Parts for a budget gaming pc

[hardwareman11]

Hello everybody, I want to keep with the current technology and am asking all of you for a complete build (including OS, Mouse Keyboard, Speakers and Monitor) that costs anywhere from $500-$750 for the components. I would like to Crossfire EVENTUALLY, but NO overclocking at all. Don't need it. 6gb's of RAM sounds fair enough; if not, fast as hell 4gb's then. Will RAID for extra speed the HDD'S maybe a hybrid at 500Gb. Or a Solid State drive. Price range is slightly flexible but I do not want to spend 1000 dollars for the whole lot. A few hundred bucks is real nice. Shooting for future flexiblity and upgradeability; with enough CPU and GPU power to run demanding games. Sorry for this being so long, but I am trying to pinpoint the idea for you guys to post something up for me.

I need the whole thing. I do not want to spend $850 or 900 or a 1,000 dollars just to play games now.

I want to play games like Metro 2033, Fallout series, Crysis series, Skyrim, oblivion, diablo 3 etc. at the QUALITY setting set to at least all high; would like ULTRA if I could or a mix at a RESOLUTION of 1080 that the monitor should have.

The components will most likely be an AMD/ATI build which is what I am aiming for due to the price. So if any of you guys could post a whole build with case and OS etc. It would be greatly appreciated. : ) I will not be buying yet, I just want to have an idea that I can tinker with until I get the money.

 

[2fast4thetown_down]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/buUD

This is the lowest intel budget build I could build if you dont care intel or amd do this

this is a 4.2 ghz quad core pc

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/buVF

 

[inzone]

Your budget's too low for all that , you may be better off with a prebuilt. You have also got high expectations of gaming on high or ultra and you will have to spend a lot more money then what your budget is for that , Metro and Crysis require highend cards to reach high settings and a high end card will eat up half your budget. Keep saving and then maybe in another year you will have enough for what you want.

 

[subasteve5800]

Inzone is correct. The build you are describing (Crossfire/SLI expandability, SSD, RAID, Max Settings at 1080p) is more like a $1,500 system. I suggest you start saving money or lowering your expectations.

You could probably build a decent gaming system with 1 500GB HDD, a single PCI-E 16x slot (no crossfire/SLI), 4GB of RAM, and a 1600x900 or 1366x768 Monitor for about $800 all in. Even then, you wouldn't be able to max every game.

 

[2fast4thetown_down]

I built the ones above for about 900 aand it had a crappy gfx card so 1000 would be an okay system on your expectations.

 

[hardwareman11]

Alright, I see what your saying, but I am sticking with what I am shooting for. I just don't see myself paying a grand to just play games on. Seems mediocre.
So, if you guys could still post up an AMD/ATI build for me or of course if INtel/Nvidia would have a better deal then go ahead. Same price range. I do have a T.V. that can run 1080p but, a monitor would give more flexibility. I've seen Battlefield 3 run fine on a 7770 and some older cards on Youtube.

My idea was to basically pick the best MOBO possible, then the best CPU and then couple those with the best GPU as I could; then add the rest in or vice-versa. It should not be impossible. I don't mind going with a little lower resolution; as long as I can SEE the difference over my Xbox and HEAR the difference with a computers graphics and experience is when I will be satisfied. 900 res is good; as long as I can play my games at at least HIGH quality settings. No medium.

With AMD I was looking at the quad core FX CPU that has the 4.3 GZH speed but thats 139.99
and If I could, I would couple the cpu and gpu as mid range parts (7770 or even the older 6770) with a midrange MOBO or something that can SUPPORT AM3+ cpu's and future cpu's.

 

[hardwareman11]

Funny thing is, That was the same MOBO and CPU I have written down on paper. THIS is what I was looking for, but MAY change out the GPU and swap the RAM for faster ram, with the monitor included and speakers and everything I could scrounge up the MOUSE/KEYBOARD a little later on. Could you swap the gpu and RAM (faster ram?) nice price range.
but is the power supply sufficient?

Message to: 2fast

 

[hardwareman11]

I am not looking to MAX my settings, just to play at HIGH quality settings, NO AA or v-sync and try for 1080 or a little lower. Of course I would try to mix and match high and ultra. But high settings are good.
However, I would be concerned about the POWER SUPPLY and the MOBO. I need to know more about them in this price range. Basically, this desktop for the stated price range or even a little more to 800 bucks would be my setup for as long as I could and YES I would like to upgrade it.

