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Budget Gaming Build (help!?)

A

ACzDC

n00b
Joined
Sep 23, 2012
Messages
3
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Mostly gaming (SC II, CS:GO, LoL etc...)
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Trying to stay within 300-400 (without taxes etc...). Not set in stone.
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
United States, Michigan. Metro Detroit area
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, RAM, Case, PSU, Mobo, HD, and optical drive
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Reusing a GPU. (ATI Radeon HD 4600)
6) Will you be overclocking?
Would prefer not to
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
1920x1080 22in
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Fairly soon, within the next few weeks.
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.
Not entirely sure
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Nope, going to have to buy one (not included in the budget above)



Rough build that I've put together over the last few days:

MoBo:
Asus P8Z68-V LX LGA 1155 Z68 ATX $80 Microcenter (just sold out :( )

CPU:
i5-2500k 3.3 ghz $160 Microcenter
http://www.microcenter.com/product/354589/Core_i5_2500K_LGA_1155_Boxed_Processor
RAM:
G.Skill Ripjaws X series 4gb (2x2) DDR3 $24.99 Newegg.com
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231425
Case:
NZXT GAMMA Classic Series GAMA-001BK Black Steel ATX Mid Tower $39.99 Newegg
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146061
PSU:
CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 V2(CMPSU-430CXV2) 430W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply $24.99 (after MiR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026


Would appreciate any input, thanks in advance :)
 
Are you actually near a Microcenter?
What's the likelihood of you being able to buy the PC in the next 7 days?
 
Fairly close (about a hour drive). And I would be able to buy in the next 7 days
 
So a two hour round trip (assuming no traffic) + one hour spent in-store + cost of gas + local sales tax. Now is all of that worth the $90 in savings for you to buy the CPU and mobo from MC? It probably isn't.

Also any plans on upgrading the GPU?
 
Well I'm up at school and its on the way home so it wouldn't be out of the way (since I'm planning on going home soon)

And its a possibility. Just putting it on the back-burner since I'm trying to budget the comp.
 
So a two hour round trip (assuming no traffic) + one hour spent in-store + cost of gas + local sales tax. Now is that worth the $90 in savings for you to buy the CPU and mobo from MC?

All right then, assuming that you can buy within the next seven days and that MC isn't a far drive for you, then I recommend the following:
$265 - Core i5 3570K CPU + Asus P8Z77-V LK Intel Z77 ATX Motherboard Microcenter Combo
$18 - G.Skill F3-10666CL9S-2GBNT 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$57 - Antec NEO ECO 520C 520W PSU
$50 - NZXT Source 210 Elite White with Black Front Trim ATX Case
---
Total: $390 shipped plus tax on the CPU and mobo.

Your original mobo choice was bad for three reasons:
1) It wasn't a good quality mobo to begin with
2) That $80 price was only attainable if you bought the Core i5 3570K or Core i7 3770K. With that 2500K, you would have had to pay the full $125 price for that LX motherboard
3) A faster CPU plus a higher quality mobo was only $15 more than your planned CPU and mobo.

Now other key improvements:
- Better bang for the buck RAM: That RAM set you chose was stupidly overpriced considering that $10 more gets you twice as much RAM. As such, the above 4GB set has a better bang for the buck value.
- Better quality and larger PSU that'll handle most single GPU upgrades in the future.
- Better bang for the buck case as the NZXT Source 210 Elite comes with an extra 140mm fan, USB 3.0 front panel port, and better cable management.
 
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