Need some input on a gaming system for $900.

[pantsaregood]

It needs everything, including a monitor and keyboard. Budget is $900. I'm out of the loop now, so I'm not really sure what's appropriate. Hard drive prices are through the roof, which isn't very helpful.


I'm assuming something based around an i5-3450 would be appropriate.

EDIT: Right now, this looks like the best I can do:

Case:
Antec One - $56

Power Supply:
Corsair Builder Series 600W - $60

Motherboard:
ASRock H77M - $83

CPU:
Intel Core i5-3450 - $200 ($190 with $10 rebate)

RAM:
2x4 GB G-Skill DDR3 1600 - $44

GPU:
Sapphire Radeon HD 6870 - $175 ($165 with $10 rebate)

Hard Drive:
320 GB Western Digital - $69

Optical Drive:
$18

Monitor:
19" 1600x900 Acer - $100

Operating System:
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit - $100

Mouse/keyboard:
$21

Total: $926
Rebates: $10
Final: $906

 

[Denithor]

Do you plan to use a 1080p (1200p) monitor? Or lesser resolution? That will really drive your choice in GPU.

Solid middle-of-the-road system will be i5-3450 (3570k if you can stretch for it, OC yields much higher performance), Z77 motherboard, 2x4GB DDR3, ~500W PSU from good maker, DVD-RW (or BluRay drive) and case/screen/etc of your choice.

Are you going for a smaller build (mATX or mITX) or larger build (ATX)?

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

What games were you looking to play? I hate to say this but maybe a console would better suit you until you have more moola for a machine that will not upset you with it's performance.. unless you aren't shooting too high with your ideas of a good gaming rig, no offense..

 

[pantsaregood]

This isn't actually for me. My aunt wants me to build a computer for her son, and that's what I have to work with. I'm not really much of a gamer, honestly.

Though, I can't see the performance of an i5-3450 being disappointing. I've been using an i5-2500K (which was at stock speed for some time due to BIOS glitches), and I'd consider it pretty capable as a CPU.

I don't know much about GPUs, however. I would have assumed that a 6870 could push most games at 1600x900 without much trouble, though. That's not a particularly high resolution by today's standards.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

You might be able to find good deals in the For Sale/Trade section of the forums.. you need to have a visible active email address for buying and selling.

GTX 480s are going for 150

I'm sure there are some good CPUs as-well. Maybe even complete platforms ? for 300$ ??

If you have a local Micro Center you could save on some $ on a CPU..

What a great mom doing that for her son

 

[AtenRa]

I will suggest the following,

AMD FX-6100 = 139,99 Free Shipping

ASRock 970 EXTREME3 AM3+ AMD 970 = 79.99 $4.99 Shipping

G.SKILL Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) = 43,99 Free Shipping

VisionTek Radeon HD 7850 2GB = 219,99 Free Shipping

SAMSUNG B300 S23B300B Black 23" 5ms LED Monitor = 149,99 Free Shipping

Samsung by Seagate Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ/ST500DM005 500GB 7200 16MB = 69,99 Free Shipping

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM

CORSAIR Builder Series CX600 V2 600W = 69,99 (AMR 59,99) $1,19 Shipping

NZXT Source 220 CA-SO220-01 Black Steel = 38,99 (AMR 28,99) Free Shipping

Optical Drive:
$18
Mouse/keyboard:
$21

Total = 951,91
Rebates = 20
AMR = 931,91

For that you get a 23” 1080p monitor + HD7850 + 500GB HDD. Also he will be able to play with OC for both the CPU and GPU.

 

[lehtv]

Please don't listen to AtenRa's AMD FX recommendations. FX are crappy performance per watt, mediocre performance per dollar and Intel destroys them in gaming.

Mods move this to GH pls

 

[pantsaregood]

While the FX-6100 should be "good enough," why bother? An i3 would perform just as well, if not better.

He's not going to be overclocking. If I get a chance, I may overclock his GPU and flash the BIOS on it, but I don't see the point in getting a Bulldozer-based CPU just because it can be over locked.

