Budget Issues

[adrobe3]

I'm looking at getting a good setup for flight sim and maybe elder scrolls online a few other games. My budget was originally $600 then $750 and I ended up with this (~944). I'm willing to spend this if you guys think its worth it or is there anyway I can reduce the setup back to my original budget without sacrificing significant performance.



http://pcpartpicker.com/p/pjY4


Thanks!

 

[Deemo13]

If you want to reduce the price a bit, you can ditch the overclocking and go for a standard i5-3470 and a H77 Pro4/MVP from ASRock with no loss in performance. Also, you wouldn't need the CPU cooler either, so that might save some buck.

You can do without the sound card. Onboard sound is enough.

You picked rather expensive RAM. You should be able to find decent RAM (Vengance or G.Skill) for around $40.

Not sure I really like the power supply though. Rosewill makes somewhat decent stuff.

 

[TheBigTroll]

-drop overclocking
-drop uselessly fast ram
-drops sound card
-drops crappy power supply
-drops large hard drive unless you need that much space

shaves 100 dollars off originial
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/pk9T

 

[adrobe3]

If you want to reduce the price a bit, you can ditch the overclocking and go for a standard i5-3470 and a H77 Pro4/MVP from ASRock with no loss in performance. Also, you wouldn't need the CPU cooler either, so that might save some buck.

You can do without the sound card. Onboard sound is enough.

You picked rather expensive RAM. You should be able to find decent RAM (Vengance or G.Skill) for around $40.

Not sure I really like the power supply though. Rosewill makes somewhat decent stuff.

The 3470 is only $7 cheaper and I wasn't sure about Rosewill either but it combo with the case seemed to be a good value.

 

[adrobe3]

-drop overclocking
-drop uselessly fast ram
-drops sound card
-drops crappy power supply
-drops large hard drive unless you need that much space

shaves 100 dollars off originial
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/pk9T

Like the setup however the hard drive you selected appeared to be more expensive.

 

[Deemo13]

The 3470 is only $7 cheaper and I wasn't sure about Rosewill either but it combo with the case seemed to be a good value.

It is, but you also don't need a CPU fan, because you would not be overclocking. The motherboard should be cheaper as well.

Like the setup however the hard drive you selected appeared to be more expensive.

That is because Western Digital has lower failure rates and is higher quality.

 

[cutebeans]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-2310 2.9GHz Quad-Core Processor ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H61M-DGS Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($44.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7850 1GB Video Card ($158.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 431 Plus (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($16.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($15.99 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Samsung S22B150N 21.5" Monitor ($104.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $626.91
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-11-24 22:12 EST-0500)

This would be good. $681 only before rebates, really is good with that budget. Of course, I had to get cheaper parts but will still be a great performer.

 

[cutebeans]

It is, but you also don't need a CPU fan, because you would not be overclocking. The motherboard should be cheaper as well.

Like the setup however the hard drive you selected appeared to be more expensive.

That is because Western Digital has lower failure rates and is higher quality.

Seagate is pretty good. I don't know why you say that especially with the promo going on, it's a great deal for a great price.

 

[Deemo13]

Well, its probably because I like Western Digital alot

Fanboy? Maybe. I just really like their stuff.

For the record, I have had 1 WD external fail, and my 2 Seagates are alright.

 

[adrobe3]

That's what I got so far. I just don't wanna have to sacrifice the video card quite that much.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/pkk5

 

[cutebeans]

If you think you can spend that much then go for it.

 

[twelve25]

I would get the i5-3350P over at Amazon over the i5-2310 (same price right now), especially if you are going with an H77 board. I run a 2310 and it's a nice chip, but no sense passing up a higher clock Ivy bridge for the same price

I wouldn't drop to a 21", though. Plenty of 23-24" deals this weekend.

 

[TheBigTroll]

i chose WD since they are priced just as much as the seagate counterpart but has 2 more years of warranty so why not

id keep the 2310. intergrated graphics do help out when you have a dead video card or if your video card has some problems

the sapphire has 2 fans. single fan cards are a bit louder
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/po1Z

 

[twelve25]

You'd take a ~10% slower processor to hedge against the off chance your video card dies? Not me, but I guess that's something worth mentioning about the 3350P - no video.

 

[TheBigTroll]

now where near 10% bro. ivy bridge isnt that much better than sandy bridge

chips are similar
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/363?vs=702

 

[twelve25]

Ironically, those all show roughly a 10-15% difference and they are comparing Sandy to Ivy with only a 3% clock speed difference.

Ivy bridge is about 7-10% faster with same clock. The 3350p is 7% higher clock than the 2310, so even if they were both same generation, the 3350p would be a step up.

2310 is fine, I was just throwing out a higher performing alternative for the same price and the only tradeoff is the video that 99/100 gamers will never use.