$650 AUD Gaming PC Build - First Time - Need Some Help

[LollyHunter]

[Please Scroll to the Bottom of the Thread To See the Latest Question!!!]

Hey so I have asked a fair few questions here over the past month or so and have gotten some amazing feedback. I had thought I had decided on a build but I am now not sure. So what I have done is I made three... Yes three builds and I would like to know which one is better. The computer will be used mostly for gaming and my maximum budget is $650 (2 of the builds do go over but I will be using MSY to purchase all the parts pretty much which has some cheaper alternatives). By the way I am from Australia so the prices most likely will vary a lot to other countries. Anyway here is the builds:

Intel Pentium:
With this build it is a lot cheaper than the others but that is because if i ended up getting this I would be upgrading the cpu to an i5 in about a year or so.

[PCPartPicker part list](http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/2IGE1) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/2IGE1/by_merchant/) / [Benchmarks](http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/2IGE1/benchmarks/)


CPU: Intel Pentium G3220 3.0GHz Dual-Core Processor $72.00
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard $65.00
Memory: Corsair 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory $53.99
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive $69.00
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 270 2GB Video Card $229.00
Case: Cooler Master K380 ATX Mid Tower Case $54.00
Power Supply: Silverstone Strider Essential 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply $59.00

Total $601.99


Pros:
- Cheap
- Easily Upgradeable
- When upgraded will be amazing
Cons:
- Not as good performance until upgraded
- A little expensive to upgrade

Intel i3:
One of the more expensive builds, will most likely not be upgraded any time soon except for maybe an additional 4GB of ram.

[PCPartPicker part list](http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/2IH7C) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/2IH7C/by_merchant/) / [Benchmarks](http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/2IH7C/benchmarks/)


CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor $135.00
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H81M-S2PH Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard $68.00
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory $59.00
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive $69.00
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 270 2GB Video Card $229.00
Case: Cooler Master K380 ATX Mid Tower Case $54.00
Power Supply: Silverstone Strider Essential 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply $59.00

Total $673.00

Pros:
- Good quality straight away
- No need for upgrades instantly

Cons:
- Expensive
- Most likely exceeding my budget

AMD Build:
Again one of the more expensive builds, will most likely not be upgraded any time soon except for maybe an additional 4GB of ram.

[PCPartPicker part list](http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/2IGIU) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/2IGIU/by_merchant/) / [Benchmarks](http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/2IGIU/benchmarks/)


CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor $149.00
Motherboard: ASRock 980DE3/U3S3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard $69.00
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory $59.00
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive $69.00
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 270 2GB Video Card $229.00
Case: Cooler Master K380 ATX Mid Tower Case $54.00
Power Supply: Silverstone Strider Essential 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply $59.00

Total $688.00

Pros:
- Probably best quality straight away
- No need for upgrades instantly

Cons:
- Expensive
- Most likely exceeding my budget
- Dead CPU
- Not very upgradeable


So there they are what build do you think is better taking in to account obviously that the Pentium build isn't necessarily very good now but would be upgraded in the near future.

Cheers and Thank You in Advance!

 

[Outlander_04]

rule out the amd build . The mb has no future as its an older chipset

The difference in performance between the pentium and i3 is about 20% overall but in this
http://www.cpu-world.com/Compare/294/Intel_Core_i3_i3-4340_vs_Intel_Pentium_Dual-Core_G3220.html
the discrete graphics performance is only 3%

That suggests gaming performance wont take a huge hit

H81 boards have only two RAM slots and lack some H87 features . To cut costs you may even be better with B85 chipset boards
RAM should be a dual channel kit 2 x 2 gig is better than 1 x4 . With a board with 4 memory slots you have the option to run 2 x 2 and expand later

EDIT : just checked mb prices . H81 is your only option at that price point and that changes the equation IMO.
I'd add $50 and get 2 x4 gig of RAM

 

[LollyHunter]

rule out the amd build . The mb has no future as its an older chipset

The difference in performance between the pentium and i3 is about 20% overall but in this
http://www.cpu-world.com/Compare/294/Intel_Core_i3_i3-4340_vs_Intel_Pentium_Dual-Core_G3220.html
the discrete graphics performance is only 3%

That suggests gaming performance wont take a huge hit

H81 boards have only two RAM slots and lack some H87 features . To cut costs you may even be better with B85 chipset boards
RAM should be a dual channel kit 2 x 2 gig is better than 1 x4 . With a board with 4 memory slots you have the option to run 2 x 2 and expand later

Ok thanks heaps! So you would go with the Pentium, is that correct? And would a b85 have 4x slots foe memory?

