Buying a pre-built PC for Gaming

ptrickono · Oct 5, 2014

Hi,

Recently I decided it is time to get my first gaming PC however I do not know much about building computers or really which PC is worth the price. I have found one PC (see attached link) and was wondering if this PC is worth the price or if I could build one with better specs for less? Or if you guys know of any other PC's that are out there please feel free to let me know, I do however have a budge of $1000!
Living in Canada.
Thank you!

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227578

Vexillarius · Oct 5, 2014

The specs of that PC say that is has an Intel i5 and a motherboard with an AMD 760G chipset. That's either a mistake, or something's fishy here. Intel CPUs and AMD mobo's don't mix.

Jacob999 · Oct 5, 2014

What does your budget include? Monitor, mouse, keyboard? etc.

ptrickono · Oct 5, 2014

Vexillarius :

Hmm I didnt know that, do you know of anyway to actually find out whats going on here?

ptrickono · Oct 5, 2014

Jacob999 :

I actually already have all of that so it is just for parts.

DonkeyOatie · Oct 5, 2014

One way to help yourself it to go to pcpartpicker and use the system specifications to create the same build and find out what the difference in price is.

Once you have the build, you can swap out parts and see just how good you could get for your budget

For example, for your $1000 budget, you might be able to get a GTX 970 in it instead.

You can always (nearly) build a better spec one yourself (provided you don't make allowances for the cost of your own time) because you can configure it with exactly what you need (or want)

The free game pack makes a difference only if you really WANT them.

Vexillarius · Oct 5, 2014

ptrickono :

Easiest thing to do would be to send the builder an email, or give them a call.

You could also buy loose parts and offer a computer shop $50-100 to assemble it for you if you don't want to build the system yourself. You can get exactly what you want and it'll probably be cheaper. We can help you out with picking the parts.

ptrickono · Oct 5, 2014

Vexillarius :

Okay, I was looking at that website pcpicker that DonkeyOatie mentioned but I find it kind of overwhelming because there are so many options..For instance how do I know what motherboard I will need or memory etc. Because all of the prebuilt PC's that I have looked at dont go that in depth with detail. Any suggestions?

Wolfshadw · Oct 5, 2014

If at all possible, you never want to purchase a pre-built system. The one thing you need to remember is that companies that build "gaming" systems like this are still in the business to make money. If they're not making money on the system, itself, they have to be making is somewhere, and my guess would be system support. When something goes wrong, you have to pay them to fix it.

Using as many identical parts as I could the the system you linked, here's a self build and cost:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($197.95 @ Vuugo)
Motherboard: ASRock H81M-HDS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($57.00 @ Vuugo)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($79.99 @ Memory Express)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($57.99 @ Canada Computers)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 760 2GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($249.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Case: Thermaltake Chaser A21 ATX Mid Tower Case ($54.95 @ Vuugo)
Power Supply: Apex 500W ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ NCIX)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer ($24.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($99.79 @ DirectCanada)
Total: $862.62
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-05 10:51 EDT-0400

As you can see, the price is actually pretty close (before $50 mail-in rebates), but this is not a system I would build. For something in the $910 range, I'd probably look at building something like this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($227.98 @ DirectCanada)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H87-D3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($79.99 @ Memory Express)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($79.99 @ Memory Express)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($57.99 @ Canada Computers)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 270X 2GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($209.95 @ Vuugo)
Case: Antec VSK-4000 ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 620W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($74.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer ($15.99 @ Canada Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($99.79 @ DirectCanada)
Keyboard: Logitech MK120 Wired Slim Keyboard w/Optical Mouse ($14.99 @ NCIX)
Total: $901.63
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-05 11:03 EDT-0400

And don't worry about building it yourself. If you can manage a phillips screwdriver and maybe a flashlight, you won't have any problems. There are literally thousands of build your own videos available online to help you should you need it.

-Wolf sends

Jacob999 · Oct 5, 2014

I have made this PC for you: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/4LCJNG it has great graphics and some overclocking potential. The motherboard has room for 32gb of ram, and the GPU is going to be good for atleast another 4/5 years.

