Best Configs - Budget Intel-Based Gaming PC

Our editorial team has selected the top builds submitted by users for our Best Configs feature. Please vote on your favorite of the following builds:

Dalauder
Processor: i7-930
Motherboard: ASUS Sabertooth X58 USB 3.0
RAM: 6GB Mushkin Blackline 1600MHz Cas7
Graphics Card: GIGABYTE Radeon 5850
Hard Drive: Samsung Spinpoint F3 500GB
Case: Linkworld Steel ATX Mid Tower
Power Supply: OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W
DVD Burner: (w/ OCZ600MXSP) LG Black DVD Burner

Link to Build

Derbixrace
CPU: i5 750
Mobo: Asus P7P55D EVO
RAM: Mushkin Enhanced Silverline 4GB DDR3 1600MHz CL7
GPU: Asus GTX 470
HDD: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1Tb
Case: CM HAF 922
PSU: Corsair VX550
DVD Burner: Lite-On 24x Black SATA

Link to Build

ksampanna
Processor - Intel i5 760
Motherboard - BIOSTAR T5 XE CFX-SLI
Memory - OCZ 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) XMP-Ready Rev.2
Graphics - 2 X Galaxy 60XMH6HS3HMW GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) GC 768MB
HDD + Power Supply : Samsung Spinpoint F3 + OCZ Fatal1ty OCZ550FTY 550W
Case - Antec 300
CPU Cooler - ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 92mm Fluid Dynamic CPU Cooler
Optical Drive - Sony Optiarc CD/ DVD Burner

Link to Build

Wolygon
Intel i3 530
ASUS P7P55
HD5870
G.Skill Ripjaws 1600MHz C7 4GB
Combo: Antec 300 Illusion & Antec EA-750W
Samsung Spinpoint F3 500GB
Sony DVD burner
CM Hyper 212+ $50

Link to Build

LuigiVN
Processor: Intel Core i3 530
Motherboard: ASRock H55DE3 LGA 1156 Intel H55 HDMI ATX
RAM: CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
Graphics Card: SAPPHIRE 100283-3L Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5"
Case:COOLER MASTER CM 690
Power Supply: Antec BP550 Plus 550W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.2 Modular Active PFC
DVD Burner: LG Black 22X

Link to Build

I think of the first four, only Derbixrace's build doesn't make me shake my head over at least one "sore thumb" issue, from reliance on dubious sources (e.g. eBay) to using one or more substandard and/or potentially under-performing parts.
LuigiVN should get an honorable mention for his interpretation of "budget," but going strictly by the rules, it is considerably weaker than the others.

ksampanna is a nice settup in fact i ma just buy those and make one for mys self

2 GTX 460 SLI make the kill right there

LuigiVN gets my vote

How does an i7 930 build qualifies to be a budget build.!

Man you guys really should have really been more specific.... All you said was to have a build according to the guidlines haha. But you didn't even say you could have combos.

yeah that PSU is far too weak!! i would say 650w minimum for 460 sli.

something needs to be done to that build before someone goes and buys it!!

I guess some are right saying for "budget" system. So I guess there had to be a price limit when the made the article/post ... Well if there wasn't the price problem I'd defentetily vote for Derbixrace but since this is a budget system my vote goes for LuigiVN!

Derbixrace ftw... this is very similar to my upcoming build that I've been researching for some time now

ksampanna's build would likely win on performance at stock, but the PSU is a little too weak. It wouldn't support any kind of overclock, and would likely have a short life even as-is. Also, the Antec 300 (non-Illusion) only has one fan.

I voted for Derbixrace's build. ksampanna's build is nice but with two 768M cards I fear you would limit any of the benefits gained from SLI, unless playing games at a lower resolution/detail, thus negating the point of SLI in the first place.

I concur with what others have said. 2x $170 GTX 460s is not budget. Neither is a $200 dollar i5. seriously, with just those three parts you have already reached "budget" range. $600 dollars for a gaming rig is budget with the current rates.

That includes a HD 4870, an i5 processor, 4 gbs of ram, a psu, and the rest.

LuigiVN have my vote, very nice build

Did anyone read the thread before this? All systems are built to $1000 price limits. They all cost the same. The differences are how they tweaked PSU/Mobo/Case to leverage the best GPU/CPU. But they're all the same "budget" $1000.

