Gaming Desktop for or under $650 revised.

eagleblueline

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Aug 23, 2011
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Hey guys, sorry if you read my earlier post but I was advised to make a new one with this format. I know next to nothing about specific parts or computer lingo, so if you could go easy on me when explaining.

Approximate Purchase Date: Next 2-3 weeks.

Budget Range: $650 After Rebates

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Surfing the web, School work (University)

Parts Not Required: Keyboard, speakers, monitor, OS, mouse. I would be using a 24 inch T.V.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Prefer Newegg but open minded.

Country of Origin: United States.

Parts Preferences: Using a 24 inch Television, but I don't mind what parts are used.

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe, not sure what this is exactly, I just know it makes the computer faster.

Monitor Resolution: 22-24 inch Television so most likely 1920x1080

Additional Comments: I need a PC that will play WoW, the Total War series (Shogun), Mount and Blade: Warband, and possibly some new up and coming games like Skyrim and the new Star Wars MMO. Id like to run most of the games on Ultra or High with good frame rates. I understand that Skyrim and the like may be a stretch, but for the rest it should be doable. This is for a college dorm, so if it could be quiet that would be great as well. Thanks guys!
 
SLI and crossfire uses two [ or more ] graphics cards to improve game quality . Its always better to build using one card IMO and you dont need either to run you games well

Intel Core i5-2400 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz $190
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115074

ASRock H67M (B3) LGA 1155 Intel H67 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157233

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) $50
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231426

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM $60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

XFX HD-687A-ZDFC Radeon HD 6870 1GB $167
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150521

DVD burner $20

Antec Three Hundred + BP430 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 430W Power Supply $90
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129065

Total is $657
 
Now let's not turn this into a fight =P

Both builds look good to me, but again, they are so close that I can't tell which would be "better" for the games I want to run. Would both run them at Ultra with 60+ fps?

Also, are mail in rebates not reliable? I figured they were 😱
 
A game like WoW wouldn't run at 60+ fps with this kind of setup? I've seen quite a few builds that are a bit cheaper that can handle it at 60+. I don't mean every game. I know Skyrim would never do that, although I'm pretty sure the builds above could easily pull their weight 😱 Any other feedback?
 
Both builds are very decent .

Squirrels has a better motherboard with more expansion options , but the one I included should perform identically . Because my pick is an m-ATX that you cant add 6 expansion cards to [but hardly any one does that] but it could be recycled in to a HTPC case later on if thats of interest .

My hard drive is marginally faster , but you might never notice .

The 6870 is a decent step up from the 6850 , and should play any current game on high at 1080p . IMO it was worth shaving money off the motherboard to get more graphics punch . There are cheaper 4870's on Newegg . But that one has a better cooler than the reference designs.
MMO's it will eat for breakfast

The antec case is basic , but higher quality . The included psu not as good as Squirrels , but also certainly good enough .
 


Would combining any of the parts from both your builds make an even better machine? Or is it just a matter of one over the other? And thank you both so much for taking your time to help a noob out =)
 
For future upgrades during the life of THIS computer then swap out the motherboard I suggested and use the one Squirrel suggested . It has more options to add additional cards
Watch out though .....the rebate might never come

When you are ready to order check the prices for 4870's and see who has the best price. The reference cooler works well , but is a bit noisier than I'd like in my computer . I have the HIS
Drop back to the 6850 if you have to stay under budget IMO
 
Wow at 60+ fps yes ... Metro 2033 :) no
Also what is the point of getting 2400 if u'll be fine with i3-2100 at that resolution there is minimal fps difference and you can get 560Ti for GPU
to outlander 04 : That mobo is bad
don't get that Asrock .. P67 squirell suggested is way better .. but then what's the point again if you don't get K-series CPU
 
Haha, again guys, I truly do appreciate it, but I don't understand the difference between the different series or which parts coexist with each other in a more productive way :??: I'd pretty much need each part laid out again like Outlander originally did.

So what do we think would be the optimal machine for things such as WoW, Rift, Total War, and the like? And possible games in the future?
 


