A decent-nice gaming rig?

[gnosis89]

I am looking to buy a decent gaming PC for around $500-$1000 (the cheaper the better). I would like to be able to play just about any game today on at least medium settings...especially games like Shogun Total War 2, Red Orchestra 2 and the like.

Also which OP system is preferable? And where to buy?


Moved from PC Gaming

Anandtech Moderator
KeithTalent

 

[drebo]

I built one recently:

Antec Three Hundred case
Corsair 650W power supply
ASUS P8P67 motherboard
Intel Core i5 2500K
16gb DDR3-1600 Crucial Ballistix
XFX Radeon 6950 video card

Windows 7 64-bit (already had) and 1tb HDD (already had). Works amazingly.

I can play Skyrim with every setting on ultra.

 

[busydude]

Yeah.. go with a i5-2500K.. best gaming CPU on the market(In terms of performance/price).

 

[janas19]

I am looking to buy a decent gaming PC for around $500-$1000 (the cheaper the better). I would like to be able to play just about any game today on at least medium settings...especially games like Shogun Total War 2, Red Orchestra 2 and the like.

Also which OP system is preferable? And where to buy?

Good sir, the 2500k is practically the best thing any non-enthusiast would need. By that I mean it's quad-core, super-efficient, and over -clockable. If you are not an enthusiast who is interested in, say, eight core processors, the 2500k is literally the best you can get.

That being said, if you want to play modern games, but are ok with moderate settings, there are many ways to save on CPU cost.

The first is simply to go with the i5-2400. It is also quad-core and super efficient, and powerful enough to handle any game. You just can't tweak the clock yourself. But you can buy motherboards to take use of it's Turbo Boost mode, which it does have. The 2400 will save you 30 to 50 bucks, depending where you buy it.

The second option is to go with the i3-2100. This is kind of right at the margin where if you go any lower, you will start to see modern games become unplayable. The i3-2100 is also a good choice, because it allows Hyper-Threading which gives you four logical cores. There are a number of folks on AT who have the i3-2100 and say it can play BF3 like butter.

If you want to save even more money, you could try purchasing an older, used quad-core which some are selling. If you search for "i3-2100 performance' on the X-Bit Labs site, you will see that earlier generation quad-cores still outperform the SB dual-cores in computations which require more than two threads, which some games do, but they are not quite as fast or efficient at two-thread tasks.

YGPM
admin allisolm

 

[DominionSeraph]

This belongs in General Hardware.

What's your budget?
As you say "buy" and not "build", I'm assuming you want a pre-built. In that case I'd suggest you watch/wait for a Dell XPS 8300 to come up on Dell Outlet with an i5 2300/2320/2400, and then you just throw a Radeon 6870 into it.

They seem to have a ton of XPS 8300's in stock right now, so you should be in luck. Looking at a scratch&dent i5 2300 for $439, refurbished at $469.


Cross-posting this 6870:

http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=AT-6870_1G

Promo code: iheartgames for $15 off. Comes with Deus Ex. $163 shipped with $15 MIR last time I checked.

We are not going to be able to put you in better for cheaper if you need a copy of Windows. It would actually cost $150 more for just the equivalent system.

 

[gnosis89]

So I could literally buy the Del XPS 8300 and get more or less the same bang for my buck as I would building my own (would have to purchase a windows OP).

Also, I am looking at the specs...http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnline...x?c=us&cs=22&l=en&s=dfh&brandid=2202&fid=3628

and all the video cards are the AMD Radeon HD 6450 1GB DDR3.

 

[DominionSeraph]

So I could literally buy the Del XPS 8300 and get more or less the same bang for my buck as I would building my own (would have to purchase a windows OP).

Also, I am looking at the specs...http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnline...x?c=us&cs=22&l=en&s=dfh&brandid=2202&fid=3628

and all the video cards are the AMD Radeon HD 6450 1GB DDR3.

Ignore the 6450, if you get one with that you'll just be pulling it out in favor of a 6870. The 6450 is not a gaming card. They're charging $30 more for a system with it so I suggest you get one without it.

