900 Gaming PC Build

[Juandisimo]

Hello everyone, I am currently trying to build my own gaming rig but I want to be absolutely sure that I am getting my moneys worth. With that said I would like advice on what parts are best for this budget build.

Approximate Purchase Date: September-October this year

Budget Range: 900-950 before rebates

System Usage: Gaming, Surfing, Movies

Are you buying a monitor: Maybe. if the monitor can fit into this limited budget then sure but I could buy it later when I have access to more funds.

OS: Yes

Location: California

Overclocking: I have no idea what overclocking does in general but i don't think I will be tinkering with this feature.

Monitor: If a monitor is able to fit in this build then I would like to have a monitor with 1920x1080 resolution.

Additional Comments: I like to play RPGS, FPS, Dota 2 and I would also like to be able to play the next gen games coming out.

Why am I upgrading?: The PC I have now has basic specs which leads to poor gaming performance. I would like to be able to play my games in the mid-high setting and enjoy gaming on the computer even more.

Thanks.

 

[Garpatron]

Are you looking to play at max graphics or just high?

 

[Juandisimo]

Are you looking to play at max graphics or just high?

High is fine with me but if its possible to get to play at max settings then sure why not, just as long as it stands within the budget range.

 

[Wisecracker]

Keep your eyes out for an AMD FX-6300 Vishera combo offer (scroll down to the bottom of the page). You can likely find a solid foundation for a rig at around $400 there.

Join the NewEgg e-blast email list ... once a month (or so) an OEM copy of Windows7 64-bit will show up for $80. They typically have great deals on monitors, too, for around $130.

If you live near a MicroCenter, keep an eye out for some in-store deals.

Keep an eye on the prices of the Radeon HD7950 3GB. They're below $200 after rebate, now, and are likely to fall a good bit further over the next month or so as AMD releases the new Volcanic Islands video cards.

 

[Garpatron]

Well, If you are playing at 1920x1080 then I would say the budget isent enough unless you make some sacrifices. Honestly I have a 1680x1050 monitor and I love it, I tried a 1920x1080 but I couldent get used to it so I stuck with my old one.
Either way Ill build something and put it up in a sec.

 

[Garpatron]

Forgot about OS that will hinder my progress give me 5 min.

 

[Garpatron]

Finally After getting past the limited budget, I couldn't find A gpu at the budget other than a 660Ti. Dont get me wrong its a great gpu but the 760 is out. I suggest after you got the cash you should buy another 660ti and SLI them!

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1y1Vl
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1y1Vl/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1y1Vl/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.98 @ Outlet PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77M-D3H-MVP Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($102.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($63.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($84.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 660 Ti 3GB Video Card ($224.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Thermaltake VL80001W2Z ATX Mid Tower Case ($21.99 @ Microcenter)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 600W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($69.67 @ Outlet PC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $908.56
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-08-30 14:35 EDT-0400)

Like wisecracker said (+1) You can wait a bit and the 7950-7970 prices will go down when AMD releases their new gpu's. If you are in a rush I say go with the 660 but If you arent wait and get a 7970 or 7950 for cheaper. Good luck.

 

[Juandisimo]

Keep your eyes out for an AMD FX-6300 Vishera combo offer (scroll down to the bottom of the page). You can likely find a solid foundation for a rig at around $400 there.

Join the NewEgg e-blast email list ... once a month (or so) an OEM copy of Windows7 64-bit will show up for $80. They typically have great deals on monitors, too, for around $130.

If you live near a MicroCenter, keep an eye out for some in-store deals.

Keep an eye on the prices of the Radeon HD7950 3GB. They're below $200 after rebate, now, and are likely to fall a good bit further over the next month or so as AMD releases the new Volcanic Islands video cards.

Thanks for the heads up. Here's a few questions, so will it be best to wait out another month or so for prices to fall on graphics cards? And should these new AMD Volcanic Islands video cards something I should keep my eye out on?

 

[Juandisimo]

Finally After getting past the limited budget, I couldn't find A gpu at the budget other than a 660Ti. Dont get me wrong its a great gpu but the 760 is out. I suggest after you got the cash you should buy another 660ti and crossfire them!

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1y1Vl
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1y1Vl/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1y1Vl/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.98 @ Outlet PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77M-D3H-MVP Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($102.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($63.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($84.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 660 Ti 3GB Video Card ($224.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Thermaltake VL80001W2Z ATX Mid Tower Case ($21.99 @ Microcenter)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 600W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($69.67 @ Outlet PC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $908.56
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-08-30 14:35 EDT-0400)

Like wisecracker said (+1) You can wait a bit and the 7950-7970 prices will go down when AMD releases their new gpu's. If you are in a rush I say go with the 660 but If you arent wait and get a 7970 or 7950 for cheaper. Good luck.

I would like to thank you for taking your time and making this build I really appreciate it. I think I will wait for the the prices to go down and go for 7950s and snag it. Hope you have a nice day.

