BEST POSSIBLE build for $850

[granthomas99]

Hey guys, just looking for the BEST possible computer coming to 850-900 dollars, with monitor included in the price. Would like to play Battlefield 3, Skyrim, and Starcraft 2 on Ultra settings. If not ultra with BF3, high is fine too. Just want consistent fps while still looking good.

 

[Outlander_04]

Intel i5 3470
Motherboard with a Z77 chipset
2 x4 gig of 1600 MHz RAM , rated for 1.5 volts
40 - 60 gig SSD as a cache drive
500 gig hard drive
Radeon 7870 GHz edition graphics card
any dvd drive
520 watt Antec eco neo power supply $40 . newegg
Windows 8 64 bit

 

[Outlander_04]

and a case for about $50

 

[djangoringo]

My suggestion :

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

Motherboard: ASRock H77M Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card ($279.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec Neo Eco 520W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($16.98 @ Outlet PC)
Monitor: Hannspree HL229DPB 21.5" Monitor ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Other: Patriot Viper 3 8GB 2X4GB PC3-12800 DDR3-1600 9-9-9-24 1.5V Dual Channel Memory Kit ($37.99)
Other: i5-3470 ($189.99)
Other: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB SATA 6GB/S 7200RPM 64MB Cache 3.5in Hard Drive OEM ($69.99)
Total: $839.90
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

The ram, hdd, and cpu is from ncix usa, pcpartpicker is currently bugged.
The HDD : http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=74462&vpn=WD10EZEX&manufacture=Western%20Digital%20WD&promoid=1292
The ram : http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=74758&promoid=1292
The cpu : http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=72279&promoid=1292
The case is out of stock in newegg, get it in ncix too : http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=76376&promoid=1292
Or this case : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=
Ncix offers free shipping.

 

[granthomas99]

Best answer selected by granthomas99.

 

[Outlander_04]

Personally Id much rather have an 7870 GHz edition , and spend the money you save on a decent sized monitor .
The 7950 doesnt perform that much better than the 7870 , and a small screen will be frustrating for a long time to come

The H77 motherboard limits future expansion , which may or may not be important
and the lack of an SSD even as a cache drive will make the computer seem sluggish

The corsair 200R is not available at that price . Newegg have sold out

 

[djangoringo]

If you seen wait i said, i listed the case in ncix and the haf 912 in newegg, the 7870 ghz edition doesn't come close to the 7950 in terms of performance at 1080p, only if it's the 7870 XT(tahiti le), the 7950 offers crysis 3.
For gaming what counts is the gfx card in first place, getting a 40-60GB ssd was a terrible advice, for a ssd minimum i'd get is between 120-128GB.
For an i5-3470 there's no point in getting a z77 motherboard, the h77 offers everything that's needed, another terrible advice.
The monitor is a good one, it's led backlit 1080p, 21.5" is fine.

 

[Outlander_04]

If you seen wait i said, i listed the case in ncix and the haf 912 in newegg, the 7870 ghz edition doesn't come close to the 7950 in terms of performance at 1080p, only if it's the 7870 XT(tahiti le), the 7950 offers crysis 3.
For gaming what counts is the gfx card in first place, getting a 40-60GB ssd was a terrible advice, for a ssd minimum i'd get is between 120-128GB.
For an i5-3470 there's no point in getting a z77 motherboard, the h77 offers everything that's needed, another terrible advice.
The monitor is a good one, it's led backlit 1080p, 21.5" is fine.

You listed the case at a price no one can buy it at .

A Z77 motherboard offers the option of upgrading to an unlocked processor , it would also be a full ATX board and give you extra expansion card options. Possibly even crossfire and SLI [ neither of which are possible with an H77 chipset ] .

While the 7950 is a more powerful graphics card the marginal increase in performance is not justified by the cost difference IMO . And especially not when you have to compromise the long term upgradability of the computer to shoe horn one into your budget . And even more so when a 7870 can competently play any current game at 1080p .
In 100 cases out of 100 I'd rather have a 24 inch monitor and a 7870 , than a small 21 inch monitor and 7950 .

