[homebuilt] $600 gaming rig

[mischmp]

hi all,

building a new budget gaming pc (amd), audio production pc, need some advice on parts been out of the game for awhile, thinking of going with these parts from newegg.


NZXT Tempest 210 CA-TP210-01 Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case (case doesn't have to be anything special, would like something quiet i guess)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146084

AMD FX-4100 Zambezi 3.6GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor FD4100WMGUSBX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103996

EVGA SuperClocked 01G-P3-1461-KR GeForce GTX 560 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card (need help with video card!)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130661

GIGABYTE GA-970A-UD3 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard (not really sure on motherboard selection was looking at these 2)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128519

ASUS M5A97 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131767

Crucial Ballistix 2GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model BLE2G3D1608DE1TX0 (going for 4gb of something...)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148494

Antec EarthWatts EA-500D Green 500W ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply (how much do i need?)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371035

some kind of cheap SSD HD i think not sure there, which brands are the reliable ones for ssd?

i need help with video card (too many options!), i don't want to spend much more than $200, is physx worth it? i was watching it in arkham city and it looked awesome, but im not sure its worth spending the extra money just for that and getting an nvidia card. whats brand should i go with? are amds a little cheaper for the same speed? motherboard i need some help on also, usb 3, sata 3 is all im looking for something solid not going to be overclocking anything, same with memory something solid/stable. how much power is ample for running a gaming rig these days, 500w enough? if i go amd, would i be able to crossfire my old radeon 3870? (or no because its not dx11?) this is just a rough system i put together, open for any suggestions! thank you!

 

[lunyone]

Okay here is what I think:
* AMD CPU looks good for this budget, the Ph II x4 960T is a good option at $110 shipped too. Could possibly unlock to 6 core, if your lucky.

* Asus Mobo you have above is a good selection too.

* RAM I'd get at least 8 gb's for close to the same $, like this set below:
G.SKILL Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-8GBSR

* Case looks pretty good too. I do like the Cooler Master HAF 912 for similar cost, but doesn't have the front USB 3.0 port like the NXZT does.

* PSU will work just fine for your needs and has plenty of power for what you want to do.

* GPU is not what I'd buy around the $200 price. I'd get the 6870 GPU, its cheaper and better than the 560 GTX. $173 - $20 MIRc = $153!!
SAPPHIRE 100314-3L Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

* As far as SSD's are concerned, I have ordered this one below and it seems to be pretty good. I haven't researched all of the options, so your mileage may vary. I do like the cost per gigabyte, so keep that in mind.
$125 for 120 gb's of storage!!
SanDisk Ultra SDSSDH-120G-G25 2.5" 120GB SATA II Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

 

[a4mula]

i3-2120 can be had with a mobo combo for about $200. Spend less, get more.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/amd-fx-8120-6100-4100_6.html#sect0

 

[mischmp]

nice! thanks for the reply's so far, knew i'd be missing something better than what i had picked out

 

[mischmp]

if i go intel i3-2120 what motherboard would you recommend? i've never built an intel system before.

 

[vishalaestro]

are u going for sli in the future ..from the psu i assume u are not going to sli..
these are the specs i suggest u..pls dont go for amd on processors intel will be the best..amd isn't a good choice for a gamer from my point of view..

processor..intel core i5 2320
mobo..MSI H67MA-E35
g skill..4x2gb 1333mhz ddr3(best ram for budget gamers)
psu..same as the psu u chosen antec 500d(bang for the buck)
gfx card..msi gtx 560(nvidia has best drivers but amd will have driver problem when new games are released and physx will be awesome during gameplay there isn't many games for amd but there are many for nvidia cards a great ex itself is battlefield 3 ,crysis,crysis2 if u are playing such games nvidia will be a safe bet)
case..Xigmatek Asgard II B/B CPC-T45UC-U01
hdd..seagate barracuda 500gb 6gb/s will be better as wd is more expensive
on ssd u dont need an ssd at this budget u can probably invest it in gpu or cpu..

 

[mischmp]

thank you visha, if i go sli how much bigger of a power supply would i need?

 

[vishalaestro]

probably corsair 650tx will be best..and the mobo ,choose a better one if u are planning to overclock with that h67 chipset u will not get sli feature..i suggest MSI Z68A-GD55 (B3) mobo cheap and best..

 

[twstd1]

For your budget you can build a way better AMD machine than an intel machine(at least for keeping crossfire open) and you will not be able to do i5 and keep crossfire/SLI (As a future upgrade path anyway) in that budget. Also with the budget your at an AMD machine would be far better than an i3 system. Here is the rig I just ordered and built for my cousin and he loves it. He games at 1600 X 900 and can run pretty much everything on high/ultra and pull great frames.

