Another kid's birthday, another $700-ish gaming computer

[jeremys73]

Hi All,

You guys were super helpful last time, hoping for more of the same.

At the moment I'm going with the budget gaming computer from the system build article but after pricing it out on newegg it looks like I've got about $50-$60 more to spend if there's anything worth upgrading for that amount, maybe the processor or the GPU. I'm better at putting the systems together than shopping for them so any suggestions would be appreciated.

Approximate Purchase Date: today/tomorrow

Budget Range: $700-ish

System Usage from Most to Least Important: gaming, watching videos

Are you buying a monitor? No

Do you need to buy OS: Yes

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg

Location: Portland, Oregon

Overclocking: No

Build:

CPU: Intel Core i3-4150 Haswell Dual-Core 3.5GHz LGA 1150 54W BX80646I34150 Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4400

GPU: SAPPHIRE DUAL-X 100373L Radeon R9 280 3GB 384-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 CrossFireX Support Video Card

MOBO: ASRock H81M-HDS LGA 1150 Intel H81 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

Ram: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL

Power Supply: EVGA 100-W1-500-KR 500W ATX12V / EPS12V 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC 3 Year Warranty Power Supply Intel 4th Gen CPU Ready

HD: Western Digital Blue WD10EZEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive

OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit

Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite Black Steel with painted interior ATX Mid Tower Computer Case w/ Black Front Trim

total $658

My last build ended up needing a beefier power supply so that might be the case this time as well.

 

[Eximo]

Yes, I would invest a little more in the power supply. Not really a power concern, but one of quality.

XFX 550W, Seasonic 520W, Antec HCG, Corsair TX or HX.

 

[Eximo]

Tossed the 4G GTX960 in there, though the R9-280 is probably a bit faster, it uses a little more power and doesn't have as many neat new technology as the Maxwell cards.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor ($108.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($69.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($48.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 4GB Superclocked Video Card ($219.99 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($38.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($58.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 OEM (64-bit) ($91.70 @ B&H)
Total: $687.43
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-12 17:54 EDT-0400