Mid-range gaming pc

[Nibblekins]

Hey guys, I'm looking to build a mid-range gaming pc. I already have some hardware that i would like to use. I have a Gforce gt 630 and a raidmaxx 420watt PSU on hand. Also have the 250 gb hard drive. Mostly I'm looking for a Mobo and CPU that would work with these parts, and if possible i would like to use me old Dell XPS 400 case, not the parts that the PC came with, I have just become fond of my old girl and would like to keep the case.

Also I'm looking to stay around $300 at most, maybe $350 but looking to get married soon and money is a bit shy, thank you for all the help.

 

[ssddx]

for that sort of budget you may want to look at amd.

since you already have a gpu (gt 630) and it should have similar stats to the new amd apus (the gt 640 exceeds even the flagship a10 model) you would be better off with the fx lineup.

throw in some 1600mhz ram and i think thats all you need.

if you went with a decent cpu you could always upgrade from the 630 to something better in the future.

the 420w psu is likely enough but it doesnt give you alot of headroom. make sure it has the right plugs on it and do a powercalc on the parts ( http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp ) to make sure 420w is in the ballpark.

i wouldnt expect stellar performance from the system (you can likely play crysis 3 at lowest settings at x768 resolution 20-25fps or some other games at low or medium detail at low resolution at higher fps) but if you arent picky it should work for most titles.

 

[Nibblekins]

ill look in to that, but i have some items picked at newegg havent bought and not sure if they will work. Ill post details and if you could let me know if it is the right way to head it would really help. Thanks

 

[ssddx]

go ahead and post what you were thinking of

edit: nevermind looks like you edited your post...

 

[Nibblekins]

Case- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811156275
Ram- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231544
MoBo & CPU- http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1497687

 

[ssddx]

what are your thoughts about going micro atx?

cougar spike micro atx case $35
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811553011

amd fx-8320 3.5ghz 8core cpu $160
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113285

gskill sniper 2x4gb 1600mhz ram $55
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231416

asus m5a78-l micro atx motherboard $65
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131942

total $ 315
total without case $280

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alternate parts if you wanted to stay with full sized ATX

asus m5a97 le r2.0 atx motherboard $90
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131872&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

any $35-40 case which supports usb3 and atx form factor....

total without case $305

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benchmarks fx-8320 vs i5-3570k (keep in mind this is a $150 cpu vs a $200cpu..)
http://anandtech.com/bench/product/697?vs=701

benchmarks fx-8320 vs i3-3220 (this is a more realistic comparison $150 cpu vs $150 cpu)

if you dont overclock this requires about 280w for psu (so that 420w should work)

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if you wanted to spend more towards your $350 limit.... it might definitely be worth going with an intel build instead

cougar spike micro atx case $35
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811553011

intel i5-3570 3.4ghz 4-core cpu $210
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115233

gskill sniper 2x4gb 1600mhz ram $55
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231416

asus h61m-a usb3 micro atx motherboard $65
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131963

total $365
total without case $330

as for performance see the first benchmark.

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honestly you could go either route. both of the builds i listed are better than the i3.

the amd build is cheaper for less performance (but more performance than similar cost intel builds) while the intel build is going to be more powerful than the fx8350. the h61 chipset on the motherboard means that overclocking isnt possible so i gave you a normal locked i5 chip (not a k version). if you were into overclocking for less price you could get more performance out of the amd system. you would want to get a better cpu cooler though for this.

with the cash you saved by going amd (okay.. probably need just a little bit more than this...) you could add in a boot ssd drive to increase your system speed by quite a bit. this would give you a much snappier computer. personally though instead of just a "boot" drive (where you cannot store anything) i would get something of a half decent size (128gb) so that you could put a few programs on it as well.

edit: reason i didnt say about overclocking i5-3570k (if you went with a k version for $10 more) is that to get an overclockable motherboard you would be looking at more cash as well so its not terribly budget friendly to go intel AND overclockable

 

[Nibblekins]

I'm thinking the Intel build will be where i go, and with all of these builds is there the ability to upgrade parts as need?
And just checking i would have to get rid of my old XPS 400 case for any of them, not that it really matters its just that i like the look and she has been good to me.

