Around $700 dollar gaming computer

azntoki64 · Jul 12, 2012

Hi community,
im new this website. i joined because i need help with building a new desktop which imma mainly use for gaming. i went on newegg and found a few components however for some reason it comes out to like $800. and i want it to be under $700. some components that i really want in my new desktop includes
-a 3.2ghz+ quad core cpu (intel prefered)
-8 gb of ram
-hard drive >500gb because i dont need that much
-video card that can support decent gaming

Since im new this and also first time building a desktop i dont know what to buy

Thanks for the advice in advance!!

Raiddinn · Jul 12, 2012

Click the link in my signature to get some ideas about what you should be looking at.

MrOrigon · Jul 12, 2012

I built a gaming pc for $500 that runs Crysis 2 on max settings like cake. My first question would be, to better help you, what all will you be using your computer for? Intel Quad-Core CPU's are expensive and not at all necessary for gaming. I use a dual-core 2120 (i3) that runs at 3.3Ghz and I wouldn't ever think I'd need more, especially for gaming.

kevin83 · Jul 12, 2012

azntoki64 · Jul 12, 2012

MrOrigon :

really how did you do that, im mostly going to use my computer to play some games, like league of legend, starcraft, dota2, and gunz.

azntoki64 · Jul 12, 2012

kevin83 :

woah thats such a cheap build yet it seem great it can include the monitor too, which i have one already however does the motherboard and video card support not hardcore but decent gaming?

Raiddinn · Jul 12, 2012

The 6770 is a good low end video card for budget gaming, the 7770 is a small step up from that so it does at least as well.

I don't know that it is worth the $ difference over the 6770, but its not horrible in any event.

Also, that 2500k is entirely wasted in a H61 board, might as well get an i5-2400 for like $50 less and have it perform about the same. Not like OCing is an option down the road on an H61 anyway.

The Rosewill case is pretty horrible and should be switched for a Cooler Master Elite 430 at the very least.

The Antec Basiq line is one of their worst as well. I would take an XFX 450w over it any day.

Plenty more optimizing to do with that parts list IMHO.

azntoki64 · Jul 12, 2012

Raiddinn :

you sound quite convincing ok imma take ur advice however i have 2 questions
if im going to get a 7770 video card which one do i buy cause there is alot, video card and mother board i have absolulely no idea of how to differentiated or tell hows one better than other
and the second question is if i want a better motherboard which one should i get?
thx in advance

azntoki64 · Jul 12, 2012

also for the cpu same price as i5 2500 same ghz but its ivy bridge instead of sandy bridge should i get ivy bridge

Raiddinn · Jul 12, 2012

Ivy Bridge isn't guaranteed to work with anything other than a 75 or 77 motherboard. If you get a 3570k and an h61 or something, you could find yourself with compatibility problems until you get a BIOS update and maybe then it still wouldn't work.

The best bet with a 3000 series processor is to get a Z77 motherboard, like my Asrock Z77 Pro4.

Which 7770 - Doesn't really matter that much.

Which motherboard - I would stick with Asus, Gigabyte, or Asrock. Most people generally agree that the other brands are all lower quality than those 3.

How much the motherboard costs isn't a very good proxy for how good it is. If you don't need the extra RAM and PCIE slots, I wouldn't pay for them. I have always used micro boards just fine myself and saved a lot of money in the process.

azntoki64 · Jul 12, 2012

with that said i shouldnt go for an ivy bridge cpu and go for a sandy bridge instead?

so every single video cards gpu if its radeon 7770 then its a good card?

sorry for the lack of knowledge but whats a pcie slot, the only thing i know about is the ram slots. when finding a motherboard i see so much stuff about it, however i dont know most of it, like for example the sockets, and northbridge i dont know what is it.

Raiddinn · Jul 12, 2012

The Sandy Bridge CPUs (i3s, i5s, and i7s with 2xxx afterwards) all work with any kind of 1155 slot motherboard. That could be H61, H67, P67, Z68, Z77 etc.

The Ivy Bridge CPUs (any i series chip that ends with 3xxx) are only guaranteed to work with anything that has 75 or 77 in the name of it.

The Ivy Bridge CPUs are a small step up in power from the Sandy Bridge ones if you aren't OCing, but they have more heat as well.

Most people around here would just tell you to get a 2500k without thinking too much about it, or if you don't have enough money for that then an i5-2400, and if still not enough then an i3-2120. They are the most compatible with the most boards and that is a pretty nice feature to have.

If you have money, Ivy Bridge is probably the better buy, but since you are on a pretty small budget I would avoid it.

Video cards - Pretty much. You can look up reviews if you are that worried about it. My favorite brands are Powercolor and Sapphire. EVGA is another respected though usually expensive choice that tends to come with good warranties. Most brands make decent cards though, even the worst have problems less than 10% of the time from what I have read.

A PCIE slot is what you plug a video card into. Most micro boards only have 1 or 2 of those at the most. Most regular size boards have 3 or 4 of them. The rest after the first one is useless to most people.

