Gaming PC under $700

[Dog Soldier]

I'm looking to get my first gaming computer, I've played consoles for years but I'm finally looking to trade it all in for a PC. I'm looking for something that will last me for the next few years and I really don't know much at all about PCs so any help is appreciated. I live by a tiger direct retail store and they said they will put whatever I pick out together for me for $100 so I'm hoping to purchase through them. I have a 1080p TV hooked up to my stereo that I want to use for the monitor and speakers so I'll just need the desktop. I'd really like to keep it under $700 but I want it to last so I might be able to stretch the budget a little bit. Thanks for the help!

 

[Jack Revenant]

If you're already on such a tight budget, having someone else assemble your system is going to waste quite a lot. Putting together a computer is easier than you might think, and there are numerous online tutorials. It would also allow you to purchase from a wider range of vendors, which would increase savings.

 

[jesot]

And $100 to put together a PC is pretty steep anyway.

The Memory (8GB), HDD, and PSU will all run $50-60 and the OS runs around $90. That leaves you with ~$430-460 for the case, gpu, cpu, and mobo.

The best bet in this case is a 7850 ($155) or 650ti ($140) gpu, probably a Pheom II 965 CPU ($85)/Mobo (~$68) combo, and a case of choice with the remainder ($122-167).

That'd be a basic guideline, but there are certainly improvements to be made with the extra cash available after the case or if you need peripherals or an optical drive.

 

[Jack Revenant]

And $100 to put together a PC is pretty steep anyway.

The Memory (8GB), HDD, and PSU will all run $50-60 and the OS runs around $90. That leaves you with ~$430-460 for the case, gpu, cpu, and mobo.

The best bet in this case is a 7850 ($155) or 650ti ($140) gpu, probably a Pheom II 965 CPU ($85)/Mobo (~$68) combo, and a case of choice with the remainder ($122-167).

That'd be a basic guideline, but there are certainly improvements to be made with the extra cash available after the case or if you need peripherals or an optical drive.

I would tend to just grab a $40-70 case (Rosewill REDBONE, NZXT Phantom 410 on a decent sale, etc.) and invest more in CPU, GPU, and mobo. If he custom built (adding $100) and got a few decent deals, he could end up with a GTX 660 ($200), an i5 3350p ($180) and an ASUS P8Z77-V LK ($115).

 

[jesot]

There's definitely room to improve. That motherboard is a bit overkill with that CPU. Could get even more GPU by cutting $30-40 on the mobo price.

 

[Jack Revenant]

Solid point. I'm still getting my footing in sub-$1k builds. Keep unintentionally adding overkill parts. With that, we could probably go up to a 7870 XT.

 

[Dog Soldier]

Thanks for the replies. So how would you guys say AMD compares to Intel? That Pheom II 965 sounds pretty good and on paper it looks comparable to an I5 but about $100 less. That would also probably save me enough to get the 7870, Tigerdirect is selling one for $200.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7542561&CatId=7387

 

[Jack Revenant]

Could you order the parts and have them assembled by a local custom shop or computer-savvy family member? If so, you could afford a rig like this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3350P 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Pro3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 XT 2GB Video Card ($238.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Rosewill REDBONE ATX Mid Tower Case ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 520W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($70.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($17.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $748.90
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-05-01 20:03 EDT-0400)

Edit: I left $50 out to budget for paying said family member and/or custom assembler.

 

[Jack Revenant]

Thanks for the replies. So how would you guys say AMD compares to Intel? That Pheom II 965 sounds pretty good and on paper it looks comparable to an I5 but about $100 less. That would also probably save me enough to get the 7870, Tigerdirect is selling one for $200.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7542561&CatId=7387

We might well be able to put a build together using the Phenom or i3-3220 and a GTX 650 Ti Boost or GTX 660 for the price you're looking at (though being restricted to TigerDirect could be a problem). That said, it would not by any means be as good, and we don't know how skilled TigerDirect's people are at assembly. The most ideal situation, barring building it yourself, would be to find a local custom assembler and pay him to put together what you bring him.

 

[Dog Soldier]

Well I did a little digging and found another local option, I'm gonna call today to see how there custom builds work. Does anyone have experience dealing with them?

 

[Jack Revenant]

Well I did a little digging and found another local option, I'm gonna call today to see how there custom builds work. Does anyone have experience dealing with them?

I do, in fact. My present build was a bit too complex for my clumsy fingers, so I worked with a local assembler. It worked out quite well for me, but you want to be careful. Some assemblers are more hobbiest than professional, and given that you're trusting them with hundreds of dollars worth of electronics, you need to have someone that you trust, at least in a professional capacity, doing the work.

 

[Dog Soldier]

So its just getting worse for me, lol. I just called the local fixmypcstore and they said it would cost $150 to put it together. So I called back Tiger Direct to ask if I could bring in my own parts instead of buying them in store and they said it would cost $180 for them to put it together.

edit: So I went ahead and called Tiger Direct again and spoke to someone else who told me it would be $100 again. So I'm pretty confused right now......But on the bright side I atleast know I have the option of bringing in parts I bought online to the Tiger Direct store for assembly.

