Budget Entry Level Gaming Build $300-400ish

[Xer0285]

Hi Everyone,

Approximate Purchase Date: Within 1-3 weeks

Budget Range: $300-400 After Rebates

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming (Diablo 3, Starcraft 2), 1080p movies/videos, Internet, Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Visio)

Parts Not Required: Win7 OS, Dell 24" 1080p LCD Monitor, CM Centurion 590 Midtower Case, 2TB Green Storage HDD, speakers, keyboard, mouse.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg, Amazon, Fry's, Microcenter, Tigerdirect, Mwave. (I have local access to Fry's and Microcenter; I also have access to Will-Call/Pickup at Newegg and Mwave)

Country: Southern CA, USA

Parts Preferences: No preference, so I'm not picky as long as it works, but would like get the best bang for my buck, and efficiency (peformance per clock, power consumption, heat) CPU and Motherboard combo bundles are fine if it fit my needs.

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: No

Monitor Resolution: 1024x720 minimum, but my monitor has a resolution of 1920x1080, also connect with TV with same 1920x1080 resolution at the same time.

Additional Comments: I've been out of the PC building loop and this is my first build in 12 years. I plan on using this computer to hold me until I settle on a higher end system later in the year with Ivy Bridge-E, or even Haswell as I've read that socket 1155 is on its way out when Haswell arrives (that's for another discussion) so I don't want to invest too much on socket 1155.

But when I do go high end, I would like to keep this computer for myself for a HTPC or either give to my sibling/relative.

Now, onto the PC components. I chose these parts based off another site that offered tiered budget gaming builds and I mixed and match parts from the different tiers. I would like to know if these parts are sufficient enough for my current needs. I'm open to alternatives, just explain why.

CPU: Pentium G620 LGA 1155 Boxed Processor $49.99

Motherboard:
BIOSTAR H61MGC LGA 1155 Intel H61 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard $49.99

or

ASRock P67 PRO3 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard $99.99

RAM: G.SKILL NS 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Desktop Memory Model F3-10600CL9D-4GBNS $22.99

GPU:
PowerColor AX6750 1GBK3-H Radeon HD 6750 1GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card $79.99

or

XFX ATI Radeon HD6770 1 GB DDR5 VGA/DVI/HDMI PCI-Express Video Card HD677XZNLC $99.99 After Rebate

PSU: Rosewill HIVE Series HIVE-550 550W $69.99

ODD: LG 22X Super-Multi DVD Burner 22X $15.99

and the one thing added that wasn't in the tiers,

SSD: Crucial M4 CT064M4SSD2 2.5" 64GB $84.95


Let me know what you guys think. Thanks.

 

[Guest]

At your budget I would avoid an ssd, and spend more on the gpu and cpu.

 

[Xer0285]

Hi ivan1984,

With the low end stuff and SSD the total would be $~386.74 with local tax and rebate(s).

With the slightly higher other choice in the components listed above and SSD, total would come to $~463.91 with local tax and rebate(s).

So what HDD, GPU, and CPU would you suggest? Also, I'm not sure about the quality of the PSU that I chose, but would like one that is of good quality and modular.

 

[Guest]

Hi ivan1984,

With the low end stuff and SSD the total would be $~386.74 with local tax and rebate(s).

With the slightly higher other choice in the components listed above and SSD, total would come to $~463.91 with local tax and rebate(s).

So what HDD, GPU, and CPU would you suggest? Also, I'm not sure about the quality of the PSU that I chose, but would like one that is of good quality and modular.

Gpu http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102908

psu http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026

ram http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231310

motherboard http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138340

cpu http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116399 total $320

The psu I showed is much better quality. It's hard to find a mudular psu in the $40-$50 range.

 

[Guest]

This one is $374.95 you switch the cpu with a quicker pentium and the 6850 with a 6870.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102948

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116397

edit : you can switch the 6870 with a 560 ti and have it under $400 with mir http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127565 .

If your building a gaming build the gpu is most important, with kepler right around, you can get a fermi for a great price. This configuration will easily play d3 and sc2 on max at 1080p.

You can use the first build and add the crucial ssd to it to stay just under $400 with mir. The motherboard only has sata 2 so it will provide a bottleneck for your ssd. If you get a better motherboard you will have to sacrifice your gpu or cpu and I wouldn't recommend it if you want to play at 1080p at max. Make sure to turn off hibernation and system restore with your 64 gb dds.

 

[Xer0285]

Hi, thanks for replying,

I don't see a difference on the motherboard you linked other than its missing the DVI port.

