$500 Gaming Rig ($CAD) - parts only

H

Hanif

Limp Gawd
Joined
Oct 20, 2007
Messages
448
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc Gaming, work, etc
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included? taxes and shipping = $500
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible. Canada
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need. I need CPU, RAM, video card, motherboard, case, PSU
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model. I am using keyboard (logitech illuminated), Logitech G400 mouse and Samsung 23" LED
6) Will you be over clocking? Yes
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it? 1080P, 23"
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC? WIthin a month, maybe by November or maybe even now
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video? etc. USB 3....don't care for SLI
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit? Yes, the OS is Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
 
games: perhaps crysis2, the upcoming batman, left 4 dead 2....call of duty series

work consists of web design work
 
I need a postal code to get the tax and shipping calculated. Do you have a hard drive? DVD drive? Or do those need to be purchased?
 
For around $500 you are probably looking at something like this at best:

Intel i3
8GB Ram
460 GTX

I have no idea where to look for parts in Canada though.
 
This is what I was able to come up with for (just) under $500 (from NewEgg.ca, before shipping, taxes, or other charges):

$160 - AMD Athlon II X4 640 and Corsair CX600 V2 combo
$90 - Gigabyte GA-870A-USB3
$26 - Corsair XMS3 CMX4GX3M1A1600C9 4GB DDR3 1600 DIMM
$180 - Sapphire 100314-3L HD 6870 1GB (before $10 discount promo code)
$30 - Rosewill R218-P-BK ATX mid-tower case
=====
$486 - Subtotal (not including shipping, taxes, or rebates)

For around $8 more, you can grab a combo deal that swaps out the Athlon II X4 640 for the Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition. I went with one 4GB stick now to give you room for a future RAM purchase.

What compromises are you willing to make? For a $500 gaming build, you may need to give up overclocking, USB 3.0, or a video card capable of decent rates (above 30fps) at 1920x1080. In the above build, I only gave you USB 3.0 support. The X4 640 isn't that great of an overclocker (especially compared to the X4 955 BE) and the HD 6870 isn't the card that I'd normally recommend for FPSes at 1080p.
 
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$198 (before $15 MIR) - AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor and ASUS M4A87TD/USB3 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 AMD Motherboard
$170 (before $20 MIR, also use promo code SAP687CT11C) - SAPPHIRE 100314-3L Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
$85 (before $20 MIR) - CORSAIR Builder Series CX500 V2 500W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply and Seagate Barracuda ST500DM002 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
$48 - G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-8GBXL
$20 - SAMSUNG CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-222AB - OEM
$70 - COOLER MASTER HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 Black SECC/ ABS Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Total (including taxes and shipping for Toronto): $716.08

If you want a Core i5-2500k instead of an AMD chip you'll be spending $117 more before shipping and taxes.

$315 (before $15 MIR) - Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K and BIOSTAR TP67B+ LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

I would suggest you look around at other Canadian websites to try and find better deals. The taxes and shipping are really eating the build alive. But even before those two things, it's not really possible to do a full system hardware wise for under $500 in Canada assuming you want a graphics card that can keep up at 1080p, a decent case, and a quad core.
 
I just ordered from n c i x because they charge less shipping than other places and will price match online retailers. So can't really lose IMO.
 
Hanif said:
nice config..that case sucks though thanks man
Click to expand...

I hope people stop trying to help you. You've got 500 bucks for a gaming PC(which is very little)...and in the meantime you've got a quote in your signature badmouthing the concept of building custom PCs. People offer you advice, and you complain. Dick of the Year award incoming. :rolleyes:
 
Stiletto said:
I hope people stop trying to help you. You've got 500 bucks for a gaming PC(which is very little)...and in the meantime you've got a quote in your signature badmouthing the concept of building custom PCs. People offer you advice, and you complain. Dick of the Year award incoming. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Sig quote in question:
"A custom PC is like souping up a 1998 Mitsubish Eclipse GST with bigger turbo, exhaust, chips, etc. Constant upgrades and modifications. Change in video card, upgrade the RAM, crank up the boost. Then you get a MAC, and it's like getting behind the wheel of a BMW 5 series or maybe even Audi S8. It works, you don't have to do much to it, and it makes you happy." - akapaulk


Audi S8 - 1/4 mile: ~14.6secs, Cost: $70,000

BMW 535i - 1/4 mile: ~15.9 secs, Cost: $50,000

Worked Eclipse - 1/4 mile: ~11 secs, Cost: $15,000


I like my cars like my computers, cheap and quick :)


Note: "Constant upgrades and modifications"? If you do it right the first time that should be all you need (in both scenarios).
 
I must have missed this earlier....

Hanif said:
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need. I need CPU, RAM, video card, motherboard, case, PSU
Click to expand...

tiraides said:
$160 - AMD Athlon II X4 640 and Corsair CX600 V2 combo (CPU & PSU)
$90 - Gigabyte GA-870A-USB3 (Mobo)
$26 - Corsair XMS3 CMX4GX3M1A1600C9 4GB DDR3 1600 DIMM (RAM)
$180 - Sapphire 100314-3L HD 6870 1GB (before $10 discount promo code) (GPU)
$30 - Rosewill R218-P-BK ATX mid-tower case (Case)
=====
$486 - Subtotal (not including shipping, taxes, or rebates)
Click to expand...

Hanif said:
I need at least a 500GB 7200RPM drive and 24x dvd burner..
Click to expand...

So you need a complete system (minus OS, monitor, and peripherals) for under $500 CAD? Including shipping and VAT?

You really have only two options at this point: You either increase your budget (I believe that you need at least $800 to get what you truly want) or lower your expectations.

Which will it be?
 
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