Need some advice - best bang for the buck under $1K

[javaman320]

Purpose of this rig is for general day-to-day use and performance gaming - I'd like to stay under $1K.

Before I pulled the trigger, I wanted to get some opinions.

Here is what I'm looking to buy:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229439

Any reason not to get this? Should I be looking at something different?

 

[Yuriman]

General hardware is probably a better place for this question, however my 2 cents:

The parts add up to about $800 without a Windows license. What I'd be most concerned about is that they might have chosen a horribly cheap and unreliable motherboard + power supply to cut costs. Also, I probably wouldn't want to use the keyboard and mouse it comes with.

Are you uncomfortable with the idea of assembling a PC yourself?

 

[javaman320]

General hardware is probably a better place for this question, however my 2 cents:

The parts add up to about $800 without a Windows license. What I'd be most concerned about is that they might have chosen a horribly cheap and unreliable motherboard + power supply to cut costs. Also, I probably wouldn't want to use the keyboard and mouse it comes with.

Are you uncomfortable with the idea of assembling a PC yourself?

I wish I was, but I don't know enough nor do I trust myself to build one.

There was one other one that caught my attention - though this one is slightly over budget, I'd be willing to swing it if it meant I'd be getting a more reliable rig and is equally as fast: http://www.digitalstormonline.com/comploadvanquish.asp?id=843036

 

[javaman320]

I should add - part of my reason for buying this would be to play Rome Total War 2 - on ultra maxed out settings.

Obviously, not my only intent with this, but I'm hoping whatever I do get will be able to handle that game for sure.

 

[nurturedhate]

Have you looked into what it requires to build your own system? The thought of it to someone without experience can be very daunting and it has been somewhat so at times in history (bare die athlons) but it is really really easy. I had more issues putting together our baby stroller last week. Or a computer chair. There is basically only one spot that each component can be inserted into. installing a stock HSF (cpu cooler) is extremely simple on an Intel rig. Just push the pins through the motherboard. The hardest part for me is actually connecting the pwr/reset/led leads to the mb and that is only because I have large hands. The wife works great for this stuff actually. Also I find the act fun.

There are some nice instructional videos on the internet. I would at least take the time to skim through them and see if the idea of building your own feels less daunting afterwards. Or maybe there is a friend that can assist you. I used to build all of my friends systems when we were younger. That usually only lasted the first build. After that they did it themselves.

The hardest part of building your own system is also the best part and the part we can help you with the most. Picking out what parts you need and want.

 

[frozentundra123456]

I should add - part of my reason for buying this would be to play Rome Total War 2 - on ultra maxed out settings.

Obviously, not my only intent with this, but I'm hoping whatever I do get will be able to handle that game for sure.

For the Total War series, at least so far, I believe intel performs better than AMD, actually in most games that are not very highly threaded. On the Cyberpower site, you can configure a haswell 4670k system for just slightly over 1000.00 with the same video card. If you dont want to build it yourself, that would be my choice, but be careful with the configurator, you have to specify to have windows installed. That said, I am not totally comfortable with the quality and reliability of Cyberpower, although I have had no personal experience with them. At least it looks like you get a 3 year warranty, if I read it correctly.

 

[Essence_of_War]

I should add - part of my reason for buying this would be to play Rome Total War 2 - on ultra maxed out settings.

At what resolution will you be attempting to max this out?

Here are some benches that include the GTX 660 in Shogun TW2:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6838/nvidia-geforce-gtx-650-ti-boost-review-/4

It can hit ~40 fps on ultra settings at 1080.

I suspect you'll have trouble doing even as well as that in Rome TW2. It might be more prudent to wait to for Rome TW 2's release, and then check gpu benches, and make your purchase then based on what sort of settings/resolution's you'd like.

 

[crashtech]

How about a prebuilt plus adding your own video card?

 

[crashtech]

This thread made me curious, so I spent some time looking at pre-builts, and I have to say I think most of them suck.

The one you have chosen is as good as anything else out there, which is to say not all that great...

 

[SPBHM]

you don't need more than 8GB for gaming at the moment,
I would be a little concerned about the quality of the MB for the 8350 without knowing any information about it,

also I think you are buying the wrong CPU, an i5 would be clearly better for this kind of game (if this translates well to the game you want) for the same cost
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2013/06/01/intel-core-i7-4770k-cpu-review/6
http://www.hardware.fr/articles/897-23/cpu-jeux-3d-total-war-shogun-2-skyrim.html

and with $1K I think you should try a faster card for a gaming PC (GTX 760 at least?)

