~$800 CAD Build. Recommendations Please.

[geokilla]

Good evening gentlemen (and any women computer builders in the crowd), I just joined this forum and I am in dire need of help. A few days ago my beloved Asus G73JW-A1 got fried. I used it for 2.5 years and I guess laptops are not to be used so intensively, even for a gaming laptop. I am assuming the fans were not strong enough and it overheated and fried my motherboard. Me never cleaning the computer may also have a part in my laptop's demise.

Anyway, getting to the real point, I am currently using my dad's computer for the time being as I don't have one. I want to buy/make a new computer but I haven't got a clue about computers. To organize this in a orderly format, I answered the questions below to hopefully let you guys know what kind of computer I'm looking to build. All input is much appreciated. Thank you in advance. 🙂

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
Surfing the internet, watching videos on YouTube, checking out Facebook, playing SC2 HOTS (preferably not on low settings), rendering videos when I use Sony Vegas (seldom), playing music and occasionally doing school work.

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
I would hope to spend under a grand. Somewhere around $800 would be nice. Lower the better. Keep in mind I'm an unemployed student.

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
Canada. Toronto specifically.

4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc, etc, etc, you get the picture.
I have always used Intel and I don't know much about computers. I'm good with whatever is quality and is worth the price.

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
I have a Razer Naga and Carcharias that still function properly so I will be using those. I also picked up a Corsair HX620 for him which takes up about $65 of the $800 budget. Also using an external DVD burner.

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.
I read one or two, but I am a newb when it comes to computers. Don't even know what everything does.

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
What's that?

8. WHEN do you plan to build it?
Considering my computer just got fried a few days ago and I am in need of a replacement, hopefully soon.

9. What resolution and settings do you use?
I have the Playstation 3D screen which is 1920x1080. I would like to use at least medium graphics

10. Are there any specific technologies you want?
Just want a quality computer that can last me until I graduate in approximately 4 years. Hope it's not going to be loud and have a working disc tray that can read stuff.

I was thinking of getting him something based on a AMD build because of the recent price drops, and they're excellent value for the money. However, it seems that the AMD chipsets still don't support TRIM? I'd love to go Intel but Intel is way more expensive and with a limited budget, it'll be hard getting everything in at $800 CAD

 

[mnewsham]

http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/UZQg

That's a build for $800 but it assumes you have an OS and monitor, you can remove the SSD to throw in a copy of windows.

 

[Termie]

^ Ok except for terrible power supply.

The AMD SATA controllers work, they're just not as fast.

With that budget and proposed uses, AMD FX-6350.

 

[Cerb]

Maybe not quite $800, but I can do <$830, with a $20 MIR (<$810 net, after doing the MIR).

i5-3470 + B75 combo - $263

2 x 4GB RAM - $51

Asus Radeon HD 7750 - $110 w/ $20 MIR

WD Caviar Blue 1TB - $70

Sammy 24x burner - $19

Thermaltake V2+ w/ 450W PSU - $70, and has USB 3.0 ports. No pictures, but the prior generation did not come with any fans, so:
Bitfenix 120mm PWM fan - $6. Use it as the intake fan, and try to hook it up to the 4-pin chassis fan header near the CPU fan header. There should be no need for an exhaust fan. The fan, using PWM, will adjust its speed just like the CPU fan, to match the load.
Fan cord extension - $5. Insurance against the fan's own cable not reaching the sys fan header with ease 🙂.

With Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit ($2 cheaper than 8, and either way, you want 64-bit), that comes to $827.19, shipped to M4B 1G7 (randomly found postal code), before applying the $20 MIR. With 4GB of RAM, or a cheaper case option, it might fit perfectly under budget, but I'd hate to not get USB 3.0 front ports for a new build, and that extra 4GB of RAM will come in handy.

SC2, and really strategy type games in general, will benefit much more from the CPU than the GPU. An action gaming build might be better with an FX-6300 and $200-250 video card.

P.S. If the $800 CAD was not counting taxes and everything, like for the benefit of us non-Canucks who don't usually deal with that stuff, then you might be able to bump the video card up to a GTX 650 Ti or GTX 650 Ti BOOST, and stay in budget, making for a more balanced gaming rig than just needing to play SC2.

 

[frozentundra123456]

^ Ok except for terrible power supply.

The AMD SATA controllers work, they're just not as fast.

With that budget and proposed uses, AMD FX-6350.

Not sure the extra boost of the 6350 over the 6300 is worth the extra boost in TDP.
It is 125 watts after all. About a 30% increase in tdp for maybe 10 to 15 percent performance boost.

I probably would go with either FX6300 or low end i5 such a 3450 (which would by my choice), although more expensive than the FX.

I have an i5 2320 and a HD7770, and I can play 40+ fps on ultra in HotS. At those settings I am clearly gpu limited, surprisingly, in single player at least.

 

[mnewsham]

^ Ok except for terrible power supply.

