Want to build a gaming desktop under 1000 $

prudhvirazz · Nov 10, 2013

Hello guys,

I am planning to build a custom gaming desktop. I am not only looking for build suggestions but also looking to understand "how to choose parts".I want to educate myself.

For instance I would like to understand [why X CPU is better than Y], [which GPU will meet my needs], [how many cores are required], [a high clock speed quad core Vs. lower clock speed 6 core] etc?

Frankly speaking I don't even know how to choose a mother board. I don't know its significance or what specifications I should look at befor buying.

Please suggest me some builds and also let me know of any source where I can learn about this stuff.

I need everything except Keyboard and Mouse.

one question before I jump in to details. should I wait for the next generation processors Haswell(intel) / Kaveri (AMD) ?

Primary purpose: Gaming
Budget: 800-1000$ or 50-60k INR
Need OS and Monitor with Audio out put. I can't play the whole day with headphones on.
Don't need mouse and keyboard.
Its ok if you link items from newegg and partpicker, i will look them up in www.flipkart.com.

I Should be able to play all games with good settings if not maximum.

I mostly play WOW and FPS shooting games like Far cry, COD etc.

I don't want to buy anything that is not necessary. I don't want to buy just for the sake of buying.
for example - why should i buy 8 core CPU when all 8 cores are not used/needed right?

I currently have a dysfunctional Dell studio 15 with 1st gen i5 processor, 4GB RAm and 1GB AMD Radeon 5470 GPU.

AwesomeFX · Nov 10, 2013

prudhvirazz :

Watch this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPIXAtNGGCw

Then my recommendation

i5 4670K
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
Gigabyte Z87 UD3 motherboard
128 Gb SSD
1 Tb HDD
Corsair 600W PSU
G.Skill or Patriot 1600 Mhz RAM 8 Gb
Nvidia GTX 760 or AMD 7950
Cheap DVD/CD ROM
Fans, many
Windows 7 Home <Grade>
(Pick your own cabinet)

This will max all games for you with 60 FPS+ (Except Far Cry 3 and higher res than 1080p)

AwesomeFX · Nov 10, 2013

Also for gaming, general rules

CPU: Four cores, high clock speed, at least 4mb cache, ALWAYS Intel if budget allows it
GPU: 2 Gb GDDR5 memory for 1080p, Nvidia is slightly better than AMD, AMD GPUs don't have PhysX and uses CPU power (don't combine AMD GPU and AMD CPU for gaming lol)
Storage: 128 Gb for OS and most played games + drivers, mechanical for everything else (pictures, music, rarely used/not important programs)
Motherboard: Gigabyte, ASUS or MSI. Gigabyte is best price/quality wise, check all expansion slots so that you get the model that best suits your needs
RAM: Check benchmarks, all that matters, G.Skill RipjawsX, Corsair Dominator and Patriot usually on top. Not more than 1600Mhz
OS: Everything above Home Premium is a waste for gaming
PSU: Corsair, Seasonic, XFX, always have 20% more available than maximum draw

prudhvirazz · Nov 11, 2013

AwesomeFX :

thank you Awesomefx for quick reply. but I don't think it fits the budget. I need monitor with audio output also. any alternative builds? 800-1000$

Beezy · Nov 11, 2013

prudhvirazz :

AwesomeFX :

thank you Awesomefx for quick reply. but I don't think it fits the budget. I need monitor with audio output also. any alternative builds? 800-1000$

i5 instead of i7. better graphics card instead

prudhvirazz · Nov 11, 2013

I agree i5 instead of i7.

Like I have mentioned already. I don't know how to choose a better GPU. can you suggest one?

Beezy · Nov 11, 2013

prudhvirazz :

hmm depending on where youre willing to cut costs, you have 70$ more going with i5 vs the i7, so you could get the 660 ti boost? or a radeon hd 7870
or if you reallly want a great GPU get a gtx 770

prudhvirazz · Nov 14, 2013

I'm flattered that TH community left the decision to me.

