building a pc
Calling all people experienced in PC building. I have a $650 USD budget that I can't go over and would like to build the most cost-efficient PC for playing modern, realistic looking games.
If you can give me some advice, I would appreciate it.
May 19, 2015
13 Comments • Newest first
[quote=Burning]The i3-4170 can step down to the i3-4160. That's clocked 100 MHz lower and costs $5 less.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117447
There are cheaper motherboards in the microATX form factor. The first of the two listed does have slightly better audio capabilities with its 8-channel Realtek ALC892.
$68.99 ASRock H97M http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157547
$64.99 ASRock H97M Anniversary http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157547
However, because my build list already costs $630, adding the same SSD will raise the total price to $690 not accounting for rebates. Hyperfire's original build, also not accounting for its small rebates, should cost closer to $690-685 since a CD DVD drive was omitted in that list. Thus the two builds will essentially cost the same.
Kingston 120GB V300 SSD
$59.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820721107
$58.58 after tax http://www.amazon.com/Kingston-Digital-2-5-Inch-SV300S37A-120G/dp/B00A1ZTZOG
The most drastic way to cheapen the build I have laid out is to build around the overclockable dual-core Intel Pentium G3258 processor.
$69.99 Intel Pentium G3258 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117374
$99.99 MSI Z87 MPOWER-R http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130846
*Best overclocking features and unusually enough supports x8x8 Crossfire and SLI, but you won't need those
$99.99 ASRock Z97 Pro4 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157507
$104.99 GIGABYTE GA-Z97-HD3P http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128759
*Weakest overclocking features, but comes bundled with a free stick of HyperX FURY 8GB 1866MHz DDR3 Memory http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104458
$34.99 Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099
$29.99 Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065
*Between these two, the real world thermal performance difference is 1-3*C. The 212 Plus is the older version.
The cost of a Z97 motherboard that can handle the overclocking and an aftermarket cooler will put the cost around $30 less the Intel i3+H97 motherboard or AMD FX-6300+970 motherboard+aftermarket cooler.
An overclocked Pentium G3258 offers the highest single-core and dual-core performance at this price segment, somewhat comparable to the $240 [url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117372]i5-4690K's[/url] single-core and dual-core performance which costs over three times as much. The Pentium G3258's greatest shortcoming is that it is strictly a dual-core processor and it will not beat other processors at more threaded tasks including extensive application multitasking.[/quote]
I guess I'll just wait a bit longer so I can increase my budget. Thanks!
[quote=BadCereal]Is there a way cheapen your build? I don't mind buying used parts. Otherwise I think I'm going to go with hyperfire's build.[/quote]
The i3-4170 can step down to the i3-4160. That's clocked 100 MHz lower and costs $5 less.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117447
There are cheaper motherboards in the microATX form factor. The first of the two listed does have slightly better audio capabilities with its 8-channel Realtek ALC892.
$68.99 ASRock H97M http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157547
$64.99 ASRock H97M Anniversary http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157547
However, because my build list already costs $630, adding the same SSD will raise the total price to $690 not accounting for rebates. Hyperfire's original build, also not accounting for its small rebates, should cost closer to $690-685 since a CD DVD drive was omitted in that list. Thus the two builds will essentially cost the same.
Kingston 120GB V300 SSD
$59.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820721107
$58.58 after tax http://www.amazon.com/Kingston-Digital-2-5-Inch-SV300S37A-120G/dp/B00A1ZTZOG
The most drastic way to cheapen the build I have laid out is to build around the overclockable dual-core Intel Pentium G3258 processor.
$69.99 Intel Pentium G3258 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117374
$99.99 MSI Z87 MPOWER-R http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130846
*Best overclocking features and unusually enough supports x8x8 Crossfire and SLI, but you won't need those
$99.99 ASRock Z97 Pro4 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157507
$104.99 GIGABYTE GA-Z97-HD3P http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128759
*Weakest overclocking features, but comes bundled with a free stick of HyperX FURY 8GB 1866MHz DDR3 Memory http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104458
$34.99 Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099
$29.99 Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065
*Between these two, the real world thermal performance difference is 1-3*C. The 212 Plus is the older version.
The cost of a Z97 motherboard that can handle the overclocking and an aftermarket cooler will put the cost around $30 less the Intel i3+H97 motherboard or AMD FX-6300+970 motherboard+aftermarket cooler.