It's not a great unit, but it would get the job done for cheap.

 

[Cerb]

I have an i5 2320 and a HD7770, and I can play 40+ fps on ultra in HotS. At those settings I am clearly gpu limited, surprisingly, in single player at least.

That is a huge difference. MP will eat lots of CPU time that SP does not. I was/am assuming MP.

 

[geokilla]

I just did a price comparison between AMD processors and Intel processors. If he was to get a Core i5 processor, the cost would definitely be pushed to $900. This is because we have 13% tax, so MIRs are basically useless as they just offset the tax.

^ Ok except for terrible power supply.

The AMD SATA controllers work, they're just not as fast.

With that budget and proposed uses, AMD FX-6350.

I like your build Cerb. But there's no SSD, and we'd like to add one in. Btw we already have Windows 7 for him. Also got a Corsair HX620 as well. Both items are brand new. Forgot to mention that in OP. The Corsair HX620 took up $65 of the $800 budget.

Is there any reason why you didn't recommend a AMD combo? I see that you recommended a AMD FX-6350, as well as your Intel build. For $20 more, I can get him a AMD FX-8320 instead, with a ASUS M5A97 motherboard. I'm not quite sure if the performance would be similar though.. Look at AnandTech's review, it seems that some are good but others are bad. Very bad... Especially with SC2 at a low resolution, and power consumption..

I guess this is a better review?

 

[Termie]

I'm pretty confident that the FX6350 will beat the FX8320 in most games at stock. It's not a $20 difference either.

In fact, right now, NCIX has the older FX-6300 for $120. I'd definitely get that over a $170 FX8320 with your budget.

 

[geokilla]

I'm pretty confident that the FX6350 will beat the FX8320 in most games at stock. It's not a $20 difference either.

In fact, right now, NCIX has the older FX-6300 for $120. I'd definitely get that over a $170 FX8320 with your budget.

FX-8320 is $160. And I checked the reviews, but the FX-8320 was better. Having said that, I'm trying to price out a Intel build similar to what Cerb has given.

 

[Cerb]

Is there any reason why you didn't recommend a AMD combo?

RTS, point-n-click RPG, and MMO, love faster threads, which Intel offers (basically, so many users are on Pentiums, i3s, or laptops, that it's more worth it to make fewer threads more efficient, than scale it out, for the time behind). W/o SSD, An i5 will offer better multiplayer SC2 performance (better performance in almost anything but video encoding, really), though the 7750 might top out at med or high in HOTS (high or ultra in WOL). With an SSD eating up a chunk of the budget, though, and AMD might be a better value. Does this mean the budget is about $735, but without a need to include the OS, or a PSU?

Basically, when an i3 chokes from too little cache, or lack of total cores, the 6-core and 8-core AMDs do better. When the extra cores on an AMD can't be utilized, the faster cores of an i3 perform better. With an i5, between the 6MB cache, higher base clocks, and higher turbo, there are only some corner cases where AMD comes out ahead. Thus, the pricing--they can get it all day long.

I'm pretty confident that the FX6350 will beat the FX8320 in most games at stock. It's not a $20 difference either.

In fact, right now, NCIX has the older FX-6300 for $120. I'd definitely get that over a $170 FX8320 with your budget.

http://ncix.ca/products/?sku=76934&vpn=FD6300WMHKBOX&manufacture=AMD
That looks like $150, to me 🙁.

 

[Termie]

...

http://ncix.ca/products/?sku=76934&vpn=FD6300WMHKBOX&manufacture=AMD
That looks like $150, to me 🙁.

Obviously, the price went up. Was $120 an hour ago. That's typical of NCIX.

Here it is on the same website for $132: http://ncix.ca/products/?sku=2222129636&vpn=FD6300WMHKBOX&manufacture=AMD

 

[geokilla]

Right now, I priced out RAM, GPU, case, and SSD from NCIX and the total is only $414 + tax. Guess that Intel build can be done after all.

Btw, OP has been updated.

RTS, point-n-click RPG, and MMO, love faster threads, which Intel offers (basically, so many users are on Pentiums, i3s, or laptops, that it's more worth it to make fewer threads more efficient, than scale it out, for the time behind). W/o SSD, An i5 will offer better multiplayer SC2 performance (better performance in almost anything but video encoding, really), though the 7750 might top out at med or high in HOTS (high or ultra in WOL). With an SSD eating up a chunk of the budget, though, and AMD might be a better value. Does this mean the budget is about $735, but without a need to include the OS, or a PSU?

Basically, when an i3 chokes from too little cache, or lack of total cores, the 6-core and 8-core AMDs do better. When the extra cores on an AMD can't be utilized, the faster cores of an i3 perform better. With an i5, between the 6MB cache, higher base clocks, and higher turbo, there are only some corner cases where AMD comes out ahead. Thus, the pricing--they can get it all day long.

http://ncix.ca/products/?sku=76934&vpn=FD6300WMHKBOX&manufacture=AMD
That looks like $150, to me 🙁.