But I am not that good in this area.

May be I need to be a bit specific here.

Approximate Purchase Date: e.g.: Most probably Jan 14 if not Apr 14. Its said "warlords of Draenor" may get released sooner than we expect. So want to gen it to the groove before it gets released.

Budget Range: 800-1000 $

System Usage from Most to Least Important: gaming, surfing the internet, watching movies, work (seldom)

Are you buying a monitor: Yes

Parts to Upgrade: Need to buy everything new except Keyboard and Mouse

Do you need to buy OS: Yes

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com, pcpartpicker.com or I shall buy from flipkart.com or any local store.

Location: City, State/Region, Country - Bangalore/Hyderabad, India

Parts Preferences: No specific preference

Overclocking: Maybe, if needed for gaming.

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe (don't know what this means)

Monitor Resolution: Need 1440x900 or above

Additional Comments: Can't tolerate any heating issues. should be flexible for further upgrades in future. I mostly play "WOW" and FPS games like Far cry, COD etc. I want to play these games in at least good settings if not Ultra.

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: Dysfunctional Dell Studio 1558. Worst Laptop ever.

I am grateful for the previous responses but that was over my budget. I need to fit in the monitor too in 800-1000$ . I have a old monitor TFT monitor, but i dont want to use that any more.

I have already tried to pick parts my self several times. But I don't know how pick half the parts. By the time I pick 2 parts ( CPU+MoBo) half my budget is already spent. I am breaking my head here literally.

Any build suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

rolandzhang3 · Nov 15, 2013

They're right, an i5 is more than sufficient for gaming

Prices in India tend to be much higher than other places so part picking would be difficult

CPU: i5-4670k, it's more than sufficient for gaming, get the i7 if you ware video rendering/editing/photoshopping which would benefit from the hyperthreading technology

CPU Cooler choices: CM Hyper 212 EVO, Xigmatek GAIA, Phanteks PH-TC12DX

Motherboard choices: ASRock Z87 Pro3, ASRock Z87 Extreme3 or if you can extend your budget enough, the Asus Z87-A

Memory: any 2x4gb DDR3-1600 kit with a CAS latency of 9 or so should be sufficient, preferrably G.Skill

HDD: WD Caviar Blue 1TB 7200RPM drive, 120GB SSD if possible

GPU choices (the expensive ones): At the very least I'd recommend a GTX 660/Radeon 7870/270x, if you can extend your budget a little, then the GTX 760 or Radeon 7950, above that would be the 280x/7970 and GTX 770

Power Supply: An XFX/Antec/Seasonic/EVGA/OCZ/Corsair TX series 650W PSU should be fine for any of those cards

Case: go with what you can afford, the Bitfenix Shinobi cases look very stylish

prudhvirazz · Nov 15, 2013

That's more like it.

Let me try this build and get back.

Thank you very much. RolandZhang3.

rolandzhang3 · Nov 15, 2013

Good luck with whatever you can find

Sadly I've seen some very high prices there so you could also consider these, which are great for overclockers

CPU: FX 6300 or 8320 if possible
Motherboard: AMD 970 chipset

Clock speed isn't everything, intel has much better singlethreaded performance so its quad cores can go toe to toe with AMD's 8 cores

prudhvirazz · Nov 15, 2013

Guess what I found most of the parts. 762$ so far. Coverted to $ for your convenience. Chose MSI 970A-G46 Motherboard because it has both SLI and XFire, I may want to upgrade in future. rest all are as suggested.

