Sub $450 Browsing/Gaming computer

[Nbalsh]

Approximate Purchase Date: Boxing day sales

Budget Range: $450 , it's a little flexible if I feel that it is important

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Surfing web, gaming

Parts Not Required: Case, Picked up a Zalman Z11+ case for cheap http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811235034

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: nxic.ca / memoryexpress.ca <- these two so I can pick-up instore, otherwise newegg.ca if it turns out to be cheaper

Country: I'm in Canada

Parts Preferences: As long as it works

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: A-8 5600k + 6670? maybe



Additional Comments: Hello, and thank you for reading. This would mainly be used for browsing, but I would game lightly. This is my first build and it's mainly to replace my crappy desktop 5+ yrs old. I was thinking of an A8- 5600k + 6670 for some slightly better graphics, or I could pick up a 7770 if it was cheap enough on boxing day (sub $100) and get a different CPU.


Games: (Graphic's don't matter too much as long as I can play: Starcraft II, The Secret World, FFXIV [when it's re-released], Saint's row the third, metro, etc.) I would only be playing games for 4~8 hours a week so it is not too important, worst case scenario is that I keep playing the games below on my laptop.

Thank you again for reading.

 

[butremor]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-3220 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor ($115.90 @ Amazon Canada)
Motherboard: ASRock B75M-GL Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($54.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: Mushkin Silverline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($32.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.99 @ Canada Computers)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7770 1GB Video Card ($99.99 @ NCIX)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($39.99 @ NCIX)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($16.82 @ DirectCanada)
Total: $444.67
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-22 12:13 EST-0500)

 

[Nbalsh]

Thank you very much! it looks very promising, but a quick question: Do you think the 7770 is good or is there a card that is better for about the same price?

 

[twelve25]

7770 is an excellent card for the money. I was going to suggest a similar build myself. I don't know if i3 is worth it, though, as Hyperthreading doesn't help games. I might go with a G860 instead and use that money to upgrade the card to a 650 Ti or 7850 1GB.

The AMD APUs are pretty nice, but a crossfire 6670 is not even going to keep up with a 7750. I would only suggest them if you don't intend on getting a graphics card at all.

How does this look?

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/p/tGxX
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/p/tGxX/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/p/tGxX/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Pentium G860 3.0GHz Dual-Core Processor ($64.99 @ NCIX)
Motherboard: ASRock B75M-GL Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($54.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: Mushkin Silverline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($32.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.99 @ Canada Computers)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 650 Ti 2GB Video Card ($139.99 @ NCIX)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($39.99 @ NCIX)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($16.82 @ DirectCanada)
Total: $409.76
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-22 18:17 EST-0500)

I didn't include an OS. If you need that as well, we are going to have to make some serious compromises.

 

[Nbalsh]

Thank you for the reply, I was looking at the G860, and it is (as far I can tell) pretty similar to the i3-3220 but $50 cheaper. Is the difference between the i3 with the hyper-threading that great? I was looking at this thread: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/319936-28-intel-core-pentium-g860 and most people were saying they would go with with the i3.

I think that the rest of the build is looking very good though d(^.^d)

 

[twelve25]

Well the i3-3220 is better, but not if you have to step down a tier in GPU to get it. G860 is essentially an i3-2100 without hyperthreading.

And no HT doesn't matter for games. That's why i7 and i5 perform identical in game benches.

 

[Nbalsh]

Well the i3-3220 is better, but not if you have to step down a tier in GPU to get it. G860 is essentially an i3-2100 without hyperthreading.

And no HT doesn't matter for games. That's why i7 and i5 perform identical in game benches.

Thank you, I went with your suggestion and bought the G860, I will assemble it tonight and hopefully it will all work

 

[Nbalsh]

Best answer selected by Nbalsh.