The sockets only tell you what kind of processor will fit in the motherboard. If you have a 1155 motherboard you need a 1155 processor, same thing for 775 and 775, AM3 and AM3, and so on. If you try to put 1155 in a 775 or AM3 it won't work and might damage either the processor, the motherboard, or both.

All you really need to know about sockets is that both your processor and your motherboard match. You don't really need to know anything about north or south bridges or any of that stuff. It really wouldn't help you very much to investigate all of those technical things.

azntoki64 · Jul 12, 2012

Thanks very very much you reply are very very informative and it help me alot with computer knowledge. I wonder where you get all these information.

azntoki64 · Jul 12, 2012

Raiddinn :

The Sandy Bridge CPUs (i3s, i5s, and i7s with 2xxx afterwards) all work with any kind of 1155 slot motherboard. That could be H61, H67, P67, Z68, Z77 etc.

The Ivy Bridge CPUs (any i series chip that ends with 3xxx) are only guaranteed to work with anything that has 75 or 77 in the name of it.

The Ivy Bridge CPUs are a small step up in power from the Sandy Bridge ones if you aren't OCing, but they have more heat as well.

Most people around here would just tell you to get a 2500k without thinking too much about it, or if you don't have enough money for that then an i5-2400, and if still not enough then an i3-2120. They are the most compatible with the most boards and that is a pretty nice feature to have.

If you have money, Ivy Bridge is probably the better buy, but since you are on a pretty small budget I would avoid it.

Video cards - Pretty much. You can look up reviews if you are that worried about it. My favorite brands are Powercolor and Sapphire. EVGA is another respected though usually expensive choice that tends to come with good warranties. Most brands make decent cards though, even the worst have problems less than 10% of the time from what I have read.

A PCIE slot is what you plug a video card into. Most micro boards only have 1 or 2 of those at the most. Most regular size boards have 3 or 4 of them. The rest after the first one is useless to most people.

The sockets only tell you what kind of processor will fit in the motherboard. If you have a 1155 motherboard you need a 1155 processor, same thing for 775 and 775, AM3 and AM3, and so on. If you try to put 1155 in a 775 or AM3 it won't work and might damage either the processor, the motherboard, or both.

All you really need to know about sockets is that both your processor and your motherboard match. You don't really need to know anything about north or south bridges or any of that stuff. It really wouldn't help you very much to investigate all of those technical things.

would it change dematically if my budget was $800, like the performance of the desktop with $100 more will it be a big difference

loops · Jul 12, 2012

1

LITE-ON DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model iHAS124-04 - OEM
Item #: N82E16827106289
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

$17.99
1

Rosewill Blackbone Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Item #: N82E16811147023
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
-$10.00 Instant

$49.99
$39.99
1

Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKX 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #: N82E16822136769
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
-$20.00 Instant

$84.99
$64.99
1

EVGA 015-P3-1480-KR GeForce GTX 480 (Fermi) 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
Item #: N82E16814130759
Return Policy: VGA Standard Return Policy
-$80.00 Instant

$299.99
$219.99
1

EVGA Gift - Duke Nukem Forever Game
Item #: N82E16800996205
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
-$29.99 Saving

$29.99
$0.00
1

Rosewill Green Series RG630-S12 630W Continuous @40°C,80 PLUS Certified, Single 12V Rail, Active PFC "Compatible with Core ...
Item #: N82E16817182200
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
-$30.00 Instant

$89.99
$59.99
1

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Desktop Memory Model F3-8500CL7D-8GBRL
Item #: N82E16820231308
Return Policy: Memory Standard Return Policy

$41.99
1

Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 ...
Item #: N82E16819115072
Return Policy: CPU Replacement Only Return Policy
ASRock Z68 PRO3 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813157279
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
-$10.00 Instant
-$18.00 Combo

$334.98
$306.98
Subtotal: $751.92

At 700 the best gpu you can aim for is a gtx 480. It runs hot but will take on cards in the $300s (gtx 570 or hd 7850)

loops · Jul 12, 2012

before the gtx 480 flames come:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107.html\

We did notice an excellent deal on Newegg for EVGA's GeForce GTX 480. At $210, this card performs a lot like AMD's $300 Radeon HD 7870. While it does suck down quite a bit of power and generate copious heat, the GeForce GTX 480 remains an impressive performer, especially at that price. EVGA even throws in a copy of Duke Nukem Forever.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html

dpp_sunny · Jul 12, 2012

Hi azntoki64,

Below is my recommended configuration:

CPU: AMD FX-4100 3.6GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) AM3+ 95W Quad-Core | $109.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103996

Motherboard: ASRock 970 EXTREME3 AM3+ | $84.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157280

Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600 | $46.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428

GPU: MSI R7770-2PMD1GD5/OC 7770 GHz Edition 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 | $139.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127664

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 7200RPM 16MB Cache | $64.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136769

Case: Antec Three Hundred | $54.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066

PSU: SeaSonic M12II 520 Bronze 520W | $59.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151093

Monitor: Acer S200HL Black 20" 5ms LED | $119.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009317

Keyboard: Microsoft Keyboard 200 | $8.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823109233

Mouse: Kensington Optical Mouse | $7.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826125108

Total: $698.9 (left with $1 and 10 cents to spare)

I know you said that you prefer Intel but this configuration overall is a lot balanced and comprised of good quality components. Also I have considered the power requirements and other compatibility aspects of the build. I wasn't able to accomodate an optical drive but anyway it is not an urgent need, I suppose.

