Need Advice for Initial Gaming PC Build - $550-650

mightyredpanda · Oct 15, 2014

Hey there, I'm looking to build my first gaming rig and could use some help. I'm trying to stay in-budget, and I already have peripherals and a monitor. I want this to be able to handle most current top titles with reasonable results. Also I'd like it to be upgradable, since I know I won't be getting the "best" parts initially, and hopefully I can maximize the bang for the bucks.

Here's the parts list I've put together, any insight/advice is welcomed: http://pcpartpicker.com/user/mightyredpanda/saved/7D4Pxr

A few questions that I have:
- Is it worth shifting up to i5? If so, where would I need to pull back to keep the budget reasonable?

- I'm a mobo newbie, so is the one listed adequate? If not, what would work well for this build?

- Is a cooler necessary for this build? I know I can add one later.

I appreciate your insight and advice, thanks in advance!

Iankiller99 · Oct 15, 2014

Could use a bit more information

1. Budget & Location
You may have listed a heap of parts that all add up to your preferred budget but it is easier if you just list the total amount you'd like to spend and the currency as well as if you'd consider going above that budget for more performance. We need the location as well because $US are different to $AUD and $CAD ect.

2. Aim
What is the system going to be used for? Web browsing, 3D work? Different systems need different levels of performance - a computer based for web browsing and office use won't handle heavy graphic design and video editing and a proper video editing system isn't good for gaming. If your aim is for gaming, please list what sort of gaming. In the same way that different usage types need different systems, you'll need a lot more power to run Far Cry 3 or Crysis 2 than you would Minecraft.

mightyredpanda · Oct 15, 2014

Iankiller99 :

Thanks for the reply, here's some more info:

1)I'm in the US with a budget of $550-650 (USD)

2)This is a gaming PC build for games like Battlefield 4, Arma, etc. (hopefully games like Star Citizen/No Man's Sky in the future)

Iankiller99 · Oct 15, 2014

What quality/resolution do you want to play those games at?

mightyredpanda · Oct 15, 2014

Iankiller99 :

I want to play at 1080p. Thanks.

shafin364 · Oct 15, 2014

Do you mind buying an AMD cpu ? ( Since your budget is a little low ? )
If you dont then you can consider this build, this will give you almost 30 % - 50 % + more performance than the build you have chosen :
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Vw3dJx

Iankiller99 · Oct 15, 2014

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/WL7Zqs

Processor is cheap and great for gaming, also good overclocking headroom for more performance
760 from msi has a good cooler on it, great for 1080p gaming 60fps, comes with the usual nvidia technologies, gamestream,physx,gsync,3d vision, gpuboost 2.0, nvidia surround, check out these features here http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-760

everything else is pretty much what you had in your original build.

can always tweak this.

mightyredpanda · Oct 15, 2014

Thanks both for the builds!
I don't mind AMD for cpu, but I've read that Intel can be better overall for upgrading as well. No opinions one way or the other for nvidia or amd gpus.

Shafin, there's no case listed on yours, and Iankiller there's no psu listed on yours. Could I just combine the two and use an NZXT Source 210 Elite and an XFX 550W? Both of those seem like good choices.

Iankiller, I like the build but the price point is a bit high. Would a lower i5, like a 4440, work with that build?

shafin364 · Oct 15, 2014

mightyredpanda :

Yes you can use NZXT source Elite and an XFX 550W on my build.

If you want a gaming PC within $650 and want Core i5, its really difficult to arrange such config since Core i5 prices start from $ 160 - $170 minimum and you also have to consider on getting a better GPU than the one you have chosen.

So, sorry to say,unless you add a more $100 - $150 to your budget, you cant arrange a good combination of core i5 4th gen and a good CPU for your demanded 1080p gaming

mightyredpanda · Oct 15, 2014

shafin364 :

Shafin, i5 is not a requirement for me. One of my first questions was whether or not it was worth it in this price range to go up to i5 or look at i3. Like I said, I'm pretty flexible. Just wanting to maximize my $'s with enough value to play games well!

HomerThompson · Oct 15, 2014

No reason to go R7 265 when you go R9 270x for the same price.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/gWJRqs

Main highlights:
CPU: i5 4590
GPU: R9 270x
Cost: $636

HomerThompson · Oct 15, 2014

The original one I posted using your case wouldn't fit the R9 270x on sale, but changing the case to a Rosewill Challenger (which comes with lots of fans preinstalled) makes it work. I have since edited the post above to reflect the change.

Iankiller99 · Oct 15, 2014

mightyredpanda :

Honestly The CPU I have on there is about 60$ but I can refer you to a video showing the performance if all you are doing is gaming and basic videos/web browsing on it. I'd have to budget a cheaper gpu to add on a lower i5. Also my build does have a PSU in it. its a Corsair CX500 psu with 500watts of power. And honestly getting good 1080p performance on the latest games on a budget up to $650 is a bit hard, most times you see builds for this kind of gaming going the mini itx route with not much room for upgrades albeit it can be done. $700-$800 would maybe be ideal, if you wanted a good gpu and cpu but I personally understand not having a lot of funds. I'll see what I can do though.

