BestConfigs - Budget Intel-Based Gaming PC

[mjmjpfaff]

"Do feel free to let your choices be swayed by rebates and combo pricing. Though they’re not always long-lasting, we’re in favor of whatever gets our readers the best deal."

Thankfully, we are.

dammit my build could be better. thanks for the heads up

 

[striker410]

Wow, Time to do a rebuild......

 

[mjmjpfaff]

that is exactly what i thought

 

[genghiskron]

GenghisKron's Lazy Leviathon:

Rosewill Challenger
i5-2500k
Antec Earthwatts 650w
Seagate Barracuda 1TB
MSI P67A-C43
GSkill Ripjaws DDR3 1600 CAS8
Combo- $509.50
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.644166
EVGA GTX 580 - $470 + 30 MIR:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130587
LITE-ON DVD - $19:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106289

Hyper 212+ - when $30 MIR comes in:
http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Hyper-Sleeve-RR-B10-212P-G1/dp/B002G1YPH0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1309051429&sr=8-1

Total: $998.48

 

[behesht]

i don't think so

 

[martinduque86]

1. ra3tonite's 1k rig
2. Processor: Intel Core i3-2100 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz 2 x 256KB L2 Cache 3MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I32100 $124.99
3. Motherboard: MSI P67A-G43 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard $114.99
4. RAM: WINTEC AMPX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model 3AXH1333C9WS4GK 34.99
5. Graphics Card: DIAMOND 6950PE51G Radeon HD 6950 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity $239.99 x 2 = $479.98
6. Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda ST3500413AS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $39.99
7. Case: COOLER MASTER Elite 430 RC-430-KWN1 Black Steel / Plastic Computer Case $49.99
8. Power Supply: Thermaltake Black Widow W0319RU 850W ATX 12V v2.3, EPS 12V v2.91 CrossFire Certified 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply $ 129.99
9. Cooling: STOCK $FREE/included
10. DVD Burner: SONY Black 18X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM SATA DVD-ROM Drive Model DDU1681S-0B - OEM $16.99

Total comes to 991.91 with no rebates

That's not a good PSU. Stay away from the TR2 RX series! Bad reviews everywhere, not a very recommended product.

 

[sadams04]

SADAMS04's "Budget" Intel Gaming Build
Processor: Intel Core i5-2500k - $215

Motherboard: ASRock Z68 PRO3-M - $115

RAM: Mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1333 1.5v 9-9-9-24 - $27 ($37 - $10MIR)

Graphics Card: Galaxy GTX 580 - $420 ($460 - $40MIR)

Hard Drive: SAMSUNG F3 1TB - $60

Case: Xigmatek ASGARD II Black/Orange Mid Tower - $30

Power Supply: XFX Core Edition PRO 650W - $90 - $30MIR => $60

DVD Burner: ASUS 24X DVD Burner - $20

Case Fans: 2 x KINGWIN 120mm 40CFM @ 19dBA - $7 / $14

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus - $30

$991

 

[swoonpappy]

Swoonpappy's budget gaming build

DRIVE: DVD Burner -$18

HDD: Hard Drive: SAMSUNG F3 1TB - $65
-One of the faster HDD's available

GPU: Gigabyte 6870 - $199 x2
-Good bang for your buck, will play all games at max settings

PSU:Antec EA - $64
-Effeicient and reliable

RAM:G.Skill X Ripjaw 2x2GB - $49.99
-8gb not needed for gaming
-Tight timings are faster than some 1600 rated ram, no need to OC
-1.5V

MOBO:Gigabyte z68 mobo - $129.99
-Newest line of 1155 mobos
-Plays cards at 8x/8x

CPU:Intel Core-i3 - $124.99
-It is a budget build after all.

CASE:COOLER MASTER Elite 430 -$49.99

COOLING: Stock since little/no overclocking will be done!

Total: $992.18 after tax (88.13) without rebates and shipping.

OR, switch:

PSU:
Antec High Current Gamer Series HCG-750 750W ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V v2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Certified 80 PLUS BRONZE ...

GPU:
HIS IceQ X Turbo H695QNT1G2M Radeon HD 6950 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card ... x2

For $1018 before tax, without rebates and shipping.

 

[ultpokemonfan]

CPU: Core i5-2500k - $219.99
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-P67A - $109.99
RAM: Patriot 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600 - $67.99
Graphics Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 6950 2GB - $279.99
Hard Drive: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 7200 RPM - $54.99
SSD: OCZ Onyx 32GB SDD - $69.99
Case: Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower case - $99.99
Power Supply: Zephyr MX 750W PSU - $69.99
Cooler: Hyper 212+ - $49.99
DVD Burner: ASUS DVD Burner - $19.99
Total: $1042.90

 

[ChiefTexas_82]

Swoonpappy, FYI: You need 4 PCIe plugs for two 6870's. Your power supply only has two. Looking this up caused me to edit my build.

 

[infectedwithrage]

Processor: INTEL i5-2500k $219.99
Motherboard: ASUS P8P67 PRO $179.99
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws DDR3 8GB $64.99
Graphics Card: PALIT GTX 560ti $199.99
Hard Drive: WD CAVIAR 1TB SATA 6.0 $89.99
Case: COOLERMASTER HAF 912 $59.99
Power Supply: COSAIR 650W 80+ CERTIFIED SLI READY $74.99
Cooling: COOLERMASTER HYPER 212+ $49.99
DVD Burner: Sony Optiarc $19.99

TOTAL: $959.91


Not too shabby for under $1k.

