Suggestions on gaming PC $800-$1000

[Furrball]

Looking for suggestions on a gaming PC in the $800-$1000 range. My old PC is nearly 8yrs old so I think the only thing I can salvage is the DVD burner. Even the monitor is a 15" 1280x768 which I assume is only really good for a second screen. I've been looking at the 970 and 390 for GPUs but could drop to a 380 if the money would be better spent on other hardware. I would also really appreciate some explanations on your picks to help me better understand and learn from your reasoning.

Thanks in advance.

 

[ben001]

Firstly, You need to change that display. In a $1000 build, that resolution sounds odd. That doesn't mean you've to change it now, but as soon as possible. A good 1080p monitor will cost around $150. So for the sake of better parts for price, keep that aside.

I would like to know more information about your requirements.:http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/353572-31-build-upgrade-advice

 

[ohiou_grad_2006]

Akzo if you need an os, figure another 100. Figure about 100 for a 22-24 inch screen. So effectively you really have 600-800 for the actual tower it sounds like.

 

[Furrball]

Firstly, You need to change that display. In a $1000 build, that resolution sounds odd. That doesn't mean you've to change it now, but as soon as possible. A good 1080p monitor will cost around $150. So for the sake of better parts for price, keep that aside.

I would like to know more information about your requirements.:http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/353572-31-build-upgrade-advice

I've got a Dell 1908fp 19" monitor at 1280x1024 I could use but I think that is still lacking.

My primary usage will be gaming and internet surfing.
I will need an OS.
I don't really have a preference between intel or AMD.
I've never done any overclocking and don't really know anything about how to but am not adverse to it.
Hadn't planned on crossfire but dual monitor would be cool in the future...don't know if it'll actually happen though.

As far as why I'm upgrading, I can't play hardly anything with my 2gb dual core AMD with Geforce 6150LE computer. When StarCraft II came out, I played online with a friend for about 4 months till one day I was at his house and said that was a awesome game he was playing and then realized it was StarCraft II. His was high settings, mine were low. It looked like a completely different game. I want to actually be able to play some current games with graphics the way they were meant to be and without a lot of lag and load times....but on a budget of course.

I also play first person shooters, top down strategy, space flight simulation...a little bit of it all.

 

[ben001]

Okay, I think this solve your problem not only with the games you play but any recent titles at Max settings.


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty H170 Performance ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($109.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Sandisk Ultra II 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($79.99 @ Adorama)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 390 8GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($274.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair SPEC-01 RED ATX Mid Tower Case ($38.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($84.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($15.88 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($89.88 @ OutletPC)
Total: $989.66
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-07 03:35 EST-0500

 

[MasterDell]

+1 On the build above me. I would be going with a 970 for 1080p but other than that I like it.

 

[Furrball]

Okay, I think this solve your problem not only with the games you play but any recent titles at Max settings.


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty H170 Performance ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($109.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Sandisk Ultra II 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($79.99 @ Adorama)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 390 8GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($274.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair SPEC-01 RED ATX Mid Tower Case ($38.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($84.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($15.88 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($89.88 @ OutletPC)
Total: $989.66
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-07 03:35 EST-0500

Thanks for the help. I would like to pick your brain just a little bit if you don't mind on your choices.

CPU: Is there a reason you picked Intel over AMD?
Memory: The motherboard specs state the memory type at DDR4-2133 but you suggest DDR4-2400. Is that in issue?
And if not, would it be worth $30 more to get 2x8GB or will I notice much difference going to 16GB?
Storage: The solid state drive is for system only correct? Is there a significant speed increase with solid state?(Guess I should read up more on ss)
GPU: I've read a bunch comparing the two and was leaning toward the 970 but is there a reason you suggested the 390 instead?

 

[ohiou_grad_2006]

Think I can answer some of those.

1. The Intel performs better for the money right now.
2. The board should run the memory at the 2133 speed anyway, so you should be ok.
3. I think if you want 16gb you cod go for that, but myself, I've been running 8gb of ram on my gaming rig the last few years and it's been ok.
4. You will like the solid state drive for general use. For things like Web browsing, working with documents etc, it really makes a difference imo.
5. On the gpu, I think the 390 is at the same price, possibly slightly less than the 970, but it has 8gb of ram vs 4gb, as games use higher resolutions the 8gb is more useful. Plus the 970s had some issue where if you used 3.5gb of vram or more that they slowed down, if you Google it, I think there was a petition for refunds etc even.

 

[ben001]

Okay, I think this solve your problem not only with the games you play but any recent titles at Max settings.


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty H170 Performance ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($109.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Sandisk Ultra II 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($79.99 @ Adorama)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 390 8GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($274.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair SPEC-01 RED ATX Mid Tower Case ($38.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($84.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($15.88 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($89.88 @ OutletPC)
Total: $989.66
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-07 03:35 EST-0500

Thanks for the help. I would like to pick your brain just a little bit if you don't mind on your choices.

CPU: Is there a reason you picked Intel over AMD?
Memory: The motherboard specs state the memory type at DDR4-2133 but you suggest DDR4-2400. Is that in issue?
And if not, would it be worth $30 more to get 2x8GB or will I notice much difference going to 16GB?
Storage: The solid state drive is for system only correct? Is there a significant speed increase with solid state?(Guess I should read up more on ss)
GPU: I've read a bunch comparing the two and was leaning toward the 970 but is there a reason you suggested the 390 instead?

Processor: Yes, the Intel can produce much better performance over AMD in every aspect. As they're power efficient and produce less heat than an AMD chip.

Memory. Yes, I found the 2400Mhz costs $2 less than 2133Mhz and I knew that makes no-brainer, but that motherboard will only use 2133Mhz from 2400Mhz or can change your motherboard which supports 2400Mhz as well. Btw, In the real world you won't notice any difference in game performance with that change, but still keeping things straight
:http://pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-motherboard-h170gamingm3

Storage: Actually, a solid state drive is much more reliable than a hard disk drive. A Solid state drive has no role on game performance except load times, and it helps to boot your system much faster than a HDD. Yes, that's right, the SSD is mainly for your Operating system.

Video card: The R9 390 is a better card for price and one of the biggest advantage : 8GB VRAM, this would help you to play games at max settings. Honestly, the 970 have potential to beat R9 390 but in rear cases the difference is minimal.