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Help with a $700 build

J

Jon55

2[H]4U
Joined
Jul 7, 2008
Messages
2,349
Got another build for you guys. A friend is looking to upgrade his old machine, with a $700 limit. He's very, very excited for Battlefield 3, and really wants a comp that can run it. I know the game doesn't release till the end of October, but he really wants to build now. Other games include TF2 and StarCraft 2. The rundown:

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming (primarily for Battlefield 3), common usage (internet, Office, etc.), 1080p playback
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$700, tax and shipping included (can't go over at all)
3) Where do you live?
California (there's a Fry's near by, but not a Microcenter)
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, mobo (preferably ASUS), case, GPU card, RAM, PSU, HDD
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Monitor (see specs below), keyboard, mouse, speakers
6) Will you be overclocking?
Most likely not
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
19" (1280x1024)...yes, I know you're laughing, but he does plan to replace it in the next few months with at least one, maybe two 1080p monitor(s)- probably somewhere in the 22" to 24" range
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Within the week
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? etc.
USB 3, SATA 6
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 64-bit
 
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Ok, the dollar amount makes it a little tight.
I have put together a general idea using newegg prices, but since I dont know CA taxes I tried to keep it as low as poss. I started with the graphics card since that is what will make or break this

GTX 560 Ti $250 (most are in this range)
Intel i3 2100 $125
ASRock H61 motherboard $70 (chosen since OC was a no)
Wintec 2x2GB memory $35
Coolermaster Elite 341 Case $45
Antec 550W PSU $55
Samsung H3 1TB HDD $65
total $645 plus tax/shipping. Most likely using AMD AM3 stuff will be cheaper, I just tried to keep it with the most current stuff.

Good luck with the build.
 
Sorry, should have clarified he'd prefer an ASUS board. I know ASRock is made by ASUS, but neither of us have been all too impressed with what we've seen from MSI or ASRock.

Would you say the 560 Ti is a better buy over a 6950? From what I've seen (could totally be wrong on this) it looks like the 560 Ti performs closely to a 6950.
 
Jon55 said:
Sorry, should have clarified he'd prefer an ASUS board. I know ASRock is made by ASUS, but neither of us have been all too impressed with what we've seen from MSI or ASRock.

Would you say the 560 Ti is a better buy over a 6950? From what I've seen (could totally be wrong on this) it looks like the 560 Ti performs closely to a 6950.
Click to expand...

As for the GPU, either one would work. NVIDIA has PhysX, AMD has Eyefinity. Those two do seem to be close to each other. I havent compared their pricing structures.

I am currently using an ASRock board and so far I really like it. But its all about what you want. To keep under your budget, if you want ASUS, then something else is going to have to give. Smaller HDD, or less powerful GPU as everything else is pretty much rock bottom. Or go with an AMD mobo. Can the current case be reused?

Hard choices to keep the budget.
 
Ok, Asus has an mATX H61 board for $75 at Newegg.
And the GTX 560 Ti's seem to be on sale for around $220-250

Shop around and you can stay in budget
 
ASUS M5A97 EVO AM3+ - $119
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...3131757&cm_re=asus_evo-_-13-131-757-_-Product

4gb 1337mhz Ballistix tracer - $35

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...148339&cm_re=ballistix-_-20-148-339-_-Product

Thermaltake V4 - $40 w/ $10 rebate

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...at_Computer_Cases-_-Weekly_Deals-_-11-133-179

crucial M4 ssd - 64gb - $115

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...148447&cm_sp=Cat_SSD-_-Hot_Deals-_-20-148-447

WD - 1tb HDD - $65

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136236

Penom II x4 3.2ghz - $105
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103921

crsair 650w enthusiast PSU - $75 after rebates
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005

radeon 6950 - 1gb - $215

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814103185&cm_re=6950-_-14-103-185-_-Product

whoops, did the math wrong, that tops out at over $700, still you can take out the SSD and upgrade the HDD to a faster one (WD black)
The 2gb reference 6950 are better if you can find one, you could also shop around to get lower prices. Using the AM3+ Asus board gives you an upgrade path to bulldozer. So if you think you might upgrade the CPU, you could cheap out more on the processor and get an athlon or phenom dual core

buying from Amazon will help you avoid taxes. Sinc eother have suggested an Intel build, this is an AMD one
 
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Right now I think the GTX 560Ti is a better bang for the buck for 1080p gaming when compared to the Radeon 6950. By the way, standard stuff just means a motherboard that POSTs. Personally, I would not get an H61 board and instead consider an H67 or P67 one. This is so you get SATA6 in the event your friend wants to get an SSD and also for USB3. It's also easier to find motherboard with 4 slots for RAM upgrades. But if you don't really care about any features at all, the H61 chipset is fine for basic.

