Budget PC for gaming and digital painting

[milktea07]

Hello! I've never built a PC before and I don't know anything about it so I'll watch a tutorial on Youtube.

Approximate Purchase Date: this month

Budget Range: $500-600

System Usage from Most to Least Important: surfing, gaming, digital painting

Are you buying a monitor: Yes

Do you need to buy OS: Yes (Windows 7)

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.ca ncix.com

Location: Canada

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe (don't really know what these are)

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Why Are You Upgrading: I want to play MMORPGs and games that aren't on the PS3

Hard drive:Western Digital WD Blue WD5000AAKX 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136769

Case: Cooler Master HAF 912
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233

Graphics card: SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card (11201-00-20G)
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102967

Power supply: Thermaltake TR2 W0070RUC 430W ATX12V V2.2 Intel Core i7 Compliant Dual 80mm Fans Full Cable Sleevings Power Supply
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153023

Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428

Motherboard: ASRock B75M-GL LGA 1155 Intel B75 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157326

Processor: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ965FBGMBOX
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727

DVD burner: ASUS 24X DVD Burner - Bulk 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS - OEM
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204

Thank you!

 

[zared619]

I have a couple of questions. For 500-600, it is very difficult to make a build with windows and a monitor to do what you want it to do. Your build above is in your price range, but neglects the OS and a monitor, so does that mean we can leave it out? Also you have a monitor resolution listed, but you listed that you are buying a monitor, so do you have one or do you need one? Regardless, I will post two builds. The first will have windows and a monitor included, the second will not, and will have better components.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/p/jzcD
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/p/jzcD/by_merchant/


CPU: Intel Celeron G530 2.4GHz Dual-Core Processor ($43.99 @ Computer Valley)
Motherboard: ASRock H61M-DGS Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($69.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: Kingston 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($15.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Western Digital Scorpio Blue 250GB 2.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($57.22 @ Amazon Canada)
Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7770 1GB Video Card ($119.27 @ DirectCanada)
Case: Rosewill R101-P-BK MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($26.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($29.99 @ Canada Computers)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($19.98 @ DirectCanada)
Monitor: Acer G215HVAbd 21.5" Monitor ($119.99 @ Canada Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($96.99 @ Computer Valley)
Total: $600.40
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/p/jzf0
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/p/jzf0/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i3-3220 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor ($126.19 @ DirectCanada)
Motherboard: ASRock B75 PRO3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($94.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: Corsair 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($35.49 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB Video Card ($109.99 @ NCIX)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 430 ATX Mid Tower Case ($43.70 @ DirectCanada)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($29.99 @ Canada Computers)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($19.98 @ DirectCanada)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($96.99 @ Computer Valley)
Total: $557.32
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

 

[milktea07]

The monitor can be left out, I will probably just buy one from a local store. I like the second build. Is it much better than the one I posted and will games with high setting work good on it? Thank you!

 

[zared619]

It is capable of playing BF3 at ultra settings, so high is fluent.
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/his_radeon_hd_7770_ghz_edition_review,19.html

If you spend another $75 for a better GPU, it will be completely awesome.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102999&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

 

[Kamen_BG]

zared619's builds are pretty good but he forgot that Battlefield 3 is one of the games that just needs a quad core or above to run well in multiplayer.What i mean to say is although the Core i3 processors are usually a very good choice for a gamer their multithreaded performance just isnt good enough for Battlefield 3.With that in mind i can build you a even better PC with a similar price tag.And, ill try to include a hard drive as well.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($96.99 @ Computer Valley)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2P Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($53.99 @ Computer Valley)
Memory: Patriot Intel Extreme Master, Limited Ed 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($29.99 @ NCIX)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ Memory Express)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti 2GB Video Card ($119.99 @ Memory Express)
Case: Antec Three Hundred ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Memory Express)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($49.99 @ NCIX)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($19.98 @ DirectCanada)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($96.99 @ Computer Valley)
Total: $567.90
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

So that's the build.It's a HUGE improvement over the builds you both did in terms of gaming performance.

 

[zared619]

Nothing against the build posted above, its a good build. More or less though the only game the 965 is better at is BF3. The OP said he is probably playing MMO's. I used BF3 as an example because it is the most bottleneck on the system I posted.

 

[milktea07]

Thank you guys so much for helping! I'm excited to build my own pc and hope all goes well lol

 

[milktea07]

Best answer selected by milktea07.