I would try to run my games in DX11, then eventually upgrade my power supply to run TWO cards of the future or another card that I would get with the system. See my plan? then when those are old enough years from now I would upgrade my Gpu to a more powerful SINGLE gpu etc. thus keeping up with the MOBO and what not and swapping them out etc.

Message to: Subasteve

 

[2fast4thetown_down]

Then get the build I postd for the amd build it will suit you find minus the monitor

 

[hardwareman11]

Yeah, I can change things around; well add some things to include speakers and such. Do you recommend any Last gen or any This gen type GPU's? such as a 6770 or a 6850 or the 7770? for around the same price range as the 550 ti? it could be a small 20 dollars more price difference which should be fine so it all comes down to under 900 or so. of course. 1600 speed ram or just a 1333 would be better.

 

[2fast4thetown_down]

I like the 7770 more than the 550 ti personally but it is a brand preference really they are close

The 7770 is slower but I would get this one

http://www.amazon.com/XFX-FX777AZNF4-Edition-1000MHz-Graphics/dp/B007A44T42

Look at this too

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/536?vs=541

 

[hardwareman11]

Very Nice, 7770 it may be. What brand of 1333 mzh or if possible 1600 speed ram do you recommend?, I still need speakers, mouse and keyboard.

So just to re-evaluate. I am aiming to play at 1080; when I can. and have quality setings at all high/Ultra, or all Ultra etc. No medium or under. I am eventually going to get a three monitor setup way down the line depending upon the price of monitors or if he monitor I would have is decent enough. DX11 ENABLED, if I can. Dx10 for all of them at least. May crossfire.

I do believe that that motherboard is decent enough for a bit of future proofing. Is it?, how many more watts to take TWO GPU's eventually. I still am unsure about future upgradeability with this setup and Mobo. Its not like I could not swap the MOBO and buy new CPU's of course. I just dont want any bottlenecking. I hope you get what I am aiming for.
I don't need a high end computer. I'm repeating myself. xD lol. You understand

 

[2fast4thetown_down]

G.skill snipers or ripjaws are both nice.

 

[hardwareman11]

Okay. Thanks. depends on price.

 

[FinneousPJ]

It's a ridiculous budget constraint for a complete system but I managed an option to Xfire :lol:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-2120 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor ($116.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($107.55 @ Newegg)
Memory: Mushkin Essentials 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($19.98 @ Outlet PC)
Hard Drive: Hitachi Deskstar 160GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($43.81 @ Compuvest)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 6850 1GB Video Card ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Case: BitFenix Merc Alpha ATX Mid Tower Case ($36.40 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair 600W ATX12V Power Supply ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Acer G215HVAbd 21.5" Monitor ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($98.98 @ Outlet PC)
Keyboard: Microsoft Keyboard 200 Wired Standard Keyboard ($8.99 @ Amazon)
Mouse: Microsoft Optical Mouse 200 for Business Wired Optical Mouse ($5.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $745.64
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)

final EDIT: a cheaper HDD for under $750

 

[inzone]

The putting together of a budget build for $500 to $750 was not the issue and you cabn get many configurations to accomplish that , the issue was to get said build to play the games chosen at high and ultra settings.
The build as you have listed will not do that , it can play the game because the parts meet the minimum requirements but at what fps and what gameplay performance. This link shows the game Metro 2033 running at ultra settings with different video cards and an Intel i7-965 quad core cpu.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/his-radeon-hd-7850-iceqx-turbox-review/14

You will notice the 6850 card getting 20 fps which is not very playable at all , you will have to lower all the settings and resolution to get up near 30 fps which would at least be playable.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/his-radeon-hd-7850-iceqx-turbox-review/17

Crysis was another game that was on the list and while the fps is initialy higher you will again have to make changes.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/his-radeon-hd-7850-iceqx-turbox-review/19

BF3 is another game that will cause problems with fps levels and while it's not on the list of games it shows how really intense game wreak havok wth system components if they are not strong enough and a reminder about the components is that these benchmarks were not run on a budget Pc with a 2120 core i3 cpu.
There are games that will get good gameplay because the game is easy for the Pc to run.

Frames per second
Gameplay

<30 FPS
very limited gameplay

30-40 FPS
average yet very playable

40-60 FPS
good gameplay

>60 FPS
best possible gameplay

 

[hardwareman11]

Inzone, I plan on playing at at least in the 35 to 60+ range, minimum of 35 on the said settings in the beginning of this post.