Understandably there seem to be a lot of scepticism regarding my build, & I'll try & clear away most of it.

The power supply is too weak

May I point out the following chart:

Remember this was with a 980X @ 4 Ghz, 6 GB mem, & a WD Velociraptor (which is a power hog amongst the HDDs).
Thus, my build, with a 550W OCZ unit, will comfortably run the twin cards with a sizable CPU overclock.

While building, I went for outright current performance rather than future potential in upgradability.
Also there is a general perception that a $200 quadcore with twin cards doesn't qualify to be in a "budget" build. However, I'm just adhering to Toms' requirement that the upper limit be $1000. Whether that's too much for "budget" per se, is subjective. What I have tried is to fit the max bang within the buck.

I don't like the motherboard/ram/2x460 brands however good value they may be.

I would love to accept the challenge except that we both know it's not possible.

We all know that furmark is only used as an academic interest. Gaming is the main concern here & no matter which games you play, they draw a lot less power than furmark, about 20-25W less per card, so about 50W less in total. Which is substantial.
PSU aging doesn't become a factor before atleast a couple of years & that too, if it is really cheap (which I assure you, the OCZ is not).

By "flimsy", "low quality parts", "barely functional menagerie of bargain basement brands", I assume you are referring solely to the motherboard. Granted, it might not be from the top-tier brands; but more importantly, it gets the job done, if you've read its reviews. Morever, there isn't a full assurance that everything will work if you buy only from the elite brands since even they are prone to the occasional DOA. The day there is a 100% guarantee with them, is the day I stop recommending any other brand.

So yeah, I would disagree with you on all counts; but thanks for your comments.

54000 rupees = 1213 US dollars... you could build Derbixrace's, ksampanna's, dalauder's or mine (you would save big money but you would loose some perfomance..)

Assuming prices are the same (I highly doubt it) you could build almost anyone of those... A fried of mine told me that in India everything is pretty expensive, so try searching for the prices of everything...

You are very probably right, the 550W PSU will probably experience a very early death. If my memory serves me correct, those 2 GTX 460s would need at least a 750W PSU to not have excessive power drain.

The article you are referencing only stresses the GPU's: which gives the 433W power drain.

"BTW we stress the GPUs here"

And the article goes on to say:

"not the processor, so you need to add another 100~150W for overall power consumption."

By that article, you have 533 ~ 583W overall power consumption. So, with a 550W PSU you are basically running the PSU at it's max or worse case slightly over which will result in failure of the graphic cards or the best case, the PSU dies early. Personally, I like a little more headroom so I'm not pushing the limit. Since the machine will require at least 533W, I'd add 30% so as not to stress the PSU and to have a little room for future upgrades. So, 30% of 533 is 160 and 30% of the top end 583 is 175. Simple math comes up with a PSU between 693 and 758. I'd tend to choose to error on the side of caution and go with a 750W PSU.

yes my friend 54000 rupees =1213 $...but you forget to take into account customs,excise,vat and what not...not to mention....hardwre inindia is severly over quoted and most of the dealers are outright thieves...

an i7 920 cpu costs rs 14500/- a gigabyte x58-ud9 costs rs 33000!!!! a gigabyte xx58- ud 7 costs 27k and a -x58-ud3r costs rs 19000

thtas a total of 47500 just for the mother board and cpu......(if you want a high end cpu)....as for ram....most of the people have never even heard of G-skill,Corsair,Transcend etc...... even to get our hands on kingston ...we have to pre order themm......

a single gtx 460 (reference) costs rs 12000/- an sli would eat up half of his budget (eating up half of mine too..am getting ready with almost the same budget)

my point being rs 54000 in reality is not equal to 1213 $ as that very same $1000 build translates to a rs 75000/- + build here...

i can get myself a brand new yamaha and cruise around town.....

athlon....well food for thought... not for me though. ma hackintosh wouldnt want to go thru an amd for obvious reasons...

Deele: what about this one?

http://www.amazon.com/LGA1156-4DDR [...] 720&sr=8-2

BTW, the Cooler Master Hyper 212 plus is better than AC 7 at almost the same price.

Nope, it's $1 cheaper.