Building a $500 gaming rig!

huzisong

June 29, 2012 6:51:18 PM

Approximate Purchase Date: Within 2 weeks

Budget Range: $400 if possible, can probably stretch to $500 if I have to.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, surfing the web, movies, school work. I'd like to be able to play skyrim, and BF3 and Bioshock at least decently.

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, OS, HDD, sound system, RAM.

Preferred Websites for Parts: newegg.com, amazon.com, whatever's cheap and reliable. I believe I live near a microcenter.

Country: United States

Parts Preferences: Preferably an Nvidia graphics card.

Overclocking: Most likely.

SLI or Crossfire: No.

Monitor Resolution: 1920 x 1080

Additional Comments: As quiet as possible.

So far, I have this list of components - however, I'm fairly new to this building scene, and I don't know whether or not the parts are compatible or not.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B007TMXFE0/ref=n...
EVGA GeForce GTX560 SE 1024MB GDDR5 SLI Ready Graphics Card

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
ASRock B75M LGA 1155 Intel B75 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml...
Intel Core i3-2100

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 V2

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
NZXT GAMMA Mid Tower Case

Can you tell me if the parts are compatible, and, if so, how I can cut any corners for pricing? Would 430w be enough? Should I go for a 500w? Thanks!

More about : building 500 gaming rig

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ScrewySqrl

June 29, 2012 6:55:54 PM

if you have a microcenter nearby, go ahead and get the CPU *and* motherboard there. You should be able to get an I5-2400 and an H61 motherboard very cheap.

The 430W is probly not enough juice for the GTX 560 SE, so I'd suggest the 500W model, or a HD 6850 GPU, which will run in the 430W

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huzisong

June 29, 2012 7:01:19 PM

ScrewySqrl said:

if you have a microcenter nearby, go ahead and get the CPU *and* motherboard there. You should be able to get an I5-2400 and an H61 motherboard very cheap.

The 430W is probly not enough juice for the GTX 560 SE, so I'd suggest the 500W model, or a HD 6850 GPU, which will run in the 430W

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml...

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml...

so would those be good?

or this?

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml...

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ScrewySqrl

June 29, 2012 7:03:48 PM

huzisong said:

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml...

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml...

so would those be good?

MAYBE.

the H61 will run the 3450 if it's had a bios upgrade, but I don't know if that one has had the upgrade yet. Go for a B75M with the i5-3450, just to be sure.

edit:

the H61 will work fine with the 2400

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zuyah

June 29, 2012 7:06:13 PM

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/b4zi

You could go cheaper with the mobo, but I have that mobo and it is really good.

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huzisong

June 29, 2012 7:17:59 PM

ScrewySqrl said:

MAYBE.

the H61 will run the 3450 if it's had a bios upgrade, but I don't know if that one has had the upgrade yet. Go for a B75M with the i5-3450, just to be sure.

edit:

the H61 will work fine with the 2400

So would you have any recommendations for a B75M motherboard?
Thanks in advance!

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huzisong

June 29, 2012 7:51:17 PM

venur said:

I,ll post you what I consider the cheapest 1080p build that I consider linking 660$

CPU: i5-2500 / 210$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

GPU: HD6850 / 135$ (+ free dirt3 game) (slow card)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
or
HD6870 / 160$ (+ free dirst3 game) Worth the extra moneyr ealy
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

DvD burner: Asus / 16$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
Case: Rosewill chalenger / 50$ (realy awsome for the price)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
HHD: Seagate Barracuda 7200rpm 500Gb / 75$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
PSU: Rosewill 530w / 55$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
Ram: G.Skill 1333Hz 8g (2x4g) / 40$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
Mobo: Asrock z77 / 75$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Extra and minus

+10$ For i5-2500k (only worth it if you ever plan to upgrade the GPU someday): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

HHD + 10-30$ for higher storage capacity. You could save a few dollar going for another brand (just be sure its a 7200RPM speed). Its up to you if you want to risk failure on a cheaper brand to save 5$ or so.

PSU: Don't go for a cheaper brand it would just fry some of your componement

-17$ if you go for 4g only (2x2). Be aware that you will need to tweak down some windows vista/7 feathurs also going 64bit would be useless. Don,t expect to do any multi tasking with only 4g. Ram are designed to work in dual chanel so goign for 1barret of 4g is a way slower then going with 2 barret of 2g. You could Also save 1 or 2$ money going for a cheaper brand.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

-25$ going for a biostar mobo. I've never tried such a cheap motherboard so I can't say if you can rely on it or not.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

If your going for an i3 or the 2400 do not aim for 1080p on modern game.

Alright, thanks.
However, could I use the nvidia geforce GTX 560:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
rather than the Radeon HD 6870?

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venur

June 29, 2012 8:23:40 PM

huzisong said:

Alright, thanks.
However, could I use the nvidia geforce GTX 560:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
rather than the Radeon HD 6870?

Way slower go for the 560ti if you want an Nvidia GPU. Both card (560ti and hd6870) have similar performance. Personnaly I'd say pick the cheapest one of both and the AMD ones give you a free Dirt3 coupon wich is a great game if you like rally.

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huzisong

June 29, 2012 8:49:51 PM

venur said:

Way slower go for the 560ti if you want an Nvidia GPU. Both card (560ti and hd6870) have similar performance. Personnaly I'd say pick the cheapest one of both and the AMD ones give you a free Dirt3 coupon wich is a great game if you like rally.

okay. last question.
I've finalized my build, which is now radically different from my original, since microcenter is cheaper.

here goes:

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml...
intel i5 2500K

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml...
Biostar H61MLB LGA 1155 H61

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml...
Kingston HyperX blu 8GB DDR3-1333

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml...
Radeon HD 7770 Graphics Card

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml...
Thermaltake 600w power supply

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml...
Antec case

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml...
LG 24x DVD burner

Just two questions now: all the parts are compatible? Correct?
Also, should I get a seperate PSU, or is the one that comes with the Case sufficient?

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moornix

June 29, 2012 8:58:39 PM

Be aware that a 6870 or 560 will outperform a 7770.

Thermaltake PSUs have iffy performance. Most here would recommend Antec, Seasonic, XFX or Corsair. Your specs will not require more than a 500W PSU. The case you listed does not have a PSU.

When buying from Microcenter, do not forget to take into account the sales tax. Unlike many online stores, they charge sales tax because their physically present in your state and you buy from them when you pick it up.

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venur

June 29, 2012 9:17:48 PM

huzisong said:

okay. last question.
I've finalized my build, which is now radically different from my original, since microcenter is cheaper.

here goes:

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml...
Radeon HD 7770 Graphics Card

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml...
Thermaltake 600w power supply

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml...
Antec case

The 7770 is far weaker then even a 6850.

The PSU brand is gardbage avoid it and you dont nned 600w for a 7770w even 500w would overkill it

That case only come with two fan probably good enough personaly I have a crush for that one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

But the Antec is a good case just my personal preference.

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ScrewySqrl

June 29, 2012 10:18:42 PM

if you're going with the H61, you can save a bit with a 2500 instead of 2500K

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huzisong

June 30, 2012 5:50:05 AM

Best answer selected by huzisong.

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