No PSU, Windows 7, and DVD burner. Yes budget is about $735, but he can go over a bit. He's going to try and reuse his HDD from his broken laptop as well, which was an ASUS G5X laptop. Ideally, lower is better (as always) but when he's unemployed, that's doubly important. His dad is giving him shit too for not getting a crappy Future Shop computer which comes with Core i7, 16GB RAM and NVIDIA GT 640 LOL.

FX-8320 > FX-6300 lol. Only $10 more so why not?

Obviously, the price went up. Was $120 an hour ago. That's typical of NCIX.

Here it is on the same website for $132: http://ncix.ca/products/?sku=2222129636&vpn=FD6300WMHKBOX&manufacture=AMD

There's a chance they'll honour that price, but there's also a chance they won't. It's probably a glitch in their inventory, where it's a duplicate. Overall, computer costs seems to have increased by $200 compared to when I built my system in sig. RAM prices practically doubled, GPU, HDD, SSD, and motherboard prices increased by like $20 each. Ok $200 may be exaggerating, but prices definitely increased a lot. Take for example a Core i5 3570K + motherboard bundle. Prices for said bundle went up by $70 if memory serves me correctly. $70!!!! WTF!

 

[Cerb]

OK, NCIX and DirectCanada officially confuse me. I can't get DC's site to work, and I can add both FX-6300 CPUs to the cart, for different prices.

Here's what I can come up with for $750 (and a $20 MIR) to the same postal code, but AMD, sticking to just Newegg.ca (to save myself time, mainly, you might be able to get a bit better by multi-sourcing):

Same HDD, no burner, same non-kit-form RAM

NZXT Source - $50. Nice little case with USB 3.0, but no PSU. Includes case fan.

Alternative: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16811146077

Silverston'es PS08B is a similar price, also with USB 3.0 front ports, but no fan included.

Samsung 120GB SSD - $100

MSI 970A-g43 - $75. Nice little board, with a nice layout.

FX-6350 - $140. The 970A motherboards by themselves end up cheaper than any combos I could find. The combos seem to be centered around getting rid of 990FX boards, it looks like.

GTX 650 Ti - $142, with $20 MIR.

Basically, a much better GPU at the cost of CPU. For action games, it's a no-brainer, but strategy, that trade-off isn't as straight-forward (especially with recent Blizzard games specifically being optimized for Intel CPUs and nV GPUs).

Prices for said bundle went up by $70 if memory serves me correctly. $70!!!! WTF!

They are sucking up some of the cost by offering less savings, in places of raising the prices even more. It's probably only gone up by $100, but yes, the total costs have risen. Just a couple weeks ago I recommended a FX-6300+7850 or 7870 build for a litle more than the same cost as I had made a i5-3570-non-K+7870, just weeks prior, down here in the U.S.. The prices didn't rise so much, but I used almost $100 in combos, and they just weren't there, going back to it, except for more expensive parts.

 

[Sleepingforest]

RAM prices practically doubled, GPU, HDD, SSD, and motherboard prices increased by like $20 each.

Well, if you don't fixate on a particular part, but only features, you can easily find things around the same price. The price of an individual item will fluctuate, but overall, tiers of items remain stable.

The two big exceptions are SSDs and RAM. RAM has increased something like 85% in price since December, and SSDs have all jumped up 10% or so, though the SSD price (and to a lesser extent, the price of all computer parts) is probably due to the season. From what I can tell, such things cost less at the end of the year as retailers try to clear inventories.

 

[geokilla]

I just noticed that a lot of RAM kits use 1.65V to run at DDR 1600. Is that a problem? Apparently mine does too but I never noticed it till now lol.

 

[mnewsham]

I just noticed that a lot of RAM kits use 1.65V to run at DDR 1600. Is that a problem? Apparently mine does too but I never noticed it till now lol.

well the memory controller on newer intel CPUs are designed with 1.5v in mind with a safety zone of about 5% (1.575v) so running 1.65v memory could obviously cause damage, especially over a long period of time. If your cpu prefers 1.5v I would suggest underclocking to 1333mhz and stepping the voltage down.

 

[Termie]

I just noticed that a lot of RAM kits use 1.65V to run at DDR 1600. Is that a problem? Apparently mine does too but I never noticed it till now lol.

Actually, very few RAM kits requires 1.65v to run at DDR3-1600. The ones that do are lower-quality or older stock.

well the memory controller on newer intel CPUs are designed with 1.5v in mind with a safety zone of about 5% (1.575v) so running 1.65v memory could obviously cause damage, especially over a long period of time. If your cpu prefers 1.5v I would suggest underclocking to 1333mhz and stepping the voltage down.

Exactly.

 

[geokilla]

I know that you can manually set the speeds and voltages like I did, But I guess as long as they meet the JDEC standards, it's fine.