 

[Jack Revenant]

So its just getting worse for me, lol. I just called the local fixmypcstore and they said it would cost $150 to put it together. So I called back Tiger Direct to ask if I could bring in my own parts instead of buying them in store and they said it would cost $180 for them to put it together.

edit: So I went ahead and called Tiger Direct again and spoke to someone else who told me it would be $100 again. So I'm pretty confused right now......But on the bright side I atleast know I have the option of bringing in parts I bought online to the Tiger Direct store for assembly.

I'd say that it's worthwhile, assuming that you trust them. Having the option to buy from any online location gives you waaaaaay more flexibility and price-efficiency. That said, before you start buying you should probably double- (I suppose at this point it's actually triple-)check that you can bring your own parts, if there's any doubt. Don't want to be stuck holding a bag of parts with nobody to put them together.

 

[Jack Revenant]

Now, way back at the start of the thread, you said that you had some wiggle room. How much can your budget flex, exactly?

 

[Dog Soldier]

I've really gotta keep it under $800 including OS and assembly. BTW thanks a lot for all of the help I really appreciate it!

 

[jesot]

I think I'd go with something along the lines of what I originally suggested.
CPU: AMD Phenom II 965 ($85)
MoBo: ASRock 970 Extreme3 ($75)
GPU: Sapphire 7950 ($280 - after rebate card)
Memory: 8GB (2x4) G.Skill Ares 1600 ($65)
HDD: Seagate 500GB 7200RPM ($60)
PSU: Seasonic S12II 520 ($70)
Case: CM HAF 912/Corsair 200R/NZXT 210 (~$60)

This is actually a fairly high end machine. The CPU can be upgraded down the line and if you get a CPU cooler (212 Evo?), you should be able to get a nice lifespan from this box.

 

[iplikator3333]

I think I'd go with something along the lines of what I originally suggested.
CPU: AMD Phenom II 965 ($85)
MoBo: ASRock 970 Extreme3 ($75)
GPU: Sapphire 7950 ($280 - after rebate card)
Memory: 8GB (2x4) G.Skill Ares 1600 ($65)
HDD: Seagate 500GB 7200RPM ($60)
PSU: Seasonic S12II 520 ($70)
Case: CM HAF 912/Corsair 200R/NZXT 210 (~$60)

This is actually a fairly high end machine. The CPU can be upgraded down the line and if you get a CPU cooler (212 Evo?), you should be able to get a nice lifespan from this box.

The CPU is too low end on this

 

[jesot]

Yeah, might go with a 6300 and a 7870 XT instead (same cost). Upon further review, the 965 could bottleneck the 7950 unless it's severely overclocked.

 

[Jack Revenant]

Yeah, might go with a 6300 and a 7870 XT instead (same cost). Upon further review, the 965 could bottleneck the 7950 unless it's severely overclocked.

Sounds like an alright option. I admit that I don't know AMD processors terribly well, but wouldn't an i3-3220 be slightly more powerful for around the same price?

 

[jesot]

From what research I've done/seen, FX 6300 outperforms i3 in gaming (not in other applications).
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/699?vs=677

 

[Jack Revenant]

From what research I've done/seen, FX 6300 outperforms i3 in gaming (not in other applications).
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/699?vs=677

Fair enough. Looks like we have some good options on tha table.

 

[Dog Soldier]

Ok thanks for all of the options, right now I'm kind of leaning towards going with the i3-3220 because it would be a little cheaper than the FX-6300 and I think it will give me better upgrade options. Now I just have to find my best choice for a graphics card. I'd love to get the 7870 or 660 but they are stretching my budget, what would the next best option be and how would it compare? I've heard that if your only using 1080p you don't need more than 1gb on the GPU, is there any truth to that statement?

 

[trogdor796]

If I was buying a GPU today, I wouldn't buy one with less than 2GB of RAM. New games like Crysis 3 user over 2GB of RAM at 1080p, and this trend will continue.

As for your computer, I would honestly build it yourself. Take a day and watch tutorial videos on youtube. I could assemble one in as little as an hour if I needed to.

 

[Jack Revenant]

Ok thanks for all of the options, right now I'm kind of leaning towards going with the i3-3220 because it would be a little cheaper than the FX-6300 and I think it will give me better upgrade options. Now I just have to find my best choice for a graphics card. I'd love to get the 7870 or 660 but they are stretching my budget, what would the next best option be and how would it compare? I've heard that if your only using 1080p you don't need more than 1gb on the GPU, is there any truth to that statement?

According to the Best Graphics Cards for the Money (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-3.html) your best option would be a 650 Ti Boost.
I tend to prefer not to drop below 2GB of RAM, myself. There are significant gains made in the jump from 1GB to 2GB. You wouldn't need, say, 4GB or 6GB for 1080p, but 2GB is not overkill.