Best $800 build not including HDD, Drive, OS, or Case

causablemidget · Oct 16, 2013

I am on an $800 budget and have been looking around this site and others for the best configuration. I already have 1TB HDD, Case, Drive, and OS, I just want to know what you all think is the best configuration for $800 excluding these things.

ksham · Oct 17, 2013

Do you need a keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, or wireless card? Also, what is the build for? And what is your unit of currency? $ is ambiguous because it can be USD, CAD, or AUD.

causablemidget · Oct 18, 2013

ksham :

USD. I will use it for gaming, and I will only also need a keyboard. Thanks for showing me how ambiguous I was

TBC1 · Oct 18, 2013

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4570 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($194.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock B85 Pro4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($87.55 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($73.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 280X 3GB Video Card ($316.13 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $732.65
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-10-19 17:46 EDT-0400)

ksham · Oct 19, 2013

I neglected to ask, but what case do you have? It would be insanely helpful so that we can make sure everything will fit into the case. But without knowing that, I'll assume that it's an average mid-tower or full tower.

Take #1: overclockable CPU but I left out the CPU cooler to fit the budget. You can buy the cooler at a later point in time. But the CPU can still be used at stock speed until you buy a CPU cooler for $30, or a high-end $70-$80 cooler if you plan to do higher overclock. The Radeon R9 280X is about equal to a GTX 770 in performance for a fraction of the price. A solid build.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 280X 3GB Video Card ($305.91 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Keyboard: Gigabyte Force K3 Wired Gaming Keyboard ($26.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $802.86
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

Take #2: this may be over your budget, but worth some consideration. For a mere $40 more, you get the performance similar to the build #1 and you get the AMD Never Settle FOREVER Gold bundle available with this graphics card. The AMD Never Settle FOREVER Gold bundle allows you to pick 3 out of 11 choices of games that you would like for FREE. This deal does not come with the Radeon R9 280X card. So if you take that into consideration, the extra $40 can grab you two free games (considering that one game is about $40). I included the cooler into this build because the CPU does run much hotter at stock as compared to the Intel Core i5 in take 1 and the stock cooler is crap. On a comparison note, the R9 280X is essentially a slightly enhanced HD 7970 card. You can CrossFireX a R9 280X and a HD 7900 card. In terms of benchmark, it is about only 5% faster than the HD 7970 GHz card.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor ($184.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($33.24 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus M5A99X EVO R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($114.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB Video Card ($364.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Keyboard: Gigabyte Force K3 Wired Gaming Keyboard ($26.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $840.18
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

causablemidget · Oct 19, 2013

ksham :

I neglected to ask, but what case do you have? It would be insanely helpful so that we can make sure everything will fit into the case. But without knowing that, I'll assume that it's an average mid-tower or full tower.

Take #1: overclockable CPU but I left out the CPU cooler to fit the budget. You can buy the cooler at a later point in time. But the CPU can still be used at stock speed until you buy a CPU cooler for $30, or a high-end $70-$80 cooler if you plan to do higher overclock. The Radeon R9 280X is about equal to a GTX 770 in performance for a fraction of the price. A solid build.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 280X 3GB Video Card ($305.91 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Keyboard: Gigabyte Force K3 Wired Gaming Keyboard ($26.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $802.86
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

Take #2: this may be over your budget, but worth some consideration. For a mere $40 more, you get the performance similar to the build #1 and you get the AMD Never Settle FOREVER Gold bundle available with this graphics card. The AMD Never Settle FOREVER Gold bundle allows you to pick 3 out of 11 choices of games that you would like for FREE. This deal does not come with the Radeon R9 280X card. So if you take that into consideration, the extra $40 can grab you two free games (considering that one game is about $40). I included the cooler into this build because the CPU does run much hotter at stock as compared to the Intel Core i5 in take 1 and the stock cooler is crap. On a comparison note, the R9 280X is essentially a slightly enhanced HD 7970 card. You can CrossFireX a R9 280X and a HD 7900 card. In terms of benchmark, it is about only 5% faster than the HD 7970 GHz card.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor ($184.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($33.24 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus M5A99X EVO R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($114.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB Video Card ($364.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Keyboard: Gigabyte Force K3 Wired Gaming Keyboard ($26.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $840.18
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

The case is a Cooler Master HAF 912 Mid Tower. Assuming all that you have suggested will fit, how much of a difference would it make in performance if I spent a little more and grabbed the processor and mobo from option #1 in this post in place of the processor and mobo from option #2?

ksham · Oct 19, 2013

Yes; the Cooler Master HAF 912 will be compatible with both builds. It is a great case. One thing to note is that the Cooler Master HAF 912 does not have front panel USB 3.0 so you won't be able to take advantage of that feature available in both motherboards.

If you swapped the CPU and motherboard, the difference in performance won't be huge. It is also not great in price/performance ratio. But the i5-4670K is slightly better at gaming. The FX-8350 is also good at gaming, but also better at multi-tasking due to it having more cores.

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Best $800 build not including HDD, Drive, OS, or Case

causablemidget

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ksham

ksham

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causablemidget

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TBC1

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ksham

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causablemidget

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ksham

Splendid

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