Suggestions requested for a $600-700 gaming rig
Hey there fellow Icrontians. My roommate came to me today for help, wanting to start ordering parts for a new PC rig. He's looking to keep the budget around $700, which sounds ample for a nice workstation and gaming rig. He's not looking to play Shattered Horizon on max settings, but something decent would be nice. Only problem is, I'm a bit out of touch with the current lineup of hardware offered. Plus, I myself am considering an overhaul, so this will greatly help me as well.
I know Thrax had a page for a $600 gaming rig, but I was wondering if that was a bit outdated since CES has come and gone.
If you know a good forum thread I should check out, let me know. Or toss out a few suggestions for good quality "budget" hardware, especially mobo's, RAM, processors, and graphics cards. And of course, feel free to give a few options in case there's more than one prominent option that varies based on tastes.
Thank you all very much in advance!
I know Thrax had a page for a $600 gaming rig, but I was wondering if that was a bit outdated since CES has come and gone.
If you know a good forum thread I should check out, let me know. Or toss out a few suggestions for good quality "budget" hardware, especially mobo's, RAM, processors, and graphics cards. And of course, feel free to give a few options in case there's more than one prominent option that varies based on tastes.
Thank you all very much in advance!
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Comments
Thanks man, I greatly appreciate it! I look forward to seeing the updates (if any apply).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146059
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128378
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131327
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341010
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103706
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231185
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148397
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118030
Actually, not only would I not mind, I would be delighted to go through the affiliate link. I didn't realize that you guys even had one. I'll be sure to spread that knowledge when I help people pick out hardware! =D
Also, thank you very much Thrax for the hardware suggestions, especially for including links to the newegg sites! I'll pass these on to my friend as well.
The only question I have, though, is what about Intel processors? Are they nice right now, or are they overpriced?
So AMD still has the best "bang for the buck" value in the budget area?
The issue is that I was hoping to get a $600 computer including monitor costs in there. Seeing as a decent monitor is at least $100, I'm curious about cost-cutting this build. So, would anyone be able to reccommend a graphics card thats a step down from that one? (I might figure out some way to justify that one as it's a sweet one, but...yeah.)
The other thing is that I have a perfectly-working 360gb 2.5" laptop hard drive. Is there any way to mount that as a hard drive in a desktop? Every little bit of money helps, so if it's cheaper than the $40 hard drive Thrax linked, that'd be fantastic.
Anyways, thanks! (And yes, when I have the money to buy, i'll be buying through the affiliate link!)
As to your hard drive question: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817997007&cm_re=2.5%22_converter-_-17-997-007-_-Product
If you are in such a tight budget, I suggest do not waste money on any lower grade graphics card at all. Switch to a 785G motherboard and live with it until you can buy a graphics card at least as good as Thrax suggested.
@OP, the system Thrax recommended is almost the ideal system on budget. If you can stretch your budget a little more, I would highly recommend starting with 4GB RAM, at least 500GB HD, and an aftermarket cooler (for overclocking obviously). All these upgrades should cost less than $100. My experience is that 2 to 4 GB system memory makes noticeable difference especially in the latest games and 64-bit Windows. You will be filling up 160GB very quickly and 500GB is just $15-20 more. Aftermarket cooler is optional but if you intend to overclock that is a must. Overclocking can also improve your system performance substantially but you need to spend time to achieve that.
I'm going to 2nd that, I recently built a windows 7 system with a 4870 for graphics and 2 gb of ram, and even though framerates are fairly consistent, there are definitely some major load time issues in certain games, and enough to be fairly disruptive at times. 4GB is a must have. If money is a factor and your not looking to do a big overclock, you could possibly go with slower RAM to save a few bucks, all DDR3 performs fairly well if you don't intend to overclock, if you do though, the quality of RAM you purchase can make a huge difference, but without a doubt, get a 4GB kit.
Your budget puts you in an interesting place as far as where your going to spend your graphics budget. You could go about it a number of ways. I think Robert's recommendation is solid considering you can just crossfire a 2nd in later if you need a performance bump, but if your feeling really strapped for cash and you don't necessarily want to play Dirt 2 in all its glory, you could get one of the 4850's that are still sitting around for $99, but then your probably going to be left holding a card later on as eventually you will long for DX11. You could compromise a tiny bit and get a 5750 which will save you all about $40 or so for about a 15% loss in performance, or, you could save to re budget for a 5850 which offers awe inspiring performance, but will probably run you at least $100 over budget.
This looks like an excellent idea. I know i'll have money for a great graphics card in a year or so, so that'll be perfect for upgrades. And considering i'm going up from a laptop running a GeForce Go 6150, the graphics should look far better even with just the integrated Radeon HD 4200.
And aside from crossfireX possibilites with that integrated GPU and a later added one, that should give me money to spare for 2 more GB of Ram.
I can't tell if there's any significant differences between this case and the one Thrax posted, but does this look good? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146058
Do you need some sort of adapter plug to get the cables to connect?
Alright, thanks everybody. I'll be sure to let you guys know of my inevitable computer construction failures and successes-thanks-to-my-friends-who-know-what-they're-doing in a month or two when I get this sucker built.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231193
and
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277
?
Aside from the physical look and the price, I don't see any (so I'd go with the ones that are $10 cheaper) of course, but I want to make sure I didn't miss anything.
Who to trust?
EDIT: It's not a big deal, I guess, as it appears to be the best possible mobo with a integrated GPU.
You are not going to try to game on that integrated GPU are you? Unless you just want to run Counter Strike at medium res every now and then?
I have been gaming with WoW, TF2, and Civ 4 with a GeForce Go 6150 integrated POS for 3 years.
Before that, I was in an even worse spot, still with integrated.
So...yes.
(I'd love a dedicated card. I'd also love to own a working computer again within a month or so. Due to the fact that I am a poor college student, purchasing a decent dedicated card wouldn't allow that to happen. So, rather than wait out 3 months without any computer, I'm buying a mobo with an integrated card to last me for a year or so, after which i'll buy an great dedicated card).
::P
And thanks mirage.