Creating a New $600 Gaming Computer

gotanyideas123 · Mar 4, 2012

Approximate Purchase Date: Next weekend

Budget Range: 500-600 dollars before rebates

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, surfing the internet, office documents, editing movies with Sony Vegas Pro 10

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: www.tigerdirect.com

Country: Canada

Parts Preferences: No particular preference but Intel CPUs run great for games

Overclocking: Probably not

SLI or Crossfire: Probably not

Monitor Resolution: have two options, one with higher resolution, one with lower resolution (will check details soon)

Additional Comments: Need to be able to run Napoleon Total War on nice graphics and smoothly (specs here) and nothing fancy looking, functionality over appearance

I will make sure to get this strap to dissipate any static for this build. http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6655942&CatId=4748 :ange:

And some standoffs. http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5516657&CatId=7269
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Some ideas:

Case- 1 or 2 or http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811156223 (http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=422169&CatId=5430)
500W http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027&Tpk=CX500
600W http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139028&Tpk=CX600
Power Supply Unit- http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026
Motherboard-
Central Processor Unit/Heatsink-
Hard Drive- (nothing too large is necessary)
Memory- 1X http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6610166&CatId=4534 or 2X http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1412135&CatId=4534
Graphics Card- HD 6770 or HD 5770 or similar
Sound Card- Probably will be integrated on motherboard
Network Card- Probably will be integreated on motherboard
DVD Drive-
Operating System- Avoiding Vista
Cooling fans- http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6666430&CatId=494 or http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6721529&CatId=494

Missing anything?

This is my first build, and I would like it to stay within the budget. Thanks for your help filling in these blanks. Just tell me what you think is best for each part.

SingingThroughTheStorm · Mar 4, 2012

Were you including the OS in your $600 budget? If not, here is a build for ya:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146076
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148767
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102948
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151250
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157241
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115078
2 of these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835124023

Total of $572 without the OS.

You also would want Windows 7 as your OS.

gotanyideas123 · Mar 4, 2012

SingingThroughTheStorm :

Would be really good, looks nice to me. But it uses newegg, not my source. I suppose its not too much of a problem but if anyone has ideas with my site, would be even better. :ange:

the_creed4 · Mar 4, 2012

ok, you can save a bit of cash here. Instead of the 6870 you can get the 6770, it will run almost every game on high settings (some on ultra but only a few). I prefer AMD over intel so if could give us your feedback that would be appreciated. i can show you my build which is about a $560 budget.

APEX TX-381-C Black Steel Micro ATX Tower Computer Case
$32.99

Western Digital Caviar Blue WD2500AAKX 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
$74.99

GIGABYTE GA-78LMT-S2P AM3+ AMD 760G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
$64.99

XFX HD-677X-ZNLC Radeon HD 6770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
$119.99

Rosewill Stallion Series RD400-2-SB 400W ATX V2.2 Power Supply
$39.99

Kingston HyperX Blu 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 Desktop Memory Model KHX1333C9D3B1K2/4G
$25.99

AMD FX-4100 Zambezi 3.6GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor FD4100WMGUSBX
$109.99

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM
$99.99
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Total= $570 including everything listed. this build is $100 cheaper than the last one. And it will be able to play new games at awesome settings

the_creed4 · Mar 4, 2012

All of the things listed above can be purchased on tigerdirect

aznshinobi · Mar 4, 2012

All of you guys are aware, Newegg and TigerDirect's prices are all different in Canada correct?

gotanyideas123 · Mar 5, 2012

the_creed4 :

What do you guys think of this:

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6321546&CatId=1509
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=606220&CatId=1079
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1396537&CatId=7162
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5581942&CatId=5196
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=281622&CatId=2458
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6572442&CatId=4534 x2
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1366279&CatId=7005
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4829307&CatId=1624

:bounce:

aznshinobi · Mar 5, 2012

CPU is incompatible, you want 2nd Gen i3's i5's i7's
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7295297&CatId=6983
Drop that PSU, garbage. Swap with this Corsair CX430 V2
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=422169&CatId=5430
Despite common assumptions a good 430w can power an i5 2400 + 6870. (These are better specs that what you can afford but I'm just giving you an idea)

Swap the ram
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1412138&CatId=4534

Swap the card for this
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102908
You will actually be able to play games now.

gotanyideas123 · Mar 7, 2012

aznshinobi :

Do you know of any good alternatives to the i5 if I got with the 6870 video card. Also, I think some more power would be a safe bet.

aznshinobi · Mar 7, 2012

No you don't plenty. The i5 2400 draws 95w AT MAX, the 6870 has a TDP of 151w (usually you won't get it up to 151w draw, maybe 140-ish)

Assuming EVERYTHING is running on load, the 95w+151w+50w(Peripherals, HDD, etc)=296w. The CX430 V2 is plenty.

The i5 2400 is your best i5 Alternative besides the i5 2500K there are only 4 i5's.... So you don't have a huge variety...

gotanyideas123 · Mar 7, 2012

aznshinobi :

I meant an alternative to the i5 altogether, like an AMD processor. :pt1cable:

aznshinobi · Mar 7, 2012

Sorry to break it to you if you were planning to use AMD, they have no options that compete even close to the i5 2400 even after overclocking. In gaming, the FX-8120 fails in comparison to the i5 2400.

gotanyideas123 · Mar 10, 2012

Sounds good to me then. Mobo and the other parts are okay?

aznshinobi · Mar 10, 2012

Yes with the fixes. All good! You're good to go! just select the BA and close the thread out.

gotanyideas123 · Mar 11, 2012

aznshinobi :

Okay guys, with all your combined inputs I have revised the system into this gaming machine

aznshinobi · Mar 11, 2012

Get this kit
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1412142&CatId=4534
Dual channel is faster and H61 is only compatible with speeds below 1600.

Rest looks good.

gotanyideas123 · Mar 11, 2012

aznshinobi :

So the parts I chose are good to go:
but

-which of the two mobos I edited in is better?
-got to get RAM under 1600.
-I also found a good deal with a Sandy Bridge version of the i3 but am I right in saying the mobo only supports 2nd generation regular i3s? Check out the processors I listed because I'm not sure which is best.
-What do you think of this RAM compared to yours for the system (with only two memory slots, I was hoping to slap a 4GB in one to have room for later): http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6610166&CatId=4534 OR http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7271058&CatId=4534 OR http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1125966&CatId=4534 OR http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1611503&CatId=4534

Thanks for all your help :wahoo:

aznshinobi · Mar 11, 2012

Both would pretty much be the same, go with either.
2nd Gen i3's is Sandy Bridge.
Go with the 1st Corsair RAM kit you listed.

gotanyideas123 · Mar 13, 2012

Best answer selected by gotanyideas123.

Creating a New $600 Gaming Computer

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