CPU:
AMD 3.5 GHz AM3 FX 8320 8 Core Piledriver Processor 169$
http://www.flipkart.com/amd-3-5-ghz-am3-fx-8320-8-core-piledriver-processor/p/itmdgh4ctftqmpfd?pid=PSRDGH4CZHPW2VX8&ref=746a1a17-4e21-44b2-94a1-e0e9eb2717b7

GPU:
ZOTAC NVIDIA GeForce GTX660 2GB 2 GB DDR5 Graphics Card 253$
http://www.flipkart.com/zotac-nvidia-geforce-gtx660-2gb-2-gb-ddr5-graphics-card/p/itmddmmkmjdcbmqz?pid=GRCDDMMGFJYNGYGN

MoBo:
MSI 970A-G46 Motherboard 103$
http://www.flipkart.com/msi-970a-g46-motherboard/p/itmdekmk679pspch?pid=MBDDEKGRUZP8W2AP

RAM:
G.Skill Sniper DDR3 1600 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) PC RAM 9-9-9-24-2N CAS Latency 112$
http://www.flipkart.com/g-skill-sniper-ddr3-8-gb-2-x-4-gb-pc-ram-f3-12800cl9d-8gbsr/p/itmd2rysgnzymxvq?pid=RAMD2RYRXMDFERF6

PSU:
Antec VP650P 650 Watts PSU 79$
http://www.flipkart.com/antec-vp650p-650-watts-psu/p/itmdcxzu4snkuumg?pid=PSUDCXVM7RVRXJHN

Cooler:
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO Cooler 46$
http://www.flipkart.com/cooler-master-hyper-212-evo/p/itmd7pfht3crxtnf?pid=COLD7PFHHUXGKHZW

Pending items:
Monitor: Preferably 21.5" - 23" 1920x1080. audio output a must
OS: Windows 8. I don't get any quotes for this. why so?
Case: Prefer a flexible case. I may want to upgrade it in future.
Hard disk: WD Caviar Blue 1TB 7200RPM drive is out-of-stock. So I can to choose something else. not a big deal.

Can you suggest on these 3 items?

rolandzhang3 · Nov 15, 2013

These motherboards would be worth looking into

http://www.flipkart.com/asus-m5a97-le-motherboard/p/itmdzazztvxqmxfz?pid=MBDDKZRDGYYSRFEH&otracker=from-search&srno=t_1&query=970&ref=e1000f04-2654-46b5-82a2-6822de13e0fc
http://www.flipkart.com/gigabyte-ga-970a-ds3-motherboard/p/itmdegdcpjujfrsc?pid=MBDDEG8JCM2W6Z7S&otracker=from-search&srno=t_3&query=970&ref=e1000f04-2654-46b5-82a2-6822de13e0fc

Can't help you with monitors but I'd stick with Windows 7 64 bit for now and migrate to 8 in the future

Take a look at some coolermaster/Bitfenix cases

AwesomeFX · Nov 16, 2013

prudhvirazz :

Stop recommending AMD 8-core to a guy who only uses 2 cores.

Also, we also know that AMD processors sucks.

rolandzhang3 · Nov 16, 2013

You think he'll only use 2 cores for Far Cry 3? that game will be held back by a dual core

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-processor-frame-rate-performance,3427-5.html

http://www.techspot.com/review/615-far-cry-3-performance/page6.html

Games use more than 2 cores today, in the case of BF4 and other upcoming games they'll start utilizing more cores as well

The FX 8320 is a decent CPU, posting hate comments isn't going to help anyone

Really if you need to save some cash, go with an FX 6300 with a nice CPU cooler and overclock it

The only AMD processors that sucked were probably the Bulldozer line in recent years

Look at BF4 for example (the 8320 is only a lower clocked 8350)

http--www.gamegpu.ru-images-stories-Test_GPU-Action-Battlefield_4-test-bf4_proz_2.jpg

Not too bad

AwesomeFX · Nov 16, 2013

rolandzhang3 :

But again, only better performance in BF4 and FC3, everywhere else he'll suffer

rolandzhang3 · Nov 16, 2013

But at their price point, especially in somewhere like India where prices are fairly high you wouldn't have that many choices

The 4670k and a z87 motherboard would obviously be the gamer's favourite choice, but he has a tight budget in a country with high prices unfortunately

If you can't find the Caviar Black then a Hitachi drive wouldn't be a bad choice either

Beezy · Nov 18, 2013

Stop recommending AMD 8-core to a guy who only uses 2 cores.

