Advice on Budget Gaming PC! (~$700)

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neaton14

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May 8, 2012
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Hey all,

I'm helping my brother put together his first gaming computer and I wanted to come to you guys/gals for some suggestions. He was hoping to spend as close to $700-$750 as possible on the core components for a solid gaming PC. Right now I have the pricing at around $825 and would like to drop it by $100. Perhaps this can be done by selecting different brands and things without sacrificing any substantial amount of performance. Feel free to read below and I have a list of initially chosen components below! Thanks.



Approximate Purchase Date: e.g.: Interested in ordering parts over the next week or two so that I may find some limited time deals that will bring the cost down.

Budget Range: ~$700, preferably excluding rebates.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming 1080p, quick responsiveness (bootup, etc.), surfing the internet, watching movies.

Are you buying a monitor: No (well...not with this budget. will be looking for monitors at some point so any recommendations would be appreciated - 1920x1080, 21.5" - 24", good pricing.)


Parts to Upgrade: (e.g.: CPU, mobo, RAM) **Include Power Supply Make & Model If Re-using**

Do you need to buy OS: No

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Microcenter, Newegg

Location: Chicago, IL --> Lives near a microcenter!

Parts Preferences: Thinking Intel i5 and AMD gpu

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: Nahh

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: Building first computer, laptop ain't cutting it.



Here is my current list. I am hoping to get the costs as close to $700 as possible without losing significant performance.

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/neaton14/saved/1pTm

CPU: Intel Core i5-3470 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($149.99 @ Microcenter)

Motherboard: Biostar TZ77B ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($88.00 @ Newegg)

Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($64.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($67.99 @ NCIX US)

Storage: Crucial M4 64GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($72.51 @ SuperBiiz)

Video Card: PowerColor Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB Video Card ($238.98 @ Newegg)

Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WN722N 802.11b/g/n USB 2.0 Wi-Fi Adapter ($15.99 @ Newegg)

Case: Rosewill Challenger-U3 ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Newegg)

Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($59.99 @ Newegg)

Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($15.98 @ Outlet PC)

Total: $824.41
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)



Thanks again,
neaton14
 

neaton14

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May 8, 2012
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Thanks for the notification on the mobo. I'm not too familiar with motherboards, any recommendations on some other than z77?

As for the SSD comment, I mentioned that bootup and general programs must be very snappy. That means he is interested in having one.

thanks for the reply!
 

sanilmahambre

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Dec 9, 2012
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Your Built is fine except the SSD and the Graphic card.
I wouldn't use a SSD for a gaming rig by sacrificing performance on GPU, until your budget is above $1500. I would recommend you to get a better card like 7950 or a 7950 boost. And you can easily upgrade to a SSD in future.

Rest all other parts look perfect for your needs

 

neaton14

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May 8, 2012
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RAM prices have been rising lately from what i've seen. If I recall correctly I chose this because it was $2 more expensive than the 1600 MHz.
 

neaton14

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Hmm, it seems like fitting in the SSD is going to be the biggest problem. As for the graphics card, I chose this one because I had roughly $200 to spend on the GPU. When looking from price ranges $170-230, it seemed clear that the "HD 7870" (7930) had great price/performance. Any other thoughts?
 

Edward Gelernt

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Mar 23, 2013
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H77 or Q77 are good chipsets. P67 and H67 were too, but evidently those two were recalled.

Also there is plenty of DDR3 RAM that costs 50 bucks for 8 gigs. If you buy the fancy expensive ones that look nicer, you'll have to pay more, but they don't give any performance boosts.
 
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3470 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($149.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: ASRock H77M Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($42.98 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 XT 2GB Video Card ($234.99 @ Newegg)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WN722N 802.11b/g/n USB 2.0 Wi-Fi Adapter ($15.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($44.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($30.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224BB DVD/CD Writer ($17.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $677.86
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-04-07 16:27 EDT-0400)

I agree about the SSD drive. Trying to fit it into a 700 dollar budget is extremely difficult. I'd forgo it for now, and just make sure that only the minimal programs load up when you boot up. Just that alone will decrease a full boot up.
 
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neaton14

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May 8, 2012
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Ahhh, this looks like a great list. I'm fairly familiar with more expensive PCs but not so much with low-cost parts. I'll definitely be giving him this list and give him the option of an SSD.

Thanks a bunch for the help (to everyone who has replied)!
 
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