GTX 970 in $850 budget help

[oioioi]

Need help fitting a GTX 970 into a $850 budget.

This is the model of 970 I would prefer:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127832&cm_re=gtx_970-_-14-127-832-_-Product

Any help is appreciated thanks!

 

[DonkeyOatie]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($169.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($61.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($48.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($349.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Azza SIRIUS ATX Mid Tower Case ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec Neo Eco 620W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $737.43
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-24 18:58 EST-0500

What else do you need. OS, monitor, keyboard/mouse?

If all you need is OS, there is room for some upgrades.

 

[logainofhades]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($169.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($27.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($53.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($349.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Rosewill RANGER-M MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($24.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($58.98 @ OutletPC)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($13.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit) ($90.26 @ OutletPC)
Total: $841.67
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-24 19:02 EST-0500

 

[TofuLion]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($63.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($27.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Team Elite 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($31.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 160GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($20.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 980 4GB AMP! Edition Video Card ($547.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Rosewill RANGER-M MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($24.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($44.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit) ($90.26 @ OutletPC)
Total: $853.19
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-24 19:10 EST-0500

 

[DonkeyOatie]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($63.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($27.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Team Elite 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($31.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 160GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($20.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 980 4GB AMP! Edition Video Card ($547.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Rosewill RANGER-M MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($24.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($44.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit) ($90.26 @ OutletPC)
Total: $853.19
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-24 19:10 EST-0500

Modern gaming on 4Gb?

 

[TofuLion]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($63.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($27.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Team Elite 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($31.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 160GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($20.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 980 4GB AMP! Edition Video Card ($547.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Rosewill RANGER-M MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($24.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($44.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit) ($90.26 @ OutletPC)
Total: $853.19
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-24 19:10 EST-0500

Modern gaming on 4Gb?

modern gaming on a g3258?

 

[DonkeyOatie]

That's what I thought, so why post a joke? Not everyone may get it.

 

[TofuLion]

being facetious and over exaggerating the request of OP. if you're going with an 850 budget you should get a gpu that fits the budget instead of under balancing the rest of the system

 

[logainofhades]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($63.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($27.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Team Elite 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($31.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 160GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($20.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 980 4GB AMP! Edition Video Card ($547.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Rosewill RANGER-M MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($24.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($44.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit) ($90.26 @ OutletPC)
Total: $853.19
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-24 19:10 EST-0500

A 980 with a pentium G and 4gb ram. WTH?

 

[logainofhades]

being facetious and over exaggerating the request of OP. if you're going with an 850 budget you should get a gpu that fits the budget instead of under balancing the rest of the system

I met the budget, without rebates.

 

[TofuLion]

being facetious and over exaggerating the request of OP. if you're going with an 850 budget you should get a gpu that fits the budget instead of under balancing the rest of the system

I met the budget, without rebates.

that is true. its a disposable system tho.

 

[logainofhades]

being facetious and over exaggerating the request of OP. if you're going with an 850 budget you should get a gpu that fits the budget instead of under balancing the rest of the system

I met the budget, without rebates.

that is true. its a disposable system tho.

Aren't all systems, by definition, disposable? The way tech moves, no system really lasts for very long, for a gaming PC. Broadwell will not be much faster than Haswell, so that matters little. An i5 is still plenty for any game. By the time an i7 is truly needed, Intel will have moved on way past today's hardware.

 

[TofuLion]

being facetious and over exaggerating the request of OP. if you're going with an 850 budget you should get a gpu that fits the budget instead of under balancing the rest of the system

I met the budget, without rebates.

that is true. its a disposable system tho.

Aren't all systems, by definition, disposable? The way tech moves, no system really lasts for very long, for a gaming PC. Broadwell will not be much faster than Haswell, so that matters little. An i5 is still plenty for any game. By the time an i7 is truly needed, Intel will have moved on way past today's hardware.

on a larger scale yes, everything is disposable. my point is either muster up another $150 or so and get something that will last far longer, or downgrade the single component that takes nearly half the budget and leave room for upgrades that will get your system to last far longer. its kinda like buying a used car, except its brand new with 200K miles on it

 

[logainofhades]

What would make it last far longer? Nothing, that's what.

 

[TofuLion]

i've strayed too far off topic, but a better mobo that allows sli/storage upgrade/overclocking/more ram slots, a bigger case that allows better cooling and overclocking capability

 

[TofuLion]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($114.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($53.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($349.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($58.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit) ($90.26 @ OutletPC)
Total: $857.68
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-24 20:36 EST-0500

EDIT: this particular motherboard doesnt support sli, but you get the point.

 

[logainofhades]

It also offers 0 upgrade path. Not to mention the i5 is faster than an FX 8320 also. You chose a worse system, in terms of performance. I have an FX 8320 @ 4.0ghz and it is slower than even my 3.5ghz i5 2400. :lol:

 

[TofuLion]

It also offers 0 upgrade path. Not to mention the i5 is faster than an FX 8320 also. You chose a worse system, in terms of performance. I have an FX 8320 @ 4.0ghz and it is slower than even my 3.5ghz i5 2400. :lol:

my point exactly. might as well get something at the end of its line, than to build something that cant do anything but what its designed to do. idk i may be wrong, but personally, i would rather invest less into a temporary system

 

[logainofhades]

Thing is, even with that motherboard, with a bios update, it could still support an i7 or Xeon E3 series Haswell/Haswell refresh chip. The 970a-ud3p cannot accept anything above an FX 8350. Honestly, I think you are wrong. The locked i5's are recommended on here every day. Overclocking is a waste of money, unless you live near a microcenter. A single fast GPU is preferable vs and SLI setup. 8gb of ram is plenty for the foreseeable future. The 970 is the second fastest GPU you can buy, and the GTX 980 isn't worth the extra cost.

 

[DonkeyOatie]

i've strayed too far off topic, but a better mobo that allows sli/storage upgrade/overclocking/more ram slots, a bigger case that allows better cooling and overclocking capability

What evidence is there that the OP wants to do any of that stuff? The only 'nasty' part in my build is the case, and that's an easy fix. Everything else is solid enough. Add an SSD and my (and logainofhdes') system should give two or three years of life, dropping down as the games get more and more demanding, but still playable.

In three years time the whole thing will needs to be scrapped or re-purposed to an HTPC. There will be a new generation of CPUs, requiring a new motherboard, and new memory. The HDD and any SDD will still work, but... and the PSU can be sold off, or used for something else. By going minimalist now, money can be saved/invested to pay for the new machine in three years time.