Budget gaming build comparison, need advice.

[foozballd53]

Hey guys, I'm looking at building a new gaming rig, but I have been out of the pc gaming world a few years now so I'm not quite sure about what a fairly powerful pc looks like. With that said, I was looking around and found an $800 and a $600 build on a website and wanted to see if you guys could tell me if the difference between the two would be all that noticeable.

The games I'm looking to play are games like, Starcraft II, The Witcher II and Diablo 3 when it comes out.

$800 Build ($900 or so after shipping and varied pricing)
http://gamingrig.blogspot.com/2012/04/800-gaming-pc-march-2012.html

$600 Build
http://gamingrig.blogspot.com/2012/04/600-gaming-pc-april-2012.html

I also have a Hp Touchsmart 610 all-in-one pc I plan on selling after I build this thing and transfer stuff over. I got it as a gift when I graduated college last May, and the thing has no gaming capabilities at all. With that said, if you guys know of any good places to try to sell it (aside from craigslist or ebay) - let me know.

 

[striker410]

Those are pretty good builds. I would swap the mobo to an ASROCK H61 U3S3: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157236 Good price good features. I'd also drop a bit more cash for an i5-2400 on the $800 one. To cover the cost of those, you can get an Antec 430D or CX430w instead since the 7850 only needs a single power connector.

As for the difference, yes there will be a very tangible difference. An i5 quad is substantially faster than an i3-2120. The 7850 is also much faster than the 6870. http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/549?vs=540 Keep in mind you'll need to grab a monitor and OS too.

For selling the 610, you might have luck over here: http://hardforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=17 they have a pretty good Classifieds. Lots of traffic. While most people won't be looking for a Touchsmart, it's worth a shot.

 

[foozballd53]

Thanks a ton striker. I will definitely keep those changes in mind.

I also forgot to mention that I already have an extra monitor, mouse and keyboard.

 

[l0v3rboi]

The $800 build is generally better. It has a better GPU and a newer generation MoBo.