080p.

 

[terminator363]

I've rounded up all the components.