Yet Another Budget ($600ish) Gaming Build Thread - *System Finally Ordered*

[Paladin3]

I've got a bonus check coming and want to build a new $600ish budget gaming rig for use with my existing monitor @ 1440x900.

I plan to buy 3/2/16 via mail order in the US. I already have a copy of Windows 8.1 I will be using. I'm not loyal to any particular brand. I would be willing to overclock a bit if it can be done with the stock cooler, otherwise just stock speeds.

I would be willing to increase the budget some if I'm just below the sweet spot as far as bang for the buck goes. I might be willing to go as high as $750 if it would buy me significantly more computer for the money.

EDIT: Build revised up some, please see post #6!

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H110M-A Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($49.88 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Crucial 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($36.99 @ Adorama)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($84.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 950 2GB Superclocked Video Card ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Thermaltake VL80001W2Z ATX Mid Tower Case ($22.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: EVGA 430W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($23.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer ($14.88 @ OutletPC)
Total: $613.47
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-05 03:42 EST-0500

Thanks for any help!

Edit: I see my chosen case doesn't have a USB 3.0 header on the front. Would love a cheap recommendation for one that does.

Final Edit: I finally bought my new system, see final post for details and let me know how I did. Thanks for all the input.

 

[sttubs]

Personally I'd look at used parts (tons out there), doubling the ram & getting a better gpu.

 

[Charlie98]

Do you need an OS?

Build looks pretty decent for the money, I'd swap the EVGA PSU out for a Corsair CX430 (although I'll admit most would view it as a rotten apples vs rotten apples trade... but I've had good service out of the 3 CX's I've had.)

Take a look at the Fractal Core 1000 (or 1300,) a pretty decent budget case with 3.0 up front.

 

[lehtv]

Build looks pretty decent for the money, I'd swap the EVGA PSU out for a Corsair CX430

CX430 is twice as expensive at current prices.

(although I'll admit most would view it as a rotten apples vs rotten apples trade... but I've had good service out of the 3 CX's I've had.)

You haven't had any bad experiences with EVGA though have you? So if you're going to recommend a unit just based on personal experience, then you should also not recommend against a unit just because you haven't had any experience with it. Works both ways.

Take a look at the Fractal Core 1000 (or 1300,) a pretty decent budget case with 3.0 up front.

:thumbsup:

 

[Charlie98]

CX430 is twice as expensive at current prices.



You haven't had any bad experiences with EVGA though have you? So if you're going to recommend a unit just based on personal experience, then you should also not recommend against a unit just because you haven't had any experience with it. Works both ways.

$20 (AR) on NE this AM... I think the EVGA was $17 (AR.)

When I was hunting for my last PSU, I read the reviews for the EVGA... it looked like a very good bargain... but the reviews destroyed it and the 500w counterpart (IIRC.) I know the CX isn't though of very highly by some people, but it has been around in it's current incarnation for a while and is fairly proven, the EVGA is a newer product. All things being equal, I'd take the CX over the EVGA for this reason, and the fact that it's Bronze rated, the EVGA is not.

 

[Paladin3]

Thanks for the Fractal Core 1000 case recommendation. It looks like exactly what I want at a budget price.

I'm also upgrading to an I5-6600K chip that is on sale for $211.14 for first time buyers at Jet.com, thanks to THIS THREAD at another deal site.

Going with 16GB RAM since memory is so cheap right now.

My build now looks something like this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($254.89 @ OutletPC) ($211.14 @ Jet.com)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H110M-A Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($49.88 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Crucial 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($68.99 @ Adorama)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($84.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 950 2GB Superclocked Video Card ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: EVGA 430W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($23.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer ($14.88 @ OutletPC)
Total: 712.38 $668.63
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-06 11:40 EST-0500

Which makes me think my GTX 950 GPU might now be the bottleneck in the system. Any thoughts or recommendations? Again, I really like to buy in at the sweet spot considering bang for the buck, but I only game on a 22" monitor at 1440x900.

Thanks again for all the advice. Can't wait to drop the hammer on this system March 1st.

 

[Charlie98]

Well, just remember, those prices will have changed by 1MAR, you will probably have to check prices again before finalizing your component purchases.

2 caveats on the Core1000 case... the USB ports and power button are on the right side of the case; the only way this is a problem is if it's in a computer cabinet or something where you don't have access to the sides. In my case, the PC I built for my inlaws, that is the problem... so we have to slide it out a tad to be able to use the USB ports. The other is the wonky HDD mount tray, it mounts the HDDs vertically. It's not really a problem, it's just unusual, and doesn't help with cable management. It is a decent case beyond that.

