[Solved] AMD gaming PC 500$ Mid range gaming

Approximate Purchase Date: this week

Budget Range: 500/550 (not counting taxes)

System Usage from Most to Least Important: gaming. internet.

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS, HDD.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.ca/directcanada.ca/tigerdirect.ca

Country: canada

Parts Preferences: by amd and asrock (willing to not use asrock if theres a better overclocking board for better price range) I favor micro atx boards.

Overclocking: Yes

SLI or Crossfire: no

Monitor Resolution: 1600x900 to 1900x1200

Additional Comments: i would like the motherboard to have at least 4 pins for ram. any case will do, cheaper the better. I play many old pc games, but still would like to at least play skyrim on reasonable settings, maybe even high, or mid high. (I can also reuse an old case and power supply) The power supply is 530 watts and i've used it for my radeon 5770 for the past year) so builds with and without the psu and case are welcome.

I don't know much about cheap/good hdds and am3+ mobos, but i suggest you base your system on phenom ii x4 955 and radeon hd 6770, 6850 if it can fit in your budget.

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] dClearance
$109 AMD 960t 3ghz, runs cooler than a 955, and can unlock to 6 cores

MOBO: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813157176
$60 ASrock, will unlock the 960t cores, overclocking, am3, can also crossfire later on. dont need am3+ because bulldoser is garbage

Video Card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814131378
$139 after rebate. AMD 6870 is the best bang for the buck right now. Also get 90+% efficiency when crossfiring

Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811147023
$40 good solid case, comes with 2 fans

Ram:
$23. 4gb at ddr3 1600. Add another stick later if you need more ram and have 64x os

PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] dClearance
$60 620w antec made by seasonic (both awesome brands) more power than you will need, even later on plus really reliable. You will need your own power cord though but you can steal that from an old computer

DVD Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827151243
$20


total: 452

Hurry though because a lot of these are on sale now, and may not last long. These prices also don't include tax and shipping. If you want you could upgrade the mobo to am3+ and also get a 6 core processor that doesn't require unlocking.

@That_Guy.

As much as I'd love those sales going on over in the USA, I can't get them in Canada sadly... And thanks for the GPU information. That'll save me money.

6870 walks all over a GTX 560 sans ti

He cant use a six core CPU the 955 is better for OP.

You want the BE because it is higher Binned meaning basically it is of higher quality and it is super easy to Overclock even a complete noob can do it because it has an Unlocked Multiplier which is what makes the OCing simple and easy.

Well I can't find the black edition anywheres online. Is it even still possible to buy? the one you listed there was the OEM edition. And I'm not sure if I'm missing something but the total build comes to 514$ (yours is 470). Also the GPU you listed there is a 6850 when I can get a 6870 for 2$ more, whats the difference in that?

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Produ [...] 6814102948

the 960t is unlocked even though it isn't "black edition". The 6870 is about 10 to 20% faster than the 6850. I may have missed something im on my cell

See the value here of an Overclockers Card http://www.overclockersclub.com/re [...] lone/5.htm

Okay so, I have all my parts decided and picked out. The only difference Is the processor. I can't decide on the 960t or the 955. Surely the 960t is newer, but does that make it any better? That being said NCIX has the 955 in stock.

http://ncix.com/products/?sku=47459

And I know the shipping is utterly outrageous, and not only that but us canadians have a 13% tax hit. So if I went with a 740$ intel i5 2500k build, I'd buy 940$ total with shipping and taxes. Reason why I'm switching to AMD.

A lot of you guys are forgetting the Newegg.ca shipping which is about $10/item

@Headspin_69: i don't think your recommended motherboard supports 125w tdp cpus. check your recommended motherbaord's cpu support list.
@That_Guy88: your motherboard supports only x16+x4 cfx - not really good proposition for good cfx performance. since OP isn't looking for cfx...that's okay.. i guess...

Are you really have luck with CFX 16x/4x because last time I tred that back in 09 I was appalled by the framerate latency.

no, I dont have any major issues. I tink the 6 series really fixed a lot of problems. I have the occasional microstutter but everyone has that

Phenom II x4 955 Deneb is still AMDs Best budget Gamer CPU and it can OC to 4GHZ more or less and that's when it becomes a real excellent all around value.

cooler master hyper 212+
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Produ [...] 6835103065
the stock cooler that comes with b.e. cpus should allow for decent oc... but i've heard that they get really loud and rather hot on load.
some motherboards:
GIGABYTE GA-970A-D3 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Produ [...] 6813128521
ASUS M5A97 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Produ [...] 6813131767
all with $12-13 shipping.
look up the review of your chosen motherboard. recommendations are based on price.

Hey bro lets support Canada we are Canadians I recommend for at leased the better shipping rates redoing your build exclusive from NCIX and I run the Cooler Master Hyper 212+ on my Overclocked Phenom II x4 B55 3.7ghz and it is ultra great temps and only cost $30.

why has no one shoved a 6950 into his build? his psu is big enough if its of good quality and he would still have room for a 60 dollar psu.

shove this in and all problems solved.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Produ [...] 6814125372

All them parts are ultra premium on a budget and good call with the ram and you will be happy with that card because when you OC it to the max it bangs with the big dawgs that cost allot more PEACE and have fun.

Case the 6850 I recommend is allot cheaper than a 6950 and performs about the same furthermore the Radeon 69xx series sucks and Nvidia is over priced here is a link. http://www.overclockersclub.com/re [...] lone/5.htm

@de5_roy
I would overclock my build but my motherboard isn't the best, everytime I try overclocking it, even at 201 voltage it doesn't boot. I've asked for tips on many overclocking forums and all have said that it's not a good board for overclocking.

@that_guy
Actually, I chose the 955 because a lot of AMD builds are centered around it, and it seems like a rather popular choice. I can't seem to find any builds concerning the 960t. Although I'm not entirely set on the parts I've chosen. I may drop the asus board for the previous Asrock one. As the one I've chosen gets me to 600$ and I can't afford to go over 550. I've chosen the 6850 because of the provided benchmarks above.

Edit; Some sort of error in neweggs service, it had the board listed at 169$. So i am indeed using the asus board.

Don't by into the marketing Bull what you have is the best you can get but ya your board could be swapped for something better for sure but you told me you needed a Micro ATX board.MSI have great boards that are auto overclocking it what I run and it works great.

My final decision: Any last recommendations?

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Quad Core Processor 3.2GHZ AM3 8MB Cache 125W Retail Box

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-8GBXL

ASUS M4A88T-M AM3 AMD 880G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

MSI R6850 Cyclone PE/OC Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 Continuous Direct Contact 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler Compatible with latest Intel 1366/1155 and AMD FM1/AM3+

yeah get a 6950 if you can fit it in. you will see better fps especially at high resolutions like you will be playing at.

So solid budget build you have but I have to ask do you want an Micro board because of the case you already own because I can get you a far better ATX board that overclocks better for less money.