An overclocked Pentium G3258 offers the highest single-core and dual-core performance at this price segment, somewhat comparable to the $240 [url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117372]i5-4690K's[/url] single-core and dual-core performance which costs over three times as much. The Pentium G3258's greatest shortcoming is that it is strictly a dual-core processor and it will not beat other processors at more threaded tasks including extensive application multitasking.
[quote=Burning]That capacity is very common, so yes 1TB can be considered a standard of a sort. I seriously consider the response to that question if one specifically requests an SSD, hard drives greater than 1TB in capacity, or a RAID array.
I don't particularly like them because those builds use AMD processors and unless they are greatly overclocked, those won't have single-core or dual-core performance comparable to current Intel i3 processors. Very very few games use more than two processor cores and it's still one core doing most of the work. Since those builds include aftermarket coolers - the $32 Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO, it is probable to assume those AMD builds already account for overclocking. However, my build does not have an overclockable processor and thus does not have an aftermarket cooler so to maximize processor IPC at $130 while getting the most powerful video card you can afford.
Of the four games you have listed, Far Cry 4 and Assassin's Creed Unity will not be maxed. Far Cry 4 will run close to 60 FPS on Medium and AC Unity on a mix of Low and Medium. AC Unity is a special case because it's poorly optimized and runs awful on most hardware.
$124.99 Intel Core i3-4170 Processor http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117543
$72.79 ASRock H97 Anniversary Motherboard http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157564
$49.99 G.SKILL Ares Series 8GB (2x4GB) 1600MHz DDR3 Memory http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231546
$204.99 ASUS STRIX GeForce GTX 960 2GB Video Card http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121913
$39.99 CORSAIR CX430 v2.3 Power Supply http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026
$54.99 Western Digital Blue WD10EZEX 1TB Hard Drive http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236339
$69.99 NZXT H230 Mid Tower Case (also comes in White) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146109
$19.99-$7 Samsung CD DVD Drive http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151266
$630.72 with free shipping and no tax
In addition, NVIDIA GeForce GTX cards are currently being bundled with Witcher 3 codes.
This video card, the AMD Radeon R9 280X is actually more powerful, but it is expected to be replaced fairly soon by an R9 300 entry. In addition, the release of new AMD GPUs in June/July may drive down prices on all video cards with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 900 series GPUs.
$229.99 PowerColor TurboDuo AXR9 280X http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131533
*Bundled with DIRT Rally code.
Some of these products come with rebates, but are not included in the final price because not everyone can be bothered to fill out the forms and mail them in.
-$20 CORSAIR CX430 v2.3
-$10 ASUS STRIX GeForce GTX 960
-$20 PowerColor TurboDuo AXR9 280X[/quote]
I should've also included that ssds are a must, as I've seen the loading speed of my friend's PC which has a Crucial ssd and I would not build a PC without one,
Is there a way cheapen your build? I don't mind buying used parts. Otherwise I think I'm going to go with hyperfire's build.
@iDrinkOJ: exactly! you get it. ^_^
[quote=BadCereal]Isn't 1TB like the standard nowadays?[/quote]
That capacity is very common, so yes 1TB can be considered a standard of a sort. I seriously consider the response to that question if one specifically requests an SSD, hard drives greater than 1TB in capacity, or a RAID array.
[quote=BadCereal]I've seen you before in other PC building threads, so what do you think of the build that hyperfire7 and Dulcet suggested?[/quote]
I don't particularly like them because those builds use AMD processors and unless they are greatly overclocked, those won't have single-core or dual-core performance comparable to current Intel i3 processors. Very very few games use more than two processor cores and it's still one core doing most of the work. Since those builds include aftermarket coolers - the $32 Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO, it is probable to assume those AMD builds already account for overclocking. However, my build does not have an overclockable processor and thus does not have an aftermarket cooler so to maximize processor IPC at $130 while getting the most powerful video card you can afford.
Of the four games you have listed, Far Cry 4 and Assassin's Creed Unity will not be maxed. Far Cry 4 will run close to 60 FPS on Medium and AC Unity on a mix of Low and Medium. AC Unity is a special case because it's poorly optimized and runs awful on most hardware.
