Build a gaming PC under $650

theman5269 · Nov 9, 2012

mo · Nov 9, 2012

I'd suggest a card with 2GB of video memory atleast, since you said youll be playing games like skyrim and GTA IV. Open world games especially if you intend to play skyrim with the high res texture packs require quite a bit of video memory.

Some thing like this perhaps -
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102984

I know its about 50$ more expensive than the card you listed but it is definitely more value for money and gives more performance per dollar than the 6850. Here are some comparison benchmarks between the two cards. Plus its the OC version from sapphire which will give you a slight bit more performance and it comes with a farcry 3 + Medal of Honor (2 games) coupon which you can use or might be able to sell to make up for the difference.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/539?vs=549

PanicMaster85 · Nov 9, 2012

if you want the 6850 get the 6870 i made a huge mistake because its +10fps for like 15 dollars 10 fps is a LOT for 10 dollars,

it can run gta just not maxed

also for gaming i recommend getting a better mouse because 800dpi is excruciatingly slow

blazorthon · Nov 9, 2012

PanicMaster85 :

With current drivers, the reference 7770 is just a little behind the 6870 and some factory overclocked models meet or beat the 6870, all while using much less power and being much cheaper. The 6870 is too close to the 7850 in price anyway.

PanicMaster85 · Nov 9, 2012

yeah i guess your right, i recommend adding the 50 to your budget to get a card that can max bf3 rather than get a card that can only play it at high with no aa

blazorthon · Nov 9, 2012

I agree, my point was that there isn't really much incentive to even consider the older cards.

Guest · Nov 9, 2012

excellent choices on most of your components, i would go with a western digital caviar blue/black for your hard drive though. and what the other guys say for the graphics card.

here is a better mouse
http://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-3-Button-Wired-Mouse-Black/dp/B005EJH6RW/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1352440263&sr=1-2&keywords=amazonbasics

keyboard
http://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-KU-0833-Wired-Keyboard-Black/dp/B005EOWBHC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1352440308&sr=8-2&keywords=amazonbasics+keyboard

blazorthon · Nov 9, 2012

Agreed on hard drive. Western Digial's Caviar Blues and Blacks are much more reliable than Hitachi's competing drives right now and the Blues are often about the same price (a new 1TB Caviar Blue model is literally available for only $10 more than that hard drive that OP picked out).

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd10ezex

EDIT: My bad, it's $15 now, prices have gone up $5 since I checked yesterday.

Guest · Nov 9, 2012

you can have a 7850 for not much more

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202004

Guest · Nov 9, 2012

blazorthon :

there are a lot of good hard drive deal on amazon, you might be able to shave $10 off of that

PanicMaster85 · Nov 10, 2012

yeah i love my caviar black it works really well, and i heard the blue is good as well

Guest · Nov 10, 2012

PanicMaster85 :

i love my black too, i use it as my data/backup drive. i bought a 1.5tb refurb for an excellent price but it was doa so WD gave me a free upgrade to a brand new 2tb, very satisfied with it, never had a problem with it

PanicMaster85 · Nov 10, 2012

yeah i have a 1tb for everything and it works fine

Guest · Nov 10, 2012

also had a green, but that thing was crap, i think it was a sata 1 or 2 that was also a refurb, got it for $40 sold it for $50 after the hard drive shortage.

PanicMaster85 · Nov 10, 2012

the harddrive shortage?

Guest · Nov 10, 2012

the hard drive factory floods that caused hard drive prices to sky rocket for over a year

blazorthon · Nov 10, 2012

They're still very high compared to early 2011 pricing.

blazorthon · Nov 10, 2012

True.

PanicMaster85 · Nov 10, 2012

their going down though

PanicMaster85 · Nov 10, 2012

Back on topic :lol:

Get a better HDD
(Caviar blue or black)
http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Cache-Desktop-Drive/dp/B00461LT6S/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1352573111&sr=1-1&keywords=caviar+blue
http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Caviar-Internal-Desktop/dp/B0036Q7MV0/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1352573139&sr=1-1&keywords=caviar+black

get the 7850 because you can max out mostly anything and get good fps
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202004

Get better ram(about the same i use it and it works just fine)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231424

Definetely get a better mouse(im chaging it up you wont be able to play games with that slow of a mouse)
http://www.amazon.com/CM-Storm-Xornet-Switches-SGM-2001-BLON1/dp/B005TEPB74/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352572930&sr=8-1&keywords=mouse+2000dpi
I know its more(a bit more) but its a great mouse and if you really just cant add the little extra get this
http://www.amazon.com/2000dpi-Speed-Wireless-Gaming-2-4GHz/dp/B0081KKE4I/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1352572959&sr=8-4&keywords=mouse+2000dpi
or this
http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Optical-Wired-Mouse-910-001601/dp/B003B4BBFK/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1352572978&sr=1-1&keywords=mouse

and the keyboard(this is much better for only a little more)
http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-920-002478-Keyboard-K120/dp/B003ELVLKU/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1352573018&sr=1-1&keywords=keyboard

Hope this helps clear up everything we were just discussing

also really follow these things dont just ignore it because if you do you wont be able to play the games you want maxed(or for skyrim with mods) without lag, and being at medium to high "NOW" this means that when the next generation games come out you will be at low settings(also depends on how well optimized they are), and the next year even have to lower your res :/
^
but if you follow it your set for this year on max almost every game, and the next maybe medium high or higher, then maybe low but still a bit hard to tell

theman5269 · Nov 14, 2012

mo :

I'd suggest a card with 2GB of video memory atleast, since you said youll be playing games like skyrim and GTA IV. Open world games especially if you intend to play skyrim with the high res texture packs require quite a bit of video memory.

Some thing like this perhaps -
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102984

I know its about 50$ more expensive than the card you listed but it is definitely more value for money and gives more performance per dollar than the 6850. Here are some comparison benchmarks between the two cards. Plus its the OC version from sapphire which will give you a slight bit more performance and it comes with a farcry 3 + Medal of Honor (2 games) coupon which you can use or might be able to sell to make up for the difference.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/539?vs=549

Well Im on an incredibly tight budget so if i upgrade the card I have to downgrade the CPU

theman5269 · Nov 14, 2012

Should I get the 7850+i3 2120 or the 6850+i5 3570k?

PanicMaster85 · Nov 14, 2012

oh well thats a hard one :/ definetely not the i3 because that would bottleneck your gpu... but here what is your budget for both the gpu and cpu(how much do you have left to spend on that stuff)

theman5269 · Nov 14, 2012

I can spend about $340 on the GPU+CPU all together

PanicMaster85 · Nov 14, 2012

ok, give me one second...

GPU- 7850
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102984

CPU-FX-6200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819106010&Tpk=fx-6200

and then a new mobo needed
GA-970a-UD3(i use it and it works well for me)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128519

Build a gaming PC under $650

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