Also after reading through the Pentium really stands out.

Thanks for your help!

 

[limitzvfxgoespc]

it really depends intel is better for upgrading options in the future. i would go with intel at that price and get a new cpu in a year to keep up with newer games. so get the i3. i would also be inclined with getting the gtx 660 you'll get better performance for about 10 bucks more http://www.mwave.com.au/product/gigabyte-geforce-gtx-660-oc-2gb-video-card-aa77664 or the r7 260x and get a better mobo so you can upgrade better in the future or get another stick of ram
http://www.mwave.com.au/product/gigabyte-radeon-r7-260x-oc-2gb-overclocked-video-card-ab53256 r7 260x

 

[LollyHunter]

it really depends intel is better for upgrading options in the future. i would go with intel at that price and get a new cpu in a year to keep up with newer games. so get the i3. i would also be inclined with getting the gtx 660 you'll get better performance for about 10 bucks more http://www.mwave.com.au/product/gigabyte-geforce-gtx-660-oc-2gb-video-card-aa77664 or the r7 260x and get a better mobo so you can upgrade better in the future or get another stick of ram
http://www.mwave.com.au/product/gigabyte-radeon-r7-260x-oc-2gb-overclocked-video-card-ab53256 r7 260x

Awesome Thanks! I am pretty much definitely going to go with an Intel now. If I were to go with the i3 what would be the most important "upgrade"? The motherboard?

 

[LollyHunter]

it really depends intel is better for upgrading options in the future. i would go with intel at that price and get a new cpu in a year to keep up with newer games. so get the i3. i would also be inclined with getting the gtx 660 you'll get better performance for about 10 bucks more http://www.mwave.com.au/product/gigabyte-geforce-gtx-660-oc-2gb-video-card-aa77664 or the r7 260x and get a better mobo so you can upgrade better in the future or get another stick of ram
http://www.mwave.com.au/product/gigabyte-radeon-r7-260x-oc-2gb-overclocked-video-card-ab53256 r7 260x

Although I am starting to lean more to the Pentium build. Simply due to the significant price for performance ratio.

 

[limitzvfxgoespc]

it really depends intel is better for upgrading options in the future. i would go with intel at that price and get a new cpu in a year to keep up with newer games. so get the i3. i would also be inclined with getting the gtx 660 you'll get better performance for about 10 bucks more http://www.mwave.com.au/product/gigabyte-geforce-gtx-660-oc-2gb-video-card-aa77664 or the r7 260x and get a better mobo so you can upgrade better in the future or get another stick of ram
http://www.mwave.com.au/product/gigabyte-radeon-r7-260x-oc-2gb-overclocked-video-card-ab53256 r7 260x

Awesome Thanks! I am pretty much definitely going to go with an Intel now. If I were to go with the i3 what would be the most important "upgrade"? The motherboard?

yeh the pentium would be better as it will give you some spare money to buy a better mobo

 

[LollyHunter]

it really depends intel is better for upgrading options in the future. i would go with intel at that price and get a new cpu in a year to keep up with newer games. so get the i3. i would also be inclined with getting the gtx 660 you'll get better performance for about 10 bucks more http://www.mwave.com.au/product/gigabyte-geforce-gtx-660-oc-2gb-video-card-aa77664 or the r7 260x and get a better mobo so you can upgrade better in the future or get another stick of ram
http://www.mwave.com.au/product/gigabyte-radeon-r7-260x-oc-2gb-overclocked-video-card-ab53256 r7 260x

Awesome Thanks! I am pretty much definitely going to go with an Intel now. If I were to go with the i3 what would be the most important "upgrade"? The motherboard?

yeh the pentium would be better as it will give you some spare money to buy a better mobo

Ok so I'll do the Pentium just get a b85 mobo and a 2x 2GB ram kit?
Thanks again!

 

[LollyHunter]

rule out the amd build . The mb has no future as its an older chipset

The difference in performance between the pentium and i3 is about 20% overall but in this
http://www.cpu-world.com/Compare/294/Intel_Core_i3_i3-4340_vs_Intel_Pentium_Dual-Core_G3220.html
the discrete graphics performance is only 3%

That suggests gaming performance wont take a huge hit

H81 boards have only two RAM slots and lack some H87 features . To cut costs you may even be better with B85 chipset boards
RAM should be a dual channel kit 2 x 2 gig is better than 1 x4 . With a board with 4 memory slots you have the option to run 2 x 2 and expand later

EDIT : just checked mb prices . H81 is your only option at that price point and that changes the equation IMO.
I'd add $50 and get 2 x4 gig of RAM

I can maybe increase a little bit. What would be a good b85 mobo and how much would it be?