Iankiller99 · Oct 15, 2014

HomerThompson :

Actually it will fit the R9 270x, he'd just have to remove a few hard drive bays from the right side, easy fix, and since he only has one drive it wont cause any problems.

HomerThompson · Oct 15, 2014

Iankiller99 :

An overclocked G3258 looks great if you're considering average framerates, but multithreaded games like Crysis 3 and Battlefield 4 have some stutter. In this video you can see pretty badly oscillating frame times for BF4 and Crysis 3, though Bioshock Infinite and Tomb Raider perform spectacularly on the dual core at 4.5 GHz.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6LUufXCPDM

I personally have a G3258 that I got up to 4.3 GHz stable on low voltage so I have tried to read up everything I could on them to decide if I should use my budget to go i5 + midlevel GPU or stick with G3258 and buy a high level GPU like a GTX 970. Based on these results I'm pretty sure I'd have to lock to 30 FPS with adaptive VSync on BF4 and Crysis 3 if I stick with the G3258 to get smooth gameplay (much more important to me than framerates near 60 FPS, though of course I'd love both).

HomerThompson · Oct 15, 2014

Iankiller99 :

HomerThompson :

Actually it will fit the R9 270x, he'd just have to remove a few hard drive bays from the right side, easy fix, and since he only has one drive it wont cause any problems.

Sounds good.

HomerThompson · Oct 15, 2014

Hmmm, you could go i5 + R9 280, though I'm not sure if that 550W PSU would be enough.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/6tHrwP

Iankiller99 · Oct 15, 2014

I'm no AMD expert and I dont claim to be, but this build is a bit lower budget but still gives you the graphics performance and gives you a better processor. Also better motherboard with USB3 headers for your front panel ports on the NZXT 210 Case, and faster memory as the better motherboard supports it.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/dB7Zqs

mightyredpanda · Oct 15, 2014

This is very enlightening for me, was unaware of all the nuances to consider. So thanks for the speedy and insightful replies!

Ok because I'm totally green and not totally following everything, I'm going to do a quick recap (y'all correct me/fill in the details):
- For somewhere around $600-650 I can get a decent build that plays graphically intensive games at moderate to high settings
- The limiting factors price-wise are the cpu and gpu
- If I don't want to go any higher than $650 for the time being, all things being (flexibly) equal otherwise, a good cpu & gpu would be ___________ and _________.

This seems to be the difference between Homer's (http://pcpartpicker.com/p/gWJRqs) and Ian's (http://pcpartpicker.com/p/dB7Zqs) builds.

So for somebody who doesn't just want a one-time build, but plans to periodically upgrade as my budget keeps up, what might work best? Sorry for my ignorance. Y'all have been super helpful thus far. Thoughts on the two builds mentioned?

HomerThompson · Oct 15, 2014

mightyredpanda :

This review claims the R9 280 Twin Frozer 3GB I linked to needs 500W, which would make it a pretty serious upgrade over the R9 270x. You should contact MSI directly and ask them if a Bronze rated 550W PSU will be sufficient, as it's only $6 more than using the R9 270x in that last build I posted.

http://us.msi.com/product/vga/R9_280_GAMING_3G.html#hero-specification

I think the R9 280 is supposed to compete pretty closely with the GTX 760. Last month Tom's Hardware called it the best sub $250 graphics card on the market:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-4.html

HomerThompson · Oct 15, 2014

Based on reviews I have seen you'll probably be playing most games on Ultra pretty smooth with an i5 + R9 280. The BF4 benchmark looks particularly impressive with the really low frame time variance. This is a different R9 280 from the Twin Frozr on sale for the crazy price though.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/sapphire-radeon-dual-x-r9-280,3914-3.html

HomerThompson · Oct 15, 2014

Just to post this $640 build again

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/6tHrwP

HomerThompson · Oct 15, 2014

The one change I might consider, but would take you over budget a little, is going with a Seasonic power supply. I don't know those XFX's well, but Seasonic PSU's are spectacular. I bought my first Seasonic (sold as an Antec, but Seasonic was the OEM) in 2001 and it was still going strong in 2008 when I bought a higher wattage Seasonic that I'm still using today. I have pretty much only turned the computer off when going on vacation also in these last 13 years.

Something like this maybe for $25 more than that XFX:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151136

But maybe do some research and see how good XFX power supplies are at this link:
http://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/Page541.htm

HomerThompson · Oct 15, 2014

I just looked it up. That XFX 550 Watt Bronze PSU is made by Seasonic, so it looks like killer value at $45. I would definitely stick with it.

mightyredpanda · Oct 15, 2014

Thanks a lot Homer, I like the R9 280 for the gpu. Couple of questions: 1) is that i5 the lowest I can go pricewise and not bottleneck the gpu? I'm assuming it is bc you put it there, but I figured I'd ask; 2) I know I don't want to skimp on mobo or psu, made the swap to seasonic in my build. How about the mobo? Does that one work or is that somewhere we could cut back for savings?

Thanks!

Need Advice for Initial Gaming PC Build - $550-650

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