I suggested the 40 - 60 gig SSD as a cache drive . Since you have no idea what that is I suggest you try and find out before making similar recommendations and criticisms

 

[djangoringo]

It's foolish to buy another i5, when you have already one, and when the lga 1155 doesn't have more cpus coming, the i5 will perform as good as an i5-3570K at stock.
And it has to be a good z77 board with two pcie 3.0 slots dual mode 8x/8x for proper dual crossfire setup, it will cost more than 120$ a motherboard, not to mention the 520 psu won't do for it(two cards).
It's your opinion, but a 7870 does NOT maxout any of the demanding games, for a gaming pc, spending just 200$ of 850$ on a card doesn't make sense, you need a better card.
I listed the two cases, if you read my post, i did mention it was out of stock...
21.5" is fine for 1080p, it's not that small, i bet the op won't notice the difference.
It's just a bad suggestion going with a slow 60GB ssd and a lower card for gaming.
Remember you started all this unjustified criticism, when i just put the parts in the direction to the op.

 

[Outlander_04]

Again , you do not seem to understand what using an SSD as a cache drive does .

I have to ask why you are giving advice when you dont understand such fundamental elements of part selection?

As for your rudeness its completely unacceptable . I gave my opinion and I gave the reasons why I think my choices are better . You might consider why that made you feel so insecure , kid

 

[djangoringo]

It's not better, if you'd seen my first post i didn't mentioned anything from your suggestion or if it was bad or better, after he put in the best answer, which for me it doesn't make a difference, you started bashing my suggestion, when it's valid.
Now you're trying to be the victim by saying i'm rude ? who started all this ?
Like i said there's nothing wrong with going with a better card, if you think that ssd as a cache drive+7870( a normal one) will give better performance vs just a hdd+7950, you're wrong, he'll get much more performance with the 7950, and with crisys 3.
Did occur to you that at this budget a ssd is expendable or that the op might not want to add another card.
And you're the one insulting, i'm the insecure kid ?
Do you know my age ?
This thread should be closed.

 

[Proximon]

.... a terrible advice .... another terrible advice....

These are personal attacks. Don't do it. From time to time people will disagree with you. Don't get defensive. It's not a suggestion, it's the rules.

And Outlander, if you can do better then make a real list, rather than criticizing someone else's list.



■Rosewill REDBONE U3 Black SECC Steel USB 3.0, eSATA, 3x 120mm Fans Mid Tower Computer Case
■ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM
■Western Digital WD Black WD5003AZEX 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
■ASUS VH232H Glossy Black 23" 5ms Widescreen Full HD 1080p LED Backlit LCD Monitor w/Speakers & HDMI
■DIAMOND 7870PE52GV Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 CrossFireX Support Video Card
■AMD Gift coupon: Bioshock Inf. + Tomb Raider
■Antec NEO ECO 520C 520W Continuous Power ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply
■CORSAIR XMS 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMX4GX3M2B1600C9
■ASRock B75 PRO3 LGA 1155 Intel B75 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
■Intel Core i3-3220 Ivy Bridge 3.3GHz LGA 1155 55W Dual-Core Desktop Processor ...
■Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM
TOTAL: $936.43

$60 off in promo codes
$45 in mail in rebates
That leaves you at $831 shipped, apparently, if you can deal with the rebates.

 

[djangoringo]

Yes, just saying it's not worth spending more for a z77 motherboard for a locked cpu, z77 motherboards are much more expensive adding to the total cost, especially the z77 with dual 8x/8x mode for crossfire/sli, that margin can be spend in a better gfx card, like the 7950 or others.
And i don't agree with spending in a 40-60 GB ssd for a boot os, that it what i was thinking at that time.
I just should put in another terms, trying to be more correct.