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Budget Gaming/Programming Build

C

Cbl12886

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 7, 2007
Messages
357
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming, Programming and Web Browsing.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$600-650

3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
USA - Florida

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, Motherboard, Graphics Card and Two 21-23" Monitors

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Thermaltake V3
Antec Neo Eco 620W
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB

6) Will you be overclocking?
No

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
Most likely 1920 x 1080 and 21-23"

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
I would like to finish the build sometime in December. I will be buying parts till then as I find deals.

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.
I would like eSATA and SATA 3 since I am seriously thinking about a 60GB SSD. I am less concerned about RAID, Firewire, SLI and Onboard.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Yes - 64bit Win7

Notes:
CPU/Mobo - In the past I have always gone with AMD since I never wanted to spend the extra $$ for Intel. I was thinking of getting one of the x6 processors with a 990FX board but might want to just go Intel.
Graphics Card - Single Nvidia card that can play BF3 at Medium settings
Monitors - My budget for these is around $125 each. I know that won't get me anything amazing but I was looking at Acer, Asus and HP Debranded. Hopefully I can find a good deal somewhere.
 
My recommendation (Newegg prices):

CPU: Phenom II x4 945 ($110)
Motherboard:ASRock 970 EXTREME4 ($110)
Monitor(s):Acer G235Habd ($150)
GPU: Asus GTX 460 1GB

EDIT: WHOOPS! Went way over budget! Sorry, will update recs.

EDIT2: Okay there we go. This rig should be awesome and it's pretty inexpensive. I've used at least 20 ASRock boards in builds for people over the last year and not ONE DOA or anything. The Phenom II is fast and should be reasonably overclockable. The monitors are what I use personally (I'm a gamer/coder, too, and I absolutely love these babies). And finally, I have used the 768mb version of the above card and it is absolutely fantastic.
 
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What programming tools and games do you plan on having installed simultaneously? That may make a difference on the SSD's storage capacity you want to budget for.
 
Visual Studio, SQL Server, XNA & Windows Phone Frameworks and Web Matrix is all I can think of off the top of my head and just a couple of games. A 128GB would probably be better right? Any recommendations on a budget? I think my issue is deciding on going with a more expensive i5 without SSD or cheaper AMD with SSD.
 
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Cbl12886 said:
Visual Studio, SQL Server, XNA & Windows Phone Frameworks and Web Matrix is all I can think of off the top of my head and just a couple of games. A 128GB would probably be better right? Any recommendations on a budget? I think my issue is deciding on going with a more expensive i5 without SSD or cheaper AMD with SSD.
Click to expand...
I had at least a similar installation list on my previous 80 GB Intel SSD, and started getting close to the wall after a few larger game installations. The 128 GB drive range will be much better for you -- I'd recommend the Intel 510 series or the Crucial M4 series (I personally opted for the M4).
 
Do you really need two monitors as part of that budget?

I ask because two 1920x1080 monitors is gonna take up $300 of your budget right there. For 1920x1080, for medium settings for BF3, my guess is that you should be looking at at $180 to $240 video card. That leaves almost nothing for the CPU and mobo.
 
This is what I was thinking:
$250 - 2x Acer Monitors on sale at CompUSA (Might have to wait for Black Friday Deals)
$200 - Graphics Card
$200 - Motherboard & CPU

Total = $650

As far as what Graphics card I would need I was going off these benchmarks. I will also get a better idea once it is released with stable drivers.
 
I decided to increase my budget due to finding some good deals and being a little unrealistic previously.

My new current parts list:
Thermaltake V3
Antec Neo Eco 620W
Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge
Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3
Crucial M4 64GB SATA III SSD
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB

I am now just looking for a Motherboard and Graphics Card for $275. I was looking at the Samsung ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 since I can get it for $115 but didn’t know if there was something better out there.

Anyone have suggestions?
 
Your budget is still unrealistic. The HD 6870 is the "bare minimum" video card that we would recommend for 1080p gaming, and that ranges from $170 to $210.

Regarding motherboards, I would recommend the Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 over the ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3. The Gigabyte board has a similar feature set but a longer warranty.

You'll need to omit the SSD in order to fit everything else within your budget.
 
That last part list is stuff I have already purchased so the $275 is only for the motherboard and video card. I would rather go with an NVIDIA and don't plan on heavy overclocking.
 
The Nvidia equivalent to the HD 6870 is the (non-Ti) GTX 560. Factoring in shipping costs at NewEgg, the Asus ENGTX560 DC/2DI/1GD5 was the cheapest GTX 560 card I could find.

The cheapest P67/Z68 board I could find (again, factoring in shipping) is the Gigabyte GA-Z68P-DS3. However, it only has one true PCI-E x16 port; the other port runs at PCI-E x4 speeds.

For decent frame rates while gaming at 1920x1080, we normally recommend the HD 6950/6970 2GB and the GTX 570. But those cards cost well over $250 each.
 
Cbl12886 said:
That last part list is stuff I have already purchased
Click to expand...

How much did you get the case and hard drive for?

Due to the fact that you're planning on 1080P gaming, I would not go below the GTX 560 unless you're playing a bunch of Popcap games or something. The parts that tiraides listed is only $10 over your $275 budget but you really do need those parts.

Also, if it's too late to return that TT case, I recommend picking up 1-2 of the cheapest 120mm fans you can find (one for the front and one for the top) to provide better cooling for the system.
 
I got the SSD for $85 when it was a Shellshocker deal the other day. The case was purchased late last year and I have two extra fans I plan to put in it which would make four total. Since I am not worried about getting the build done ASAP, I think I can find some pretty good parts within my budget like a 560 ti or 6870 2gb. Would this 6870 2GB be better than this 560 ti?
 
Cbl12886 said:
Would this 6870 2GB be better than this 560 ti?
Click to expand...

Not really considering that you're more GPU limited rather than VRAM limtied with the HD 6870. As such, the GTX 560 Ti would outperform the HD 6870 2GB in most games on a single monitor.

However if you're planning on gaming on three monitors at the same time, then yes, the extra VRAM would be needed. In addition, if the GPU VRAM reports from the BF3 beta is still the same as the actual game, the extra VRAM on the HD 6870 2GB may actually help in BF3. But dunno for sure if it's better to have more VRAM or faster performance with BF3 until that game comes out.
 
If I decide to go with two 1680 x 1050 monitors like these, what graphics card would you recommend with my budget? Since I am going with small monitors, I don't really think I need 1080p.
 
Cbl12886 said:
If I decide to go with two 1680 x 1050 monitors like these, what graphics card would you recommend with my budget? Since I am going with small monitors, I don't really think I need 1080p.
Click to expand...

Well same video cards we've been recommending: The HD 6870 1GB and GTX 560 except now they're not the minimum but the "just right" category.
 
Not sure if anyone cares but this is my final build. I should be able to do some overclocking and planning on doing SLI in the future. I'll probably have to upgrade my power supply to be save though.

Power Supply - Antec NEO ECO 620C
Motherboard - MSI P67A-G43 (B3)
CPU - Intel i5-2500k
Cooler - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus
Memory - Corsair Vengeance 8GB DDR3 1600
Hard Drive - Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB
SSD - Crucial M464GB
Graphics Card - MSI GTX 460 Hawk (Planning on SLI)
DVD Burner - ASUS SATA 24X

Total: $623 After MIR's
 
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For GTX 460 SLI, you won't need to upgrade your PSU.

Good luck with the build!
 
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