<$1000 Productivity and Gaming

xptql

Honorable
Jun 5, 2012
2
0
10,510
Approximate Purchase Date: 2-4 weeks.

Budget Range: $700-$900

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Internet, watching movies, productivity, gaming, photo and video editing.

Parts Not Required: Mouse, Monitor

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg, Canada Computers

Country: Canada

Parts Preferences:
CPU: i3-2100 Sandy Bridge
Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-B75M-D3H
RAM: 8 Gb DDR3
GPU: Radeon HD 6850
HDD: 1 Tb
SSD: 120 Gb
PSU: 500w Corsair

Overclocking: Maybe, not foreseeably.

SLI or Crossfire: No

Monitor Resolution: 1280x1024
 

g-unit1111

Titan
Moderator
Not bad - on a $900 build I'd ditch the SSD and upgrade your components to a better CPU and GPU, that will be far more worth it in the long run. You can always add an SSD later.

Try this:

Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 - $59.99
PSU: Corsair Builder Series CX600 V2 - $69.99 ($20.00 MIR)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H77-DS3H - $119.99
CPU: 3.1GHz Intel Core i5-3450 - $199.99
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 - $46.99
HD: Seagate SV35 Series ST3500411SV 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s - $89.99
Optical: Lite on DVD Burner - $17.99
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7850 - $249.99

Total: $834.89 - $20.00 MIR = $814.89
 

xptql

Honorable
Jun 5, 2012
2
0
10,510
I'm not sure I wanna drop th SSD out of the gate. Considering that gaming is only going to be a sometimes use for the computer, as compared to productivity, Internet and every day use, it seems like the substantial increase in speed offered by an SSD in everyday use would be invaluable.

I'd love to be getting an i5 and the 7850, but I don't see why I shouldn't just hold off and upgrade those in a year or two.

I'm also curious what you see as the substantial difference between the Gigabyte board you recommend and the one I had already been looking at? The specs seem quite similar, but the price is a fair bit higher. Am I missing something?
 

g-unit1111

Titan
Moderator
I'm not sure I wanna drop th SSD out of the gate. Considering that gaming is only going to be a sometimes use for the computer, as compared to productivity, Internet and every day use, it seems like the substantial increase in speed offered by an SSD in everyday use would be invaluable.

Not necessarily - depending on what SSD you get some (mainly Sandforce and LAMD drives) have a much higher fail rate than Marvell based drives do. Sure the primary HD is *ALWAYS* a bottleneck if you're going to be using a mechanical drive - and that doesn't matter if you're using an $800 build or an $8,000 build. An SSD will cut down on that some but if you have the room and you're going to be gaming, invest in a better GPU over anything else. The thing with storage devices is that it's really easy to add and remove drives later on if you need to.

I'd love to be getting an i5 and the 7850, but I don't see why I shouldn't just hold off and upgrade those in a year or two.

No - it's better to pay a bit more than to buy the same part twice. CPUs haven't necessarily changed from one generation to the next, as AMD proved with the FX series and Intel proved with Sandy Bridge / Ivy Bridge. A CPU two years from now won't change much in terms of performance. The one area that's constantly changing is the GPU. The 78XX / 79XX and 6XX are already proven to be solid performers but a year or two from now when the 8XXX and 7XX series are released they'll look completely different. But you want the best GPU you can afford on a gaming system, everything else comes second.

I'm also curious what you see as the substantial difference between the Gigabyte board you recommend and the one I had already been looking at? The specs seem quite similar, but the price is a fair bit higher. Am I missing something?

H77 has faster PCI Gen 3 lanes than the B75 boards do. Which will mean any future GPU you plan to run will be covered where B75 won't be. Also that board you linked to is an mATX board and I heavily advise against those on desktop systems unless you're building around an mATX case or using it in an HTPC configuration where you need a small form factor.