$400 Budget Gaming PC - Help!

[kassuba39]

Hello!

I'm very new to building computers. As a matter of fact I've never built on before. I'd love some opinions on what my build should be. My budget is $400 with mail in rebates. My main intention on this PC is to be able to play modern games like Skyrim on Med/High settings and get 40+ FPS. I already have a 18.5" 1366 x 768 Samsung Monitor, Windows XP Pro for my OS and a keyboard & mouse. What I'm going to need is a Processor, Mobo, Graphics Card, Hard Drive, Ram, Case, Power Supply, and Disc Drive.

Thank you for your time!

 

[Deemo13]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Pentium G860 3.0GHz Dual-Core Processor ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock H61M-DGS Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($44.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($58.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7770 1GB Video Card ($125.98 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Gamma Classic (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Antec 450W ATX12V Power Supply ($31.64 @ NCIX US)
Total: $401.57
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-02 21:49 EST-0500)

This should suit you pretty well. Are you looking to play any other games?

 

[djangoringo]

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qFNB
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qFNB/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qFNB/benchmarks/

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock 970 Extreme3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($32.99 @ Microcenter)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 650 Ti 1GB Video Card ($132.55 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec 450W ATX12V Power Supply ($31.64 @ NCIX US)
Total: $397.15
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

 

[kassuba39]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Pentium G860 3.0GHz Dual-Core Processor ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock H61M-DGS Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($44.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($58.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7770 1GB Video Card ($125.98 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Gamma Classic (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Antec 450W ATX12V Power Supply ($31.64 @ NCIX US)
Total: $401.57
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-02 21:49 EST-0500)

This should suit you pretty well. Are you looking to play any other games?

This looks really good! Is there any way we can fit a disc drive in the build though? I am also going to play CS:GO, TF2, Cod4, and BO2. Is there any bottleneck though with the processor and GPU?

 

[ScrewySqrl]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD A10-5800K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor ($119.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A75M-DGS Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard ($60.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Pareema 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($33.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 6670 1GB Video Card ($50.60 @ NCIX US)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($35.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On IHAS324-98 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $401.52
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-02 21:59 EST-0500)

 

[kassuba39]

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qFNB
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qFNB/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qFNB/benchmarks/

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock 970 Extreme3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($32.99 @ Microcenter)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 650 Ti 1GB Video Card ($132.55 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec 450W ATX12V Power Supply ($31.64 @ NCIX US)
Total: $397.15
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

This also looks very good! Can you fit a disc drive in in the $400 though?

 

[djangoringo]

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qFQo
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qFQo/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qFQo/benchmarks/

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock 960GM/U3S3 FX Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($61.97 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($32.99 @ Microcenter)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB Video Card ($102.55 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec 450W ATX12V Power Supply ($31.64 @ NCIX US)
Total: $399.12
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

 

[kassuba39]

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qFPQ
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qFPQ/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qFPQ/benchmarks/

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock 970DE3/U3S3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($32.99 @ Microcenter)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB Video Card ($102.55 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec 450W ATX12V Power Supply ($31.64 @ NCIX US)
Total: $407.14
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

Can you add a disc drive into this while keeping it $400 and under?

 

[Deemo13]

Oops, I guess I forgot a disc drive.

I would either go for mine or the AMD build posted by SrewySqrl.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Pentium G860 3.0GHz Dual-Core Processor ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock H61M-DGS Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($44.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($58.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7770 1GB Video Card ($115.50 @ NCIX US)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec 450W ATX12V Power Supply ($31.64 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Lite-On IHAS324-98 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $401.08
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-02 22:09 EST-0500)

 

[djangoringo]

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qFTN
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qFTN/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qFTN/benchmarks/

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI 880GMS-E41 (FX) Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Kingston Blu Red Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB Video Card ($102.55 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec 450W ATX12V Power Supply ($31.64 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Lite-On IHAS324-98 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $399.13
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

And to the guy who said either his or the other must be crazy, the x4 965 is better than a pentium g860 dual core and equals the other amd quad core but for gaming the 6670 won't cut it for games, so i think the best choice is a quad core + 7770 ghz .

