New gaming rig - budget $500

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Gmaer987

Honorable
Jan 24, 2013
11
0
10,510
Hello everyone

My current gaming rig is over 4 years old now and can't run any newish games anymore. I am looking to build a new computer that can play new games well at medium to high settings.

My budget is around $500 it can stretch some if need be.

I will be reusing my case and PSU to cut costs as well as the peripherals. so mainly I need a new CPU, Mother Board, Memory,
Hard Drive and Graphics Card.


Here is what I have come up with for a build, I would like to hear what you guys think and any advice for changes.


Processor: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb
Part # HDZ965FBGMBOX
Price: $84.99 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727&Tpk=HDZ965FBGMBOX

Motherboard: MSI 970A-G46 AMD 9 Series
Part # 970A-G46
Price: $79.99 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130637

Memory: G.SKILL Sniper Series 8GB
Part # F3-17000CL9D-8GBSR
Price: $62.99 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231518

Graphics Card: XFX Core Edition FX-785A-CNL4 Radeon HD 7850
Part # FX-785A-CNL4
Price: $179.99 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150641

Hard Drive: SAMSUNG 840 Pro Series 128GB SATA III SSD
Part # MZ-7PD128BW
Price: $149.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147192

Needed Extras
BYTECC 2.5 Inch SSD Mounting Kit For 3.5"
Part #Bracket-35225
Price: $4.99 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817994085
Rosewill Model RCAB-11050 18" SATA III
Part #RCAB-11050
Price: $3.49 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812119384
Tuniq TX-2 Cooling Thermal Compound
Price: $6.99

Total Price:
$555.42

Notes:

As you can see I went a little over my budget with this build, but prices do not include sales, rebates and the like. and I am hopeful to be able to get it close to 500 with them.

I could get a much bigger Harddrive and forgo the SSD for a better price point, I am hoping to be able to get an SSD and latter buy a 1TB drive for storage.

Please let me know what you think and any suggestions are welcome








 
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sharkbyte5150

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Mar 22, 2012
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I'm with you on using SSD, as long as you know that they won't translate to better gaming, just fast booting and read/write. Load times for gaming may be better but only if your games are loaded on the SSD. The price drop to get a 1TB HDD is only going to save you about $30, so I'd stick with your plan to get a large 2nd drive later on, as long as you don't think you'll fill the SSD right away.

I think considering your budget that's a pretty good list.
When you're ready to buy, take a look at combo deals because they can help get that price closer to budget, but may have to compromise a little.

Also, just to help avoid issues during your build, did you make sure that RAM is on the MOBO supported RAM list?
You went straight to the top speed supported by mobo (by OC'ing), any particular reason why? Beyond DDR3-1866, you're not getting any significant performance for the money and even marginal above DDR3-1600. For a budget system, I think you're throwing money at the wrong thing.
 
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lchrisk

lchrisk

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Oct 6, 2012
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10,860
Horrible build. If this is for gaming, this is better.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-3220 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor ($121.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H77M Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Mushkin Silverline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($33.84 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($74.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: HIS Radeon HD 7870 2GB Video Card ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $500.78
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-01-24 11:41 EST-0500)

i3 + 7870
 
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G

Gmaer987

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Jan 24, 2013
11
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10,510
Thanks for the replies you two

Ichrisk - may I ask why the Intel Core i3-3220 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor over the Phantom II ? Is it better for gaming over the more cores of the X4 which most games don't/cant take advantage of? on the Benchmarks I saw the X4 seemed marginally better.



http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD+Phenom+II+X4+965&id=370
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i3-3220+%40+3.30GHz&id=1472

sharkbyte5150 - does the memory speed not matter much at that point? I mainly was thinking faster is always better but if I can shave a few dollars there then I may be able to take Ichrisk advice on the better graphics card.


On another note, how much have Power supply changed in the last 4 years. should I be overly worried that my old PSU cant/wont work with the new build?

I think this is the PSU I have in the old computer

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817711001







 
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cball1311

cball1311

Honorable
Dec 15, 2012
1,622
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12,160
Here is what I would go with. It is not under $500 but under you original budget.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($169.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2 Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($49.98 @ Outlet PC)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($38.12 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Toshiba 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($65.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: HIS Radeon HD 7870 2GB Video Card ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $524.06
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-01-24 12:35 EST-0500)
 
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iceclock

iceclock

Illustrious
Dec 4, 2010
13,088
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42,960
PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/zkMJ
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/zkMJ/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/zkMJ/benchmarks/

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($129.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 76.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.98 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($50.38 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Mushkin Silverline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($33.84 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Toshiba 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($65.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: PNY GeForce GTX 660 2GB Video Card ($194.99 @ Newegg)
Other: BYTECC 2.5 Inch SSD Mounting Kit For 3.5" ($5.00)
Other: Rosewill Model RCAB-11050 18" SATA III ($3.50)
Other: thermal paste tuniq ($7.00)
Total: $515.66
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-01-24 12:49 EST-0500)

Base Total: $539.46
Mail-in Rebates: -$20.00
Total: $519.46

:D better to get a 1tb hd now than upgrade to an ssd later, the ssd that makes sense doesnt fit totally in ur budget , since it sacrifices gpu performance.

better to go with better gpu and 1tb hd and than buy an ssd later.

 
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cball1311

cball1311

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Dec 15, 2012
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12,160


That is a sweet deal on the CPU if you live near a MicroCenter, unfortunately it is in-store pickup only.
 
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iceclock

iceclock

Illustrious
Dec 4, 2010
13,088
0
42,960
PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/zkSA
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/zkSA/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/zkSA/benchmarks/

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 76.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.98 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($50.38 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Mushkin Silverline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($33.84 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Toshiba 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($65.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: PNY GeForce GTX 660 2GB Video Card ($194.99 @ Newegg)
Other: BYTECC 2.5 Inch SSD Mounting Kit For 3.5" ($5.00)
Other: Rosewill Model RCAB-11050 18" SATA III ($3.50)
Other: thermal paste tuniq ($7.00)
Other: amd 6300 6core ($134.00)
Total: $519.67
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-01-24 12:58 EST-0500)

Base Total: $539.67
Mail-in Rebates: -$20.00
Total: $519.67

 
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G

Gmaer987

Honorable
Jan 24, 2013
11
0
10,510
New Build.

AMD FX-6100
Part # FD6100WMGUSBX
Price $99.99 http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1239961&CatId=7341

MSI 970A-G46 AMD 9 Series
Part # 970A-G46
Price $79.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130637

G.SKILL 8GB Part # F3-1600C11S-8GNT
Price $39.99 * Free with motherboard

SAMSUNG 840 Series
Part # MZ-7TD120KW
Price 79.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147185&nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL012513&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL012513-_-EMC-012513-Index-_-SSD-_-20147185-L05D

HIS IceQ Radeon HD 7870
Part# H787Q2G2M
Price $199.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161404

Tuniq TX-2 Cooling Thermal Compound
Price TX-2 $6.99


This one comes in at a great $446.95. so technically I have 50 more dollar I could spend. any suggestions on improvements. what do you guys think of the FX-6100?


Thanks for all your help everyone.


 
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