Glad you went to 2x sticks RAM; in your original build you were already tapping the budget, so I didn't suggest it.

What games will you be playing? I'd hate to see you spend even $125 on a GPU and be disappointed, particularly the poor valued GTX950. A proper i5 gaming system should have a GTX970 (or equivalent AMD card) as a starting point, but that depends if you are playing checkers or Fallout4...

 

[Paladin3]

Well, just remember, those prices will have changed by 1MAR, you will probably have to check prices again before finalizing your component purchases.

2 caveats on the Core1000 case... the USB ports and power button are on the right side of the case; the only way this is a problem is if it's in a computer cabinet or something where you don't have access to the sides. In my case, the PC I built for my inlaws, that is the problem... so we have to slide it out a tad to be able to use the USB ports. The other is the wonky HDD mount tray, it mounts the HDDs vertically. It's not really a problem, it's just unusual, and doesn't help with cable management. It is a decent case beyond that.

Glad you went to 2x sticks RAM; in your original build you were already tapping the budget, so I didn't suggest it.

What games will you be playing? I'd hate to see you spend even $125 on a GPU and be disappointed, particularly the poor valued GTX950. A proper i5 gaming system should have a GTX970 (or equivalent AMD card) as a starting point, but that depends if you are playing checkers or Fallout4...

Well, poop, that may be a deal killer on the right side mounted USB ports. Thanks for the heads up.

I'm currently only gaming on an older 22" monitor with a native 1440x900 resolution, but I want to play newer games at medium or higher settings:

Bioshock Infinite
Fallout 4
Star Wars Battlefront
The Witcher 3
Assassins Creed
Bloodborne
Just about everything made after 2010ish.

Hmmm...maybe lay out the cash for a new monitor that will keep up with a GTX970 or better.

 

[Paladin3]

I finally bought my new system:

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($210.82 @ Jet.com)
CPU Cooler: ARCTIC Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 45.0 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler ($22.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H110M-A Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($37.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill NT Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($59.49 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($86.99 @ Newegg.com)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($53.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 FD-CA-CORE-1000-USB3-BL Black Steel MicroATX Mid Tower Computer Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Raidmax Cobra 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer ($13.99 @ Newegg)
&
1 x ($289.99 @ Newegg.com) ZOTAC GeForce GTX 970 DirectX 12 ZT-90101-10P 4GB 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support G-SYNC Support Video Card
1 x FREE digital copy of The Division PC game
1 x FREE ZOTAC USB 3.0 to 2.5" SATA III SSD / Hard Drive Adapter Cable - SATA to USB 3.0 Converter for SSD/HDD (ZTADP-S3U3-1153E)

All of it came from Newegg, except for the processor that I ordered from Jet.com. I already have a copy of Windows 8.1 to use.

Total price after rebates: $836.22. It's a bit more than I started out to spend, but I got a good GPU, a SSD, full 16GBs of memory and a free $70 game I was probably going to buy anyway. Someone gifted me a new 32" 1080p TV that I am using as a monitor, so I'm no longer gaming at 1440x900 and I needed the GTX 970 rather than the 950 I was planning on buying.

Thoughts on how I did?

 

[VirtualLarry]

Thoughts on how I did?

Not bad at all. Looks like a decent rig.

Just a few minor issues:

PSU - probably could have bought a better brand. That being said, I bought four Raidmax PSUs myself, because they were on sale. The ones I got were 80Plus Bronze, so they couldn't have been too horrible, considering 80Plus involves some load testing.

I don't know that I would use them in my personal systems, though.

HDD - WD is good, no issues there, but occasionally the Toshiba P300 (I think that's the model?) is $45 for 1TB. So could have saved $8 there.

 

[Paladin3]

I don't know if it's just me, but there seems to be way more angst and worry over new builds in these threads that may be strictly necessary. My system has been outdated, even for casual gaming, for at least 3-4 years. I've been serious about buying a new one for over a year, and have had the cash burning a hole in my pocket for the last month.

During all that time I read countless threads on new builds and advice over which video card or CPU was 2% faster or the best bang for the buck at the time. Then I started my own thread and spent hours tweaking the "perfect" budget build. When I finally sat down to order the parts last night I was *STILL* agonizing over exactly which ones to buy.

The whole time the little kid in me kept screaming "just buy it so we can play some cool game!" We sure can make something as simple as buying a new computer into a complicated ordeal.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I think that you did just fine. I wouldn't agonize over it. Just build the thing, and enjoy!