Cooler Master HAF 912
ASRock 870 Extreme3 R2.0
Antec NEO ECO 520C 520W
XFX Radeon HD 6870 1GB
AMD Phenom II X4 960T
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB DDR31333
Seagate Barracuda ST500DM002 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5"
LG 22X Super-Multi DVD Burner
Total before shipping is $646.92

Now there is no question that the i5 setup that vishalaestro mentioned will outperform this setup (Just look at the comparison between the Dec. and Sept. system builds) but the AMD route will get you a future upgrade path to crossfire with 8x speeds on both pci-e lanes and that's something that will definitely not get while going with intel. Further down the road you can just upgrade the power supply and throw in another card and bam, you've a nice little crossfire rig. Also not that you'll need it for games but there is a slim chance that the 960T will unlock from an X4 to an X6 by just enabling one setting in the bios. Oh and whether you go with an AMD or Intel CPU I think you should definitely go with the Radeon HD 6870 over the 560 to save a few bucks and still not have to sacrifice performance. These two cards are about the same when it comes to that.

Oh and I forgot to mention that the XFX 6870 is a lifetime warranty card.

 

[vishalaestro]

from my point of view dual card is a waste of money and energy..u face face many problems in dual card setup instead invest in a single good card..and finally "GAMERS USUALLY WILL NOT GO TO AMD"..because of poor per core performance by amd processors they are suitable only for video conversion because of extra cores which is not useful from ur point of view.

 

[mischmp]

so which amd mobo would be the stablest? i've never heard of asrock before, they all seem pretty similar what would you guys recommend? thanks again for all the input

ASRock 870 Extreme3 R2.0

GIGABYTE GA-970A-UD3 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD

ASUS M5A97 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD

 

[vishalaestro]

so u are going with amd right ok then u r going to experience the effect of it ...

 

[lunyone]

AsRock is a good mobo. If I were to pick I'd rate them Asus>AsRock>Gigabyte, IMHO. All should be fine, just pick the one with the options that you like the best.

Gigabyte:
* 8 USB 2.0 & 2 USB 3.0 Rear ports
* 6 USB 2.0 & 2 USB 3.0 Onboard ports, which would come in handy when/if you get a case that supports USB 3.0 front ports and/or you add in a extra USB 3.0 card or something like that.
* 6 SATA III (6 Gb's) onboard ports
* 2 PCI-e slots (16x & 4x)
* DDR3 RAM up to 1866 mHz normally and up to 2000 mHz if OC'd

AsRock:
* 6 USB 2.0 & 2 USB 3.0 rear ports
* 2 PCI-e slots (8x & 8x if using 2 GPU's, otherwise 16x for the 1 slot used)
* 5 SATA III (6 Gb's) onboard ports
* 6 USB 2.0 & 3 USB 3.0 onboard ports
* DDR3 supported at 1333 mHz normally and up to 2000 mHz if OC'd

Asus:
* About the same as the Gigabyte mobo, with a few exceptions, but about the same.

Rap these up:
* AsRock is about $80
* Asus is about $120, not available at Newegg, so Amazon will do.
* Gigabyte is about $110

To me the AsRock mobo has the most features for the least amount of $. Now if you think your going to need more than 5 SATA III ports than the Gigabyte or Asus mobo would be better.

It's ultimately up to you on what you get. Intel has it's benefits, but AMD has better mobo's for the $ than Intel does, so keep that in mind.

 

[mischmp]

not sure gonna research em both i might go intel have never built one before, have to see if i can afford it.

 

[mischmp]

so is physx that cool/worth it? it looked freakin cool in the new batman, thats why i was looking at the 560

 

[lunyone]

Personally the Physx to me isn't that big of a deal. There might be things that are good with it, but for me it isn't that important to me. The 6870 is as good if not better than the 560 and is cheaper, so that is why I'd recommend the 6870 over the 560.

Intel is a good build too, but will cost you more, generally. The mobo's are quite a bit more fragmented, IMHO, than AMD's. Find me an Intel based mobo (at $80) that has all or more options than the AsRock that you listed above. Most Intel based mobo that are equivalent to AMD's offerings are usually about $20-40 or more expensive than what AMD offers.

It's also possible that Windows 8 might unlock some of Bulldozers potential, but time will only tell if that is the case. This is all speculation at this point, so take it for what it's worth.

 

[vishalaestro]

Personally the Physx to me isn't that big of a deal. There might be things that are good with it, but for me it isn't that important to me. The 6870 is as good if not better than the 560 and is cheaper, so that is why I'd recommend the 6870 over the 560.

Intel is a good build too, but will cost you more, generally. The mobo's are quite a bit more fragmented, IMHO, than AMD's. Find me an Intel based mobo (at $80) that has all or more options than the AsRock that you listed above. Most Intel based mobo that are equivalent to AMD's offerings are usually about $20-40 or more expensive than what AMD offers.

It's also possible that Windows 8 might unlock some of Bulldozers potential, but time will only tell if that is the case. This is all speculation at this point, so take it for what it's worth.

currently one part of the hotfix for bulldozer has been released and it was a flop refer this link http://news.softpedia.com/news/AMD-Bulldozer-Windows-7-Performance-Patch-Tested-Results-Disappoint-241228.shtml..and microsoft said that there will be some improvements in next hotfix clearly showing that bulldozer failed even in windiws 8 tests say that bulldozer did not perform well even in windows 8 beta versions don't risk yourself in thinking somethig will happen invest money in proven power like intel..honestly saying the only processors that were good from amd was phemon ii x4 no one can say this is wrong..bulldozer is a failure model and it was told by many reviews..even though amd 6870 is slightly powerful than gtx 560 their drivers are crap u cant experience a game without good drivers even though the hardware is powerful..thats why im going with gtx 560 in tomshardware best gpu for money gtx 560 and 6870 are same in performance in most games but what makes nvidia a slighter edge is their drivers ..on motherboard u will not use 8 usb 2.0 ports i think ..