Do you live near a Microcenter? Also, consider Amazon to save money on sales tax since you live in California.

MSI makes very good Sandy Bridge compatibile motherboards. Reviews on them have all been very good. I have one as well and had zero problems.

Finally, a single GTX 560Ti isn't going to be ideal for multimontior gaming. For a single 1080p gaming display and a secondary (internet, music, etc.) display it's fine though. For this budget, a GTX560Ti might be a little high. If the budget can be increased by about $40 or $50 I would definitely say go for it.

Based on how you answered the sticky and your stated preferences, here's my suggested build:

$185 - Intel Core i5-2300 Processor 2.8 GHz 6 MB Cache Socket LGA1155
$73 - ASUS P8H61-M LE/CSM Intel H61 Chipset DDR3 1333 Micro ATX Motherboard
$35 - Patriot Signature 4 GB PC3-10600 (1333 MHz) DDR3 Desktop Memory PSD34G13332
$190 - XFX ATI Radeon HD6870 1 GB DDR5 2DVI/HDMI/2x Mini DisplayPort PCI-Express Video Card HD687AZNFC
$60 - Cooler Master HAF 912 Case
$66 (before $10 MIR) - Corsair Builder Series CX600 600 watt 80 Plus Certified Power Supply Compatible with Intel and AMD Platforms ATX 700 CMPSU-600CXV2
$60 - Samsung Desktop Class Spinpoint F3 1 TB SATA 3.0 Gb-s 32 MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Bare-OEM Drives, HD103SJ
$27 - LG Electronics GH22NS50 22X SATA Super Multi DVD+/-RW Internal Drive - Bulk with Software (Black)
Total: $696, no tax, no shipping costs (all from Amazon.)

If you live by a Microcenter, this build will get shaken up a bit. But you'll have a solid foundation in the Core i5-2300 going forward, and room to upgrade to 8GB of RAM at a later date. The power supply is of decent quality, and you'll have a case that should last you awhile too. The Radeon 6870 is decent at 1080p, though I have to admit I do worry about its ability to handle BF3. Only time will tell there. Your best bet would be to convince your friend to wait until BF3 comes out or until more information about it is out. As it is not released, there are no guarantees that this computer will be able to run it well, but I think having a quad core i-5 will give you a better shot than the dual core i-3. The videos I've seen thus far of BF3 look like they could be CPU intensive across multiple threads. But again, only time will tell.
 
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Awesome recommendations so far guys. I really appreciate the help. A few questions:

Doesn't AMD typically have a better bang for the buck when going with cheaper builds like this? For example: AMD Phenom X4 955 Black $113.99. It looks to be much cheaper than Intel's mid/lower end offerings.


And thank you for giving me a heads up on the "standard stuff" regarding motherboards tonytnnt. I edited my original post to include SATA 6 and USB 3 (honestly I feel like those are pretty common things at this point in the $100 range for motherboards). As far as Microcenter goes, unfortunately the nearest one is two hours away. So not really nearby at all. Also, I have nothing against MSI. I've heard they're a solid brand (ASRock too), he and I both just prefer ASUS.

It looks like I might shoot for the 6870 1GB. I know it's a solid card, and it seems to be a lot cheaper than the 560 Ti. Actually, looking at it again, even the 6950 looks to be cheaper than it as well.