 

[Outlander_04]

I would probably buy the pentium + a better mb . If I could afford it H87 , if that was a big stretch then B85 .

That gives you a Mb that lets you upgrade the processor and RAM and get the maximum benefit from doing so

The problem is the first worthwhile board is $114
http://au.pcpartpicker.com/parts/motherboard/#c=88,90
and the good ones are more like $130

 

[LollyHunter]

I would probably buy the pentium + a better mb . If I could afford it H87 , if that was a big stretch then B85 .

That gives you a Mb that lets you upgrade the processor and RAM and get the maximum benefit from doing so

The problem is the first worthwhile board is $114
http://au.pcpartpicker.com/parts/motherboard/#c=88,90
and the good ones are more like $130

Ok so is there really a significant difference between the b85 and the h87? And if so what are they?

 

[LollyHunter]

Also what brand of gpu? and do I go 260x, 270, 660x?

 

[Outlander_04]

I would probably buy the pentium + a better mb . If I could afford it H87 , if that was a big stretch then B85 .

That gives you a Mb that lets you upgrade the processor and RAM and get the maximum benefit from doing so

The problem is the first worthwhile board is $114
http://au.pcpartpicker.com/parts/motherboard/#c=88,90
and the good ones are more like $130

Ok so is there really a significant difference between the b85 and the h87? And if so what are they?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGA_1150
Better and more options for a hard drive set up mostly .

I looked at a couple of the available B85 boards . They mostly look weak in terms of the VRM's , and heat sinks and power phases .

This Gigabyte looks to be the best B85 option and should do what you need it to though
http://au.pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gab85md3h

 

[LollyHunter]

I would probably buy the pentium + a better mb . If I could afford it H87 , if that was a big stretch then B85 .

That gives you a Mb that lets you upgrade the processor and RAM and get the maximum benefit from doing so

The problem is the first worthwhile board is $114
http://au.pcpartpicker.com/parts/motherboard/#c=88,90
and the good ones are more like $130

Ok so is there really a significant difference between the b85 and the h87? And if so what are they?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGA_1150
Better and more options for a hard drive set up mostly .

I looked at a couple of the available B85 boards . They mostly look weak in terms of the VRM's , and heat sinks and power phases .

This Gigabyte looks to be the best B85 option and should do what you need it to though
http://au.pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gab85md3h

Ok that board looks nice cheers! Any recommendations for the gpu?

 

[LollyHunter]

Alright so I am pretty much finished my build just got a few things to finalise. I am a little lost with the gpu though. I'd like a decent one anywhere from $180 - $240. So these are the ones I am thinking of, which GPU would be best? :
- Gigabyte GV-R927OC-2GD $229.00
- Gigabyte GV-N660OC-2GD $229.00
- Asus GF GTX650 Ti Boost DC2 OC PCI-E 3.0 2GB $195.00

If you have any other suggestions I would love to hear!

 

[Outlander_04]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-r9-270-review-benchmarks,3669-4.html

 

[LollyHunter]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-r9-270-review-benchmarks,3669-4.html

Ok so I read through the article and was pretty convinced I would get a r9 270 and then at the end I saw this in the conclusion: "it's (r9 270) simply unable to compete against Nvidia's GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost".
So now I am pretty confused but i will most likely buy the 650 ti boost especially taking into account that it is $30 cheaper.

Also I am most likely going out tomorrow to pick up all the parts from a nearby store, and I just wanted to know do prices really change that much? Like should I wait? The next big sale most likely wont be until june/july end of financial year thing?

Thankyou for yout help!

 

[Outlander_04]

It says the 260 is unable to compete with the 650 ti boost

The R9 270 smokes the 650ti in every game

 

[LollyHunter]

It says the 260 is unable to compete with the 650 ti boost

The R9 270 smokes the 650ti in every game

Yeh haha I thought so. I was just confuse. All the stats and stuff were saying that the 270 were so much better and then I read that. Lol never mind thanks for clearing that up. So I am going with the 270!

Now lasts and partly least... The case! Something cheap would be nice but with two fans atleast, if thats possible... Anywhere from $40 - $70 is good. Any suggestions?