They have two of these refurbished and one scratch and dent ($469/439). I suggest you get this:

Processor: Intel Core i5-2300 processor (6MB Cache, 2.8GHz)
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium
XPS 8300
1 TB SATA II Hard Drive (7200RPM)
6 GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz, (2X2G/2X1G)
16X DVD +/- RW Drive

And yes, it would actually be more bang for your buck with the Dell. I put together a Newegg cart with pretty much the same thing (i5 2300, 6870, basic case, 500GB hard drive, 4GB RAM, Win 7) and it came to $721 with $30 in MIR. The Dell plus the 6870 I linked would be ~$630 with $15 in MIR. (And it comes with a mouse and keyboard)
The Dell has tax but it's not gonna be that much.

Something from a boutique builder like CyberpowerPC would be even more expensive. I just specced an i5 2300 with a lower 6850 (the 6870 was $80 over the 6850 there!) and it was $788.

The XPS 8300 has a decent PSU making it the perfect candidate for an add-in card. It's just a really good deal right now for a mid-range build. High-end would be a different story -- i5 2500k with a 6950 and SSD is the standard there, but that would be more like $1000 inc. OS.

 

[gnosis89]

Hmmmm...I went to the Dell site and was running though the process of mock purchasing one and I never saw the option to add the 6870 g. card for an extra $30...?

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

Hmmmm...I went to the Dell site and was running though the process of mock purchasing one and I never saw the option to add the 6870 g. card for an extra $30...?

You don't get the card from dell. You buy it from somewhere else and plug it in yourself.

 

[Tweak155]

I saw a dell outlet with i7 920 and 5870 video - would have blown most games away. $561. Not sure if it will pop up again, though. But I notice with the outlet, similar systems pop up frequently.

 

[TakeNoPrisoners]

You could easily get a PC to max out 1080p with $1000. Anything with an i5 2500k and a GTX 560 Ti will work just fine.

 

[micrometers]

I'd argue that for most games, even the latest battlefield game, as long as it's dual core and over 2.5 ghz it will handle games fine. Just beef up the video card.

I do like looking at tiger direct at refurbished AMD dual core systems with Windows 7 and 4gb of ram for like 300 bucks. Also, the dell outlet has a dual core AMD processor system for around 250.

but yeah, just make sure you get a decent video card and you're set. I recently picked up a 5670 radeon for under $50 and it plays all the latest games great.

 

[stahlhart]

$179.99 for the 2500K at Micro Center is a no brainer.

 

[DominionSeraph]

$179.99 for the 2500K at Micro Center is a no brainer.

Only if you have no brain with which to run the alternatives. Those of us with one recognize that there are only 23 stores in the entire country and that OP said nothing about overclocking nor do his posts show that he is hardware literate. If OP has to drive 300 miles to get to a Microcenter to buy a 2500k that he doesn't even know how to overclock that "no brainer" becomes "a fracking stupid purchase," because putting together a system with one is still going to be $120 more than the Dell, or $140 if the Dell mouse and keyboard are sufficient for him.

I linked OP to Dell Outlet and then to an external site for a 6870. He couldn't even put 2 and 2 together to figure out that I wanted him to buy a Dell and then buy a separate video card and install the video card himself. So I think him piecing together an entire computer from multiple stores and putting it together himself is probably a little beyond him.

I saw a dell outlet with i7 920 and 5870 video - would have blown most games away. $561. Not sure if it will pop up again, though. But I notice with the outlet, similar systems pop up frequently.

That is equivalent to the XPS 8300 with an i5 2300 and 6870 (the i7 920 is a slightly slower CPU but the 5870 is a slightly faster GPU), but I think I'd pay the additional $50 to get the XPS 8300 + 6870. It's newer, more efficient hardware and it comes with Deus Ex. (You're looking at close to 100W less power draw at load for the XPS 8300. He'll appreciate that when summer comes around.)

I'd argue that for most games, even the latest battlefield game, as long as it's dual core and over 2.5 ghz it will handle games fine. Just beef up the video card.

I do like looking at tiger direct at refurbished AMD dual core systems with Windows 7 and 4gb of ram for like 300 bucks. Also, the dell outlet has a dual core AMD processor system for around 250.