$124.99 Intel Core i3-4170 Processor http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117543
$72.79 ASRock H97 Anniversary Motherboard http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157564
$49.99 G.SKILL Ares Series 8GB (2x4GB) 1600MHz DDR3 Memory http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231546
$204.99 ASUS STRIX GeForce GTX 960 2GB Video Card http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121913
$39.99 CORSAIR CX430 v2.3 Power Supply http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026
$54.99 Western Digital Blue WD10EZEX 1TB Hard Drive http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236339
$69.99 NZXT H230 Mid Tower Case (also comes in White) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146109
$19.99-$7 Samsung CD DVD Drive http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151266
$630.72 with free shipping and no tax
In addition, NVIDIA GeForce GTX cards are currently being bundled with Witcher 3 codes.
This video card, the AMD Radeon R9 280X is actually more powerful, but it is expected to be replaced fairly soon by an R9 300 entry. In addition, the release of new AMD GPUs in June/July may drive down prices on all video cards with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 900 series GPUs.
$229.99 PowerColor TurboDuo AXR9 280X http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131533
*Bundled with DIRT Rally code.
Some of these products come with rebates, but are not included in the final price because not everyone can be bothered to fill out the forms and mail them in.
-$20 CORSAIR CX430 v2.3
-$10 ASUS STRIX GeForce GTX 960
-$20 PowerColor TurboDuo AXR9 280X
@Burning:
What country/state do you live in? Washington, USA.
Can you order online? Yes.
Do you already have a monitor, keyboard, and/or mouse? If you have a monitor, what is its screen resolution? I have all. Monitor is standard 1080p.
Do you need an operating system such as Windows 7 or Windows 8? No, I already have one.
How much hard drive space do you want? Isn't 1TB like the standard nowadays?
What games do you play or want to play? Anything from widely popular games like Elder Scrolls Online, Starcraft II, and realistic looking games like Far Cry 4 and Assassins Creed series.
What other programs do you use? Just the usual like Chrome, etc. I don't do any editing.
Do you have any preferences or restrictions for a computer case(features, looks, colors, lights, etc.)? I would prefer a quiet case.
I've seen you before in other PC building threads, so what do you think of the build that @hyperfire7 and @Dulcet suggested?
Oh and I can increase my budget to around $700 if necessary.
Thats kinda a low budget to work with. This is [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/p/49fN7P]My Build[/url] and it can pretty much run anything. Not including the price of a OS which you can get keys cheap off [url=https://www.g2a.com/windows-8-professional-32-64-bit-cd-key-global.html]G2A[/url]
[quote=dirana]Get a cool/cute boyfriend and yell at him to build a cool gaming comp for you.
That's what I did. [/quote]
or a cute/pretty girlfriend to build it for you
You can build a PC for exactly your budget, but with an Intel core i3. I know it's not the best processor out there,
but if you want to build a PC with a Intel processor I recommend this for your budget. If you add a Windows OS installation DVD, it will go over your budget sadly.
(It also runs any game at 1080p)
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/MWfV23
(Alternative: You can also save up more for better Hardware)
Get a cool/cute boyfriend and yell at him to build a cool gaming comp for you.
That's what I did.
[quote=hyperfire7][url=http://pcpartpicker.com/p/fNVjQ7]Here's a $610 build that'll handle AAA games on very high/maxed settings @ 1080p.[/url]
After assembly, overclock the FX-6300 CPU to around 4 GHz and you'll be set.
Do you need to buy a monitor though? If you do, that'll leave you roughly $500~$530 for the PC.[/quote]
This also doesn't have an OS though which IMO should always be included in the build price.
Answer as many questions as you are willing. The information you provide will narrow down the potential computers I look at.
What country/state do you live in?
Can you order online? If you cannot order online, what stores are around you?
Do you already have a monitor, keyboard, and/or mouse? If you have a monitor, what is its screen resolution?
Do you need an operating system such as Windows 7 or Windows 8?
How much hard drive space do you want?
What games do you play or want to play?
What other programs do you use?
Do you have any preferences or restrictions for a computer case(features, looks, colors, lights, etc.)?
Mention any other special requests you may have. Be as detailed as you can with all your responses.
[url=http://pcpartpicker.com/p/fNVjQ7]Here's a $610 build that'll handle AAA games on very high/maxed settings @ 1080p.[/url]
After assembly, overclock the FX-6300 CPU to around 4 GHz and you'll be set.
Do you need to buy a monitor though? If you do, that'll leave you roughly $500~$530 for the PC.