Parts I'll probably be going with so far (unless someone can suggest better):
$59.99: Samsung F3 1TB (of course)
$66.24 ($56.24 after MIR): Corsair CX600
$18: LG GH22NS50 22X SATA Super Multi DVD+/-RW Internal Drive - Bulk with Software (Black)
$59.99: Cooler Master HAF 912
$34.99: Patriot Signature 4 GB PC3-10600 (1333 MHz) DDR3 Desktop Memory PSD34G13332
 
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Jon55 said:
Awesome recommendations so far guys. I really appreciate the help. A few questions:

Doesn't AMD typically have a better bang for the buck when going with cheaper builds like this? For example: AMD Phenom X4 955 Black $113.99. It looks to be much cheaper than Intel's mid/lower end offerings.
Click to expand...

Only get it if you're going to overclock the CPU. If you're not overclocking, the 2-core/4-thread i3-2100 beats a stock-speed PII x4 955 in most games and apps.
 
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E4g1e said:
Only get it if you're going to overclock the CPU. If you're not overclocking, the 2-core/4-thread i3-2100 beats a stock-speed PII x4 955 in most games and apps.
Click to expand...

Interesting. Would the difference between an i3-2100 and an i5-2400 be that huge? There will be no overclocking going on.

Also, what would be a good H67 or P67 ASUS motherboard to go with it? Again, USB 3/SATA 6 would be awesome to have.
 
$105 - ASUS P8H67-M LE (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel H67 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
$130 - ASUS P8P67 LE (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
 
Jon55 said:
Interesting. Would the difference between an i3-2100 and an i5-2400 be that huge? There will be no overclocking going on.
Click to expand...

The i5-2400 has the edge due to its four physical cores and Turbo Boost auto-"overclocking" versus the i3-2100's two physical cores with HyperThreading and its lack of a Turbo Boost "overclocking" feature.

And I did forget to mention that the AMD Phenom II x4 doesn't perform as well as the i3-2100 when both CPUs are totally at stock speeds because the current AMD CPU architecture is not as efficient (it basically dates back to the original Athlon 64 Socket 754 CPU of 2003).
 
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Alright, so I'm considering this build:

$301.98: i5-2400 + GIGABYTE GA-H67A-UD3H-B3 combo
$35: Patriot Signature 4 GB PC3-10600 (1333 MHz) DDR3
$60: Cooler Master HAF 912
$66.24: Corsair Builder Series CX600 600 watt
$60.50: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB

Yes, I know it's not an ASUS board, but I like that it's a full ATX board with USB3/SATA6 and combo'd with an i5-2400. Any input on that GIGABYTE board would be appreciated.

The total: $523.72 before rebates, tax, and shipping. That leaves about $176, but I still need a solid GPU, and that's not a lot of wiggle room unfortunately. So I'm still considering this AMD combo for $206, simply because it would allow for a decent GPU (despite it not being able to compete with the i5).
 
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Well it's July 1st and that means that the Newegg Intel and AMD CPU + mobo combo deals that you posted are no longer valid. Remember that Newegg combo deals expire at the end of the month they were introduced in.
 
Ah. Do you think it would be worth waiting at all for July 4th to roll around before looking for parts? I imagine Newegg will have some kind of Independence Day/week sale maybe?
 
Hm, this i5-2300 + GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3-B3 combo doesn't look bad. That board is probably a bit overkill though.

The ASUS CD/DVD burner for $20 would definitely be good pick.

Honestly I've been wracking my brain for the past week on all these sales/combos/deals and haven't been able to make the numbers come together. So any build you think would be best is a-okay with me. If it's not an ASUS motherboard that's totally fine too.
 
Well, aside from the GPU and HDD's, I just did some upgrades myself and have what i feel is a pretty smokin rig now. Here's the list, all from newegg

Intel i5 2500k
ASRock P67 Extreme 4
8gb 2x4 Gskill Xseries
700watt Raidmax PSU (always had good luck with them)
ASUS Sata DVD burner

All that came out to $525. That leaves $175 for a GPU, HDD, and case. If you wanted to, there were cheaper mobo's and RAM, that should free up more $$, but I would stick with the i5 at least with 8gb RAM. Just my opinion.
 
I don't know if $175 is going to be enough for a good GPU, HDD, and case. I guess I'll just go with an AMD Phenom II X4 route of some kind, as an i5 2500K is major overkill in price for this particular build, and I can't seem to find a good deal for an other Intel CPU route.
 