A quad verses a dual core : I'd go with the quad core every single time

The mb I suggested is not bad . It has limited expansion , and its m-ATX which can be an advantage
Squirrels mb is better in some regards . But its not exactly a top end part either

 
Ok let's start with mobo:

P67 series support K-series intel CPU ( e.g. 2500k 2600k) wich let's u overclock ur CPU
does not support built in graphics
Z68 supports k-series plus u can use SSD (solid state drive) as a cache for ur HDD, has Quick Sync that let's u switch between integrated GPU (2000HD, 3000HD ) and ur GPU. Helps with video processing. Also it will probably support new Ivy bridge processor so u don't have to switch mobo in the future to upgrade.
I hope that helped a little.

For the build with 650 budget ehhh:
MoBo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128520
CPU (see if you have microcenter store close by)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115078
RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231426
case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233&Tpk=haf%20912
PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371016
HDD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185&Tpk=f3%20spinpoint
GPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130623
DVD 20

After rebates comes to 670
 


Oh yeah what about quad core Athlon vs dual core Sandy bridge ??? That's what I thought 😀
Current games rarely use 4 cores and there is no point of shelling out extra 70 bucks
The mobo u linked has 8 out of 22 reviews RMA. I think it's pretty bad record.
And MSI mobos are not very quality build. They definetly dropped the ball on that.

And the build I suggested will beat ur 2400+HD6870 any time of day :)
 
I agree with outlander in most, but the builds are very comparable.

If you are going for gaming only, maybe a core i3-2100 + 560Ti would be better. However, in "real life", you might have much better performance from the i5 cpu depending on the applications you use.

Don't forget that you can always upgrade later. Depending on your tech knowledge, a video card is always very easy to upgrade. A cpu is a little bit more work.

8 Go is really enough. As a matter of fact, I haven't seen any noticeable difference going from 4go to 8go at 1600 mhz. There's a review on toms hardware that basically says that 8 Go is the sweetspot and the $$$ between 4Go and 8 Go is very low. I'd go for this.

There is one concern for me. At this price, you won't get a "quiet" system. Quiet system have a heavier price tag. Always depends on what quiet means to you, but for that you need a better cpu cooler, a better PSU and a video card with a non-reference cooler design.

Will you really notice it? I went for a "quiet" system that is barely audible, but I play with a headset anyway... And when you are doing Excel, Matlab, Word and that kind of software, your video card is in 2D mode and it runs pretty quiet. My experience shows that the PSU matters a lot. Maybe because I've had crappy PSU before this one ( I got a Seasonic X-650 that turns "passive" except when I play ). So if that's really important to you, you might want to invest more for a good quality PSU.

Both system should deliver you good performance. I got a I5-750 that I barely overclock ( around 3 Ghz ), a XFX 5850 and I could play L4D, Civ 5 and Rift with very high settings. That system is pretty comparable to an i3-2100 / 6850. And IMO, AA in a game is overrated. I barely notice it, doesn't make the game more enjoyable to me and it really taxes the GPU.





 


That's indeed a very good build. By downgrading the CPU, you get money for a better PSU and more futureproof motherboard and better video card. And gaming wise, it's certainly better and I think all components are in the "bang for the buck" category. Sometimes, it's worth investing a little bit more.

Just be advised that you might want to upgrade the cpu in 1 year or 2 if you play cpu intensive games ( like BF3 looks to be ).
 
I'd go for madchemist latest build ( i3 + 560 ti ) if your main priority is gaming.
The PSU is partially modular you will like that. I don't know about it much.
8 Go ram -> sweet spot
HDD -> Go for the size you simply need. 1 TB is good, but if you'd like to save a few bucks, you can go lower.

If you feel the system is too noisy , since you said you liked quiet, you can update component later. You can go to silentpcreview.com for lots of info about that. If everything was passive, you would get zero noise. So you want to reduce the fan speed.

HDD -> Going SSD is expensive and not worth it for noise ( totally worth it for performance however! )
PSU -> Passive / Near-Passive PSU are more expensive and around 100-150$ depending on watts,brand,quality,etc
Better CPU cooler than stock -> Hyper 212+ at 30$ is cheap and good... would buy right now
Low-Noise / high air-flow for the case -> A 200mm top fan for the case later and all fan at low if possible.


To let you know, I've got a relatively quiet system that I can barely hear and here's my specs...

I5-750 with Hyper212+, Antec Mini P180 case, Seasonic X-650, XFX 5850 XXX edition, OCZ Vertex 2 120Go. The only time it gets noisy is when I play games and the GPU fan gets faster but the game music / headset is a lot more noisy. If you want it to be quiet while watching TV, studying, it's good for a "relatively" low price.

Your build is really not far from there and you can improve later on.