 

[mischmp]

looks like ill be going for phenom II if i cant squeeze together an i3 2120 rig

 

[kinggraves]

An AMD build isn't going to explode and kill everyone, don't worry about the Intel fanboys. The PII build will be fine.

 

[lunyone]

Either rig will do fine. AMD will be cheaper and just about as good (generally), but AMD's Bulldozer upgrade at this point isn't as promising as it could have been. This doesn't mean that Piledriver might work, but it's speculation also. Intel has defined it path well, but Intel likes to change chipset/sockets too frequently for my liking. Take all of this information in from all of us and decide which way you want to do. We can help you determine what parts will help you reach your building goal. We are here for you and no matter what, your getting information from different sources so you can make an informed decision.

 

[mischmp]

thanks everybody this has been a huge help. so between those 2 cpu's (fits my budget well), essentially the intel has "overall better performace" but less cores? any other motherboard i should look at besides the msi if i go for the intel?its only about $10 more for the intel setup at newegg.

AMD Phenom II X4 960T Zosma 3.0GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor HD96ZTWFGRBOX

Intel Core i3-2120 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000 BX80623I32120

MSI H67MA-E45 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel H67 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

 

[twstd1]

Here is a good intel build:

Seagate 500GB SATA 6Gbps HDD
Patriot Signature 8GB DDR3 1600
CORSAIR Builder Series 500W
XFX Radeon HD 6870 1GB
ECS P67H2-A3 LGA 1155 Intel P67
NZXT GAMMA ATX Mid Tower Case

Now you have two choices, if you can afford it I suggest:
Intel Core i5-2400 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz

Total before shipping = 679.93

If you can not afford to go that high then:
Intel Core i3-2120 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz

Total before shipping = 629.93

I highly recommend the the i5 system if you can manage that into your budget some how you would be VERY happy with that build for a long to come. The i3 system will be a little better (maybe) in games than the AMD solution but it will fall far behind in heavy multithreaded applications. So really it's all in what your MAIN goal is and if your main goal is to have just a good budget gamer than intel might be your best bet but if you also want a good all around machine over the i3 I would personally choose the AMD system, But for the performance crown out of the three the i5 would be the killer build of the three... Hope that helps!

 

[lunyone]

Here is a couple of options (I'd stick with z68 mobo's since they cover all aspects, IMHO):
~$120 shipped
ASRock Z68 PRO3 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

~$120 shipped, it's a Micro ATX, so keep that in mind.
ASUS P8Z68-M Pro LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

~$123 shipped
GIGABYTE GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

And there are plenty around the $130-140 price range too. I prefer to have an ATX mobo, since it has more expansion ports available (if you decide you need to add something).

 

[lunyone]

Here is a good intel build:

Seagate 500GB SATA 6Gbps HDD
Patriot Signature 8GB DDR3 1600
CORSAIR Builder Series 500W
XFX Radeon HD 6870 1GB
ECS P67H2-A3 LGA 1155 Intel P67
NZXT GAMMA ATX Mid Tower Case

Now you two choices if you can afford it I suggest:
Intel Core i5-2400 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz

Total before shipping = 679.93

If you can not afford to go that high then:
Intel Core i3-2120 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz

Total before shipping = 629.93

I highly recommend the the i5 system if you can manage that into your budget some how you would be VERY happy with that build for a long to come. The i3 system will be a little better (maybe) in games than the AMD solution but it will fall far behind in heavy multithreaded applications. So really it's all in what your MAIN goal is and if your main goal is to have just a good budget gamer than intel might be your best bet but if you also want a good all around machine over the i3 I would personally choose the AMD system, But for the performance crown out of the three the i5 would be the killer build of the three... Hope that helps!

I wouldn't touch an ECS mobo with a 10' pole! They have iffy reputation and don't always have the best customer support, from my experience.

IIRC a p67 based mobo doesn't allow you to use the built in GPU on the chip? No SSD caching? And no Quick Sync. I would rather have those options available to me, especially if my GPU goes south and I need to RMA it. I can than at least use the computer for basic needs until the GPU comes back from being serviced.

Edit: You also need to add another $20 to both builds for a DVD Burner, if the OP doesn't have one. So your base price would be ~$650 for i3 and ~$700 for the i5 setup.

 

[mischmp]

i guess i should mention that my primary use is for audio production alongside gaming (although gaming usually can override that, hard to stay on track!) but i think alot of my audio application especially sequencer would benefit for more cores, thats why i was looking more into the phenom's, intel's quads seem expensive ill have to fiddle with components, im also interesting in the phsx, ill make somin work, thank again guys this has been a mega help.