$175 isn't enough for the video card, hard drive, and case together as the "good" video cards that we normally recommend can cost around $200 on their own. I personally wouldn't recommend ASRock motherboards or Raidmax power supplies as better (quality) alternatives exist for just a bit more money.

You can save some money by going with the AMD Phenom II X4 955, but you need to find an AM3 board that can also accept the AM3+ Bulldozer processors. IIRC, most 890-based motherboards can support AM3+ with a simple BIOS update.
 
tiraides said:
You can save some money by going with the AMD Phenom II X4 955, but you need to find an AM3 board that can also accept the AM3+ Bulldozer processors. IIRC, most 890-based motherboards can support AM3+ with a simple BIOS update.
Click to expand...

Just a heads up, MSI is doing BIOS updates but Gigabyte and ASRock don't seem to be interested in that. I'm not sure about Asus. Those four companies have websites detailing their AM3+ plans so be sure to check them out before purchasing if you want AM3+ support.
 
Finally went ahead and made the purchase yesterday. We went with:

$119.99 AMD Phenom II X4 955
$96.89 ASUS M4A87TD/USB3 AM3
$66.24 Corsair CX600 600 watt
$189.54 XFX ATI Radeon HD6870 1 GB
$36.99 WINTEC AMPX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit
$59.99 Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB
$59.99 Cooler Master HAF 912
$19.99 ASUS 24X DVD Burner OEM

Total: $649.62. After shipping + tax, came out to a few cents over $654.

I was a little skeptical on the RAM brand, but it had a lot of very high reviews and looked legit enough for mid-range RAM. Over clocking still will most likely not take place, but at least it'll be a little more OC ready this way (just in case). I would have loved to have gone with an Intel build, but as I said earlier, there was just no feasible way to make it work in a $700 budget that would also include an awesome GPU.

Thank you again guys for all the help.
 
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Danny Bui said:
Good luck with the build!
Click to expand...

Thanks Danny. Do you have any input on Wintec RAM? I'm pretty sure I've seen their name mentioned before around here, and the reviews (on Newegg, for what it's worth) looked pretty good. They're just a nice generic RAM brand in the same group as Patriot, correct?
 
Jon55 said:
Thanks Danny. Do you have any input on Wintec RAM? I'm pretty sure I've seen their name mentioned before around here, and the reviews (on Newegg, for what it's worth) looked pretty good. They're just a nice generic RAM brand in the same group as Patriot, correct?
Click to expand...

They're a generic RAM brand but they're not in the same group as Patriot RAM. Patriot is a bit higher on the peckin' order than Wintec. With that said, Wintec RAM is a-ok.

But I personally would have gone with this RAM stick to open up more room for future RAM upgrades:
$40 - G.Skill Ripjaw Series F3-10666CL9S-4GBRL 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM
 
Danny Bui said:
They're a generic RAM brand but they're not in the same group as Patriot RAM. Patriot is a bit higher on the peckin' order than Wintec. With that said, Wintec RAM is a-ok.

But I personally would have gone with this RAM stick to open up more room for future RAM upgrades:
$40 - G.Skill Ripjaw Series F3-10666CL9S-4GBRL 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM
Click to expand...

Hm, I noticed a few of those but aren't they single channel? Wouldn't dual-channel be better performance-wise? Or does it make about as much difference as triple-channel did to dual-channel?
 
Jon55 said:
Hm, I noticed a few of those but aren't they single channel? Wouldn't dual-channel be better performance-wise? Or does it make about as much difference as triple-channel did to dual-channel?
Click to expand...

Under the most ideal of conditions, it's only a 5% performance difference.
 
So everything got put together the other night and everything kicks ass. I really like the case a lot (again, Cooler Master 912 HAF), however, I figured out where they cut corners and how the case is so inexpensive: fans. The stock fans are, well, pretty bad airflow-wise. There are plenty of areas for fans all over the case, so it's not a big deal at all, but I just want to give a heads up to anyone who happens to come across this thread.

So I'm looking to get him a 200mm fan for the top of the case. It'll help a lot with airflow of course, but I also to help prevent dust from getting through the pre-drilled holes on the top of the case. Would you have any recommendations on a good 200mm fan?
 
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