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Another Budget Gaming Rig

R

Rezion

n00b
Joined
May 23, 2007
Messages
51
Howdy guys. I am back with yet another build plan for a buddy. Here is the sticky info, and as always thanks for any and all info and help. Much appreciated.


1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
This build will be mainly focused on Diablo 3 and general usage.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$600 (Can go a little higher, maybe $700 if the reason is right)
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
Portland, Oregon (Fry's is an option, no MC's around unfortunately.)
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.
CPU, GPU, Mobo, RAM (8GB), PSU, Case, HDD.
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Reusing keyboard/mouse, and he has a couple choices on monitors he has. (21"-23")
6) Will you be overclocking?
Not necessary, I don't believe.
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
Unsure about the max resolution, and again he has a couple monitors. 21"-23" roughly.
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Within the next 10 days.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? UEFI? etc.
No major requirements here. Only thing I can foresee would be X-Fire/SLI for down the road.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Access to legit 64-bit Windows 7. (Gotta love free copies from school)


CPU: I would like to be able to snag him a 2500k, but going an i3 might be more in his budget.
GPU: Nothing crazy needed here. I was thinking roughly the specs of a 6850, but I'll let you guys help me on that one.
HDD: No need for an SSD, so most likely just a 500GB drive give or take.

Case, PSU, RAM, etc are all just needing to be quality budget parts. Good warranty in case there needs to be an RMA, etc.


Thanks ahead of time for any input. I'll be keeping my eyes open for ya, Danny :D
 
Here's a build:
$125 - Intel Core i3-2120
$100 - Intel BOXDH67BLB3 Intel H67 mATX Motherboard
$39 - G.Skill Value Series F3-10600CL9D-8GBNT 2 x 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$147 - MSI R7770-2PMD1GD5/OC Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB PCI-E Video Card
$90 - Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$63 - Antec NEO ECO 520C 520W PSU
$50 - NZXT Source 210 Elite White with Black Front Trim ATX Case
----
Total: $614 shipped.

Buy that hard drive today. It's on sale and that's a pretty good price for a fast 1TB drive.
 
Thanks as always for the speedy response Danny. I showed my buddy and he is excited, and is about to go deposit money into his account to purchase it this evening I believe.

Thanks again.
 
That board is absurdly overpriced for a mATX board. Shop around, there are deals to be had.
 
Melon said:
That board is absurdly overpriced for a mATX board. Shop around, there are deals to be had.
Click to expand...

Actually it isn't: It has four DIMM slots and has an Intel NIC. Thats what justifies the price for it. There's only 5 socket LGA 1155 mATX mobos that are cheaper (once you factor in shipping) than the above Intel mobo with 4 DIMM slots:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...eactivatedMark=False&Order=PRICE&PageSize=100

And those five aren't that good of a choice, especially if you factor in the Intel NIC.
 
Yeah, but I always buy platform components that are as future proof as possible.
 
Melon said:
Yeah, but I always buy platform components that are as future proof as possible.
Click to expand...

Ok but that's just you. The OP hasn't mentioned anything about a similar thought process as yours.
 
This will still mainly just be a budget rig for my buddy to play D3, SC2, etc for the next few years. No need to be running on ultra or anything.

If he were to up his budget to $800, what items would you swap up Danny? The CPU or gpu first, and then also the mobo maybe? And how much more power over the i3 rig and 7770 would he gain?

Already snagged one of those HDD's, even if he doesn't want it for some reason, I'll just keep it for myself.
 
Rezion said:
If he were to up his budget to $800, what items would you swap up Danny? The CPU or gpu first, and then also the mobo maybe?
Click to expand...
If you were buying this month, I'd up the CPU and mobo to this:
$285 - Intel Core i5-3450 CPU + Biostar TZ77B Intel Z77 ATX Motherboard

GPU wise, I'd up it to this:
$250 - PowerColor AX7850 2GBD5-2DH Radeon HD 7850 GHz Edition 2GB PCI-E Video Card

Rezion said:
And how much more power over the i3 rig and 7770 would he gain?
Click to expand...

As far as performance difference goes, if the game scales well with quad-cores, you're looking at least a 25% increase in performance between the Core i3 2120 and Core i5 3470. Maybe more. If the game only scales with two cores, there's only a 5% performance increase. As for the GPU, you're looking at anywhere from a 35% to 55% performance increase depending on the game.
 
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