How much should a first time buyer spend on a gaming PC?

BboyDfresh · Jan 3, 2014

So I've been contemplating and procrastinating building a PC for a while now, but after talking with my bank I can finally afford to build my own PC. My limit per month is $1500. I plan to play BF4, BF3, Skyrim, and FIFA 14 on this machine. I'm not sure whether to spend the $1500 or save money and go with a $1000-$1200 build. For my gaming needs, what budget would you recommend? Note I live in Canada.

AMD-FX · Jan 3, 2014

For your first, an $800 - $1000 budget would be best.

BboyDfresh · Jan 3, 2014

AMD-FX :

http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/user/BboyDfresh/saved/2sge

How's this? I know it's a little over but I'm happy, but what's your opinion?

zemiak · Jan 3, 2014

It looks great to me, as long as that is everything that you need, and you already have mouse/keyboard/monitor etc

tiny voices · Jan 3, 2014

BboyDfresh :

The GPU is too weak for the rest of the build. Save $50-$70 on the motherboard and Change the GPU to a gtx770. This will make the computer MUCH more powerful for gaming.

zemiak · Jan 3, 2014

Try this: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/parts/partlist/

tiny voices · Jan 3, 2014

zemiak :

Wrong link. You need to copy and paste the permalink.

zemiak · Jan 3, 2014

Oh I know that...just copied the wrong link, damn. Here: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/2vfKN

tiny voices · Jan 3, 2014

zemiak :

Change the PSU to this and you are good to go. http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/antec-power-supply-hcg620m

zemiak · Jan 3, 2014

Yep, here you go: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/2vhaO

tiny voices · Jan 4, 2014

zemiak :

Perfect, this is what I would do.

BboyDfresh · Jan 4, 2014

Forgot about the Wifi adapter.
http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/user/BboyDfresh/saved/3kul

blade of grass · Jan 4, 2014

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($281.67 @ Newegg Canada)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87X-D3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($157.82 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($90.38 @ Memory Express)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($67.78 @ DirectCanada)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card ($327.68 @ Memory Express)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WDN4800 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($46.99 @ DirectCanada)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($61.79 @ DirectCanada)
Power Supply: Silverstone Strider 600W 80+ Silver Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($111.89 @ DirectCanada)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($17.84 @ DirectCanada)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - OEM (64-bit) ($106.08 @ DirectCanada)
Total: $1269.92
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-04 10:14 EST-0500)

That's personally what I would go for. MSI's 760 Hawk is currently the best performing 760. Also, the 760 is the best bang for your buck card ATM.
One thing you have to concider when buying parts is "Will you ever want to use this again?".

Gigabytes motherboards perform great and look nice too. 'nuff said.

I find that alot of the time when people buy these cheap, non-modular PSU, they end up going out and buying a more expensive one down the road, spending more than double on their power supply when they could of just spent the little extra to get the better one (i.e. you buy a Corsair CX4 PSU, then later on you go and buy an a SeaSonic X-Series, meanwhile the SeaSonic one might only cost $30 more).

TP-Link's WDN4800 is a really nice 802.11n wireless card, I currently have one and it's awesome

BboyDfresh · Jan 4, 2014

blade of grass :

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($281.67 @ Newegg Canada)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87X-D3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($157.82 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($90.38 @ Memory Express)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($67.78 @ DirectCanada)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card ($327.68 @ Memory Express)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WDN4800 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($46.99 @ DirectCanada)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($61.79 @ DirectCanada)
Power Supply: Silverstone Strider 600W 80+ Silver Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($111.89 @ DirectCanada)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($17.84 @ DirectCanada)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - OEM (64-bit) ($106.08 @ DirectCanada)
Total: $1269.92
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-04 10:14 EST-0500)

That's personally what I would go for. MSI's 760 Hawk is currently the best performing 760. Also, the 760 is the best bang for your buck card ATM.
One thing you have to concider when buying parts is "Will you ever want to use this again?".

Gigabytes motherboards perform great and look nice too. 'nuff said.

I find that alot of the time when people buy these cheap, non-modular PSU, they end up going out and buying a more expensive one down the road, spending more than double on their power supply when they could of just spent the little extra to get the better one (i.e. you buy a Corsair CX4 PSU, then later on you go and buy an a SeaSonic X-Series, meanwhile the SeaSonic one might only cost $30 more).

TP-Link's WDN4800 is a really nice 802.11n wireless card, I currently have one and it's awesome

Unfortunately, the HAWK is sold out at that price. The next price is $312, which I'm not really willing to pay lol

blade of grass · Jan 4, 2014

BboyDfresh :

blade of grass :

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($281.67 @ Newegg Canada)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87X-D3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($157.82 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($90.38 @ Memory Express)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($67.78 @ DirectCanada)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card ($327.68 @ Memory Express)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WDN4800 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($46.99 @ DirectCanada)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($61.79 @ DirectCanada)
Power Supply: Silverstone Strider 600W 80+ Silver Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($111.89 @ DirectCanada)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($17.84 @ DirectCanada)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - OEM (64-bit) ($106.08 @ DirectCanada)
Total: $1269.92
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-04 10:14 EST-0500)

That's personally what I would go for. MSI's 760 Hawk is currently the best performing 760. Also, the 760 is the best bang for your buck card ATM.
One thing you have to concider when buying parts is "Will you ever want to use this again?".

Gigabytes motherboards perform great and look nice too. 'nuff said.

I find that alot of the time when people buy these cheap, non-modular PSU, they end up going out and buying a more expensive one down the road, spending more than double on their power supply when they could of just spent the little extra to get the better one (i.e. you buy a Corsair CX4 PSU, then later on you go and buy an a SeaSonic X-Series, meanwhile the SeaSonic one might only cost $30 more).

TP-Link's WDN4800 is a really nice 802.11n wireless card, I currently have one and it's awesome

Unfortunately, the HAWK is sold out at that price. The next price is $312, which I'm not really willing to pay lol

That sucks.

BboyDfresh · Jan 4, 2014

blade of grass :

BboyDfresh :

blade of grass :

Unfortunately, the HAWK is sold out at that price. The next price is $312, which I'm not really willing to pay lol

That sucks.

So what would you suggest? Just wait or choose a different GPU?

blade of grass · Jan 4, 2014

BboyDfresh :

blade of grass :

BboyDfresh :

That sucks.

So what would you suggest? Just wait or choose a different GPU?

You can always order it and wait abit. Newegg has it on sale top and in Stock

How much should a first time buyer spend on a gaming PC?

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