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[Solved] Constructing Affordable Gaming PC

Forum Homebuilt Systems : Homebuilt [Solved] Constructing Affordable Gaming PC

Best answer from pacioli.

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Approximate Purchase Date: Planning on having the money in a couple of months

Budget Range: $400-$600

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Browsing the Internet, Watching Media Files

Parts Not Required: Keyboard, Mouse, Speakers, Monitors

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: NewEgg

Country: United States

Parts Preferences: I have recently bought the NZXT Full Tower Case, I would prefer an Intel Motherboard that can accept an i5 or i7 processor and comes with crossfire capability. Also i would like it to include Raid capabilities in the Bios

Overclocking: No real preference

SLI or Crossfire: Yes to Crossfire

Monitor Resolution: 1920x10801680x1050

Reply to djalec
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If anyone would be kind enough to help me find the parts i'm looking for it would be greatly appreciated as I have yet to find a suitable motherboard.

djalec wrote :

Approximate Purchase Date: Planning on having the money in a couple of months

Budget Range: $400-$600

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Browsing the Internet, Watching Media Files

Parts Not Required: Keyboard, Mouse, Speakers, Monitors

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: NewEgg

Country: United States

Parts Preferences: I have recently bought the NZXT Full Tower Case, I would prefer an Intel Motherboard that can accept an i5 or i7 processor and comes with crossfire capability. Also i would like it to include Raid capabilities in the Bios

Overclocking: No real preference

SLI or Crossfire: Yes to Crossfire

Monitor Resolution: 1920x10801680x1050



Reply to djalec
Best answer

OK so here goes...
You could probably upgrade the Graphics to a Radeon 6870 and still be in the budget...

ASUS P8Z68-V LX LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
Mail in Rebate Card
$124.99

XFX HD-685X-ZCFC Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
Mail in Rebate Card
$159.99

CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 V2 (CMPSU-430CXV2) 430W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply
Mail in Rebate Card
$44.99

Intel Core i3-2120 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000 BX80623I32120
$129.99

Patriot Signature 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory with heatshield Model PSD38G1600KH
$41.99

Refurbished: HITACHI Deskstar 7K1000.B HDT721064SLA360 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -
$69.99

LG 22X Super-Multi DVD Burner Black SATA Model GH22NS90B - OEM
$16.99

Total = $573.93 Before Mail In Rebates
After rebates = $533.93


Message edited by pacioli on 02-14-2012 at 06:23:59 PM
------------------------------ ____________________
Intel Core i5-2500K @ 4.75Ghz/ASUS P8P67 PRO/EVGA SC GTX 560 Ti/CORSAIR 850HX PSU/Crucial RealSSD C300 64GB SATA III/SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 1TB x 2 (Raid 1 Storage)/CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB DDR3 1600/CM HAF 932/CORSAIR H70
Reply to pacioli

Thank you very much for the help!

Reply to djalec

I just finished building a cheap gaming rig a couple days ago and here is what I used:

Intel Core i3-2120 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000 $128

GIGABYTE GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard $117

CORSAIR XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Desktop Memory Model CMX8GX3M2A1333C9 $50

MSI R6870 Twin Frozr II Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX $199 ($179 w/MIR)

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

Rosewill Blackbone Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case $40

OCZ ModXStream Pro 500W Modular High Performance Power Supply $70



My total was $622, but I didn't need a Hard Drive. I also went with what was on sale on Newegg, so I had $17 taken off for combos and $28 off what the prices are now (which is what I listed). Add in the Mail in Rebates and that was another $40. So altogether without a Hard Drive including the MIRs it cost me $537. You don't need a case either, so take my $40 off for that and you should be able to buy a hard drive and still keep it under $600. This setup runs like a champ for me and I'm playing everything on Ultra settings on 1680 x 1050 and most on 1920 x 1080. You can probably even get an aftermarket fan and keep it under $600.

Hope this helps!

Reply to Eisbrecher34

Are there any i5 processors that are compatable with that motherboard? I like everything else about the build except for the i3.

Reply to djalec

Yes all the socket 1155 i5 processors are compatible with that motherboard.

Reply to Pezcore27

Yes just like pezcore27 said; all the 1155 i5 processors are compatible. They also cost $80-120 more depending on which one you buy. I know you are trying to keep it under $600, and the difference when it comes to straight gaming will not be much, maybe a couple FPS. The difference would be in general computer performance with tasks such as photo / video editing.

http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] 20-10.html

This was a good article on this site, and on the last slide you can see that there isn't very much difference in the average FPS for gaming.

Reply to Eisbrecher34

Ok, so for the same price, which one would you recommend?

Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 BX80623I52500K

Intel Core i7-2600 Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000 BX80623I72600

Reply to djalec

I don't know where you are finding them for the same price; the cheapest I could find the i7-2600 or 2600k is around $300 while the i5-2500k is around $230.

But, if you can find them for the same price I would say the I7 only because it would be better overall performance. The i5-2500k is pretty much the gold standard for budget / mid range gaming right now though, with how much you can overclock it and the price that it is at it is the best bang for the buck.

Reply to Eisbrecher34

Where did you find an i7-2600. For the same price as a 2500k? Let me know because ill buy one tomorrow.

Reply to Pezcore27

Sorry, I read the prices wrong. That's why I was just confused as you when I first saw that.

Reply to djalec

The i5 2500K overclocked will easily outperform the i7 2600 in gaming. The 2600 is a mere 100 mhz faster than the 2500K at stock speeds. Sure the 2600 has hyperthreading and 2 mb more of cache. Hyperthreading actually harms gaming performance as has been shown when you clock a 2500K and a 2600K to the same speed, the 2500K outperforms the 2600K.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083 [...] -tested/20

------------------------------ ____________________
Intel Core i5-2500K @ 4.75Ghz/ASUS P8P67 PRO/EVGA SC GTX 560 Ti/CORSAIR 850HX PSU/Crucial RealSSD C300 64GB SATA III/SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 1TB x 2 (Raid 1 Storage)/CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB DDR3 1600/CM HAF 932/CORSAIR H70
Reply to pacioli

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey

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Reply to Mousemonkey
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