I'll take your suggestions on the PSU, RAM, and maybe the GPU (6850).

What about AMD's 7XXX, like 7750, 7770 compared to the 6850?

If I stretch my budget to <$500 I can get the following:

CPU: http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0359809
Mobo: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005HMZ740/ref=as_li_ss_tl?tag=hardwarevol03-20&ie=UTF8&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399349&creativeASIN=B005HMZ740
RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231310
GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102908
PSU: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004W2T2TM/sr=1-1/qid=1332381461/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&qid=1332381461&sr=1-1&seller=
ODD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136240
SSD: http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-64-2-5-Inch-Solid-State-CT064M4SSD2/dp/B004W2JKWG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1332378686&sr=8-2

with total to $475. How's that selection so far?

If I take out the SSD, what HDD would you recommend?

 

[Guest]

An i3-2100 for $100 is a great deal. I wouldn't recommend the 7750 or 7770 at this point. The 6850 is better than the 7770 while costing less, and the 7750's biggest selling point is the lack of a pci-e connector to power it. For a traditional hd over a ssd, any 7200 rpm drive for the least, I prefer Samsung and WD over the other brands. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136769

edit : I had a 6850 and played sc2 on ultra at 1080 p at 90 fps.

http://www.hwcompare.com/11925/radeon-hd-6850-vs-radeon-hd-7770/

just for fun http://www.hwcompare.com/11772/radeon-hd-6850-vs-radeon-hd-7750/

 

[Xer0285]

Yea, you're right about the i3 2100 being a good deal, because its out of stock at my local MicroCenter. Everywhere else its going for $125. So it looks like its back to the G620 for $50 or G850 for $88.

Thanks for linking the comparison.

I have experience with different brands of HDDs but not Samsung, but I too would just go for WD. Would definitely try out a Samsung if the price is right. But seeing these sky high HDD prices makes many not so much a good deal.

I can still go with the SDD, because the price difference isn't so much compared to a 500GB HDD and still use my 2TB green HDD as storage.

So what do you think? Anyone else, please feel free to chime in on what I should go with.

 

[Guest]

I agree getting a hdd if you already have a "green" drive doesn't make too much sense with the prices now. This 120gb ssd http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211588 is $115 with MIR. I would go for the g620 at microcenter, 300 mhz isn't worth $36 .

 

[obsama1]

http://www.hardware-revolution.com/best-budget-gaming-pc-february-2012/

Build either Tier 0.625 or Tier 0.75.

OR if you can go $30 over budget:
http://www.gamersnexus.net/pc-builds/46-pcbuildupg/673-swtor-sith-budget-gaming-pc-build

 

[Zero_]

$600 build in my sig minus the parts you already have. That's a HD6870 + Core i3 2100. Should cost you just over $400.

The build includes a $80 hard drive, you can ditch that and get a cheap 60GB SSD for $100.

 

[Xer0285]

Hey guys, thanks for the input.

obsama1

http://www.hardware-revolution.com [...] uary-2012/

Build either Tier 0.625 or Tier 0.75.

OR if you can go $30 over budget:
http://www.gamersnexus.net/pc-buil [...] g-pc-build

That's where I initially got the components for the build. I was unsure if posting a different website other than shopping and manufacturers' websites were forbidden. But now I know its ok to post links.

Some of the parts on the gamersnexus link are either out of stock or had an increase in price. That's ok, thanks for the input.

zero_

$600 build in my sig minus the parts you already have. That's a HD6870 + Core i3 2100. Should cost you just over $400.

The build includes a $80 hard drive, you can ditch that and get a cheap 60GB SSD for $100.

I'm going to mix and match parts here and there from all the comments and links provided thus far. I'll definitely settle on the Corsair PSU.

So it looks like my list will almost be finalized:

CPU: Intel G620 for $50*
Mobo: Biostar H61MGC for $50
RAM: G.Skill 4GB for $22*
GPU: $135* - $15 MIR = $120
PSU: Corsair CX430 for $44
ODD: LG 22x DVD Burner for $16*
SDD: Crucial 64GB for $88

Prices with * denote that local sales tax will be applied. So after applying sales tax and subtracting the rebate the new total comes down to $406.06 but only if I jump on the 6850 deal before Friday. I may have some unused gift cards for Amazon as I was saving them, so adding those might drop it down below the $400 mark. So what do you guys think?

 

[Guest]

 

[Xer0285]

Best answer selected by Xer0285.