Putting together a PC is extreamly easy if you have the patience to learn. New egg has a great tutorial on their YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPIXAtNGGCw

Vexillarius · Oct 5, 2014

Here's what I came up with. It includes an OS (if you already have one let me know, we can upgrade this build quite a bit with the savings) and you'll have some money left to pay someone to assemble it.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($225.98 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($28.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($137.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($75.60 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($53.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 280X 3GB DirectCU II Video Card ($237.30 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($44.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit) ($90.26 @ OutletPC)
Total: $940.06
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-05 11:06 EDT-0400

EDIT: If you don't want to overclock you can go with a different CPU and mobo and upgrade the GPU.

DonkeyOatie · Oct 5, 2014

ptrickono :

That's what floats OUR boats, the vicarious pleasure of helping others build systems we might like to have

You will get a much better system AND learn a lot too.

There are a lot of guides on this site.

I am a Middle School teacher and several of my 12 - 14 year-old students are working on their own builds. (The questions about which will soon appear in this site) They will build them themselves.

This is the system we are building at the moment. The GPU has yet to be ordered.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($197.99 @ SuperBiiz)

i5 CPUs are all about GHz per $ and have four real cores as opposed to the virtual ones of i3s. i7s have features largely unneeded or unusable for gaming ATM.

Motherboard: ASRock H97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($82.98 @ Newegg)

I'm building a very compact system and I wanted WiFi and a good modern chip-set with USB 3.0 ports for improved communications.

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($75.60 @ Newegg)

8GB is plenty of memory for mid-range gaming. This set is low-latency and I'm paying a little more for that slight edge.

Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($109.97 @ SuperBiiz)

This is a Solid State Drive SSD for the operating system, applications, and scratch files which will greatly speed up system boot and remove most delays in level loading.

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($53.98 @ OutletPC)

A good cheap storage drive. I'll use an external drive too re-using some older 500Gb HDDs.

Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card ($329.98 @ NCIX US)

Hits my budget at the moment. Will choose finally when the time comes. I'm relying on HD 4600 to start with, and that is a huge improvement over what I have now !

Case: Silverstone ML07B HTPC Case ($59.99 @ Amazon)

Small case for aesthetic and space reasons. (I like Silverstone cases)

Power Supply: Silverstone Strider Gold 450W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular SFX Power Supply ($89.99 @ Amazon)

My case requires a compact SFX power supply. I went modular to aid in construction. You will probably be using a bigger case, so will have many more and cheaper choices.

Keyboard: Logitech Wireless Combo MK270 Wireless Standard Keyboard w/Optical Mouse ($20.99 @ Amazon)

Cheap, wireless, and with a mouse.

I have an OS on a broken netbook, and am using a Visio 26" HDMI tv for a 1080p monitor.

Total: $1021.47
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-05 11:21 EDT-0400

Wolfshadw · Oct 5, 2014

ptrickono - Please verify your country. The initial link you gave was Canadian.

-Wolf sends

ptrickono · Oct 5, 2014

Wolfshadw :

If at all possible, you never want to purchase a pre-built system. The one thing you need to remember is that companies that build "gaming" systems like this are still in the business to make money. If they're not making money on the system, itself, they have to be making is somewhere, and my guess would be system support. When something goes wrong, you have to pay them to fix it.

Using as many identical parts as I could the the system you linked, here's a self build and cost:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($197.95 @ Vuugo)
Motherboard: ASRock H81M-HDS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($57.00 @ Vuugo)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($79.99 @ Memory Express)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($57.99 @ Canada Computers)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 760 2GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($249.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Case: Thermaltake Chaser A21 ATX Mid Tower Case ($54.95 @ Vuugo)
Power Supply: Apex 500W ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ NCIX)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer ($24.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($99.79 @ DirectCanada)
Total: $862.62
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-05 10:51 EDT-0400

As you can see, the price is actually pretty close (before $50 mail-in rebates), but this is not a system I would build. For something in the $910 range, I'd probably look at building something like this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($227.98 @ DirectCanada)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H87-D3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($79.99 @ Memory Express)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($79.99 @ Memory Express)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($57.99 @ Canada Computers)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 270X 2GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($209.95 @ Vuugo)
Case: Antec VSK-4000 ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 620W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($74.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer ($15.99 @ Canada Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($99.79 @ DirectCanada)
Keyboard: Logitech MK120 Wired Slim Keyboard w/Optical Mouse ($14.99 @ NCIX)
Total: $901.63
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-05 11:03 EDT-0400

And don't worry about building it yourself. If you can manage a phillips screwdriver and maybe a flashlight, you won't have any problems. There are literally thousands of build your own videos available online to help you should you need it.