Raiddinn · Jul 12, 2012

azntoki64 :

I have just been in the hardware game for a long time. I have helped thousands of people just on this website and I worked in IT for more than 6 years, a lot of it with hardware.

As far as adding $100, that does make a pretty big difference when the budget is already pretty low. Diminishing returns don't really start kicking in hard until you are at about a $1000 budget. At amounts less every dollar you can throw at the computer can generate a pretty sizeable increase in performance, especially gaming performance.

A balanced $800 system would look like the one you saw before. I haven't price checked the stuff in my link lately, but with how technology costs less and less over time you could probably get a 560TI instead of the 6870 and still be close to the $800.

With $100 less ($700) you are going to cut seriously into the processor or video card budget or both. Scaling back on the PSU, Case, RAM, or things like that could lead to problems that are just not fun to deal with like freezing, BSODs, DOAs, etc. I listed those things because they work like they are supposed to every time pretty much.

The DVD drive listed has more reviews on Newegg than every other dvd drive combined and it has 5 stars even with 4000 reviews. That kind of quality and reliability is worth paying $5 more for.

Take out the $100 and that extra $5 or $10 per part for the highest quality in the category might have to go.

Anyway, what I would suggest is that you just price out everything in my link except the video card and then come back here with the total for that and then we can discuss what video card you can fit in to deliver the gaming performance you are looking for with the budget you would ideally like to stay under.

azntoki64 · Jul 12, 2012

Hard Drive 500gb ----$65+2shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136769
G.Skill 8gb ram(2x4) $60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231468
Case +power supply $90
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811156062
Gigabyte motherboard Z77 $120
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128541
Ivy bridge i5 3570k 3.4ghz $215
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115233
cd drive $18+5 shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118031
wifi card $20
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833180073

This is what i got so far however im not sure are these the best parts
-the case i found with 500W which seems to be enough and its cheaper than buying it seperate
-since Z77 can fit intel cpu i think for the long run i might as well get a Z77
-will having Z77 might as well go for the ivy bridge

Please if you have any suggestion to change the stuff i already have please tell me because even i know there something wrong with it.
Thanks in advance

loops · Jul 13, 2012

Most PSUs that come with a case tend to be poor.

IB i5 and z77 is fine....the 2500k and z68 combo w/ the 15% off on the cpu makes it a better deal in my mind...2500k is just as good for less but without the price cut....sure go IB.

$60 ram for a 700 build is a waste....spend less

Video Card?

wifi = try not to. I am forced too and I hate it....

azntoki64 · Jul 13, 2012

raiddin said that i should post the stuff i want without the video card so the community can help me pick a video card that best within price limit.

well i really want that 8gb ram

wifi card i think that its better than wire since the im planning to place this pc in my room which is quite far from the router.

Raiddinn · Jul 13, 2012

The case + PSU combo isn't going to cut it. Both the case and the PSU in it are horrible. Maybe if this was still 1999 it would be OK, but in 2012 they just aren't good enough for cooling or powering components.

To be quite honest, the power and cooling systems are at least equal to the processing and display systems and I really wouldn't try to cut into the budget here.

The HAF 912 + XFX 450w is a very solid backbone, but if you absolutely must cut then try Elite 430 + CX 430, that might shave enough off the budget to make the downgrade worthwhile, but I would suggest you seriously consider what you are going to be doing if you want anything less than that (like the combo you listed).

The 2133 MHZ RAM is massive overkill. It is probably going to be less than 1% better than regular 1333 RAM for anything you would regularly be doing and quite a lot more expensive in the process. 2x 4GBs is fine, just make it a slower MHZ, like the one I suggested with part number CT2KIT51264BA1339.

Also, I would strongly suggest you pay the $1 or whatever more to get this CD drive instead

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204

It has 20x the ratings (indeed more ratings than all the rest of the CD drives on Newegg combined) and 5 stars vs 4 stars.

azntoki64 · Jul 13, 2012

Raiddinn :

Thanks i took your advice and change my build a little fitting all your suggestion, and with the money i saved from memory i used for the case and cd drive and psu. However is 430W enough, for the components?

Also can you recommend a video thats around the $150s since i think that i will increase my budget to $800

Also i have a question that im not sure are you familiarly with, the shoprunner website for freeshipping on newegg its says 30day free trial, can i use it then deactivate it for free? if not its only 9dollar a months which is already cheaper than my shipping of $17. Do you use it? is it legit?

Raiddinn · Jul 13, 2012

A 6850 or 6870 should be available for about $150. It would take a really really good deal to get the 560 TI or 6950 down that low, I think.

You can use the Shoprunner thing and deactivate it without problems.

Around $700 dollar gaming computer

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