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[First PC] Gaming Rig for $400

T

turbOpun

n00b
Joined
Dec 10, 2012
Messages
3
Hey guys, this is my first post and its regarding my first self-purchased, self-assembled computer. With Christmas coming and some slush funding, I've decided I can't like with my current PC. I need to build a new one, and I'd love help on the matter...

1. What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Primarily gaming, as well as running HeroEngine and using Photoshop for Website building. I'm also an American 20-something so Facebook, E-Mail, TV & Anime.


2. What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Roughly $400 USD before shipping and tax.


3. Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
Green Bay, Wisconsin USA


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.
Want: 600W+ PSU, 3.4+ Quad Core CPU, 2GB GPU DDR3, 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3+ RAM, Mobo that supports 16GB RAM with PATA and SATA

Current: 350W PSU, 2.5Ghz Duo-Core CPU, 512mb Nvidia GeForce 9600 GT, 4.1GB DDR2 RAM, Gigabyte G31M-ES2L mobo, 1TB PATA HDD

5. If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
1TB PATA Drive (May purchase 500GB SATA Drive to go with it)


6. Will you be overclocking?
Yes, but only situationally. Currently my mobo resets whenever I OC my CPU :/


7. What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
I have an Acer 22" Widescreen which I run in 1680x1050 it has 720p capabilities (No 1080p)


8. When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Around/after Chri$tmas of 2012 (the start of 2013)


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.
PATA + SATA (pref 6Gb/s) is all I can answer. I don't know what RAID, Firewire, Crossfire, or SLI are...


10. Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Yes, Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit


Prospects...
PSU: APEVIA 700W ATX12V (Is this a worthwhile brand? I'm not familiar. Is this Wattage ample? [Pun intended])

CPU: AMD 3.6GHz Socket AM3+ 95W Quad-Core Processor

Mobo: ASRock AM3+ SATA 6Gb/s Micro ATX (Is this a worthwhile brand? Again I'm not familiar. Is micro good/bad? Why?) - Supports up to 16GB RAM, PATA and SATA6 compatible, PCI Express 2.0 x 16

RAM: Patriot Gamer 2 Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333

GPU: ZOTAC GeForce GT 620 2GB 64-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 Video Card for the sake of price, or the 4GB variant. (Is this a worthwhile brand? I'm not familiar. Also, is that fan small? I've seen similar specs running more massive fans.) - Both support dual DVI monitors.

Notice: My friend said he would buy me an MSI N630GT-MD4GD3 GeForce GT 630 4GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 Video Card, not sure exactly how serious he was, but thoughts?

Harddrive*: Western Digital 500GB 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Drive (Will this fit into specific cases only?)

Please give me your thoughts and suggestions concerning the above items, my expectations, etc. I'm looking to do this right, and I'd appreciate the help.
 
700 watts is definitely overkill for that system
Also consider that you are paying for the micro ATX form factor. It might be more appropriate to get a standard ATX motherboard to allow yourself a greater capacity to upgrade.
For instance, a standard ATX size will generally have 4 ram slots, allowing you to buy 2x4gb kit now and another later (if you want to spread the cost out over time)
Also, what kind of gaming are you hoping for? WoW? Far Cry 3? What settings and resolution are you hoping to play at? You may want to consider allocating more of your budget to get a better GPU
 
PSU: You arn't going to need 700w for this rig, 550w tops even with upgrades. Go with something 80+ or even better 80+ Bronze. Seasonic re-brands are good and can be cheap, some Rosewill stuff is surprisingly good.

RAM: I would save a little cash and go 2 x 4GB RAM, 8GB should be plenty. If you can get a 4 DIMM Mobo you would have room to upgrade later.

Mobo: mATX is generally less feature full than full ATX but not necessarily bad, If you can go with one of the AM3+ boards from ASUS or MSI I would recommend it. You might want to look for boards that support SATA 6Gbit/s and USB 3 if you can.


You aren't going to get a super computer for $400, but if you can get a decent Mobo and PSU you can upgrade from there when you have the cash.


Upgrade path for the future:

Video Card: some nice mid-range number down the road, maybe when AMD's 8000 series comes out next year and prices drop again.

SSD: You will want this, and prices continue to drop, 128 GB for OS and a few programs is adequate. Crucial & Samsung have good reputations.
 
Quicksilver_ said:
HDD: They made 1TB PATA drives? I thought the largest was 750GB.
Click to expand...
Well shit, here I had a Seagate 3GB/s SATA drive the whole damn time. Nevermind.

PSU: You aren't going to need 700w for this rig, 550w tops even with upgrades & 700 watts is definitely overkill for that system
Click to expand...
That PSU was 700 watts for less than the 550 watts at the time, currently out of stock however. I figured more bang for less buck, win-win.

This PSU just makes mee scared, less than $20 on the lifeblood of my computer makes me feel incredibly insecure. Should it?

Otherwise this PSU is the best priced 550w+ PSU on Newegg that wasn't made by some random company for pennies on the dollar (At least thats how I feel about it).

RAM: A standard ATX size will generally have 4 ram slots, allowing you to buy 2x4gb kit now and another later (if you want to spread the cost out over time) & I would save cash and go 2 x 4GB RAM, 8GB should be plenty.
Click to expand...

So I should go with, say, this RAM and a full ATX mobo with 4 DIMM slots so I can expand (In the mean time I have 2x2GB sticks in my current computer, so I could amp it to 12GB right? I've heard mixing types of RAM can be bad though, something about the 1333 needing to be with other 1333 RAM.

