$800 general purpose/light gaming build

MTring · Oct 30, 2014

Hi everyone thanks in advance for the advice. I'm looking at putting together a general purpose/light gaming PC. The last game I played with any regularity was Arkham City and to be frank I don't need even that to run on super-high graphics. I don't game much and tend to wait until they are real cheap on Steam. One of the things I do use regualrly is a Plex Media Server running on this as well.

Current PC is several years old Dell with Q6600 and an older ATI GPU. I'll be reusing some components such as the 128GB SSD, optical drive, monitor (24" 1920x1080), keyboard, mouse etc...

Here's what I'm looking at and would welcome any advice on perhaps getting this closer to $700

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.98 @ DirectCanada)
Motherboard: Asus H97-PLUS ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($114.99 @ Canada Computers)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($80.79 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($84.99 @ NCIX)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB WINDFORCE Video Card ($139.99 @ NCIX)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($64.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($64.99 @ NCIX)
Total: $780.71
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-30 09:07 EDT-0400

jmejiaa · Oct 30, 2014

I just got something very similar for a bit over 800..

I went with a cheaper mobo(MSI z97) and I got a geforce 970.. I'm not sure how it compares to the 750ti though.

amd4lif3 · Oct 30, 2014

gtx 970 is alot better than 750ti

HertzKnight · Oct 30, 2014

Sweet Jesus the GTX 970 would destroy the GTX 750 ti.

I would go withe the ASrock H-97 Anniversary (saves you $50), unless you plan to SLI in the near future. I haven't used it yet, but I haven't seen anything negative about it yet. Basically it doesn't has all the bell and whistle, so its a nice not going to do anything special board (like most H97 boards). I went with a r9-270X (a better card for a little more), but you can downgrade and be in the 700 range. I would try and spend more on your GPU if you can. Maybe get a r9-280 or a GTX 770.
R9 - 280 (only $20 more)
R9 - 280X (only $50 more) (the 280X is better one I believe vs the 285)
R9 - 285 (only $70 more)

I am not sure why you want 2 TB. That is a lot of space. I would down grade to 1 TB and get another one later.

Here is a build

Do you need an optical drive?

sadams04 · Oct 30, 2014

CPU - If not overclocking, there is no need to go with anything over the 4460. The extra 200MHz is not noticeable.
MB - Changed to an ASROCK. Same features, good board, and cheaper...
GPU - The 750Ti doesn't represent good value for the cost. It shines in systems that can't provide external power (weak power supplies), but overall isn't a great choice for a budget build. The R9 270 below is in the same price range and will provide more performance. If you need to drop the budget further, the R7 26x still performs a bit better than the 750Ti for less cost.
HD - You could drop to a 1TB to save a little on the budget.
CASE - Similar "entry level" case with a lower cost.
PSU - Stick with XFX or Seasonic. 550w is plenty of power for that system and growth down the road.

Thoughts on the build below?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($200.00 @ Canada Computers)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($79.99 @ NCIX)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($84.99 @ NCIX)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($84.99 @ NCIX)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 270 2GB WINDFORCE Video Card ($139.99 @ NCIX)
Case: Antec NSK4100 ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ NCIX)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($62.98 @ NCIX)
Total: $692.93

xStampede · Oct 30, 2014

You can save money by going for mATX case and motherboard, and get a better graphic card instead, 750 is bare minimum for gaming.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.98 @ DirectCanada)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($94.54 @ DirectCanada)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($80.79 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($84.99 @ NCIX)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 270X 2GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($199.95 @ DirectCanada)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($49.50 @ Vuugo)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ NCIX)
Total: $819.74
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-30 10:19 EDT-0400

xStampede · Oct 30, 2014

Here is a version closer to 700$, better GPU worse CPU.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($196.98 @ DirectCanada)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($94.54 @ DirectCanada)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($80.79 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($84.99 @ NCIX)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 270 2GB WINDFORCE Video Card ($159.99 @ NCIX)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($49.50 @ Vuugo)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ Canada Computers)
Total: $716.78
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-30 10:25 EDT-0400

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