Need advice on a budget gaming rig - details inside

[dmoney1980]

I'm helping a friend put together a gaming PC. Below are the sticky notes regarding the project

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
general web browsing, mid range PC gaming, mostly adventure and RPG's/ MMO's like WOW, Skyrim, DOTA, etc.

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread.$550 for the tower and Win8 OS

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.Illinois

4. IF you're buying parts OUTSIDE the US, please post a link to the vendor you'll be buying from. We can't be expected to scour the internet on your behalf, chasing down deals in your specific country... Again, help us, help YOU.
I'm looking at Micro Center, Newegg, Amazon, as well as the FS/FT section here as well as craigslist

5. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc.
no preferences here, but with this budget I'm thinking AMD

6. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.just an existing 1080p monitor and a wired gaming mouse+ keyboard

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.OC would be nice, but not required

8. What resolution, not monitor size, will you be using?21 inch 1080p

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?
Note that it is usually not cost or time effective to choose your build more than a month before you actually plan to be using it.within the next week or so

X. Do you need to purchase any software to go with the system, such as Windows or Blu Ray playback software?just the win 8 os


What I have so far:

CPU - I'm thinking that Micro Center's $40 AMD FX 4130 deal is the best option at this budget. I'll need buy a HSF.
http://www.microcenter.com/product/428114/4130_Black_Edition_38-39_GHZ_Tray_CPU

HSF - CM Tx3 $23 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835103064

Mobo - One of the $55 AMD mATX boards to go with the above CPU from Micro Center, such as this one: http://www.microcenter.com/product/379475/M5A78L-M_LX_PLUS_Socket_AM3_760G_mATX_AMD_Motherboard

RAM - I'm seeing some 8GB kits going for around $56 in the FS/FT section here. No sense paying $70+ for new RAM.

PSU - Micro Center has some for under $50, otherwise I'll hop into Tiger Direct and get that awesome XFX 550w PSU for $20 AR ($55 in store).

ODD- Any $22 drive will do.

HDD - A decent 500gb drive for $40-$50 from the FS/FT section here

Case - Fractal Core 1000 $38.
http://www.microcenter.com/product/416831/Core_1000_mATX_Computer_Case_-_Black

OS - Win 8.1 for today's deal at NE for $80 free shipping

Sub total for all above is $409. Add some tax to that from the MC stuff and that leaves him wth only about $125 or so for the GPU.

Are there any glaring holes in my parts list above? I'd love to hear some suggestions!

Thanks in advance!

 

[lehtv]

All new components:

CPU FX-4130 Tray $40
Board: Asus M5A97 LE R2.0 $73 AR
Cooler CM Hyper T4 $20 AR
RAM 2x4GB DDR3-1600 $60
GPU EVGA GTX 750 $120
HDD WD Blue 1TB $60
PSU XFX 550W $20 AR - grab it if that deal is even true, sounds too good to be true... otherwise Corsair CX430 $20 AR
Case Raidmax Sting Ray $23 AR AP
Keyboard Logitech MK120 $20
OS Windows 8.1 $100 (didn't see it for $80? )

$536 AR

How does that look? That motherboard can OC properly, by the way. If you want to give up overclockability, two memory slots and some other features in favor of spending more on the video card, grab a 750 Ti for $150 and a 760G chipset board like Asrock 960GM/U3S3 $54. Personally, I would keep the M5A97 LE R2.0 as a minimum when going for an AMD build, precisely because of overclocking. You could later upgrade the Bulldozer to a Piledriver FX-6300 for a decent boost in performance, and overclock that. Also, feel free to grab the 750 Ti anyway and spend a bit over budget

 

[dmoney1980]

Thanks for the input lehtv! I agree with what you mentioned regarding the mobo / overclocking. I'll grab some of these parts and talk with him about spending a bit more. Also, the w8 OS for $8 was a 1 day promo code on newegg, so I snagged that yesterday.

 

[Ken g6]

With Win8 for $80, no keyboard needed, and Micro Center nearby, I managed to get an i3-4130 and a 750ti in for $552.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor ($99.99 @ Micro Center)
Motherboard: ECS B85H3-M3(1.0) Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($44.79 @ Newegg)
Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($63.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card ($149.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Raidmax ATX-249B (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($23.25 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (Purchased For $80.00)
Total: $551.98
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-30 13:22 EDT-0400)

But in that price range I'd suggest looking for a used Radeon HD 7850. It's better at most games, and the faster RAM bandwidth should be especially better at Skyrim.

Edit: Lehtv's RAM deal brings it down to $548.

Edit2: With that savings, Here's a new 7850 for $153 including shipping.

 

[dmoney1980]

I actually found a nice deal on a 7850 at NE for $154 with a $15 off code, AND a $30 MIR. I'm jumping on it!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814131562

 

[lehtv]

Awesome find, a dual fan card no less.

I would also prefer the i3 over the faildozer. The ECS motherboard is the only thing that bugs me in Ken's build. I'm not very convinced of ECS as a quality brand, and the sound chip is a low end ALC662. I'd rather take advantage of this rebate: Gigabyte H81M-HD3 $62 ($47 AR). ALC892 sound.

 

[TreVader]

With 550 watts you're not hard up for power, so I'd go with a 260X for 99.99 at newegg w/ $20 mail in rebate. Just as fast as the 750ti but it costs 50% less.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc..._-na-_-na-_-na


EDIT: also I would really look at the Haswell Celerons and pentiums with the games you play, the single threaded performance is on par with an i7 and they're $50, plus later you can upgrade to a 4670K or 4770K if you want.

 

[TreVader]

Here is the setup I did for you:

Celeron G1820 2.7Ghz
R7 260X
2x4GB DDR 1600
750GB Western Digital HDD
B85 ATX board
Optical drive
650W Corsair PSU
NSXT Mid tower Case

TOTAL: $431.17 plus windows license

If you want you can put a 270 in that setup for an extra $80 and it will totally trounce any 750ti build. The 260X I have there is just as fast as the 750ti.

Here is the pcpartspicker permalink http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3jdrG

 

[lehtv]

With 550 watts you're not hard up for power, so I'd go with a 260X for 99.99 at newegg w/ $20 mail in rebate. Just as fast as the 750ti but it costs 50% less.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc..._-na-_-na-_-na

The 7850 he linked is better

 

[dmoney1980]

Hey everyone,

So I went parts shopping with my friend to MC today. We planned on getting the intel setup, but we ended up getting the AMD setup. Reason being that we found an ASUS m5a97 pro r2 open box motherboard for only $53. He also bought a 2 year store replacement plan for $6. So for $100 he gets the fx 4130 cpu and a 970 chipset based board that can overclock. With the money he saved he may pick up a 180GB SSD that I can sell to him for cheap.

No he's just waiting for the other parts to come in. Thanks everyone for the suggestions!

 

[mfenn]

Nice deal! Let us know how the build goes.