budget gaming build

[krrice]

Hi I have been trying to put together a gaming pc on a budget of around 500.00 for my 15 yr. old son and would greatly appreciate any advice.
I already have 500gb SeaGate HardDrive, Case, DVD Drive
This is over budget and would like to be under 500.00, but I want something he will be able to use and upgrade for a while. I am open to all suggestions.
Here is what I have come up with :

Motherboard : Asus M5A99X EVO $135.00 after rebate

Processor : Phenom II X4 960T $124.00

Graphics : Asus GTX560 $189.00

Rosewill Green Series RG630-S12 630W $60.00

RAM : G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8Gb $47.00

OS : Windows 7 Home Premium $100.00

Total = $655.00

 

[krnmastersgt]

Hoo boy that's a lot of unnecessary spending.

But before I start suggesting parts I'm going to guess you already have a monitor? If so the resolution is a pretty important piece of information for a gaming system. So please, do tell.

 

[krrice]

Hoo boy that's a lot of unnecessary spending.

But before I start suggesting parts I'm going to guess you already have a monitor? If so the resolution is a pretty important piece of information for a gaming system. So please, do tell.

The Monitor he has is a VeiwSonic VA1912wb 1440 x 900.
He will probably be getting anew one later on though.

 

[krnmastersgt]

Well while the GTX 560 is a good card, I can't help but think the 6850 is much more cost effective for most titles, especially if he's alright with not having everything turned up to max all the time.

I have more questions but that's mainly since you haven't answered the sticky at the top of the forum. So if you could post your responses to those questions I already have some parts in mind for you.

 

[krrice]

1. He will mostly be playing games online like FPS.School work as well.
2.My budget is 500.00 but less would be better of course.
3.United States is where I will be purchasing.
4. I built a system in 2006 and still use it today its specs are
ASUS A8N32-sli Deluxe
AMD Athlon II 3800
2 x NVIDIA GTX 6600GT
1gb corsair ram
Windows XP
5.The parts I already have are
500gb SeaGate HardDrive
Full Tower Case
DVD Drive
6.May overclock not sure
7.not sure at the moment his current moniter is 1440 x 900
8.Before the end of may his birth-day is may 27
9.I will need a copy of Windows 7

 

[krnmastersgt]

Alright thanks for the info.

Firstly, the OS just takes $100 out so we're effectively left with $400 to build this machine. Do you happen to live near a Micro Center?

Rough build:
CPU: i3 2100 or Pentium G620 depending on MC
Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813138332
Ram: Some generic 8GB set, or if the budget is tight 4GB will do for now
Video Card: I'd say for this budget, can't go wrong with a 6850
PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139027 Seems to be a good price after rebate for a PSU from a trustworthy company.

If at the end of this there's spare money to upgrade the components I'd say the CPU up to an i5 2400 if possible. If you have an MC there's some damn good deals atm, if not it'll be primarily Newegg + TG.

 

[krrice]

Alright thanks for the info.

Firstly, the OS just takes $100 out so we're effectively left with $400 to build this machine. Do you happen to live near a Micro Center?

Rough build:
CPU: i3 2100 or Pentium G620 depending on MC
Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813138332
Ram: Some generic 8GB set, or if the budget is tight 4GB will do for now
Video Card: I'd say for this budget, can't go wrong with a 6850
PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139027 Seems to be a good price after rebate for a PSU from a trustworthy company.

If at the end of this there's spare money to upgrade the components I'd say the CPU up to an i5 2400 if possible. If you have an MC there's some damn good deals atm, if not it'll be primarily Newegg + TG.

Yes there is a micro center nearby about 30 to 40 miles away. I looked at there website and they where lower tha newegg on some stuff. If you go to Micro Center instead of ordering online are there better pricing.

I forgot to mention that I am like AMD but am willing to go intel.
Does Intel offer that much performance over AMD for the money.

