BestConfigs Poll - Budget AMD-Based Gaming PC

jpishgar · Aug 1, 2011

sadams04 · Aug 1, 2011

WOW! For $1000 we can't get an AM3+ motherboard in the mix to vote on?

someguynamedmatt · Aug 2, 2011

If you ask me, the obvious choice here is the only 'budget' build listed - from Lunyone. If you ask me, both of those $1000 systems seem to be lacking something for as much money is being put into them... it's like there was a lot of extra unnecessary filler thrown in to make it up to the $1000 limit.

Onus · Aug 2, 2011

Start with lunyone's build but get the currently-available $60 720BE and a modest cooler.

army_ant7 · Aug 2, 2011

How can you argue with sub-$450 build? They don't call it budget for nothing.

)

Onus · Aug 2, 2011

Oh, I'm not arguing at all. Maybe the 720BE was not available when it was spec'ed. Any other parts differences would be niggling.

lunyone · Aug 2, 2011

The AM3+ boards weren't available and the 720BE wasn't available either, so they weren't in the running when I configured the "Budget" build.

sadams04 · Aug 2, 2011

lunyone :

Yes they were. And I am pretty sure the 720BE never went out of stock at Newegg...

lunyone · Aug 2, 2011

sadams04 :

They weren't in any decent supply and were definately not as budget friendly for my build in particular. For the $1k builds it would've been quite easy to put an AM3+ mobo into that budget. There wouldn't be any guarantee that it would run the Bulldozer CPU's (even though a select few should).

As far as the 720BE being in stock, I didn't even look at OEM CPU's, since I usually buy retail CPU's since you get an okay CPU HSF with the CPU for next to nothing and you also get a 3 yr. warranty to boot. OEM CPU's only usually get 90 days warranty and I wouldn't want to have to replace a CPU in a clients/friends build if it went out, outside of the 90 day warranty (sorta defeats having a budget build if you have to replace $60-100 CPU parts).

dalauder · Aug 4, 2011

These threads for posting builds need to have shorter timeframes. Most people posted these builds in June--so none of this is particularly relevant anymore.

lunyone · Aug 5, 2011

I think the best is to have these requirements for these builds:

* Have 1 week to build and post.

* 1-2 weeks for the top 3 to be selected and 1-2 weeks to vote on.

* No Mail in rebates equated into build cost.

* No combo deals, unless said vendor will support price combo (for future purchases, sorta like a "TomsHardware" promo code or something like that).

* Stick to strict budget requirements, no builds exceeding budgets.

* Shipping figured into build price (use a standard zip code, so all will entered will have the same shipping costs).

* Should have $500, $750, $1k, $1,500 budget builds. Most people don't spend over $1,500 on builds (except a small percentage). With these builds closer in price, one can possibly see how much $250 more would buy them. This will let the average Joe make a more informed decision, IMHO.

* After the builds have been voted in, than test them out and see how well they do.

* See if a vendor (like NewEgg) will sponsor these builds and offer them up on their own website as "Toms Hardware Readers Build" or something like that. Than they can bundle these builds up and maybe even give a discount to them. Maybe honor the price for 30-60 days or something like that. Than this could be a re-occurring option with updates every quarter or so, so the builds will be up to date each quarter.

* Maybe an additional 20-30% off for winner of each build at an online vendor would be a nice reward or maybe even a Gift Card from a given vendor. This would probably make the amount of builds entered increase??

That about sums up my expectations for these kind of build-offs.

dannyboy3210 · Aug 8, 2011

Those sound like pretty well thought out ideas that I (as a complete stranger and a low budget computer user) completely agree with. What boggles my mind is that there seem to be a large amount of users on this website that consider 1000$ a "low budget". To me, as a university student working currently for minimum wage, that's a bit hard to stomach. A tiered system could easily remedy this problem, and I'm sure there would be just as many different builds for each tier, because lets admit it, its fun trying to put together the ultimate computer for a certain price range.

(Just my two cents)

Cheers.

ervinelim · Aug 24, 2011

How can $1k dollars be a budget PC. It doesn't make sense! You could make a monster tower for that a budget build should be in the $400 to $500 dollar mark. You could make an i5-2500k combo with 1k

sneeks83 · Sep 2, 2011

i dont think the 2 video cards are needed for gaming unless you have 3 monitors or use a huge tv take one of those out and add an ssd or not and thats not a bad budget gaming rig

striker410 · Sep 2, 2011

sneeks83 :

Depends what games you play/what cards you have.

Combat Wombat · Sep 6, 2011

Not 1 build went for a AM3+ or SSD or atleast decent graphics cards this makes me sad.

Sacrifice an arm to save the body is what I am seeing here.

Don't look at a budget build then....

lunyone · Sep 6, 2011

Combat Wombat :

Unless your budget is >$750, which is what I wouldn't call a "Budget" build.

Mello06 · Sep 16, 2011

hey there just wanna ask one thing what is the better build in this two I'm on a tight budget so here it is
athlon II x3 440 with a powercolor 6790
or
core i3 530 with a 6770
oh and i already have 4 gigs of g skill so what should I pick ?

lunyone · Sep 16, 2011

Well the 6790 will give you better gaming performance. The CPU's are pretty close, depending on which benchmark you go by. So it's really what you want to do. The AMD based mobo's tend to have more options on the mobo's for the $ than Intel based ones.

jpishgar · Sep 29, 2011

This topic has been desticky in top of the forum by Jpishgar

BestConfigs Poll - Budget AMD-Based Gaming PC

Which Budget AMD-Based Gaming PC do you like best?

Derp's "Majestic Creature" Build

Derbixrace's Budget-but-Extreme AMD Gaming Build

Lunyone's "Lower Budget" Gaming Build

Splendid

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Titan

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Titan

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