First Time Gaming Build $500-$750

[Sarcor]

Hi all, I'm new to the whole building PC business and wanted to try my hand at creating an afforadble build so that I'm not totally blown out of cash but can still run games relatively well.


Approximate Purchase Date: Next week (January 27th - February 2nd)

Budget Range: ($500-$750) This is somewhat strict, a confidence margin of ~$15

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Music, Movies, Workstation

Are you buying a monitor: No

Parts to Upgrade: None/From scratch

Do you need to buy OS: No

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Microcenter, then Newegg, then Amazon

Location: U.S.A.

Parts Preferences: Intel motherboard, processor and Nvidia graphics cards

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: No

Your Monitor Resolution:1600 x 900 (20 inch)


Additional Comments:I would like a quiet PC, fan noise kept to a minimum. I would prefer also not have AMD/Radeon video cards. The reason I prefer Microcenter is because I live near one and I have had a history of dead-on-arrival parts coming in from Amazon.


And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: Laptop got gimped with windows 8 after a hard drive crash and no money was available. Also the graphics chipset in the motherboard got damaged, so my laptop basically runs on an integrated chipset that is not meant for Windows 8 at all.


I've looked at some parts and I've picked some out. Prices vary between Microcenter/Newegg/Amazon so the whole total fluctuates.


Parts:

Microcenter Prices:
Intel Core i5-3470 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor
Intel DZ77BH55K ATX LGA1155 Motherboard
Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Toshiba 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
EVGA GeForce GTX 650 Ti 2GB Video Card
Antec Three Hundred Two ATX Mid Tower Case
Corsair Builder 500W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply
Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer

Total: $800.05 (with tax/before rebates/Microcenter)
$764.87 (with tax/after rebates/Microcenter)

Pcpartpicker prices:
PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/zc1i
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/zc1i/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/zc1i/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-3470 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($149.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: Intel DZ77BH55K ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($152.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Toshiba 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($65.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 650 Ti 2GB Video Card ($164.99 @ Microcenter)
Case: Antec Three Hundred Two ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($51.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($15.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $721.89
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)


What do you guys think?

 

[Mapsx15]

This gets you a better GPU, but it's not nvidia...

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

CPU: Intel Core i5-3470 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($149.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($124.99 @ Microcenter)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($46.98 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 2GB Video Card ($225.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Antec Three Hundred Illusion ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($51.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224BB DVD/CD Writer ($15.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $735.89
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-01-23 18:16 EST-0500)

 

[Mapsx15]

This is nvidia...
PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/zcE2
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/zcE2/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/zcE2/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-3470 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($149.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($124.99 @ Microcenter)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($46.98 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 660 2GB Video Card ($239.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Antec Three Hundred Illusion ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($51.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224BB DVD/CD Writer ($15.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $749.90
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-01-23 18:22 EST-0500)

 

[johnsonjohnson]

Hi. That's not a bad build but you're spending too much on the motherboard and graphics card. You don't need a Z77 motherboard since you're not looking to overclock the processor and that processor can't be overclock. Dual channel RAM is better yet cheaper. You can get by with the GTX 650 Ti 1GB at that resolution because you may only benefit from 2GB at 1920 x 1080 and above. At the current prices the 2GB version are going for and given your budget you might as well get the GTX 660. If you want a quiet PC, the Fractal Define R4 is a quiet case that you might consider. Feel free to make changes as you'd like.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

Motherboard: ASRock H77M Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($46.98 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($74.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 660 2GB Video Card ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Titanium Grey) ATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($51.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224BB DVD/CD Writer ($15.99 @ Newegg)
Other: i5-3470 ($149.99)
Total: $699.90
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-01-23 18:26 EST-0500)

Here's a building guide with videos: http://techreport.com/review/23624/how-to-build-a-pc-the-tech-report-guide

 

[Sarcor]

Yes, I am not planning on overclocking as I have no idea what that's all about and I don't want to break hardware. The 2x4 GB sticks makes sense to be cheaper than 1x8, but why is it better?

I did not know that the resolution has to be higher than 1920x1080 to benefit from the 2 GB in the graphics card, thank you, I'll note that.

The Fractal Define R4 seems like a good case as well to consider, thanks.

My main concern, however, is the motherboard. The one you linked instead of the Intel one I proposed (AsRock H77M Micro ATX) has had problems of being dead on arrival as well as just plain loud with boot failures. Lots of people have complained that the motherboard has problems recognizing RAM too. I don't understand what's so good about this motherboard as opposed to a cheaper Intel one.

 

[johnsonjohnson]

Well in theory it should provide more bandwidth and thus give you the maximum performance. In the real world it may not be such a big difference. As for the motherboard the same holds true for every brand out there. I see that the Intel motherboard is listed for $152.99 on Amazon which is much more expensive than the $69.99 ASRock motherboard. Like I've said you're free to make changes to the build and go with a different motherboard that you may prefer instead but you shouldn't need to spend that much money. Any H77 motherboard would be sufficient.

 

[Mapsx15]

The intel motherboard costs over $100 more than the H77, unless I'm missing something. If your not over clocking, the z77 is not worth the money and the h77 was a good call. As for the problems with the board, I haven't a clue, I'm not familiar with this board. You could always go with a different motherboard...

 

[Mapsx15]

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

CPU: Intel Core i5-3470 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($149.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: Asus P8H77-V ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($46.98 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 2GB Video Card ($225.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Antec Three Hundred Illusion ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($51.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224BB DVD/CD Writer ($15.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $720.89
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-01-23 20:07 EST-0500)

 

[Mapsx15]

And you can fit the fractal design case also.

 

[Sarcor]

Thank you everyone for your input, it was very informative! I think I will go with DH77EB Socket LGA 1155 mATX Desktop Motherboard by Intel. It costs significantly less at $115 (H77 too) in Microcenter and $100 on Amazon.

 

[johnsonjohnson]

I still think it's not a bad idea to buy from other brands for support and features since there's no advantage to an Intel board. And you're welcome.