FFXIV PC build, sort of budget...

[Airman410]

Hey all... long time lurker, first time poster.
Need help with a PC build. Trying to build something that is relatively affordable, must be able to play FFXIV very very well... Looking for suggestions on how to cut costs without cutting performance. I have no problem investing a decent amount of money in the future for pretty big upgrades, for now i want to stay somewhere between $1,200 and $1,500. If it's possible to maintain the same level of performance then possibly cheaper. here's the lineup...

Intel Core i7-930 Bloomfield 2.8GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80601930- $289.99

Rosewill Xtreme Series RX850-D-B 850W Continuous @40°C ,80 PLUS Certified, ATX12V v2.2 & EPS12V v2.91, SLI Ready CrossFire Ready, Active PFC "Compatible with Core i7, i5" Power Supply- $89.99

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case- $99.95

ASUS P6X58D-E LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard- $239.99

XFX HD-585X-ZAFC Radeon HD 5850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card w/ Eyefinity- $294.99

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL8Q-8GBRM- $229.99

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive- $74.99

ASUS MS226H Glossy Piano-Black / White 21.5" 2ms Ring Stand & Ergo-Fit HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor- $164.99

ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM- $18.99

Total price on my Newegg wishlist is $1,503.87. Suggestions?!

[Cayos]

Do you have a Microcenter near you? You can pick a 930 up in-store for $100 cheaper.

http://www.microcenter.com/at_the_stores/

[Airman410]

Do you have a Microcenter near you? You can pick a 930 up in-store for $100 cheaper.

Unfortunately I live in Seattle... So no microcenters near me.

[shiarua]

Replace the PSU with this one

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139009

[Airman410]

Why that psu? That's more expensive than the one that I currently have on the list (trying to minimize costs...) and it's the same wattage.

[Knyghtmayre]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.440198

To replace your case and PSU. Saves you $60, the PSU is modular (it's only 650w, but I'm almost positive 850w is way too much), and the case has external LED switches (the 900 does not).

[Metafox]

I'm in the process of putting together a similar computer. I don't have as much of a budget constraint, but I've been trying to save money where I can. I've never built a computer so I was going to post my prospective build here eventually. I can't guarantee that my choices were the best but I think you can save a little bit of money:

Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...k=nzxt%20gamma
This case seems to have very few bad reviews, and it's really cheap.

Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...k=GA-X58A-UD3R
It seems to do everything that yours does for a bit less.

GPU
I found a GTX 470 (012-P3-1470-AR) for $330, tax and shipping included at tigerdirect.com. Unless you REALLY want an ATI or something, it couldn't hurt THAT much to pay the extra $34 for a direct increase in performance.

RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...2800CL9T-6GBNQ
6GB should be plenty unless you know you'll be doing something crazy. I'm not sure if you'll actually need that high end memory unless you know you'll be overclocking it or something. Also, DDR3 supposedly only does its thing when you have your ram in sets of 3. If you put in 4 sticks, I don't think it'll be able to do the triple channel thing.

Other thoughts:
Do you have a surge protector? Will you be overclocking your CPU and do you need an aftermarket CPU fan/heatsink? (if so, you'll need thermal paste too) Additional case fan(s)? A media card reader? Do you have an OS lined up or are you prepared to pirate one?

Also, a few more things: You can usually find better prices at other stores, try entering the model number into a google shopping search. It will usually give you a list of vendors for each item, and it will usually calculate the additional costs of shipping and tax. Don't forget to include shipping and tax into the final cost of each item, it can really add up. I think some people say that they prefer to just order all from one place (newegg) in order to make returns easier, I can't speak from experience but I estimate that I'd save a couple hundred dollars by shopping around. But then again, I have to pay tax when I order from newegg.

And let me reiterate, I learned all of this from research. It would be best to get the opinions of experienced builders as well.