Budget gaming PC for university.

GlenicoNico

Honorable
Dec 19, 2013
458
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10,960
As stated above, I'm going to uni soon and I need a new gaming system. My current system is not too bad, it can run BF4 (lowest settings) at a solid 50FPS.

My budget is $1000, can you guys give recommendations of which part to buy? I want this build to be an Intel & Nvidia build (AMD CPU/GPU seems to give more heat output). I don't really care what the form factor is, whether it's m-ITX, m-ATX, or ATX. Please list the parts in pcpartpiker if possible.

Current specs:
MacBook Pro 15" (Late 2011 non-retina).
Boot Camp: Windows 8.1 (64-bit)
Intel Core i7 2860QM @2.5 (3.7 boost).
AMD Radeon HD 6770M 1GB.
8GB RAM.
1TB HDD.





This is a totally non-related question:

Do you guys know how to fix the "memory leak" in BF4?
 
Solution
If you have the OS, Monitor, Keyboard, then I'd consider this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4430 3.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($185.56 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI B85M-G43 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($74.49 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($74.70 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial M500 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($66.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($56.19 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Superclocked ACX Video Card ($499.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($44.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($47.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1050.90
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-09 22:12 EDT-0400)

If you want to include the Monitor and OS into the $1k budget then:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4430 3.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($185.56 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI B85M-G43 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($74.49 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($74.70 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($56.19 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 770 2GB ACX Video Card ($329.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($44.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($47.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Monitor: Acer G227HQLbi 60Hz 21.5" Monitor ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1023.89
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-09 22:16 EDT-0400)
 
Solution

IRONBATMAN

Honorable
Here
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($144.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock 970 Extreme3 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($56.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 270 2GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($154.00 @ Newegg)
Case: Rosewill Galaxy-02 ATX Mid Tower Case ($36.49 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus VE247H 23.6" Monitor ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WDN4800 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($38.57 @ Amazon)
Keyboard: Cooler Master CM Storm Devastator Gaming Bundle Wired Gaming Keyboard w/Optical Mouse ($27.99 @ B&H)
Total: $868.95
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-09 22:12 EDT-0400)

I've added a wireless adapter so that you can connect to the internet wirelessly and I added the CM storm Devastator Keyboard + Mouse bundle. You can chose your own peripherals.

If you wish to over clock the CPU, just buy the CM 212 Hyper Evo. It should cost $30

You can spend the rest of the money with a better GPU, but the R9 270 would get you 40++ FPS in all games at high-ultra settings.

GPU benchmarks
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CTurbo

Pizza Monster
Moderator
PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3H5VP
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3H5VP/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3H5VP/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 V3 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($244.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($79.99 @ Mwave)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial M500 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($66.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($56.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 770 2GB DirectCU II Video Card ($328.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($44.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts Green 650W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($76.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $969.89
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-09 22:16 EDT-0400)
 

GlenicoNico

Honorable
Dec 19, 2013
458
0
10,960


Thanks for the recommendation man, but I believe I mentioned "an Intel & Nvidia build". :)
 


I've read a few people have had some issues with 8 core CPU's in the 970 chipset, but I haven't personally seen it. Just something to research a bit more before using a <$80 Mobo with the FX 83xx CPU's. I'm not saying it's a bad option, but I'd research a bit more.
 

CTurbo

Pizza Monster
Moderator
AMD really not that much cheaper.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1k3Qa
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1k3Qa/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1k3Qa/benchmarks/

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($144.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.94 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock 970 Extreme3 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $239.92


PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2B4JM
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2B4JM/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2B4JM/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4570 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-D2V Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($59.79 @ Newegg)
Total: $244.78



For $5 more you get an i5 that would outperform the FX8320 no matter how much you overclock it. Sure you could take away the 212 Evo from the FX8320 and it would be $35 cheaper but then it wouldn't even be competitive.