 

[crashtech]

Yeah, more curiosity drove me to spec out a build with an i5 3450, 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD, Win 7 Pro x64, and a 7970, all for $988 with case, PSU, optical drive, everything except mouse and KB. I'd put it up against the pre-built in the OP any day of the week, in any game benchmark.

 

[javaman320]

you don't need more than 8GB for gaming at the moment,
I would be a little concerned about the quality of the MB for the 8350 without knowing any information about it,

also I think you are buying the wrong CPU, an i5 would be clearly better for this kind of game (if this translates well to the game you want) for the same cost
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2013/06/01/intel-core-i7-4770k-cpu-review/6
http://www.hardware.fr/articles/897-23/cpu-jeux-3d-total-war-shogun-2-skyrim.html

and with $1K I think you should try a faster card for a gaming PC (GTX 760 at least?)

So this would be a better choice then? http://www.digitalstormonline.com/comploadvanquish.asp?id=843036

 

[shady28]

You could just go for something like this, then add your own video card for ~$250.

Not many people around here can say they have 12 hyperthreaded cores. Bragging rights anyway.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/DELL-PRECIS...1079224528?pt=Desktop_PCs&hash=item27d51dccd0

This looks cool :

 

[SolMiester]

So this would be a better choice then? http://www.digitalstormonline.com/comploadvanquish.asp?id=843036

Looks good!

 

[DominionSeraph]

You could just go for something like this, then add your own video card for ~$250.

Not many people around here can say they have 12 hyperthreaded cores. Bragging rights anyway.

Too bad it would be stomped in 99.99% of games by something with a $80 i5 760.

 

[pcsavvy]

If you are interested in learning about how to DIY build there are many videos and some good books. A great reference book for anyone interested in all parts desktop computing is Scot Mueller's book "Upgrading and Repairing PC's". It is a great reference book to have on your shelf, the author updates the book about every year and it includes DVD's to watch. I like the book because not only does it talk about repairing or upgrading your pc but the history of pc's.
My 2 cents if you really want to get the best bang for your buck then DIY build is the best way to go. If you can put together a bunch lego's, you should have no problem putting together your own system.
It is not super easy but it is not difficult, just have to remember to hook up stuff correctly and carefully and double check your work prior to turning on the power.

 

[Arkaign]

Yeah, more curiosity drove me to spec out a build with an i5 3450, 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD, Win 7 Pro x64, and a 7970, all for $988 with case, PSU, optical drive, everything except mouse and KB. I'd put it up against the pre-built in the OP any day of the week, in any game benchmark.

I can do a tiny little bit better

Dell Outlet is a great place to check with stuff like this :



•Processor: Intel Core 3rd Gen i7-3770 Processor (3.40 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 3.90 GHz)
•Windows 8
•Dell Outlet XPS 8500 Desktop
•1TB Hard Drive, 3.5 Inch, 7200rpm, SATA
•8GB, DDR3 UDIMM Memory, 1600MHz, Non-ECC (2 DIMMs)
•16X DVD +/- RW Drive
•NVIDIA GeForce GT 640 1GB GDDR5

$659 free ship. Those have great power supplies for a prebuilt, they could toss the GT640 in a drawer or sell it for a case of beer, then take the $300+ saved and get a legit video card. I see some 7970 3GBs on Newegg for $319 free shipping, which gets us to $978.

It is a Dell, and it's a refurb, but it does have a warranty, it's an i7 (!), the mobo supports 32GB, I know someone with a gigabyte OC edition 6970 in one, not sure if 7970 non-Ghz is more power hungry than that card, but the 460W power supply in the 8500 seems pretty robust (more so than some of the cheapo power supplies that say they're 750W or something stupid, but feel like an empty soda can).

 

[frozentundra123456]

I can do a tiny little bit better

Dell Outlet is a great place to check with stuff like this :



•Processor: Intel Core 3rd Gen i7-3770 Processor (3.40 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 3.90 GHz)
•Windows 8
•Dell Outlet XPS 8500 Desktop
•1TB Hard Drive, 3.5 Inch, 7200rpm, SATA
•8GB, DDR3 UDIMM Memory, 1600MHz, Non-ECC (2 DIMMs)
•16X DVD +/- RW Drive
•NVIDIA GeForce GT 640 1GB GDDR5

$659 free ship. Those have great power supplies for a prebuilt, they could toss the GT640 in a drawer or sell it for a case of beer, then take the $300+ saved and get a legit video card. I see some 7970 3GBs on Neweg for $319 free shipping, which gets us to $978.