He could go even cheaper but I wouldn't suggest it. You're looking at going waaay down the CPU ladder to go from an i5 2300 to an Athlon dual-core. My Athlon X2 5200+ in my 5 year old Dell chokes on tons of games, and the Athlon II has no IPC improvements over it! So the only difference is that the Athlon II's are clocked ~15% higher than my X2. 15% faster than my X2 is not impressive.

OP's budget is $500-1000. To spec him 2006-era performance for $450 when he can get 2011 for $630 is just wrong.

 

[Arkaign]

Yeah the outlet XPS 8300 is pretty nice. It has a somewhat under-rated 460W PSU that will more than handle a 6870 as well.

 

[BD231]

Being that you said the lower the cost the better you can always get a Phenom II x4 955 for half the cost of a 2500k and have no issue at all pushing even the fastest of modern GPU's, especially if you don't mind overclocking. There are some really good deals on the 890 chipset boards.

If you'd rather build something closer to $500 you wouldn't be missing out on much from a gaming and multi-media perspective.

 

[DominionSeraph]

Being that you said the lower the cost the better you can always get a Phenom II x4 955 for half the cost of a 2500k and have no issue at all pushing even the fastest of modern GPU's, especially if you don't mind overclocking. There are some really good deals on the 890 chipset boards.

If you'd rather build something closer to $500 you wouldn't be missing out on much from a gaming and multi-media perspective.

He needs an OS. (He used "OP" but you can tell what he's talking about using both posts.) That pushes a self-built 955 to $650. (And it's $550 without OS, not $500, unless you find some B&M store that still has hard drives for $50. I'm using a $100 500GB Caviar Blue in my cart that combos with a free DVD-R to save $20 there, so that's not horrendously ridiculous like the $170 1TB's are.)

The price of hard drives right now due to the flooding in Thailand plus the need for an OS really do push him towards a pre-built at 955 performance levels. If you need an OS there is almost no reason to build your own in the sub-2500k performance range. You just cannot compete with the pricing.

If the choice was between a tested, warrantied XPS 8300 with an aftermarket 6870 or putting together this:

I'd go with the Dell.

OP's difficulties in figuring out how to just order two parts really leans towards "the simpler the better."

 

[Arkaign]

Fwiw, Wal Mart and a few others have 1TB external drives in stock for around $80-$100, and you can just pop them out. In my experience I've seen WD Blue and Seagate drives most commonly inside Free external case.

Even so, this case the Dimension 8300 seems to make the most sense, legal OS, only one part to replace, and the leftover video card would still sell for a few bucks as well.

 

[gnosis89]

I linked OP to Dell Outlet and then to an external site for a 6870. He couldn't even put 2 and 2 together to figure out that I wanted him to buy a Dell and then buy a separate video card and install the video card himself. So I think him piecing together an entire computer from multiple stores and putting it together himself is probably a little beyond him.

No, it´s just that you mentioned that it was only $30 more, and on the link you gave me the card costs $173 (cannot remember exactly). So I naturally assumed you meant to say that dell was giving the upgrade for only $30 more. Also, the last desktop I had I built myself and ordered all but the PSU from newegg. The catch is that was almost 7 years ago, and since then I have been travelling the world (I live in a sailboat) and had no time to keep up on the current ¨computer tech.¨ Shit they didn´t even have dual cores on the market when I built that computer....PCI-E was the new (fairly new rather) talk of the town with graphics cards at that time. The thing is right now I don´t really have much time to spend on researching entirely myself and instead of having to to build it myself and setting up the BIOS (was a pain in the ass last time) I figured I´d rather see if it´s worth it these days to buy already built (especially considering it´s over $100 for a windows OS alone.) And by the way...intelligence is relative.

Edit: I also have a friend in IT who may be able to get me a free copy of a windows OS.....Would it then make much more sense to build it myself? Even if I don´t really want the hassle? Also not sure when I will be buying the computer, because right now I am in Central America and my boat is in the U.S. (where I will be installing the computer)...not sure when I will be headed north.

