• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Mid-End PC Build for under 1000$

RayTheKing

RayTheKing

Senior member
I've been itching to upgrade my PC. After several weeks of nonstop researching, I've come up with a PC build for under $950 (I've rounded the prices up 1 cent each):
(All components from Newegg)
CPU : i5 4670k quad-core(Stock: 3.4ghz Turbo Boost: 3.8ghz) $240

CPU Cooler : COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 $35

GPU : EVGA GTX 660 2GB (Comes with Splinter Cell Blacklist) $200

PSU : CORSAIR Builder Series CX600 600W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE $70

HDD : Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" $70

Case : COOLER MASTER HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 Black SECC/ ABS Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case $60

Mobo : MSI Z77A-G45 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX $130

RAM : Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (Comes with Mobo) $0

Optical Drive : LITE-ON DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model iHAS124-04 - OEM
$18

OS : Win7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit OEM (Comes with Tuneup Utilities 2013) $100

Total (Excluding taxes): $923
Grand total: $932.77

I always come here for my gaming PC curiosities, and would really like advice and improvements on this build. I really want to lower down the cost as much as possible, without dwindling the performance. I really hope you experts can find the heart to help this PC-newb! 😀

PS: I do want to OC and work on a bit of 3D modelling in the near-present, and I want to know if my components won't bottleneck each other.

EDIT: Build has been updated. Look down 2 posts to find Waldo!
 
Last edited:
Welcome to the forums, RayTheKing!

That looks like the beginnings of a very good gaming build. Just a few problems:

(1) you picked a Z77 socket 1155 board and a 4670K, which is a socket 1150 CPU. That's a big incompatibility. I think you can probably just go with the cheaper 3570K on the Z77, which is a way to save some money, especially since you're getting free RAM with the board.

(2) The GTX660 at $200 is not a great value. Either look for one for less (EVGA's SC often goes for $180AR - but perhaps you're not counting the rebate), or otherwise go for the HD7870, which is slightly faster at $200.

(3) The HAF 912 is not a fantastic case. It's bulky and an older design - consider the sleek Corsair Carbide 200R or 300R, or go for the cheaper NZXT Source 210 Elite.

(4) If you can raise your budget by $100, you can add a solid-state drive, like the Samsung 840 120GB. That will provide much faster boot and app launching times.

(5) You can save about $10 by going with the Corsair CX500 instead of the CX600 - you don't need the extra wattage for this build.
 
Thanks a billion! 😀
I've updated my build from your tweaks:
CPU : i5 3570k quad-core(Stock: 3.4ghz Turbo Boost: 3.8ghz) $220-$10 promo=$210

CPU Cooler : COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 $35

GPU : MSI R7870-2GD5T/OC Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 (Comes with Crysis 3) $220

PSU : CORSAIR Builder Series CX500 500W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE $60

HDD : Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" $70

Case : Corsair Carbide Series 200R Black Steel / Plastic compact ATX Mid Tower Case $60

Mobo : MSI Z77A-G45 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX $130

RAM : Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (Comes with Mobo) $0

Optical Drive : LITE-ON DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model iHAS124-04 - OEM
$18

OS : Win7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit OEM (Comes with Tuneup Utilities 2013) $100

Total (Excluding taxes): $903
Grand total: $916.51

PS: I actually chose that exact SSD before posting, but decided to not take it (Waiting a little more for boot-ups won't kill me, since I spent my early years with the winXP HP desktops that took over 20 minutes to start ANYTHING!)


waldo-x-wide-community.jpg


There you are!
 
Last edited:
Question: Will the cooler be able to keep the CPU from turning into Krakatoa when I OC it? It seems pretty cheap at 35 bucks...
 
Another question: How will this build perform in the current and upcoming demanding games? I've been researching, and I think it'll run Crysis 3 at around 30 to 40 FPS at ultra settings with little AA @ 1080p resolution. If I'm wrong, please correct me so that I don't get my hopes up.
 
Sohaltang said:
Same cooler running 3770k @4.5 very easy with evo cooler.
Click to expand...

That's a pretty nice OC for that cooler. Either you have a golden chip or your temperatures are higher than people normally accept at full CPU stress conditions. Usually, 212 Evo is capable of a 4.2-4.3GHz OC at acceptable temps. What kind of temps do you get in Prime95 large fft, for instance?
 
Should I go with the GTX 760 instead? There's a 400 dollar bundle on newegg that includes the GPU, 1TB HDD (Seagate Barracuda), and 2X8 GB of RAM. The only problem is that it'll be a bit over $1000, and I'll have a huge load of unused memory...
 
