Opinions and suggestions on a budget gaming PC

TechPhoenix

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Oct 22, 2012
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Hello, I've been researching a lot and putting components together for a home build computer for the last few days.
These are the specs I have finally came out with:

XFX ATI Radeon 6870 900MHz 1GB PCI-Express HDMI ( Just found out that this card is VERY LOUD. But it's quality seems to be rated good for the price. Any other card of good quality which doesn't leave you deaf? )

Intel Core i3-2120 3.30GHz LGA1155 3MB ( Looks like a good processor for the price, at least for me... )

Gigabyte Z77-DS3H S1155 Intel Z77 DDR3 ATX ( Some of the reviews discourage me from buying this card. Such as random noises coming out? )

HGST 500GB Deskstar 7K1000.C SATA-300 7200rpm 16mb ( Wow, had a hard time finding a decent Quality = Quantity hard drive which is cheap )

Antec 300 Three Hundred Two Tower Case - with USB 3.0 ( Older version here! Should I pay more for the newer version or just buy the older one? )

Corsair 500 Watt CX500 V2 Builder Series 80 Plus Power Supply ( Hmm, again, had a hard time finding a cheap, decent power supply. )

G.Skill 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1333MHz 240-pin DIMM CL9 RipjawsX Red ( Looks good to me. I don't think I need 8 GB. )

Pioneer DVD-RW 24x SATA Internal - Retail Box ( I tend to trust things which are made by Pioneer. I don't use CDs/DVDs all that much these days with all the flash storage devices, but yeah. )

The price comes out quite high, about 600 Euros. I mean, I can resist a bit more and gather some more money but, it's hard these days so a cheaper version would make me happy.
Other than that, I really do not want a computer to handle excellent graphics. I'm the kind of gamer who plays for the gameplay and not for the graphics. If most of the games which are played these days work on Medium, I'm happy, very happy!
 

TechPhoenix

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Oct 22, 2012
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10,530
Alrighty, my knowledge is quite rusty on the synergy between components / quality to price / etc. and my research is not the best as Ireland has a limited amount of online shops and the best I have found yet is dabs...
It's quite late for me so I'll be checking in again tomorrow. Thanks!
 

TechPhoenix

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Oct 22, 2012
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10,530
Are you sure about the power supply? I've heard many stories about PC builds failing because of low voltage ratings on power supply's.
 

TechPhoenix

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Oct 22, 2012
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10,530
Good to hear. Thanks! Looks great, but I don't seem to find shops which supply the RAM you've suggested me. Something else which is good?

Also, is there any good case with a transparent side? (This is very optional for me but I'd like to monitor my pieces. Again, optional but I'd love such a feature :). )
 

TechPhoenix

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Oct 22, 2012
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I'm definitely sticking to the Rosewill, those 5 fans included and their positioning looks good. I wish we had a "Newegg" in Ireland. These guys have EVERYTHING. Well, my build seems pretty finished for now. I'll do some polishing and I'm good to go. Thanks man, you've been of great help! I'm not sure how to select the best "post" as I'm new around here but I hope that's ok. Thank you!
 
The intel i3 is not really competitive with AMD's new FX 4300 , or even the older FX 4170 .
www.tomshardware.com/reviews/fx-4170-core-i3-3220-benchmarks,3314.html
The 4300 will be between 5 and 15% better than the 4170 across the board

The best budget build IMO
FX 4300
mb with a 970 series chipset . The Asrock 970 extreme4 probably
2 x2 gig of 1600 Mhz RAM rated for 1.5 volts

 

TechPhoenix

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Oct 22, 2012
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But then you'd take in count electricity bills where the FX 4300 eats 2x time the Wattage the Intel takes. Yes, FX 4300 has some overall advantages but then you'd think of the intel i3 advantage in gaming. So, I'd rely on the i3 still as it its slightly lower performance is covered by the low power take in. Thanks for the suggestion though :), appreciated.
 



The FX uses more power under load . To keep that in perspective where I live it would cost me about 2 cents per hour of gaming. At idle on a desktop , or reading an email or watching a dvd the power consumption is nearly identical

The i3 has a clear advantage in older DX9 games . Everywhere else the margins are so close with the 4170 you would never be able to tell .And with the extra performance of the 4300 the scale may well tip totally in favor of the AMD