I need help shaving $40 off a PC build.

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Facelord

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Nov 22, 2012
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10,510
My very first client gave me a hard budget of $600 for her computer build, it's a gaming PC going toward her son. I don't want her son disappointed as it's a major Christmas gift, but I'm having trouble cutting the PC's cost from $640 to $600. It'd only cost $560 if I didn't have to factor in Windows 8, but unfortunately that's $85.

Here are the parts I've chosen:

Mobo http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0056G10WK/
CPU and DVD drive, going with a Phenom II 955 black edition for the great price-to-performance ratio.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1098107
500w PSU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171031
8gb RAM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314
EVGA 650 TI GPU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130838
500gb HDD www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006YLVD50/
Antec 302 Case http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006TVQTHW/
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO CPU Cooler http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005O65JXI/ref=ox_sc_act_title_6?ie=UTF8&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
Windows 8 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0094NY3R0/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
Arctic Silver thermal compound http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002VFXFE/ref=ox_sc_act_title_4?ie=UTF8&smid=A2EUTVCJXLAJ4K

I've shopped around, these are pretty much the best deals I can locate in this price range without having to go for any really low-quality components. If I go for a Radeon HD 7750 it'd cost only $600 total with room for upgrades, but I don't think she'd want to upgrade her son's PC any time soon and I don't want him to be disappointed in the PC's performance when he gets it. Plus, the 650 TI comes with Assassin's Creed 3, I'm sure she'd appreciate having an extra gift to throw toward her son. He's going to play games on a 1080p HDTV normally, I can recommend he not use anti-aliasing so there's less of a performance hit but I'm just not sure a 7750 would be sufficient for his needs.

Side-note: I'm pretty sure all these parts are compatible, but I'm not completely certain. If you guys find anything that doesn't go together, I'd appreciate you telling me.

Thanks for potential help, I'd really appreciate it.
 
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cutebeans

cutebeans

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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-3220 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor ($114.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: MSI Z77A-G41 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: HIS Radeon HD 7770 1GB Video Card ($114.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 431 Plus (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($16.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($15.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) ($87.28 @ CompUSA)
Total: $502.19
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-11-22 03:10 EST-0500)
 
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F

Facelord

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Nov 22, 2012
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10,510

Well it's not like I had much money to work with; I had to go with a few lower-quality components just to try to lower the price. If I only had $600 to put toward a PC of my own I'd probably stick with an integrated GPU until I could upgrade, but oh well. Does it suck because of compatibility issues or bottlenecking, anything like that, or does it just suck because it's not exactly high-end? :/
 
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Facelord

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Nov 22, 2012
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10,510


I'm not really interested in dealing with rebates, but overall you've made some great recommendations. I'm not too sure a 7770 would be sufficient for his needs, though, and games optimized for more than two cores would perform better with a similarly-priced AMD quad-core, right? I should've made it clear I wasn't going to stick with the 955, it was the only placeholder part I hadn't decided on. I was gonna look into the best around-$100 CPU for the build, sorry for the confusion.

Overall, thanks for the help so far. Your case, RAM and HDD recommendations have already put the budget below $600, but any more bones you can throw my way would be appreciated.
 
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Facelord

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Nov 22, 2012
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10,510

Definitely a little offended, but eh, I'm new. My main concern with your build is the i3, would that really be sufficient for games like Battlefield 3? If so, that's amazing. Also, if I were to go for a higher-end GPU like the 650 Ti would the PSU you selected be able to handle that as well? :v

Getting schooled is eye-opening. ;w;
 
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cutebeans

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i3 3220 would be the better one than the 955 and the i3 3220 will beat anything AMD quad core you throw at it in gaming.

Your PSU is crap never get Coolermaster PSU.
 
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cutebeans

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Just get the 7770. Don't worry, it's going to handle a lot of games fine. You sacrifice a lot of parts just to get a 650ti.

Sorry bro, your parts list isn't really good. Didn't want to offend you but didn't know how to say it better.
 
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Facelord

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Nov 22, 2012
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10,510

Thank you very much, I appreciate all the help. Seriously. I'm definitely going with most of the stuff you've recommended; not completely sure about the GPU, but overall I'm definitely impressed to hear about the i3.

I wouldn't wanna deal with rebates and that makes the 7770 only $5 cheaper than the 650 Ti which trounces it in benchmarks, plus the 650 Ti comes with Assassin's Creed 3- a Christmas gift on top of a Christmas gift. Suggestions?

Update: Sorry, I might just go ahead with the 7770. I'll shop around and see if I can find it with any extras, thank you so much for your help. Very eye-opening.
 
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Facelord

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Nov 22, 2012
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10,510

I'm certainly not an Nvidia fan(that's illogical), but in price-to-performance the 650 Ti beats the 7770. Also, your build ended up being $630 without rebates factored in. That... kinda ruined the point, but at least it's a more solid, stable build. If I'm gonna spend my own money on the build, I definitely hope all of the rebates are honored. I've never dealt with rebates before, do you think these'll be honored? :<

For the record, my builders' fee isn't factored into the budget. I'm doing it for $50(pretty much pro-bono), so maybe I can just ask if she'd be fine with me just dealing with the rebates as my payment.
 
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Facelord

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Nov 22, 2012
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10,510

Ha, the processor price difference is $50, that's more than sufficient. Do you think this mobo would be good enough for the G860 and 7770/650Ti?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130639

You have no idea how much appreciate this, man, you seriously rock.
 
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Facelord

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Nov 22, 2012
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10,510

If it's possible to go with the much cheaper CPU and mobo combo he just mentioned without the 650 Ti running into compatibility issues, that'd be awesome; as I've said before though, I'm second-guessing myself hardcore right now.

Update: I mean, the cheaper mobo I'm eying has a PCI Express 3.0 x16 slot; pretty sure that's all I need to know, since the 650 Ti is a one-slot card.
 
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Facelord

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Nov 22, 2012
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10,510

The 7850 is $30+ more expensive than the 650 Ti, just out of our price range. The 650 Ti kicks the crap out of the 7770 in performance benchmarks and it's currently at the same price. The 7770 isn't quite good enough for his needs and the 7850 is out of our price range.

You've been very helpful, but it's almost starting to sound like you're an ATi fan. My 6850's served me well for quite a while, but I'm just looking at price-to-performance and value here.

Update: Hahaha, I messed around with the budget a bit and he CAN get a 7850.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202004
Would you recommend I use a different power supply or stick with the 430w one you recommended, Cutebeans?
 
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cutebeans

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Where are you looking with your prices?? I'm looking at newegg O_O. They are mostly the same price.

430w can easily power a 7850. Anyway, if the kid plays WOW. Don't get a 7850.

I'm not an AMD fan -__-. I'm a fan of value/performance.
 
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Facelord

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Nov 22, 2012
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10,510

I don't know why you're bringing up WoW, is it because it's so easy to run? He's more into games like Assassin's Creed and Battlefield, I'm sure he'll wanna play graphics-intensive games.

I was also looking at Newegg, maybe they have regional prices? Oh well, we're going with the 7850. I'll post my final selections here, if you see anything wrong with it you can say something(if you'd like). Either way, I'm almost certainly picking your answer as the "best answer," you deserve it.

Mo http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130653
RAM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220685
PSU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026
GPU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202004
HDD http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136769
Case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119256
DVD drive http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106289
CPU http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005LLBBSS/
Windows 8 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0094NY3R0/

 
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cutebeans

cutebeans

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The 7800 series has problems with WoW. =( If he won't be playing then that's good.

No worries. This is what I enjoy doing as a hobby.
 
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