$550-$650 Gaming build advice pleease

[shundo]

Hello all,

I was hoping to get some advice on my PC build.

Purchase Date: I hope to order parts ASAP (this week).

Budget: $550-$650 range. The parts list I have so far is $606 on newegg.com(including alll combos and discounts) and this is without Windows 7(64bit) included, so I was basically looking for advise on shaving some dollars off of the below build without sacrificing to much on performance or compatibility.

Usage: This will be used mostly for gaming, as well as light internet/school/work.

I am located in the United States.

Overclocking, SLI, and crossfire are not required for me.

I do not have a monitor or resolution planned, but keep in mind this is a budget build and the monitor will be no exception.

Any help, advice, ridicule would be appreciated.

Here is the build:

CASE: Rosewill RANGER-M Dual Fans MicroATX Mini Tower Computer Case

HARDDRIVE: Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKX 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

VIDEOCARD: GIGABYTE GV-R677SL-1GD Radeon HD 6770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

POWERSUPPLY: Antec EarthWatts EA-650 GREEN 650W ATX12V v2.3 SLI Ready CrossFire Certified 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply

MOBO: GIGABYTE GA-A75M-UD2H FM1 AMD A75 (Hudson D3) SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

&(combo)

RAM: Patriot Gamer 2 Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model PGD38G1333ELK

CPU: AMD A8-3870K Unlocked Llano 3.0GHz Socket FM1 100W Quad-Core Desktop APU with DirectX 11 Graphic AMD Radeon HD 6550D AD3870WNGXBOX

&(combo)

Optical: LITE-ON DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model iHAS124-04 - OEM

Thank you for your time,
S

 

[g-unit1111]

It looks pretty decent but I don't think I would use a Llano for this build. You're better going with a i3-2120 and a Z68 motherboard. That will pretty much run circles around anything that is out right now in the price range. Try something like this:

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115078 - Intel Core i3-2100 - $119.99
Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271 - Asrock Z68 Extreme 3 Gen 3 - $121.99

This will be a lot better for your budget. And Patriot isn't the best RAM maker on the market - this would be better (use Crucial, GSkill, PNY, or Corsair): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314

 

[furry_roadkill]

i agree with g-unit. an i3 would be a much better choice. also, is there a reason you chose that specific video card? because it's passively cooled? that's understandable, but if you don't mind a little more noise a 6850 would be awesome for a budget gaming build. about the same price as the one you chose too

 

[shundo]

Well much of this list were recommendations from a friend who will be putting all of the components together. I am new to building a computer from scratch and appreciate the constructive feedback so far.

From only 2 posts though I am basically at a completely different machine

 

[aznshinobi]

You could do a lot better:
$600 build here:
http://www.squidoo.com/electronicandmore
Windows:
http://www.softwaresupplygroup.com/microsoft-windows-7-home-premium-64-bit-oem-branded.html

 

[Memnarchon]

Hello. Since you need a gaming pc its strongly suggested to pick an intel cpu.
As we can clearly see here (an article from tom's a few weeks ago) i3 is on our budget range and its the best you can find for this budget.

Case: NZXT GAMMA Classic Series GAMA-001BK Black Steel $39.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146061

Mobo: MSI H67A-G43 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel H67 $79.99 / $59.99 after mail-in rebate card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130616

CPU: Intel Core i3-2120 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz $129.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115077

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) $25.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231425

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKX 500GB 7200 RPM $89.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136769

GPU: HIS H687FN1GD Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 $154.99 / $144.99 after mail-in rebate card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161389

Optical: LITE-ON DVD Burner - Bulk 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW $17.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106289

PSU: CORSAIR Builder Series CX500 V2 500W $59.99 / $49.99 after mail-in rebate card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027

Total: $598,92
Total after MIR: $553,92

So you can spend then a hundred more to take an OS and still be on budget ($650).

 

[shundo]

Thanks for all the quick responses, I guess everyone seems set on Intel(as was I prior to my friends recommendations) This machine looks nice, and thank you for the link for the discounted Windows

Following all the feedback so far I have put together the following cart. I am not sold on the graphics cards and am open to suggestions(do i need a crossfire capable card if I do not intend on crossfiring? Are there cheaper alternatives that are compatable?):

Case: $39.99 - NZXT GAMMA Classic Series GAMA-001BK Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

HardDrive: $74.99 - Western Digital Caviar Blue WD2500AAKX 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

GPU: $154.99 - HIS H687FN1GD Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

PSU: $59.99 - Antec NEO ECO 520C 520W Continuous Power ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply

RAM: $46.99 - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL

MoBo; $69.99 - ASRock H61M/U3S3 LGA 1155 Intel H61 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

CPU & DVD Burner Combo: $134.99 - Intel Core i3-2100 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000 BX80623I32100 & LITE-ON DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model iHAS124-04 - OEM

Parts: $581.92

Parts + Shipping: 601.91

Thanks,
S

 

[aznshinobi]

Looks good! Good luck!

 

[samuelspark]

Check out the $650 build in my signature. It has a GTX 560 Ti, 500GB HDD, and in general will dominate the build you made.

 

[aznshinobi]

^ You're paying $70 more, of course you could get the 560 Ti. If OP payed $65 more he could get the 560 Ti, he'd be saving money going for his own build.

Shundo, you can save $7 by going with this RAM instead.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820161452
Just as good and cheaper.

 

[samuelspark]

^ You're paying $70 more, of course you could get the 560 Ti. If OP payed $65 more he could get the 560 Ti, he'd be saving money going for his own build.

But it's an ATX mobo and a better PSU for upgradability.

 

[aznshinobi]

^ Does it matter? Both don't support SLI so the ATX is rendered useless. The PSU is still close to 520w both won't support SLI. The 550w ZT's only difference which is being modular which is nice but up to OP to spend $10 more on. Either way the price comes out similarly. IF OP added the 560 Ti, he'd only total out to roughly $635.

Just looked at the HDD, dude that's the 7200.9 those had so many issues, all the Seagate revisions until the 10/11 were pretty bad about reliability. Actually the 10's were pretty bad too. Your HDD recommendation is also refurbished where as the OP's is a new $75 500GB WD.

 

[shundo]

Probably a noob question, but will the ASRock motherboard, which says it utilizes 1333 support the receommended RAM options here which are all 1600?

 

[aznshinobi]

Haha oh yeah, I keep forgetting. H61 doesn't take advantage of DDR3 1600.

No point in changing it'll still work just running @ 1333. The reason I say this is because DDR3 1333 8gB kits are so close to the pricing of 1600 kits you might as well stick with 1600 like the Wintec One 8GB DDR3 1600 kit I suggested.

 

[shundo]

Well I did go with the system I posted above and am going to make an attempt at assembling it myself. I'm really looking forward to this. Newegg says delivery in 3 days so hopefully it will be here by Friday. I went with a Windows 7 64bit OS

Off to the troubleshooting and assembly forums then. Thanks for your help so far

 

[aznshinobi]

Good luck! Be sure to close the thread by selecting a best answer, help out the mods (I.E. MM usually locks them)

 

[shundo]

I would be glad to help but after looking into it, I opened this thread as a discussion and cannot select a best answer

 

[aznshinobi]

Ahhh that's fine then, lets hope MM comes and closes it.