Also, we also know that AMD processors sucks.[/quotemsg]

AMD does not suck...Intel may have been the standard once upon a time, but ATM the moment AMD is gaining momentum and growing still. BTW my fx-6300 piledriver CPU overclocked slightly outperforms core i5 3XXX and beat out some mobile versions of the i7 chip in cinibench

prudhvirazz · Nov 18, 2013

I'm especially interested in WOW and some other games like FarCry, COD etc

How many cores are used in these games?

Also should I go for AMD GPU? I want to XFire / SLI in future.

This CPU + MoBo combination allows only SLI.

MSI 970A-G46 is the only MoBo I found which suports both SLI and XFire, but it has some bad reviews.

rolandzhang3 · Nov 18, 2013

At the you should get a quad core such as the i5 for gaming, for AMD I would get the FX 6300 at the very least

The Asus board I linked allows for Crossfire, so you could stick with getting an AMD GPU if you want a decent board

prudhvirazz · Nov 19, 2013

Just realized how high are prices on flipkart.com

Just for a GPU there is difference of ~100$ Flipkart.com vs Newegg.com

Same for CPUs and MoBos also.

Is it possible that my friend can buy these part for me in US and bring it to US when he comes down to India?

or else I should go check some local stores and see what's the best deal.

prudhvirazz · Nov 19, 2013

BTW I completed the Build and the total cost crossed 1200$ where my budget was 800-1000$

prudhvirazz · Nov 19, 2013

Here is the Final Build.

If its good to go ahead I will see where can I get the best deal.

Total 911.89 $ after rebates. 1035.89 $ without rebates.

Monitor: Asus VH238H - 139.99 $ (20 $ rebate)
CPU: AMD FX-6300 - 117.97 $
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 ATX AM3+ - 104.99 $ (25 $ rebate)
GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 660 2GB Video Card - 179.99 $ (20 $ rebate)
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 - 76.99 $
PSU: EVGA SuperNOVA 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX - 69.99 $ (20 $ rebate)
Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing - 29.98 $ (5 $ rebate)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM - 59.98 $
OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) - 89.00 $
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case - 49.99 $ (20 $ rebate)

Few questions:

1. It says GPU has a fan(s). But doesn't tell how many. Assuming it has only 1 fan. Is it OK if it has one fan or shall I go for GPU with 2/3 fans since this is factory OCed.
2. Should I add for 2/3 case fans? I will be over clocking and in future may go for SLI. I have low tolerance towards heating issues.
3. Is any other OS version available other than OEM? I have a bad feeling about OEM version.
4. Is Mid Tower ok for future upgradability? SLI, Adding more RAMs etc

I know these are not the prices in India. If my plan to get CPU + GPU + MoBo from US with my friend's help fails, I may have to tone down a bit on Monitor, GPU (no OC), PSU and RAM to fit the budget. A year later hopefully I won't have to worry about money much.

Thanks very much for your patience.

rolandzhang3 · Nov 19, 2013

1. That's a reference cooler, I'd suggest getting an aftermarket design with dual fans and heatpipes (vapour chamber if possible)
2. Add as many fans as you want as long as your mobo has enough spare 3 pin or 4 pin fan headers as exhaust or intake, it seems that the motherboard supports a CPU fan, two case fans and a power fan, so it'd be best to purchase additional fans after installation to see how many spare headers are left
3. Yes, but that'd be expensive
4. Mid tower is alright for future expandability, full tower is probably what most would have for multi GPUs and room for a lot of additional fans

Don't tone down the PSU or GPU, they're extremely important parts for gaming

prudhvirazz · Nov 20, 2013

Excellent !!

Thank you Very much.

Want to build a gaming desktop under 1000 $

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