 

[kassuba39]

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qFTN
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qFTN/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qFTN/benchmarks/

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI 880GMS-E41 (FX) Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Kingston Blu Red Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB Video Card ($102.55 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec 450W ATX12V Power Supply ($31.64 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Lite-On IHAS324-98 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $399.13
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

This looks very good! Thank you! How will it handle a game like Skyrim on a 1366 x 768 resolution?

 

[djangoringo]

Very well for those games with a quad core and 7770 ghz at that resolution you can expect those framerates you want, and to the guy who said either his or the other must be crazy, the x4 965 is better than a pentium g860 dual core and equals the other amd quad core but for gaming the 6670 won't cut it for games, so i think the best choice is a quad core + 7770 ghz.

 

[kassuba39]

Very well for those games with a quad core and 7770 ghz at that resolution you can expect those framerates you want, and to the guy who said either his or the other must be crazy, the x4 965 is better than a pentium g860 dual core and equals the other amd quad core but for gaming the 6670 won't cut it for games, so i think the best choice is a quad core + 7770 ghz.

I think I'm going to do this then! Thank you for your help!

 

[kassuba39]

Best answer selected by kassuba39.

 

[Deemo13]

I ain't crazy yet I hope

 

[Deemo13]

Very well for those games with a quad core and 7770 ghz at that resolution you can expect those framerates you want, and to the guy who said either his or the other must be crazy, the x4 965 is better than a pentium g860 dual core and equals the other amd quad core but for gaming the 6670 won't cut it for games, so i think the best choice is a quad core + 7770 ghz.

Also, the 6670 would be in Hybrid Crossfire with the A10, which would boost the GPU performance to above 6770 spec, and with overclocking it can definitely take a 7770.

 

[kassuba39]

Very well for those games with a quad core and 7770 ghz at that resolution you can expect those framerates you want, and to the guy who said either his or the other must be crazy, the x4 965 is better than a pentium g860 dual core and equals the other amd quad core but for gaming the 6670 won't cut it for games, so i think the best choice is a quad core + 7770 ghz.

Actually, that card you recommended is out of stock. Is there an alternative that would work well?

 

[Deemo13]

Actually, that card you recommended is out of stock. Is there an alternative that would work well?

Any other Radeon HD7770 would work great.

 

[djangoringo]

That is the 955 x4 on the chart and the 965 x4 is better one and does oc(it's counting the amd cpu stock vs pentium stock (non oc) ) , and in multi-threaded games like battlefield 3 it takes a leap in performance vs dual core pentium g.
I would say in that game it performs about the same but if overclocked will perform better and for the majority of the games also.
The card is currently out of stock but it only takes few days(3-4 days) to have it back again or switch for another at the same price.

 

[Deemo13]

That is the 955 x4 on the chart and the 965 x4 is better one and does oc(it's counting the amd cpu stock vs pentium stock (non oc) ).

Overclocking which you would need a CPU cooler for, which costs more money and adds to the budget. Also, BF3 was not listed in the original post that the OP made.

 

[djangoringo]

It was an example for the battlefield 3 as a game that uses multi cores, but there are others (recent e.g. : far cry 3), but even with a game like skyrim it will perform as the same as the pentium(and that will be an exception) and he can oc to 3.6 ghz stable with the stock cooler, if latter on he wants to 4 ghz he can buy an aftermarket cooler like the hyper 212 plus or evo.

 

[nix327]

If you are not changing your monitor anytime soon then a 7750 would be enough for you and i'd go with the g860 like deemo13 said.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qGTg

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/535

 

[djangoringo]

It's a no brainer going with a card at 100$ when a much better one is at 10$ more and the x4 965 be is a better cpu than the pentium g 860, if it was the i3 then i'd say yes but vs pentium g, the x4 965 is a better cpu.

 

[Deemo13]

I'd still have to argue that the G860 is slightly better being made of newer architecture, consuming less power, and running cooler.

There's nothing wrong with the 965, as I have one. Paired with a 6950 actually, and its awesome.

But I cannot help but notice that the G860 can outpace the 955 and the 980 even in very very CPU intensive games like SCII.

 

[djangoringo]

Then again you just put charts without the cpu in question and that is very subjective.

From futuremarks :

3DMark 11 CPU Score :
Intel Pentium G860 Processor
2920

AMD Phenom II X4 965
4120

Cinebench also better by mile.

For gaming the 965 will be better by a long shot. If it was for something like a HTPC, I'd go with the 860.
Or if he had more money the i3-3220.