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Suggestions for a ~$700 USD gaming system

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March 21, 2014 4:37:17 PM

Building a new system for a buddy of mine. He's wanting to start playing Starcraft II and wants the finest gaming system ~$700 can buy. He's really not much of a PC enthusiast, so it's doubtful he's really going to want to tinker with overclocking or anything, so components that are good value at stock settings are preferred. He already picked out a Micro-ATX case that he liked the look of ($50) and got a copy of Windows 7 ($80) so for the remaining components we've got ~$570 to work with.

He's not planning on storing much of a video library either, so I was thinking an SSD might be nice. (Maybe this 240GB for $110.) We can snag whatever DVD burner is cheap for no more than $20.

So remaining components I need help selecting:
- CPU (don't plan on OCing)
- Motherboard (mATX)
- RAM, 8GB is nice if it fits in the budget (once I know CPU and mobo, I can probably figure this out)
- Graphics card
- PSU

And a ~$440 budget for those components. What do you fellows suggest?

More about : suggestions 700 usd gaming system

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March 21, 2014 4:48:01 PM

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3e1Nb
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3e1Nb/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3e1Nb/benchmarks/

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2 Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($47.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card ($159.99 @ Best Buy)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Micro Center)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer ($15.99 @ Micro Center)
Total: $438.94
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March 21, 2014 4:57:24 PM

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3e22V
CPU: AMD Athlon X2 340
GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX750Ti
RAM: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB
Motherboard: Asus A85XM-A
PSU: Corsair CX430M
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
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March 21, 2014 5:02:09 PM

I wouldn't recommend you to get a SSD with that budget, because those $110 could be for a better CPU or GPU.

With that budget, I think an AMD FX is a good choice. The FX-6300 (3.5GHz, six cores) is a decent CPU for gaming. The build has 8GB RAM as you wanted, and it is dual channel (2x4GB) which is faster than only 1x8GB. The HD 7770 GHz Edition is a good GPU for the budget, in my opinion. It's from ASUS, which is a great Nvidia GPU manufacturer.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($44.99 @ Micro Center)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Asus Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB Video Card ($149.98 @ OutletPC)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($71.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $441.94
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-21 20:00 EDT-0400)

If your friend needs a HDD, he can get a 500GB-1TB HDD for less than $60. Though you said he doesn't need it.
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March 21, 2014 5:04:24 PM

Oops, I forgot the Optical Drive. It's $15 anyways, so it isn't a huge difference.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($44.99 @ Micro Center)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Asus Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB Video Card ($149.98 @ OutletPC)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($71.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($15.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $457.92
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-21 20:03 EDT-0400)
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March 21, 2014 6:12:58 PM

I was leaning toward the FX-6300 at first as well. Is it a good choice even if he doesn't decide to OC though? We can always knock off the SSD if it would be a big benefit to divvy up the ~$50 extra elsewhere. So let's say another $50 was added to the budget for the same components. (~$490 total.) What would you change?
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March 21, 2014 6:19:15 PM

honestly I'd keep the SSD. a 6300 and 750ti can max out moderate games at 1080p no problem. An extra $50 would most likely just get you an amd 270 or similar GPU. There's not much point in putting it anywhere else.
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March 21, 2014 6:19:51 PM

I ran my system without an SSD for 4 years and added one this past year. I'll never own a computer without one again.
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March 22, 2014 8:59:36 PM

I went with your suggestion, woltej1, save for the motherboard where I selected the one JustANewUser proposed, since the case has USB 3.0 ports. Thanks for the input, everyone!
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