RayTheKing said:
Should I go with the GTX 760 instead? There's a 400 dollar bundle on newegg that includes the GPU, 1TB HDD (Seagate Barracuda), and 2X8 GB of RAM. The only problem is that it'll be a bit over $1000, and I'll have a huge load of unused memory...
Click to expand...

Can you link to the deal? The GTX 760 is a great value - it's about 15 percent faster than the HD7870, on average, although it varies greatly by game: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/857?vs=854

That's not bad for 25% more money, and even better if you can really get it for $400 with the RAM and hard drive. But the truth is that you don't need that much RAM, so I'm not sure it's worth it unless there's an 8GB bundle.
 
RayTheKing said:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboB...=Combo.1385721

The only way I could actually get (afford) this combo is if I found a cheap mobo that can OC the i5 easily...
Click to expand...

Skip it. That Corsair memory is terribly overpriced to start with, so the discount isn't as good as it looks.

It seems you were under $1000 with your last suggested build, so you can probably fit a 760 in there - it's only $30 more than the HD7870 you picked, and I'd say it's worth it.
 
Thanks! I've also updated my ODD and HDD, since there was a $15 dollar saving combo for both exact parts. Now, my total is around 1150, when I include the cost of my peripherals.

PS: Originally, I was going to buy a 909 dollar CyberPower PC with slightly weaker parts, but I found out that the model comes with a faulty PSU by Xtremegear. Thank goodness I always research before buying! 😀
 
(Moderator closed the thread I made for this)

The deal with the Z77 mobo and 8 gig RAM ran out, so I changed the entire build (The deal was kinda keeping me from getting the Haswell 4670k)

My current build:

Mobo -- MSI Z87-G41 PC Mate LGA 1150 Intel Z87 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX High Performance CF Intel Motherboard
GPU -- PNY VCGGTX7602XPB GeForce GTX 760 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 SLI Support Video Card
CPU -- Intel Core i5-4670K Haswell 3.4GHz LGA 1150 84W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics BX80646I54670K
CPU Cooler -- COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 Continuous Direct Contact 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler
RAM -- Crucial Ballistix 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model BLE2KIT4G3D1608DE1TX0
HDD -- Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
PSU -- CORSAIR Builder Series CX500 500W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply
Case -- Rosewill CHALLENGER-U3 Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
OS -- Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM
Monitor -- ViewSonic VA2246M-LED Black 22" 5ms Widescreen LED Backlight LCD Monitor
Optical Drive -- LITE-ON DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model iHAS124-04 - OEM
 
Last edited:
What pricing are you seeing? That's a big factor in determining whether the buiild is good or not. I don't see any terrible choices given that OS & display have to fit into $950.
 
Mobo : $110
GPU : $250
CPU : $240
CPU cooler : $34
Optical drive : $18
Case : $60
HDD : $70
RAM : $58 (On a big sale)
PSU : $60
OS : $100
Total (Excluding taxes and fees) : $1020-$40 of promo codes = $980
 
Big question: will 500 watts be enough to power this rig? If it isn't, I can easily upgrade the PSU to a Corsair 600w PSU for 10 dollars more.

BTW: I'm planning on OCing the CPU (Hopefully to 4.4 ghz at a safe voltage and temperature 😀)
 
500W is definitely enough for a 4670K and a GTX760. It will load around 250W.

Just keep in mind that 4.4GHz is not a given on the 4670K. You might need to do a lot of tweaking to get there.
 
Termie said:
Just keep in mind that 4.4GHz is not a given on the 4670K. You might need to do a lot of tweaking to get there.
Click to expand...

🙁 I know that too well (Been researching about the haswell chips and their disappointing OC capabilities) If 4.4 isn't in my reach, I could easily live with 4.3 ghz. Hell, I could let OC Genie do all the work and clock the chip to 4.1 ghz, and I'd still be happy 😛
 
RayTheKing said:
Mobo : $110
GPU : $250
CPU : $240
CPU cooler : $34
Optical drive : $18
Case : $60
HDD : $70
RAM : $58 (On a big sale)
PSU : $60
OS : $100
Total (Excluding taxes and fees) : $1020-$40 of promo codes = $980
Click to expand...

Thanks, there's a few things that you can do to get better pricing and/or parts:

- CPU/mobo: i5 4670K + ASRock Z87 Pro3 combo $335, motherboard with slightly better features for about the same price AP
- HSF: The plain 212+ is a better deal at $20 or get the quieter i30 for $30.
- ODD/HDD : Combo a WD Blue 1TB and the Lite-ON ODD for $75
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top