 

[toneekay]

Seems like this thread is still going, and I've been planning out a $1K build for myself... here's how it looks as of today (along with most current deals/rebates, 6/30/11):

TK's "Yummy" build!

CPU: Intel i5-2500K 3.3GHz ($220)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072
MOBO: ECS P67H2-A3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 ($108)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135279
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) ($70 w/$15 off promo = $55)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231311
GPU: SAPPHIRE 100311SR Radeon HD 6970 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 ($350 w/$20 mir = $330)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102915
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache ($48)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136073
PSU: OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W Modular ($90, $60 after mir + 10% off w/ promo)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341018
CASE: Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case ($60)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042
HSF: CORSAIR CWCH60 Hydro Series H60 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler ($70, $55 after mir)

TOTAL: $1004

Couldn't decide whether to do the build above or go for a lower GPU and add an SSD:

HDD: Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC064MAG-1G1 2.5" 64GB SATA III MLC Internal SSD ($125)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148357
GPU: XFX HD-687A-ZNBC Radeon HD 6870 Black Edition 1GB 256-bit DDR5 ($230)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150507

TOTAL W/ 6870 & SSD: $1009


* Lots of CPU & GPU overclocking on this build!

 

[toneekay]

Fail html

 

[toneekay]

BTW, that was prices shipped w/o rebates and/or promos.

 

[patti88]

when is the winner selecteD?

 

[ojas]

Ojas' Mid-Range Intel Based Solution

Processor: Intel Core i5 2500K -- $219.99

Motherboard: ASRock Z68 Extreme4 -- $189.99

RAM: CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) -- $84.99

Graphics Card: MSI N460GTX Hawk Talon Attack GeForce GTX 460 1GB -- $169.99 (129.99 with rebate) X 2 (for SLI)

Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB 32MB Cache SATA III -- 59.99

Case: Antec Three Hundred Illusion -- $69.99

Power Supply: COOLER MASTER GX Series RS750 -- $99.99 (69.99 with rebate)

Cooling: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus -- $49.99
Alternatively from Amazon: $29.81

DVD Burner: ASUS 24X DVD Burner Black SATA Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS - OEM -- $19.99

From Newegg:
Total: $1134.9
Total With Rebates: $1034.9

From Newegg+Amazon:
Total: $1114.72
Total With Newegg Rebates:1014.72

 

[striker410]

^ A good build Ojas, but the PSU does not have the connectors needed to power 2x GTX 460's. The Corsair 750TX does if you can fit it.

 

[bigheadagency]

I really like the builds with the GTX 580 as I am currently looking to build a system for ~ $1,000 and I want to run crysis/metro 2033/BF3 on max settings. My question is are 2 6870's really faster than a 580? The idea of running 2 video cards doens't sound appealing to me at all and I hear Nvidia drivers are much better, and the GTX 580 is much quieter.

 

[genghiskron]

2 6870's are indeed faster than a single gtx 580 (in most new games, at 1080p), but that doesnt make a gtx 580 at bad choice, and there are certainly benefits to a single card system.

A $1000 build with an i5-2500k + a gtx 580 is a great deal and a very powerful system. Rumor has it that the bf3 demos were done on a gtx 580, indicating that you will be able to max out the game.

 

[ChiefTexas_82]

I thought the demo's were done on a 580, and EA said that the graphics were not maxed. I'm failing to find the link I want, though.

 

[mjmjpfaff]

it is not smart to say that a 580 cant max it out since we dont know how many fps it was running at. maybe it could have been running the game at max settings around 70 fps and it was running that low setting at around 120. we wont know what bf3 will be like until it comes out

 

[UltraJake]

As ChiefTexas said, the game was not running at max settings. Then again, I'm sure they also haven't finish optimizing the game yet. We'll see...

 

[mjmjpfaff]

As ChiefTexas said, the game was not running at max settings. Then again, I'm sure they also haven't finish optimizing the game yet. We'll see...

i know that. but again we dont know how many fps it was running at

 

[ojas]

^ A good build Ojas, but the PSU does not have the connectors needed to power 2x GTX 460's. The Corsair 750TX does if you can fit it.

Hey thanks!

though i'm a bit confused about the connectors. It does have 2 6+2 PCIe power connectors, aren't they what's required? And corsair says that it is "SLI-ready" so...i'm not sure i follow you...

however i note that the 750TX has 4 PCIe connectors. I'm a noob as far as SLI and crossfire setups are concerned, so i'm surprised that a GTX 460 SLI setup needs two connecters per card, if that's what you mean...

appreciate the help!

 

[mlcaouette]

Hey thanks!

though i'm a bit confused about the connectors. It does have 2 6+2 PCIe power connectors, aren't they what's required? And corsair says that it is "SLI-ready" so...i'm not sure i follow you...

however i note that the 750TX has 4 PCIe connectors. I'm a noob as far as SLI and crossfire setups are concerned, so i'm surprised that a GTX 460 SLI setup needs two connecters per card, if that's what you mean...

appreciate the help!

Yes, those cards need two six pin pci-e each so four total. Sometimes the quickest way to find out is to look at the pictures