 

[krnmastersgt]

For an HTPC, I'd say they're both pretty even actually. However when it comes to raw gaming performance Intel has held the crown for it since the launch of the Core2 lines quite some years ago. Right now AMD has more or less given up on competing with high-end and upper mid-range Intel, they're primarily just useful for budget systems for small home computers in my opinion.

Having a Micro Center actually helps a lot. Check to see if you have these available at your location.

CPU: http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0354590
Motherboard: http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0377387
Ram: http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0360526

Should come in around $190 depending on the taxes where you live, plus an additional $10 in rebates. PSU seems to be cheaper to get online from Newegg than in their store for the more trustworthy brands. Same goes for the video cards. With the amount leftover you could easily get a 6850, and the PSU I mentioned earlier. If you're willing to go just that little bit over the budget (and then get money back via rebates) you could upgrade the i3 2100 to an i5 2400 for around $50 more but the system will be pretty safe for a while.

 

[ElFenix]

Yes there is a micro center nearby about 30 to 40 miles away. I looked at there website and they where lower tha newegg on some stuff. If you go to Micro Center instead of ordering online are there better pricing.

I forgot to mention that I am like AMD but am willing to go intel.
Does Intel offer that much performance over AMD for the money.

for gaming, yes. the 960T is roughly the same as a G620 intel. unless you're doing video editing, intel is better value.

 

[mfenn]

For an HTPC, I'd say they're both pretty even actually. However when it comes to raw gaming performance Intel has held the crown for it since the launch of the Core2 lines quite some years ago. Right now AMD has more or less given up on competing with high-end and upper mid-range Intel, they're primarily just useful for budget systems for small home computers in my opinion.

Having a Micro Center actually helps a lot. Check to see if you have these available at your location.

CPU: http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0354590
Motherboard: http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0377387
Ram: http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0360526

Should come in around $190 depending on the taxes where you live, plus an additional $10 in rebates. PSU seems to be cheaper to get online from Newegg than in their store for the more trustworthy brands. Same goes for the video cards. With the amount leftover you could easily get a 6850, and the PSU I mentioned earlier. If you're willing to go just that little bit over the budget (and then get money back via rebates) you could upgrade the i3 2100 to an i5 2400 for around $50 more but the system will be pretty safe for a while.

:thumbsup: to MC combo deal. You can get the Sandy Bridge quad and mobo for less than the slower 960T and its mobo.

 

[krnmastersgt]

:thumbsup: to MC combo deal. You can get the Sandy Bridge quad and mobo for less than the slower 960T and its mobo.

I haven't shopped at MC (mainly because I wasn't aware of how close I was to one) but I generally hear a lot about great combo discounts on boards + CPUs. Do they have any unofficial stuff that's generally always around? What I posted above isn't a combo deal, just really cheap 😛

 

[mfenn]

I haven't shopped at MC (mainly because I wasn't aware of how close I was to one) but I generally hear a lot about great combo discounts on boards + CPUs. Do they have any unofficial stuff that's generally always around? What I posted above isn't a combo deal, just really cheap 😛

In store, you will get $50 off the CPU when you buy it with a compatible mobo. It's technically a promotion, but they seem to be always running some variant or another.

 

[bononos]

Yes there is a micro center nearby about 30 to 40 miles away. I looked at there website and they where lower tha newegg on some stuff. If you go to Micro Center instead of ordering online are there better pricing.

I forgot to mention that I am like AMD but am willing to go intel.
Does Intel offer that much performance over AMD for the money.

An Intel Sandy Bridge i3-2100 at ~$120 (newegg) would be significantly better than the 960T.
The newer AMD bulldozer 4100 is more comparable to the i3. Its up to you to decide whether the AMD Piledriver update is a better upgrade path vs the Intel Ivy. The Ivy is available but the Piledriver will only debut in Q3 this year.

 

[lehtv]

An Intel Sandy Bridge i3-2100 at ~$120 (newegg) would be significantly better than the 960T.

Not really. i3 is only slightly better for gaming, and the 960T is unlockable to full fledged 6-core which would make it much better for heavily multithreaded apps.