$830 gaming pc (first time) need advice

[jcec92]

Hi Guys i want to make a gaming pc but i have a tight budget $830 tops hopong to get your advice, thanks in advance.
Approximate Purchase Date: July

Budget Range: $830 tops

System usage: Gaming like Diablo III, Starcraft II, COD MW3, etc and movies.

Parts Not Required: dont need a mouse or keyboard.

Preferred Website for Parts: Amazon.

Country: Dominican Republic.

Parts Preferences: Wanting to do an AMD build.

Overclocking: Maybe in the future.

SLI or Crossfire: No

Monitor Resolutio: 1920 x 1080

Here is the build i got so far:

-CPU: AMD Phenom II x4 965 - $119.99
-Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3 ATX - $99.98
-Ram: Corsair Vengeance Blue 8GB- $44.99
-Case: Cooler Master Elite 430 -  $44.68
-PSU: Corsair Builder Series CX  V2 500-Watt 80 Plus - $56.03
-HDD: Seagate Barracuda 1TB - $99.99
-Optical drive: ASUS 24x DRW B1ST -24  - $21.48
-GPU: XFX Radeon HD Double D 7770 BE 1GB - $159.99
-Wireless: Medialink Wireless N USB adapter - $19.99
-Monitor: ASUS VS228H-P 21.5-Inch Full HD LED - $129.99
-Case Fan: Cooler Master 120mm Case Fan 4-in-1 - 13.99

Total: $810

 

[boiler1990]

For gaming, I would consider swapping over to the Intel i3-2100/2120/2125 since it'll outperform the X6s in gaming.

Overall that's a pretty solid build. The key to gaming builds is to maximize the GPU since games rely on that far more than the CPU.

 

[azeem40]

For $830, I would have definitely fitted in a GTX 560ti.

 

[tonync_01]

If you're planning on spending $160 on gpu you want to go with Radeon Hd 6870 over the 7770, best performance for that price currently: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-4.html
I can recommend the Sapphire card.
Small stuff: but you should be able to get a dvd drive for $17 and a wireless N for ~$10 from newegg.
Otherwise it looks like a good build. I have that Cooler Master case, it is a good value.

 

[jcec92]

For gaming, I would consider swapping over to the Intel i3-2100/2120/2125 since it'll outperform the X6s in gaming.

Overall that's a pretty solid build. The key to gaming builds is to maximize the GPU since games rely on that far more than the CPU.

I dont want a Intel core i3, if im goong to intel im pointing for a core i5 2400.

 

[jcec92]

If you're planning on spending $160 on gpu you want to go with Radeon Hd 6870 over the 7770, best performance for that price currently: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-4.html
I can recommend the Sapphire card.
Small stuff: but you should be able to get a dvd drive for $17 and a wireless N for ~$10 from newegg.
Otherwise it looks like a good build. I have that Cooler Master case, it is a good value.

I choose the Radeon HD 7770 because its a new model and maybe in the future amd release driver to outperform the 6870.

I can't buy from newegg, im from dominican republic and newegg only accept credit card from USA.

 

[motorneuron]

You should definitely go for 6870 over 7770, unless you have a serious power supply issue (and your 500W PSU is fine). Driver updates aren't going to equalize the 7770; it's just a lot less powerful. The 6870 pushes between 25% and 50% more FPS in many games: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/536?vs=540

This isn't something that a driver update can fix. Anyway, nothing beats the 6870 at its current price range. The 560 Ti is a good card too, but you will probably pay a bit more. So if you have an AMD preference, no reason not to get the 6870.

 

[boiler1990]

I dont want a Intel core i3, if im goong to intel im pointing for a core i5 2400.

But for gaming you don't need to spend the money on an i5-2400. The i3 works quite well, and your GPU is really the important part. You can game very well on the Sandy Bridge Pentium G chip - it's embarrassing how poorly AMD performs.

 

[mad2]

But for gaming you don't need to spend the money on an i5-2400. The i3 works quite well, and your GPU is really the important part. You can game very well on the Sandy Bridge Pentium G chip - it's embarrassing how poorly AMD performs.

Good to see another boilermaker here! As for the processor, I agree. For gaming an i3-2120 will outperform more than you would expect and it is a great value. And the 7770 is bad, i recommend the 6870 highly.

 

[jcec92]

But for gaming you don't need to spend the money on an i5-2400. The i3 works quite well, and your GPU is really the important part. You can game very well on the Sandy Bridge Pentium G chip - it's embarrassing how poorly AMD performs.

Ok, i considered a build with Intel core i3 2100 with an option to upgrade to core i5 in the future and this is what i got with core i3.

-CPU: Intel Core i3 2100 - $119.99
-Motherboard: Gigabyte Intel Z77 LGA 1155 ATX GA-Z77-DS3H - $104.99
-Ram: corsair vengeance blue 8GB-$44.99
 -Case: Cooler Master Elite 430  -  $44.92
-PSU: Corsair Builder Series CX  V2 500-Watt 80 Plus - $60.13
-HDD: Seagate Barracuda 1TB- $99.99
-Optical drive: ASUS 24x DRW B1ST -24  - $21.48
-GPU: ASUS Radeon HD 7850 2GB - 249.99
-Wireless: Medialink Wireless N USB adapter - $19.99
-Monitor: ASUS VS228H-P 21.5-Inch Full HD LED - $129.99
-Case Fan: Cooler Master 120mm Case Fan 4-in-1 - 12.96

Total: $910.09

 

[tonync_01]

lol Boilermaker here too (alum). The 965 is a good cpu to go with at that price, it compares well with the i3 and the fact that its a quad core makes it a bit more well rounded if you using any multitasking apps. Also the AM3+ socket will be in use until at least Vishera, which gives you a good upgrade path.

The 7850 you listed is a much better choice than the 7770.

 

[jcec92]

lol Boilermaker here too (alum). The 965 is a good cpu to go with at that price, it compares well with the i3 and the fact that its a quad core makes it a bit more well rounded if you using any multitasking apps. Also the AM3+ socket will be in use until at least Vishera, which gives you a good upgrade path.

The 7850 you listed is a much better choice than the 7770.

I Belive Intel have way more better upgrade path for the price and perfomance, im gonna upgrade in the future to Intel core i5 3570k and may OC it.

 

[jcec92]

Best answer selected by jcec92.