<$1200 budget gaming PC - Seeking a starting point

TheCowman · Jun 23, 2013

Hello,

I'm looking to give one of my friends a build that he can use as his first PC build. The budget for this project is $1200 absolute maximum, and anything under $1000 would be appreciated a lot. He's going to use the computer to record gameplay and upload it to YouTube. Games like Warframe and Minecraft.

I was currently thinking that he should get a MSI Radeon HD 7850 with an Intel Core i5 3470 on an ASRock Z77 Extreme4-M or something. I don't think that he owns a monitor, but he definitely doesn't own a copy of Windows 7 Home premium 64-bit. What build would you guys recommend? For now, anything goes.

Input is always appreciated!

Thanks!

JackNaylorPE · Jun 23, 2013

In the build below, I chose to skimp on the GFX card a bit which at 1st may seem counter intuitive. Normally ya wanna max out GFX card performance but to fit your $1000 preferred budget, I would have had to skimp on MoBo, RAM, CAse, PSU, HD and SSD. Instead, I gave you top end components in every category, so every one of them is good for a number of years.

However, adding a 2nd 650 Ti Boost in SLI for $155 later on (or now if ya can swing the extra bucks) is faster than most any other single GPU card out there coming in just under the GTX 770. That includes the 680 (93% as fast as twin 650 Ti Boosts) and 7970 Ghz Edition (98%). A single 650 Ti Boost is also faster than a 7850 and 7850 CF just usnt a viable option at the moment

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_650_Ti_Boost_SLI/21.html

Case - $124 - Corsair 500R White http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1327096
$20 combo discount $25 coupon code for case, $16.50 coupon code for PSU, $45 MIR
PSU - incl. w/ above - Corsair TX750 included with above

MoBo - $370 - ASUS Z87 Pro http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1352787
CPU - incl. w/ above - Intel Core i5-4670 Included w/ above and MoBo has built in wireless, $80 combo discount and $10 off w/ promo code Z87MB617, ends 6/30

RAM - $79 - (2 x 4GB) Muskin CAS 8 DDR3-1600 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226337
Free $25 Hawken in game credit w/ purchase, limited offe
Cooler - $30 - CM Hyper 212 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835709011

GFX - $155 - MSI GTX 650 Ti Boost http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127730
GFX - Later - MSI GTX 650 Ti Boost http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127730

HD - $95 Caviar Black 1TB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533
SSD - $135 - Samsung 840 Pro 128GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147192

DVD Writer - $17 - Asus DVD Burner http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204

Total $1,005 w/ 2nd GFX card ya at $1,160, still below his $1200 maximum

Marcopolo123 · Jun 23, 2013

here, everything you need

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4570 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H87 Pro4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($92.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($63.00 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB Video Card ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($37.99 @ Microcenter)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($45.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $824.89
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-06-23 09:31 EDT-0400)

TheCowman · Jun 23, 2013

JackNaylorPE :

In the build below, I chose to skimp on the GFX card a bit which at 1st may seem counter intuitive. Normally ya wanna max out GFX card performance but to fit your $1000 preferred budget, I would have had to skimp on MoBo, RAM, CAse, PSU, HD and SSD. Instead, I gave you top end components in every category, so every one of them is good for a number of years.

However, adding a 2nd 650 Ti Boost in SLI for $155 later on (or now if ya can swing the extra bucks) is faster than most any other single GPU card out there coming in just under the GTX 770. That includes the 680 (93% as fast as twin 650 Ti Boosts) and 7970 Ghz Edition (98%). A single 650 Ti Boost is also faster than a 7850 and 7850 CF just usnt a viable option at the moment

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_650_Ti_Boost_SLI/21.html

Case - $124 - Corsair 500R White http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1327096
$20 combo discount $25 coupon code for case, $16.50 coupon code for PSU, $45 MIR
PSU - incl. w/ above - Corsair TX750 included with above

MoBo - $370 - ASUS Z87 Pro http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1352787
CPU - incl. w/ above - Intel Core i5-4670 Included w/ above and MoBo has built in wireless, $80 combo discount and $10 off w/ promo code Z87MB617, ends 6/30

RAM - $79 - (2 x 4GB) Muskin CAS 8 DDR3-1600 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226337
Free $25 Hawken in game credit w/ purchase, limited offe
Cooler - $30 - CM Hyper 212 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835709011

GFX - $155 - MSI GTX 650 Ti Boost http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127730
GFX - Later - MSI GTX 650 Ti Boost http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127730

HD - $95 Caviar Black 1TB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533
SSD - $135 - Samsung 840 Pro 128GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147192

DVD Writer - $17 - Asus DVD Burner http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204

Total $1,005 w/ 2nd GFX card ya at $1,160, still below his $1200 maximum

I love the corsair 500R, but for this budget, I would get something that's just as stylish, but cheaper... like the Corsair 400R or Fractal Design Define R4 Mini

l89 · Jun 23, 2013

Marcopolo123 :

here, everything you need

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4570 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H87 Pro4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($92.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($63.00 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB Video Card ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($37.99 @ Microcenter)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($45.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $824.89
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-06-23 09:31 EDT-0400)

a good build but as his budget is around 1k he can get a better card like hd 7950 without changing the psu

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<$1200 budget gaming PC - Seeking a starting point

TheCowman

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l89

JackNaylorPE

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Marcopolo123

Honorable

TheCowman

Distinguished

l89

Honorable

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