< 700 $ Gaming PC

[m-law]

Ok I have been browsing the forums for awhile now and put a lot of thought into this computer! I am looking for a mid level gaming build where I can upgrade later on by adding on another video card(the same video card I believe), more ram, and a solid state drive. Very firm on the less than 700$ . Please let me know what you think, and what you would change/modify. Games I want to play with a decent framerate/graphics are Planetside 2, Starcraft 2, Dota2, Civ 5. Thank you!

CPU:
Intel Core i5-3470 Quad-Core Processor 3.2 GHz 4 Core LGA 1155 - 188.00$
http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Core-i5-3470-Quad-Core-Processor/dp/B0087EVHVW

Motherboard
ASUS P8Z77-M LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel - 124.99$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131832

PSU:
SPARKLE 85+ Green 700 R-SPI700ACH5B 700W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V v2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Active PFC Power Supply - 89.99$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817103056

GPU:
XFX Double D Black Edition FX-777A-ZDB4 Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - 109.99$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150599

RAM:
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL - 39.99$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314

HARDDRIVE:
Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive - 69.99$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148840

CASE:
Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, comes with Three Fans-1x Front Blue LED 120mm Fan, 1x Top 140mm Fan, 1x Rear 120mm Fan, option Fans-2x Side 120mm Fan - 49.99$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147153

Total price = 672.94$


Purposely don't have an optical drive. It is no longer necessary with bootable usb drives and the internet!

 

[bardacuda]

I'm not sure about that power supply. I'd go with this one for the same price:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182071

It has 54A available on its single 12V rail and 4 x 6+2 pin PCI-E connectors.

That Sparkle one has 4 separate 12V rails each rated for 18A (which is not directly additive) and 1 x 6-pin and 1 x 6+2 pin connector. It may be rated at 750W but the wattage rating is practically meaningless and I'm just not sure about Sparkle for a PSU. The Rosewill one is a well-built Superflower OEM unit.

My other recommendation would be to drop your CPU down to an i3-3220 and use the money saved to get a 7850 video card. Having fewer cores will not hurt gaming performance but having a better video card will help a lot.

 

[alakapinio]

PCPCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qZjx
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qZjx/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qZjx/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-3470 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($188.79 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock H77 Pro4/MVP ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($87.55 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($38.98 @ Outlet PC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($67.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card ($189.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Rosewill CHALLENGER ATX Mid Tower Case ($52.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 600W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $696.27
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-04 22:46 EST-0500)

 

[heavymetal2000]

If your going intel and the i5 fits go with that. More cores for future gaming is worth while. If thats not an option consider going with amd for more breathing room on price like a 965 be x4. Still a capable gaming cpu. Id aim for a minimum hd7850 gpu and stay away from low end psu's. You can usually pick up a 550-600 w antec xfx or corsair psu for less then 80$ and its all you'll need.

 

[bardacuda]

Ooh I like alakapinio's build. He kept the i5 and got a 7850 in there and still got a good quality PSU. 750W is overkill for that build anyway especially with a non-overclockable CPU.

 

[m-law]

alakapinio that was a really good build I like it a lot thank you very much for your help!

my only concern is that with that 600w powersupply if i added another 7850 video card, some more ram, and a solid state drive to the system would my computer burst into flames?

if anyone could answer that question I will be buying this computer and playing planetside2 above 20 fps soon

thank you everyone for the help

 

[heavymetal2000]

Id go bigger for the psu if you plan to crossfire but stay with the reputable brands. More ram and an ssd with no crossfire you could still stick with the 600w and be fine. Also i may ne wrong but going over 8gb of ram for gaming probably wont yield much if any improvement.

 

[assasin32]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/r0iX

I managed to cram in a 7870 and i5 3570 into the build. Though it uses a micro atx mobo and 600w PSU which is cutting it close for me if you crossfire it. The case is a cheap cooler master but has the ability to provide exceptional cooling if you add some fans to it.

If you can stretch the budget a little bit more I would put in a 700-750w PSU to be on the safe side if you crossfire it. Will probably set you back an additional $20-30 and I tried to keep this under 700 before mail in rebate.

If the budget was $700 AFTER rebates than I get this setup if your not dead set on the crossfire. It's quite similar to the other build but with a cheaper mobo (it does support Ivy Bridge out of the box according to reviews) and 500w PSU. The upside is that this has the 7950 in it. Comes to roughly $705 after $40 rebates or if you really want to be a perfectionist and save $5 you can go with the other brand for the card PowerCooler.

I personally go the 7950 if you can so you can avoid any issues of games not supporting crossfire. That and it's more performance from the get go and not latter down the line. And to my understanding it should give you better performance than 2 7770 in crossfire which seemed to be your original intent.

Oh should also mention I sacrificed more ram slots in both builds to free up cash for higher end GPU/CPU. So not quite as upgradable as you had hoped.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/r0oQ

(Same as 7950 build but with 1x 8gbDDR3 1333 stick of ram instead of 2x 4gb 1600 ddr3, and cheaper. So now you can upgrade by filling in 2nd ram slot instead of buying all new ram)
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/r0wG

On a final note the 7950 will get you Farcry 3, Sleeping Dogs, and Hitman for free.