First build. $800-1000 Budget. Looking for feedback/suggestions on where I can trim costs.

granthouck · Jul 10, 2013

Hoping to be able to run most modern games (mostly RPG/MOBA, occasional FPS) at around 50-60+ fps, as well as some occasional light photo-editing, etc. I'm looking to trim costs wherever I can, so if you notice any parts that can be substituted for better value/cost efficiency, please let me know. If I can bring the final cost down to $800-900, I would be very content.

Approximate Purchase Date: End of July-Beginning of August

Budget Range: $800-950 before rebates/after shipping

System Usage from Most to Least Important: gaming, surfing, photo-editing, watching movies

Are you buying a monitor: yes, but its not included in the build or budget

Do you need to buy OS: no

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg

Location: Lancaster, PA (United States)

Parts Preferences: none

Overclocking: doubtful

SLI or Crossfire: no

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

What I have so far

CPU- Intel Core i5-4570 3.2GHz Quad-Core
CPU cooler- Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler
Motherboard- Gigabyte GA-Z87X-D3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
Memory- Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
HDD- Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
SSD- Sandisk Ultra Plus 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk
GPU- EVGA GeForce GTX 660 2GB
Case- Corsair 400R ATX Mid Tower
Power Supply- SeaSonic 650W ATX12V / EPS12V
Optical Drive- Asus BC-12B1ST/BLK/B/AS Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer

Thanks!

sophiebeth100 · Jul 10, 2013

You've said you don't want to overclock, yet you have bought an overclockable motherboard and a heatsink fan so you can overclock, too. You may as well get the 4670K as the odds are you'll want to overclock at a later stage anyway, by which point you'll regret not buying the unlocked processor. You'll also want to get 2 x 4gb sticks as that's easier on the motherboard's memory controller, as it's a dual channel motherboard. You'll definitely want to spend the extra $30 on a 760 GPU, as it's an incredible card for the price. To afford this I recommend grabbing an XFX Core 550w PSU instead, as it's cheaper and will still run this sytem fine. Other than that, great build!

granthouck · Jul 10, 2013

sophiebeth100 :

Is my build too expensive if I have no interest in overclocking? In that case, where could I trim costs if I wanted to drop $150-200 off the final price without sacrificing too much gaming performance?

Sorry if anything I say sounds silly, I'm new to this. Thank you for your time and helpful suggestions.

DRosencraft · Jul 10, 2013

I would suggest looking at getting 2x4GB on the memory instead of one 8GB, just to take advantage of dual-channel memory features. Further, you might want to consider going with this power supply since 650W might be just a little bit more power than you need.

sophiebeth100 · Jul 10, 2013

granthouck :

Grab a H87 motherboard, such as:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157383
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157378
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128603

You also won't need that Hyper 212 Evo, or any cooler at all, for that matter.

With the money saved, you can get that 760 and still have money left over.

menetlaus · Jul 10, 2013

Drop the CM212 Evo - stock HSF is fine for stock clocks (and is a trivial upgrade later). Alternatively bump up to an unlocked multiplier model and it offers the ability to replace the HSF and increase clock speeds in the future.

Definitely 2 x size for ram - you WANT to be able to use the dual channel mode.

GPU - the 660 is getting a little old, but bang for the buck is all about when you order, my friend managed to find a 7870 for less than the cheapest 7850's (at that time) so keep a close eye on various prices and you might snag yourself a GREAT deal.

Replace the PSU - Seasonic is a great brand but not the most cost friendly.

Replace the case - an Antec 300 (or similar) will give you another ~$50 for performance parts.

Replace the optical drive - unless the additional $40 is worth it to you in order to be able to watch bluray disks right away (always an easy upgrade later).

sophiebeth100 · Jul 10, 2013

+1 to the above! Didn't even notice the Bluray reader!

granthouck · Jul 10, 2013

Awesome suggestions! Here is the updated build

Also, a friend suggested I switch to AMD because I'll get more value if I'm spending less than $1000. Is that true? Any suggestions if I wanted to make that switch?

sophiebeth100 · Jul 10, 2013

You've got the 760 in your build, so I really don't see the need for you to switch to AMD, but here's a build with AMD:

Eight-core version:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock 970 Extreme3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($90.66 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($62.13 @ TigerDirect)
Storage: Sandisk Ultra Plus 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($89.99 @ Microcenter)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card ($249.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Antec Three Hundred ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($44.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $822.72
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-07-10 17:57 EDT-0400)

Six-core version:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock 970 Extreme3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($90.66 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($62.13 @ TigerDirect)
Storage: Sandisk Ultra Plus 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($89.99 @ Microcenter)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card ($249.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Antec Three Hundred ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($44.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $782.72
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-07-10 17:58 EDT-0400)

Yes, it's cheaper, but not by much. I'd still go Intel.

Dark Lord of Tech · Jul 10, 2013

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: Asus M5A99X EVO R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($114.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($62.13 @ TigerDirect)
Storage: Sandisk Ultra Plus 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($89.99 @ Microcenter)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card ($399.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Microcenter)
Power Supply: XFX 750W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($69.20 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1041.26
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-07-10 23:50 EDT-0400)

Dark Lord of Tech · Jul 10, 2013

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Pro4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($114.99 @ Microcenter)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($62.13 @ TigerDirect)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($124.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card ($254.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 500R White ATX Mid Tower Case ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 750W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($69.20 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1006.24
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-07-10 23:56 EDT-0400)

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First build. $800-1000 Budget. Looking for feedback/suggestions on where I can trim costs.

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