Good go-to video card for mid-level gaming PC these days?

[SaltyNuts]

Can somebody point me to the sweet-spot for a mid-level gaming PC these days? Probably looking to spend like $1,000 to $1,200 for the build. Haven't kept up with hardware over the years as much as I should!

Thanks.

 

[SaltyNuts]

By the way, will probably order the PC from ibuypower.com or somewhere else if anyone has any clearly better suggestions.

Thanks!

 

[IllogicalGlory]

290 is good value for less than $300.

http://www.amazon.com/XFX-Double-RA...ie=UTF8&qid=1415122086&sr=1-7&keywords=r9+290

 

[96Firebird]

You should consider buying the parts and building it yourself. Its not hard, and you can save a considerable amount over a place like ibupower.com...

 

[NTMBK]

A good place to look for general recommendations on hardware purchases is the Techreport System Guide: http://techreport.com/review/27252/tr-fall-2014-system-guide I'd suggest giving it a thorough read, it should get you up to speed on what's hot and what's not.

 

[boozzer]

go to buildapc on reddit. tons of people would build you a beast of a machine with 1200 dollars.

 

[RussianSensation]

Can somebody point me to the sweet-spot for a mid-level gaming PC these days? Probably looking to spend like $1,000 to $1,200 for the build. Haven't kept up with hardware over the years as much as I should!

Thanks.

1. Do you plan on overclocking?
2. Does that price include the monitor, keyboard, mouse?
3. Will you be carrying over any components such as mechanical hard drive that can still be used for media storage or a power supply?
4. Do you need to include the cost of the OS?
5. What % of your time will you spend on gaming with this rig vs. other general office work?
6. How often do you plan to upgrade the graphics card in the system? What about how long do you intend to keep your CPU before upgrading?
7. Do you have a Micro-Center or Fry's near you?

 

[RussianSensation]

go to buildapc on reddit. tons of people would build you a beast of a machine with 1200 dollars.

Actually it's not that easy to build a monster PC for $1200 for games.

i5 4690K ~ $240
MSI Z97 Gaming 3 / Asus Z97-A ~ $140-150
8GB of DDR3 ~ $70
R9 280 ~ $160
Acer 2560x1440 monitor ~ $330
Case + Gold rated 550W-700W PSU ~ $170
256GB SSD for OS ~ $110
2-3TB mechanical drive for storage ~ $100
~ $1170 without keyboard/mouse/OS

 

[raghu78]

depending on how you configure your PC and how much is your GPU budget you could get a R9 290.

www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?...82E16814161459

 

[wand3r3r]

The Tech Buyers Guru has a lot of help for choosing parts and building your own PC. You save a fair amount and get better components for your money if you build it yourself.

http://www.techbuyersguru.com/DIYPCs.php

 

[DeathReborn]

This site would be useful to get parts that fit together and priced to fit your needs.

http://pcpartpicker.com/

Here are 2 samples from Sept.
http://pcpartpicker.com/guide/JW32FT/1000-gaming-build
http://pcpartpicker.com/guide/v7Xscf/1200-gaming-build

And here is a search of the completed build database for $1000-1200 & GTX970 or R9290/290X using Socket 1150 (Haswell) - http://pcpartpicker.com/builds/#P=1000,1200&g=126,103,97&s=24

I use the UK version of this site when building machines for friends/family so they get the PC they want for the price they want. As always don;t forget to factor in delivery etc.

 

[SaltyNuts]

A good place to look for general recommendations on hardware purchases is the Techreport System Guide: http://techreport.com/review/27252/tr-fall-2014-system-guide I'd suggest giving it a thorough read, it should get you up to speed on what's hot and what's not.

Thanks a ton man. I'm using this now, DeathReborn and wande3r3r, checking out your sites as well soon.

Thanks fellas, I've decided to build my own PC again after years (decades, actually hahaha).