Pre-Med College Student Looking for New Gaming PC

Zarotu · Dec 22, 2013

Approximate Purchase Date: By January 1st

Budget Range: Around $600 or less would be preferred

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming

Are you buying a monitor: Yes

Parts to Upgrade: N/A

Do you need to buy OS: Yes

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: My friend has a Prime membership for Amazon, so that might be helpful

Location: Honolulu, Hawaii

Parts Preferences: Any is fine

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: Unsure

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: A flashy case seems nice, but which ever case provides the best function would be better. I also would like to somehow add wifi to the desktop so I can place the computer in my room.

Sakkura · Dec 22, 2013

Here's what I would suggest, goes just slightly over $600. It has a decent budget/mainstream graphics card, and you can add in a better CPU cooler later on and overclock.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($109.99 @ TigerDirect)
Motherboard: Asus M5A97 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($68.00 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7790 1GB Video Card ($105.38 @ Newegg)
Case: Antec One ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($17.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($88.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $605.28
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-22 18:37 EST-0500)

g-unit1111 · Dec 22, 2013

Slightly over budget but much better PSU, GPU, and CPU:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6350 3.9GHz 6-Core Processor ($139.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock 970 Extreme3 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($83.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R7 260X 2GB Video Card ($145.38 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 620W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($75.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $628.29
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-22 19:17 EST-0500)

Don't get a "flashy" case as they're generally made by terrible vendors.

Sakkura · Dec 22, 2013

g-unit1111 :

Yeah, but no operating system. Unless you want to go Linux.

Zarotu · Dec 22, 2013

Thanks for the help! Is Windows 7 better than Windows 8? I have Windows 8 on my laptop, but it seems as though touchscreen is the only reason to have Windows 8. I could go with the second range, provided I find an operating system. Do you guys think the second is better in terms of cost?

I also check http://www.game-debate.com/gpu/index.php?gid=1865&gid2=1733&compare=radeon-r7-260x-vs-radeon-hd-7790-sapphire-dual-x-oc-edition and it seems as though HD 7790 is better?

Sakkura · Dec 22, 2013

I wouldn't say it's better. The basic features of Windows 8 are similar, but with various minor improvements. The UI is to some extent a matter of personal preference. I just picked it because it happened to be a few dollars cheaper than (64-bit) Windows 8.

The HD 7790 and R7 260X use the same GPU. So the difference is tiny; the 260X does have more memory, but it wouldn't necessarily make a difference. The 7790 will probably run out of GPU processing power at roughly the same point it runs out of memory.
Also... don't put too much faith in sites like that. They can be very inaccurate in some cases.

As for the two systems... the second one is better, but not by that much. Slower memory at a higher price is one rather silly decision, and the FX-6350 is just a 6300 with higher stock clocks (which is rather pointless since you can just overclock the 6300). The Seasonic power supply is higher quality, but 620W is pretty much overkill here.

g-unit1111 · Dec 22, 2013

Sakkura :

Most people usually don't include OS in the budget.

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Pre-Med College Student Looking for New Gaming PC

Zarotu

Honorable

Sakkura

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g-unit1111

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Sakkura

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Sakkura

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g-unit1111

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