 

[ssddx]

trouble with your xps 400 case is twofold... they use BTX size motherboards (which is an odd size) so finding a replacement motherboard is almost impossible and they have poor cooling capability. i would say i'm sorry but the case has to go.

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as far as upgradeability goes..... i would pick out a good solid mobo+cpu+ram now. if you need to upgrade i would make that a new gpu, new hdd (perhaps upgrade to ssd?) and IF required a new psu.

both socket am3+ and 1155 arent going to support any new cpu in the future. honestly sockets change so often that by the time you want a cpu upgrade in 3-5 years you would want to get a new mobo anyways.

if you want to know my suggestions...

option 1:
go amd and throw in a ssd. this will give you a system which feels much faster than the intel build (due to the ssd) however the cpu isnt as strong. its also overclockable to bridge that gap.

option 2:
instead of going intel 3570 go with a 3570k and then beef up the motherboard to a z77 so you can overclock. of course if you dont care about overclocking you can just use the cpu i have listed.

the gt 630 isnt a very strong video card and will likely be your bottleneck in terms of performance.

 

[Nibblekins]

trouble with your xps 400 case is twofold... they use BTX size motherboards (which is an odd size) so finding a replacement motherboard is almost impossible and they have poor cooling capability. i would say i'm sorry but the case has to go.

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as far as upgradeability goes..... i would pick out a good solid mobo+cpu+ram now. if you need to upgrade i would make that a new gpu, new hdd (perhaps upgrade to ssd?) and IF required a new psu.

both socket am3+ and 1155 arent going to support any new cpu in the future. honestly sockets change so often that by the time you want a cpu upgrade in 3-5 years you would want to get a new mobo anyways.

if you want to know my suggestions...

option 1:
go amd and throw in a ssd. this will give you a system which feels much faster than the intel build (due to the ssd) however the cpu isnt as strong. its also overclockable to bridge that gap.

option 2:
instead of going intel 3570 go with a 3570k and then beef up the motherboard to a z77 so you can overclock. of course if you dont care about overclocking you can just use the cpu i have listed.

the gt 630 isnt a very strong video card and will likely be your bottleneck in terms of performance.

Alright, thanks a lot for all the info and leg work. I think ill just save for a bit longer and drop around $500 on the sucker. Its mostly going to be for gaming since thats what myself and wife to be do for free time and is a main part of our lives.
Once again thank you so much, if you have any other tips dont hesitate to toss them out.

 

[ssddx]

for $500....

what are your thoughts on not using the gt 630 or finding another psu if that one isnt enough?

(ie start a "from scratch" build)

 

[ssddx]

also what games did you want to play at what resolution at what settings?

 

[Nibblekins]

Well I'm going to be playing The Witcher 2, the Batman series, Just Cause, some mmos. and ditching the gt 630 is fine with me. More than likely the old PC will become a Minecraft server or media center hooked up to the TV.

Res at 1920x1080

 

[ssddx]

^
just remember that doing that requires you to buy another windows license

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if you went with something similar to what was discussed above... you could likely throw a $200 gtx660ti or r9-270x in there for some pretty stellar performance considering the relatively low price.

just an option of course. doing so may require you to get a better power supply (at least a 500w)

 

[Nibblekins]

Alright cool, I'm more of a Nvidia guy so more than likely the gtx, but all of the builds up top would work with both of the GPUs you have there?

 

[ssddx]

...if you have a few moments would you just like to talk about this in real time?

probably easier than going back and forth here like this..

https://webchat.freenode.net/
channel #ssddx (yes including the # symbol)

 

[ssddx]

for reference...

as discussed

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus M5A78L-M/USB3 Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($54.99 @ Microcenter)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($52.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital RE3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 660 Ti 3GB Video Card ($266.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Cougar Spike MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($40.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic G 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $615.92
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-16 22:28 EST-0500)

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things you may need to buy

artic silver thermal paste
3x 120mm fans (or 4x120mm fans if you want to replace the unknown fan it comes with)
perhaps a fan controller
perhaps a cpu cooler