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$800 Gaming Build

DrSpock

Lurker
Joined
Aug 13, 2001
Messages
161
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming - Civ 5, Planetary Annihilation, Assassin's Creed IV
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$800 +/- $100. Tax and shipping included.
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
Minneapolis, Minnesota
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, RAM, case, HDD/SSD, GPU, Motherboard, Optical drive (?), PSU
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Not reusing any parts
6) Will you be overclocking?
Not overclocking
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
Dell U2713HM-IPS-LED (27'', 2560 x 1440)
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
This week/weekend
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.
USB 3, not sure about anything else? UEFI, I guess?
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Need a license


I was going to build a year or so ago, but it didn't work out, so I'm itching to build now. I'd like it to last for a while as a gaming machine, and when that's no longer feasible, maybe it will be reborn as a server for something.
 
Is the cost of that OS part of that $900 budget?
 
$185 - Intel Core i5-4430 CPU
$74 - ASRock H87M Pro4 Intel H87 mATX Motherboard
$64 - Crucial Ballistix BLS8G3D1609ES2LX0 8GB DDR3 1600 RAM
$250 - MSI GeForce GTX 760 2GB PCI-E Video Card
$63 - Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$21 - Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD Burner
$70 - XFX Core Edition PRO550W 550W PSU
$60 - Corsair Carbide Series 200R ATX Case
$97 - Windows 8.1 64bit
----
Total: $887 shipped

Unfortunately the combination of your high resolution but rather moderate budget means that a SSD isn't possible. More money had to be allocated to the GPU.
 
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This looks great. Let's say I had more wiggle room in the budget...

If I wanted to add the SSD, what would you recommend? And is there anything to be gained going from the 200R to the 300R?
 
Really appreciate this build.

Can you weigh in on this build?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus M5A97 LE R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($74.98 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card ($249.99 @ NCIX US)
Wireless Network Adapter: Asus PCE-N10 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($16.70 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Microcenter)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ Microcenter)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - OEM (64-bit) ($94.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $901.57
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-17 12:38 EST-0500)
 
Yeah, in gaming the Intel setup Dangman posted above will smash it.

Also that Corsair CX500 isn't that great of a PSU.
 
Is there a modular PSU that I could upgrade the XFX to for a reasonable amount?
 
Is there a modular PSU that I could upgrade the XFX to for a reasonable amount?

Yup:
$85 - Seasonic G Series SSR-550RM 550W Modular PSU
 
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