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Gaming computers today?

K

KapsZ28

2[H]4U
Joined
May 29, 2009
Messages
2,114
How are people building gaming systems these days? A friend of a friend wants a custom built gaming system for about $800. Last time I built one it cost about $2,000. I know memory is cheap. But what about graphics cards? Do people bother using the HD Graphics built into the Haswell chips or getting a dedicated card?

What is a good build for $800 including a gaming keyboard/mouse and Windows 8.1?
 
Yeah lets stop with the win 8 bashing because anyone who actually uses it can admit it offers some advantages over win 7. As far as price goes you can spend as little to as much as you want. Video cards can still be very expensive, a modern nvidia 780 will run 649.99 alone the titan runs 999.99. You can get away wil older cards like the 660 ti which is one of the best cost::performance cards out there
 
Moved to General Hardware since it's more appropriate here.
 
Please answer the stickied "ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS FIRST!" so that we can help you better.
 
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming
2) What's your budget? $725 including shipping, tax except.
3) Which country do you live in? Parsippany, NJ
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? Case, PSU, Mobo, CPU, Memory, DVD Burner, Hard drive, Video Card, Keyboard/Mouse, Windows 8.1.
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Not reusing.
6) Will you be overclocking? No
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? 1080p
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC? Next couple of 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. No requirements
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit? No, need to purchase.


Here is what I spec'd out which is a little higher in price than I want.

$40 - Case - NZXT Tempest 210 CA-TP210-01
$20 - DVD Burner - Asus
$115 - Video Card - MSI N650TI-1GD5/V1 GeForce GTX 650 Ti 1GB
$90 - Hard Drive - Western Digital WD Black WD1002FAEX 1TB
$40 - PSU - CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 430W
$20 - Keyboard/mouse - Logitech MK120
$80 - Memory - G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB
$100 - Mobo - MSI H87-G43 LGA 1150 Intel H87
$150 - CPU - Intel Core i3-4330 Haswell 3.5GHz
$100 - Windows 8.1 OEM

Total with shipping is $768.

The PC is for someone's son that is in high school. I spoke to his father and he couldn't provide much information. He mostly plays FPS games and has been playing them on a laptop. I am trying to build the best bang for his buck. Reason for Windows 8.1 is so he has the latest OS and doesn't have to pay to upgrade. It's not like you can go into Best Buy and find all these computers still running Windows 7.
 
Go with this RAM instead:
$70 - Corsair CMX8GX3M1A1333C9 8GB DDR3 1333 RAM

With that tight of a budget, no reason to go with that Black drive. Go with the cheaper Blue drive:
$65 - Western Digital Blue WD10EZEX 1TB 7200RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s Hard Drive

CPU wise, the Core i3-4330 isn't worth it considering that the quad-core Core i5 isn't much more. So go with the cheaper Core i3 4130 instead:
$130 - Intel Core i3-4130 CPU
 
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Cool, thanks. I actually found an i3-4340 for $140 from Micro Center.

I was considering the WD Blue, but I recently had an issue with a couple of them and I've never had issues with Black.

How is GTX 650 Ti? Last time I bought a video card it was the dual-GPU GTX 295.
 
KapsZ28 said:
Cool, thanks. I actually found an i3-4340 for $140 from Micro Center.
Click to expand...
Wait, you live near a Microcenter?

KapsZ28 said:
I was considering the WD Blue, but I recently had an issue with a couple of them and I've never had issues with Black.
Click to expand...
Maybe a Seagate then?
$64 - Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s Hard Drive

I really don't see the WD Black being a good buy with that low of a budget since some of that money, if you were under budget, could be used towards a faster video card.
KapsZ28 said:
How is GTX 650 Ti? Last time I bought a video card it was the dual-GPU GTX 295.
Click to expand...
It's an ok budget card.
 
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Yup, about 20 minutes from Micro Center.

If I save about $40, which video card which you recommend upgrading to?
 
I have an AMD HD 7790 which is pretty equivalent to that 650ti, and I am able to get by in most of the games I play.

great playability:
Far Cry 3
Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon
Mass Effect 3
Counter-Strike: GO
Tomb Raider
Borderlands 2
Bioshock Infinite
Starcraft 2
Rayman Legends

and poor playability:
Metro: 2033
Metro: Last Light
 
BAM! If you add all of this to your cart (except for Windows of course) then there are combo discounts.
TOTAL PRICE ABOUT $770 after $40 MIR.