 

[Wisecracker]

Keep your eyes out for an AMD FX-6300 Vishera combo offer (scroll down to the bottom of the page). You can likely find a solid foundation for a rig at around $400 there.

Join the NewEgg e-blast email list ... once a month (or so) an OEM copy of Windows7 64-bit will show up for $80. They typically have great deals on monitors, too, for around $130.

If you live near a MicroCenter, keep an eye out for some in-store deals.

Keep an eye on the prices of the Radeon HD7950 3GB. They're below $200 after rebate, now, and are likely to fall a good bit further over the next month or so as AMD releases the new Volcanic Islands video cards.

Thanks for the heads up. Here's a few questions, so will it be best to wait out another month or so for prices to fall on graphics cards? And should these new AMD Volcanic Islands video cards something I should keep my eye out on?

Sure ... but having that new-card smell they will command a higher price in the market. I jumped on the XFX Double D FX-795A-TDKC Radeon HD 7950 Black Edition 3GB at $199 after rebate with free shipping ... so it's jumped $16 overnight. Over the next month it will likely drop a bit further --- maybe $180 or so (? ? ? ?) but I wanted Dirt3 and FC3 so the game bundle is gravy to me :lol:

Here is an Acer G246HLAbd Black 24" 5ms Widescreen LED Monitor for $130 and free shipping with code EMCXMTX52. It's not HDMI, but comes with a DVI cable.

Here is a AMD FX-6300 combo deal for $433 with 8GB Mushkin RAMs and a Samsung 120GB SSD.

Throw in a Western Digital WD Blue WD10EZEX 1TB at $70 for storage, and find a $20 DVD, and you've got the start of something. I'm not sure about that PSU, but folks like it, and the Egg really stands behind Rosewill stuff ...

AND, most of the time by picking through the promos and discounts you can normally beat the combo deals anyway. The XFX 550w PSU is always dropping to $50 or so, and you can normally pick up a nice Asus or Gigabyte combo with CPU on the cheap. Every month or so, they even throw in free 2x4GB of RAMs -- just make sure you get a decent match ...

And when you're feeling froggy ... JUMP (and don't look back) 😀

 

[Juandisimo]

Once again thanks for all this valuable information. The bundle you mentioned looks intriguing but I really want to build my own PC.

On a side note: I've been doing research for the past hour between CPU's and GPU's and I can't make up my mind on which to pick. For the CPU's its between the AMD FX- 6300 ($120) vs i5 3570k ($220) i want to side with AMD because its cheaper but is it better? but theres also the AMD-FX 8350 which is at 200$ compared to the i5 3750k at 220$. I was wondering if you could me some insight between these products.

As For the GPU's its between the Radeon 7950 vs GeForce Gtx 760 the big difference that I came across between these 2 is that the Radeon GPU comes with Free games but pretty much these 2 GPU's are dead-even. Or are there other options regarding GPU. I honestly just want a GPU that's able to play games like BF3, RPGS, at high settings.

Also (sorry for rambling on) I'm new to this kind of market but whats the deal with the diffrent names for the Radeon series or GPU's in general are they just because of the manufacturer or is it something else?

Examples: XFX Double D FX-795A-TDKC Radeon HD 7950 Black Edition 3GB
SAPPHIRE Vapor-X 100352VXSR Radeon HD 7950 3GB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

 

[Garpatron]

Once again thanks for all this valuable information. The bundle you mentioned looks intriguing but I really want to build my own PC.

On a side note: I've been doing research for the past hour between CPU's and GPU's and I can't make up my mind on which to pick. For the CPU's its between the AMD FX- 6300 ($120) vs i5 3570k ($220) i want to side with AMD because its cheaper but is it better? but theres also the AMD-FX 8350 which is at 200$ compared to the i5 3750k at 220$. I was wondering if you could me some insight between these products.

As For the GPU's its between the Radeon 7950 vs GeForce Gtx 760 the big difference that I came across between these 2 is that the Radeon GPU comes with Free games but pretty much these 2 GPU's are dead-even. Or are there other options regarding GPU. I honestly just want a GPU that's able to play games like BF3, RPGS, at high settings.

Also (sorry for rambling on) I'm new to this kind of market but whats the deal with the diffrent names for the Radeon series or GPU's in general are they just because of the manufacturer or is it something else?

Examples: XFX Double D FX-795A-TDKC Radeon HD 7950 Black Edition 3GB
SAPPHIRE Vapor-X 100352VXSR Radeon HD 7950 3GB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

Usually AMD or nvidia comes up with the reference card. Then other companies buy reference card and do things to them, like for example the normal 7870 is bought buy msi who is widely know for their amazing cooling technology. So they all have different pros and cons. Also 3570k is imo the best gaming cpu on the market atm, 4570k doesn't count since it only makes it use less power. Either way If you do buy an intel Ivy Bridge CPU like the 3570k make sure your ram voltage is 1.5v since ib only supports that much. But you can have a 550ti and play battlefield maxed out at like 1280x728 so it also matters what resolution monitor you have. Hope I helped PM me for further assistance.