 

[AtenRa]

More games will need 4 to 6 threads in the near future, at the same price the FX6100 when OCed will be much better than the Core i3.

 

[ShintaiDK]

More games will need 4 to 6 threads in the near future, at the same price the FX6100 when OCed will be much better than the Core i3.

Thats a bold hope, are we talking 10 years from now? New games today are still mainly 1-2 threads. Simply because they cant be multithreaded. The amount of games running with 3-4 threads can be counted on your hands.

Not to mention OCed vs stock and a power consumption through the roof. If he wanted to OC I am sure he would spend the little extra on a 3570K for the better deal.

And to the OP, remember the Microcenter deals:
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0388577
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0388579

190$ for 3570K and 150$ for 3450.

And maybe spend 5$ more on the Samsung 1.35V 30nm memory?

 

[Mallibu]

More games will need 4 to 6 threads in the near future, at the same price the FX6100 when OCed will be much better than the Core i3.

No, it wont. FX 8150 can't even beat a Pentium G 850 in a lot of games, and you talk about FX6100 beating i3 2120?
Nope,sorry, but you can dream freely.

 

[AtenRa]

Sorry but most of todays new Game Engines like FrostBite 2, Unreal Engine 3, CryEngine 3 and more they support 4 threads or more.

Even Graphical intense games like Max Payne 3 need a quad core CPU.

Not to mention that we use the PC for more than gaming and today's applications are becoming more and more multithreaded. In those conditions the FX6100 when mildly OC (default Vcore) to 3.8-4GHz will be superior to the Core i3.

 

[Mallibu]

Sorry but most of todays new Game Engines like FrostBite 2, Unreal Engine 3, CryEngine 3 and more they support 4 threads or more.

Even Graphical intense games like Max Payne 3 need a quad core CPU.

Not to mention that we use the PC for more than gaming and today's applications are becoming more and more multithreaded. In those conditions the FX6100 when mildly OC (default Vcore) to 3.8-4GHz will be superior to the Core i3.

No matter the used threads, the workload is not equal in each one, so FX's crappy IPC which is already a bottleneck, will be a big problem in near future.

And in those conditions an i5 IB is a better choice. There's just no reason to buy AMD nowadays, let alone for a gaming system as the topic starter wants.

 

[Hatisherrif]

If you want to build a gaming system, the graphics card is the most important component. No matter how faster an i5 would be, the benefit of a faster graphics card will cope with any processor bottlenecks. To be fair, if you look at AtenRa's blog, an i3 would be around an FX 4100 in terms of gaming performance and an FX 8150 around an i5 2500K, so the CPU he recommended in this case should be right in the middle.

If this is a small kid, he probably won't care about compression and encryption performance, he'll want to game well with a lot of details. While I agree that Intel has much better CPUs now, it wouldn't be foolish at all to consider a Bulldozer in this case. Bear in mind the increased power consumption though, these chips will eat your entire house out of power.

 

[ShadowVVL]

I would get the i5.

 

[Denithor]

Actually now that I know what you're doing, I recommend this instead.

Buy this: i5 2310, 8GB DDR3, 1TB HDD, Win7HP, mouse + keyboard for $375
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Inspir...esktop_PCs&hash=item3f1a402863#ht_1385wt_1135

Then get these:
VisionTek 7850 2GB for $220
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814129230

Corsair CX600 for $40 after code + rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139028

Total here for the box is $635AR. Leaving you up to $265 to find a nice monitor.

This is going to be the best you can do with that budget and honestly this setup will fly.

EDIT: As a note, I have nothing to do with this seller on eBay, other than the fact I have bought from them before and love the deals they offer.

 

[buklau]

That ebay dell is a good choice, but probably they will be using a sub 250-350 watt power supply. So I would spend some of the remaining $265 on a more decent power supply and a 1080p monitor.

 

[Joseph F]

That ebay dell is a good choice, but probably they will be using a sub 250-350 watt power supply. So I would spend some of the remaining $265 on a more decent power supply and a 1080p monitor.

He already noted that OP would need a better PSU, and listed a sweet deal on a Corsair CX600.