$70 Windows 8.1
http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/Windows-8.1-Pro-for-Students/productID.288769600

$17.99 DVD burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106289

$29.99 Rosewill case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147122

$64.99 1tb Seagate Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148321

$64.99 with $10 MIR Gigabyte MATX AM3+ board
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128565

$39.99 Corsair Builder Series
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026

$67.99 Geil 8gb (4x2gb) DDR3 1866
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820144659

$209.99 with $30 MIR MSI Radeon 7950
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127737

$153.99 FX-8320 with TWO FREE GAMES
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1459479
 
Check the bundles at Microcenter.

If you buy your CPU with a motherboard get $30 off

$10 off memory with CPU

$10 off SSD with CPU

etc.

You are not going to find a better CPU/Motherboard price if you are buying both than picking at least those two parts up from Microcenter.

Examples for comparison sake for other possible parts:

WD Blue 1TB - $59.99: http://www.microcenter.com/product/..._35_Internal_Hard_Drive_WD10EZEX_-_Bare_Drive

Crucial Ballistix Sport - $74.99 - $10 bundle w/ CPU - $64.99: http://www.microcenter.com/product/...el_Desktop_Memory_Kit_(Two_4GB_Memory_Modules)

LG 24x DVD Burner - $15.99: http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.aspx?sku=251900

Intel i3-4340 $139.99 (the 4340 works for the motherboard bundle the 4130 does not) i3-4130 is only $119.99 but it does not qualify for the $30 bundle, so the i3-4340 and motherboard is actually cheaper

Motheboard H87 of your choice as you can't OC the i3, so don't bother with the Z87. I picked up an ASRock H87M Pro4 which is $59.99 after the $30 instant bundle rebate

Case: up to you but they have plenty of cheap cases

PSU: Corsair CX430 $29.99 after $20 MIR: http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.aspx?sku=940718

GPU: up to you again as I'm just running integrated Hawell graphics as no gaming on my machines
 
Last edited:
KapsZ28 said:
Yup, about 20 minutes from Micro Center.

If I save about $40, which video card which you recommend upgrading to?
Click to expand...
Probably the HD 7850 2GB.

I would not go with Tengis' recommendation since it's cramming a lot of parts into a poor and cheap case. Not to mention too reliant on MIR.
 
Poor and cheap case? Ya, because a case that will be opened and upgraded so often. Thats the stupidest reason you couldve picked out of all the components I picked.

The case has plenty of airflow, looks decent, is a mid tower so it wont take up a lot of room, and even has a decent amount of options to expand (hdds, fans, etc). Who cares if it doesn't have a bunch of tool-less crap that doesnt matter or pre-installed rubber grommets that realistically dont make anything quieter.

I bet if you ask pretty much anyone they would pick a more powerful video card over a case with a bunch of bs features you dont really need. That case also looks pretty decent for such a cheap case.
 
Tengis said:
Poor and cheap case? Ya, because a case that will be opened and upgraded so often. Thats the stupidest reason you couldve picked out of all the components I picked.

The case has plenty of airflow, looks decent, is a mid tower so it wont take up a lot of room, and even has a decent amount of options to expand (hdds, fans, etc). Who cares if it doesn't have a bunch of tool-less crap that doesnt matter or pre-installed rubber grommets that realistically dont make anything quieter.

I bet if you ask pretty much anyone they would pick a more powerful video card over a case with a bunch of bs features you dont really need. That case also looks pretty decent for such a cheap case.
Click to expand...

Where exactly did I say he needed a case that had all those features?

That Rosewill case is a mATX case, not a mid-Tower. The key problem with your post is that you're assuming that I'm recommending to the OP to get a significantly more expensive case. I'm not. I am recommending this case instead:
$43 - NZXT Source 210 Elite Black ATX Case

$13 more and you get significantly better cable management, more room to work with, and better cooling as well as a better chance of lower noise (120mm VS 80mm in that Rosewill). Not to mention more than likely slightly higher quality and better fit and finish. Thats why I don't agree with the Rosewill recommendation: It's not cheap enough to justify its purchase over the $13 more expensive NZXT Source 210 Elite.
 
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