-Wolf sends

I am curious why you would choose the second build over the first? I can see that the processor is faster but is the graphics card that much better? I have only had experience with Radeon graphics cards before and I have not been very pleased this is however with a few laptops.

ptrickono · Oct 5, 2014

Vexillarius :

Here's what I came up with. It includes an OS (if you already have one let me know, we can upgrade this build quite a bit with the savings) and you'll have some money left to pay someone to assemble it.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($225.98 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($28.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($137.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($75.60 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($53.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 280X 3GB DirectCU II Video Card ($237.30 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($44.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit) ($90.26 @ OutletPC)
Total: $940.06
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-05 11:06 EDT-0400

EDIT: If you don't want to overclock you can go with a different CPU and mobo and upgrade the GPU.

I dont plan on overclocking and I do need an OS.

voyboyfan · Oct 5, 2014

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($134.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1066 Memory ($77.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($53.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB ACX Video Card ($329.98 @ NCIX US)
Case: Zalman Z11 Plus ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts Platinum 650W 80+ Platinum Certified ATX Power Supply ($91.31 @ Amazon)
Total: $958.25
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-05 11:23 EDT-0400

Wolfshadw · Oct 5, 2014

I'd choose the second build over the first because I spent more money on more important components and less money on less important parts. What I didn't spend on the graphics card and case went towards a better processor, motherboard and power supply. Tom's Hardware places the Radeon R9-270x on equal pairing with the Geforce GTX 760 (Best GPU for the Money - Hierarchy Chart), so you're not losing too much there, but you are gaining in quality components.

-Wolf sends

ptrickono · Oct 5, 2014

Wolfshadw :

I am living in Canada, I just updated the question.

Vexillarius · Oct 5, 2014

Canada. That complicated things a bit.

I can just squeeze in a GTX970:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($197.95 @ Vuugo)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($69.00 @ Vuugo)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($88.98 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($57.99 @ Canada Computers)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB ACX Video Card ($369.99 @ Memory Express)
Case: Thermaltake VL80001W2Z ATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ NCIX)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ NCIX)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer ($18.79 @ DirectCanada)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit) ($108.34 @ TigerDirect Canada)
Total: $986.02
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-05 11:33 EDT-0400

Adinathjuparkar · Oct 5, 2014

Hey my suggestion is you just go and do some study on all the parts of pc and and learn the basic things and then just make a list of some parts wich you would like to use and then just select the best from that list and then order it and fix it and over

voyboyfan · Oct 5, 2014

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($247.75 @ Vuugo)
Motherboard: ASRock H77M Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($82.05 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($83.87 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($53.98 @ DirectCanada)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB ACX Video Card ($369.99 @ Memory Express)
Case: Zalman Z11 ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Memory Express)
Power Supply: Rosewill Capstone 450W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($78.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($15.79 @ DirectCanada)
Total: $982.40
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-05 11:43 EDT-0400

ptrickono · Oct 5, 2014

Wolfshadw :

Vexillarius :

I really like the looks of this. The only thing I am curious about is for lets say future upgrades if its needed will the motherboard be able to support that?

Vexillarius · Oct 5, 2014

The mobo will support Broadwell CPUs. K-series CPUs won't be able to be overclocked with a H97 motherboard though.

The mobo does not support SLI or Crossfire, but it will support single card upgrades.

DonkeyOatie · Oct 5, 2014

This system has a life of about three years, where upon you will strip everything usable and start again.

The first major upgrade will be adding a SSD for OS, scratch, applications, and level-loading.

sanzhbz · Oct 5, 2014

Build it your self. Its not hard at all. The hardest part its the cable management and the little cables (5) from the front of the case. For that money you can get a 4690k z97 gtx970 ect.

Buying a pre-built PC for Gaming

Honorable

Reputable

Honorable

Honorable

Honorable

Champion

Reputable

Honorable

Titan

Honorable

Reputable

Champion

Titan

Honorable

Honorable

Honorable

Titan

Honorable

Reputable

Reputable

Honorable

Honorable

Reputable

Champion

Reputable

Share this page