First ever Build - Gaming on a Budget

[beast8812]

I am going to be building my first computer in a few weeks and would like you guys to give me any advice and suggestions on the parts I picked out before I purcahse them. I am on a budget so I am just trying to get the best for what I can afford. This is all pretty new to me so any help is appreciated. The main thing this will be used for is a home arcade cabinet running hyperspin, and numerous emulators. I will also be playing starcraft 2. Before rebates this setup is around $715, without an operating system. I would really like to get down to around $600 before rebates and windows if possible, but I will keep it at $715 the way it is now if i'm going to be sacrificing a ton of performance. I have no plans of overclocking.

Processor - http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0382790

Motherboard - http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0358103

Ram - http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0355690

Power Supply - http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0371617

Hard Drive - http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0365169

Video Card - http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0369114

Case - http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0351733

Dvd Drive - http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0382892

Wireless Adapter - http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0340327

And im going to run windows 7 - 64 bit if anyone knows a cheap place to get it.


Thanks for any help.

 

[tomhrxbfg]

I am going to be building my first computer in a few weeks and would like you guys to give me any advice and suggestions on the parts I picked out before I purcahse them. I am on a budget so I am just trying to get the best for what I can afford. This is all pretty new to me so any help is appreciated. The main thing this will be used for is a home arcade cabinet running hyperspin, and numerous emulators. I will also be playing starcraft 2. Before rebates this setup is around $715, without an operating system. I would really like to get down to around $600 before rebates and windows if possible, but I will keep it at $715 the way it is now if i'm going to be sacrificing a ton of performance. I have no plans of overclocking.

Processor - http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0382790

Motherboard - http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0358103

Ram - http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0355690

Power Supply - http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0371617

Hard Drive - http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0365169

Video Card - http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0369114

Case - http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0351733

Dvd Drive - http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0382892

Wireless Adapter - http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0340327

And im going to run windows 7 - 64 bit if anyone knows a cheap place to get it.


Thanks for any help.

First of all get i5 2500k (still has mobo+cpu deal) if you are going for a gaming build... Seriously not amd, since you can get microcenter deal on i5.

i5 2500k $180
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0354590

Mobo: ASUS P8Z68-V LX LGA 1155 Z68 ATX Intel Motherboard $70 (in combo deal with i5 2500k)
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0371775

GPU: Gigabyte Radeon HD 6850 1GB Video Card $165 ($30MIR)
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0354216

PSU: OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W (modular) $67 ($25MIR)
http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=33041&vpn=OCZ600MXSP&manufacture=OCZ%20Technology&promoid=1315

HDD: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive $76 (however it's best if you could reuse some old hdd)
http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=63468&vpn=ST500DM002&manufacture=Seagate&promoid=1315

Ram is fine $55 (25MIR)

Case is fine $38

DVD is fine $16

Total: $667 not including taxes and rabates. After rabate should be 612 without taxes. I didn't include the wireless card...

Edit: for OS, if you are a student you may get free copies of Win7 (MSDNAA), that's your program is qualified... Otherwise as a normal student you may get windows server 2008 r2 version of OS free, it's similar to win7 but is designed for server. But hey, free is good if you want to save some money. Or you can use Ubuntu, which is a free OS as well. I am planning to build a system as well and I plan to wait till Win 8 is out and decide.
PS: if you buy online, newegg does not charge tax in certain states. I'm not sure about other websites though. If you got more funds, try upgrade the graphics to 6870 or GTX 560 Ti (not 560 normal). Also even though you stated you won't be overclocking, the i5 2400 ($150) + mobo alone is gona be more expensive, unless you pick a $60 mobo...Gl on your build.

 

[beast8812]

Thanks for the info. That build looks pretty good. I was actually just reading about that video card. I was just getting all my parts at microcenter because there is one close enough to me that I could just go pick everything up one day. Is the i5 really that much better? Like I said all of this is new to me. Thanks again for the help.

 

[tomhrxbfg]

Thanks for the info. That build looks pretty good. I was actually just reading about that video card. I was just getting all my parts at microcenter because there is one close enough to me that I could just go pick everything up one day. Is the i5 really that much better? Like I said all of this is new to me. Thanks again for the help.

Yes i5 is really good, especially you can get it this cheap...Sometimes it even outperforms i7. AMD on the other hand failed with their bulldozer, which sometimes is worse than their phenom....

 

[beast8812]

Ok thanks for the info. The i5 does look like a hell of a deal. Anyone else have any opinions on the i5 build or places I could improve without killing my budget. Just trying to get as much input as possible.