Mobo: Get a 4 DIMM Mobo you would have room to upgrade later.
Click to expand...

Well there is the economy option by ASRock or the big daddy (Up to 32GB of RAM! Wow...) by BioStar. Both have 4 RAM slots and support SATA 3GB/s.

GPU: Also, what kind of gaming are you hoping for? What settings and resolution are you hoping to play at? You may want to consider allocating more of your budget here.
Click to expand...

I primarily play FPS & MMOs. I guess my benchmark would be Battlefield 3 on High? Right now I run it at ~40+fps on hella low settings. I figure quadrupling my graphics card, doubling (or more) my RAM, and more than doubling my CPU would give me vast improvement. The game has pretty intense lighting, physics, the whole nine yards.

My monitor is a 22" LCD DVI Widescreen 16:10 running 1680x1050 resolution. Planning to get it a twin soon enough.

As far as allocating more of my budget, how? Would a 2GB GDDR5 RAM Card be my target - those all seem to be PCI Express 3.0 x 16 cards meaning I would be looking to spend more on a mobo as well?

Thanks all for the help!
 
Mobo ($79.99)
MSI 970A-G46 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
AM3+, SATA 6Gbit/s, USB3, newest AMD chipset. It has heatsinks in all the right places and an 8 pin CPU power connector.

Video Card ($139.99)
SAPPHIRE Vapor-X 100358VXL Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support ...
Midrangeish video card from a decent brand, you could crossfire latter if you have the wattage.

PSU ($59.99)
CORSAIR Builder Series CX500 500W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply
Respectable entry level PSU, won't fry your kit, probably too little for crossfire though.

RAM ($34.99)
CORSAIR XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMX8GX3M2A1600C11
Decent ram

CPU ($99.99)
AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ965FBGMBOX
Older AM3 CPU, but Phenom II is going to beat out newer AMD offering in your price range.

Total $414.95
(minus $25 Mail in rebates for PSU/Video Card = $389.95)
 
First and formost, every single PSU you've listed in both your OP and the most recent post are shit quality. None of them would provide clean power to your PC. Not even that Raidmax as Raidmax generally doesn't brand good PSUs. Due to the shit (lower than low) quality of the Apevia and Logisys PSUs, those have a high chance of killing your PC. In other words, manufacturers can and do lie about the rating and quality of their PSUs. For example: that Apevia would actually only provide half its rated power under real world conditions in the best case scenario. Same applies to the rest of the PSUs you've mentioned. So while that Apevia may be "700W", it's really a 350W PSU at best. But even then, still too risky to try using it. I recommend this PSU instead:
$46 - Corsair 430CX V2 430W PSU

Second, what case and DVD burner were you planning on using with this PC? Both items were missing from your answers to question 4 and 5.

Third, no, you won't be able to use your current RAM with this PC since your current RAM is DDR2 and the new RAM is DDR3. They're completely incompatible and no new motherboard these days support DDR2 RAM.

Fourth, no you don't need a GPU with 4GB of VRAM considering your low resolution. You'll be fine with a solid 1GB VRAM card. Maybe 2GB at most. But that's largely dependent on what's left in your budget after the CPU, mobo, RAM, and PSU are factored in and whether or not you have a suitable case. I would avoid Zotac. The GT 620 is not an upgrade at all over your current 9600GT. At $87 shipped, that GT 630 4GB is stupidly overpriced considering that the significantly faster HD 7750 1GB costs only $10 to $12 more.

Fifth, since your primary goal is gaming, you should be looking at Intel CPUs since those generally actually outperform AMD CPUs in games.

I'll come up with an Intel build for you later today. Right now I needs mah sleep.
 
Don't spend more than $30 on a PSU for a $400 system.. $30 will get you the CX430 which is a very nice reliable power supply that can handle any single cpu/gpu setup.

Consider looking into an AMD setup, you can get the motherboard/8gb ram/955 for around $150-200 depending on sale prices. Match it with a cheap 7850 2gb for around $150. 7770s were going for around $100. Save the rest of your money and put it towards a cheaper SSD, I was able to get a 55GB for $25 a few months ago, and you can probably get one of those 140-160gb for under $100 if you look long and hard enough.

I believe microcenter still has a combined FX-4130 + mATX for $90. 8GB DDR3 1600 ram for around $20. CX430 for $30. That is $140 for CPU/MOBO/RAM/PSU.
Spend $150 on a 7850. That is $290 for CPU/MOBO/RAM/PSU.

That leaves you $110 for a SSD, accessories, etc. I remember the Intel 330s 140gbs were going for $100 a month or two ago, see if you can't find a similar deal. Don't bother with another hard drive if you already have a 1tb drive.
 
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Have to run to work right now, but I'll be back in around 9 hours to read all these replies. I really appreciate the help, guys. I'll be back.
 
Eureka! said:
Don't spend more than $30 on a PSU for a $400 system.. $30 will get you the CX430 which is a very nice reliable power supply that can handle any single cpu/gpu setup.
Click to expand...
I get your point, but I kinda disagree since a good PSU can last through several builds. That said the CX430 is good choice for his current needs and I wouldn't recommend getting anything much more expensive.

Eureka! said:
I believe microcenter still has a combined FX-4130 + mATX for $90. 8GB DDR3 1600 ram for around $20. CX430 for $30. That is $140 for CPU/MOBO/RAM/PSU.
Spend $150 on a 7850. That is $290 for CPU/MOBO/RAM/PSU.
Click to expand...

This is entirely true, if you search around you might find a perfectly serviceable barebones deal out there and save some cash to spend on a better video card.
 
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