It is a Dell, and it's a refurb, but it does have a warranty, it's an i7 (!), the mobo supports 32GB, I know someone with a gigabyte OC edition 6970 in one, not sure if 7970 non-Ghz is more power hungry than that card, but the 460W power supply in the 8500 seems pretty robust (more so than some of the cheapo power supplies that say they're 750W or something stupid, but feel like an empty soda can).

I got an xps at micro center for 599.00 brand new with an i5 2320 and a HD 6450. I put that card in an old computer and replaced it with a HD 7770, and for less than 700.00 I have a decent system. Not as fast as that 3770 of course, but I am happy with it.

 

[AtenRa]

So this would be a better choice then? http://www.digitalstormonline.com/comploadvanquish.asp?id=843036

That one is very nice, nice PSU for future GPU upgrades.

 

[crashtech]

I can do a tiny little bit better

Dell Outlet is a great place to check with stuff like this :



•Processor: Intel Core 3rd Gen i7-3770 Processor (3.40 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 3.90 GHz)
•Windows 8
•Dell Outlet XPS 8500 Desktop
•1TB Hard Drive, 3.5 Inch, 7200rpm, SATA
•8GB, DDR3 UDIMM Memory, 1600MHz, Non-ECC (2 DIMMs)
•16X DVD +/- RW Drive
•NVIDIA GeForce GT 640 1GB GDDR5

$659 free ship. Those have great power supplies for a prebuilt, they could toss the GT640 in a drawer or sell it for a case of beer, then take the $300+ saved and get a legit video card. I see some 7970 3GBs on Newegg for $319 free shipping, which gets us to $978.

It is a Dell, and it's a refurb, but it does have a warranty, it's an i7 (!), the mobo supports 32GB, I know someone with a gigabyte OC edition 6970 in one, not sure if 7970 non-Ghz is more power hungry than that card, but the 460W power supply in the 8500 seems pretty robust (more so than some of the cheapo power supplies that say they're 750W or something stupid, but feel like an empty soda can).

OK, you win!

 

[Yuriman]

That one is very nice, nice PSU for future GPU upgrades.

Seconded, every part listed is from a good brand and you get a better video card too.

 

[sm625]

That PC has an old old chipset. I'd be worried about things like IRQ service times and DPC latency dragging you down.

 

[JimmyH]

Dell Outlet is a great place to check with stuff like this

Agreed! Dell Outlet refurbished with a coupon from slickdeals FTW!

If you are comfortable putting in a video card then I'd say a slickdeal on a Dell is best bang for buck. I bought a refurb'd xps 8300 w/ i5 2400 for $375. Took longer to unbox it and put on desk than install the vid card. Put a Radeon 6870 in it for $150, $525 total used it for one year and sold to co-worker for $600. $75 profit for using a decent gaming rig for a year is big Bang for buck imho.

I think you could score a refurbished XPS 8500 w/ I7 3770 for $500 w/ 20% outlet coupon. Throw in your vid card of choice, say a GeForce 760 or Radeon 7950 and you'd have a beast mode system for around $800. I'd personally try to snipe me a refurbished xps 8500 with a i5 3550 for $400 with coupon and then get a Radeon 7850 for $130. That $530 setup would bring you almost all the $1000 rig performance for half the price. Lurk around hotdeals forums on slickdeals and fat wallet & eventually u will find a slickdeal.

 

[javaman320]

Seconded, every part listed is from a good brand and you get a better video card too.

How will that DS rig handle ultra settings on current gen games - particularly something like Rome Total War 2 and Battlefield 4 or any other monster games coming out?

 

[crashtech]

How will that DS rig handle ultra settings on current gen games - particularly something like Rome Total War 2 and Battlefield 4 or any other monster games coming out?

If that is what you really want, you might be better off going with a bit less CPU and a bit more GPU, and/or raise your budget a little, or take the plunge and learn how to get it done yourself. A 770 or a 7970 is where you start getting into real high performing graphics, at least in a single-card no overclocking situation like yours.