Friend's $300 Gaming PC Upgrade

samuelspark

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So this Christmas season, my friend will be spending $300 to upgrade his Acer Aspire M3470-UC30P. Basically, it has a 350w PSU, 2.5GHz Llano A8, and a 7750. I suggested him to add another 7750 and change the CPU to an i3. He mostly plays SC2 and pretty much nothing else.

Intel i3 3225 ($119.99)
http://microcenter.com/product/398006/Core_i3_3225_33GHz_LGA_1155_Boxed_Processor
Gigabyte GA-Z77MX mATX ($129.99)
http://microcenter.com/product/387585/GA-Z77MX-D3H_LGA_1155_Z77_mATX_Intel_Motherboard
PowerColor Radeon HD 7750 ($89.99)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131481
-$40 MicroCenter Bundle

Total = $299.97

Any other alternatives? I was thinking about an i5, but I think another GPU would increase framerates more.
 
Solution
Oh, in that case, I'd go with an i5 3570k ($170 at microcenter), the Hyper 212 EVO ($26 at newegg) and then whichever Z77 board suits you in terms of features and looks. I'd recommend an Asrock at this price point.

That should leave you with just under 100 left over, if he feels the need, he could get an i7.

sonicers

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You don't want to get such an expensive motherboard if you're not overclocking; that defeats the purpose of a Z77 motherboard.

Here's what I'd recommend.

Get an i5 3470 because SC2 is an extremely CPU intensive game, and you'll want a better CPU than GPU. The GPU doesn't matter as much.

http://www.microcenter.com/product/400664/Core_i5_3470_32GHz_LGA_1155_Boxed_Processor

Then, get this motherboard, which has most of the features of the Z77 with the exception of overclocking.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008KW62WK/?tag=pcpapi-20

Then, with the extra 100 bucks, he could go with this GPU (including mail in rebate) if he wants to play some BF3, or something like that later on.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150598&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

If he's sticking with SC2, then this GPU should be sufficient.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121472&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

It's 80 dollars with the mail in rebate.
 

sonicers

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Oh, in that case, I'd go with an i5 3570k ($170 at microcenter), the Hyper 212 EVO ($26 at newegg) and then whichever Z77 board suits you in terms of features and looks. I'd recommend an Asrock at this price point.

That should leave you with just under 100 left over, if he feels the need, he could get an i7.
 
Solution