 

[DominionSeraph]

No, it´s just that you mentioned that it was only $30 more, and on the link you gave me the card costs $173 (cannot remember exactly). So I naturally assumed you meant to say that dell was giving the upgrade for only $30 more.

I said nothing about $30 in the post where I linked both the XPS 8300 and the 6870. I said get an XPS 8300 and throw a 6870 into it, linking both Dell Outlet for the XPS 8300 and superbiiz.com for the 6870, mentioning that the cost of the 6870 was $163. How you assumed this meant the 6870 was $30 at Dell is beyond me.

Common sense should've told you that a gaming card is not going to cost $30.

Edit: I also have a friend in IT who may be able to get me a free copy of a windows OS.....Would it then make much more sense to build it myself? Even if I don´t really want the hassle?

Depends if you're going to overclock or not or want a SSD. The i5 2500k overclocks from 3.3GHz to over 4GHz pretty painlessly, making it quite the performer. $180 for 2.8GHz (i5 2300) or $220 for 4.2-4.5GHz...
And if you're gonna go with a SSD you're gonna be doing an install of Windows anyway, so a prebuilt doesn't save you anything there. You'd want SATA III to go with that as well.

To balance out an overclocked i5 2500k you'd want more of a 6950, though, which is $100 more than a 6870. So we're talking quite a bit more money to go with the additional performance.

The XPS 8300/6870 combo gives you a great performing CPU with a solid, modern, mid-range card at a really good price. If you want more of a rocket, it's not going to be out of bounds in price/performance, but it is going to be more in absolute terms.

Something like:

Plus another $35 or so for a good cooler.

 

[SZLiao214]

If you have someone that can build it for you then i will strongly suggest that.

With your budget being up to 1000 i cant recommend that dell computer listed. Easy performance is the 2500k+ some p67 mobo and 4-8 gigs of ram. You probably will never use more then 4gigs but the difference in price is tiny.

Graphics card wise you might be able to swing 2 6870s in crossfire if you get lucky with a deal. A user named Spinejam also sells quite a few of the higher end cards for like 20 percent less then newegg.

 

[DominionSeraph]

If you have someone that can build it for you then i will strongly suggest that.

With your budget being up to 1000 i cant recommend that dell computer listed. Easy performance is the 2500k+ some p67 mobo and 4-8 gigs of ram. You probably will never use more then 4gigs but the difference in price is tiny.

Graphics card wise you might be able to swing 2 6870s in crossfire if you get lucky with a deal. A user named Spinejam also sells quite a few of the higher end cards for like 20 percent less then newegg.

...and this is why this belongs in General Hardware.

 

[SithSolo1]

On the lower end of the spectrum I tossed this together. Assuming all you have is a desk, some headphones/earbuds, and a wall outlet it has everything you need to get started.

If you don't need something, subtract that price. If you want something different, add that price to the item you are replacing. There is a $10 coupon on that CPU at the moment that has not been applied. Also note there is a rebate for the video card and a free game. That card should handle any of the games you are wanting to play up to a resolution of 1680x1050 no problem.

If you don't need the monitor, KB/Mouse, & Windows you instantly save $231.

 

[gnosis89]

Ignore the 6450, if you get one with that you'll just be pulling it out in favor of a 6870. The 6450 is not a gaming card. They're charging $30 more for a system with it so I suggest you get one without it.

I figured that was what you meant by this. A simple misinterpretation then, that´s all.

Common sense should've told you that a gaming card is not going to cost $30.

Well, typically when you are selecting the specifics (what they allow you to choose at least) for one of their computers you can ¨upgrade\change¨ the parts so I thought you meant that you could select the 6870 from a list of personalizing (selecting) from available graphics cards....hence the ¨only $30 more¨ making sense.

Why is it that people actively seek to be demeaning and like to appear as though they are somehow superior for knowing something on internet forums?

(Also sory for bad english, it is not primary language)

 

[mfenn]

Also not sure when I will be buying the computer, because right now I am in Central America and my boat is in the U.S. (where I will be installing the computer)...not sure when I will be headed north.

Key sentence in the whole thread.

OP, with the way deals come and go, it's better to ask for specific parts advice about a week or so before you intend to purchase.