Advice for mid-range Gaming-PC building

[Kei_Age]

Greetings to all Gurus and experienced out there!
I want to build a new mid-range gaming pc to replace my more than 2 year-old laptop; but I'm a total NEWBIE, so, I really need a lot of help;
I would appreciate a lot for the advice and feedback on the specifics and possible the pricing too;


***i did some research and for now a very simple idea of building specs that i was thinking:
1) AMD FX6300 or i5-4440 for CPU (would lower the budget for cpu, prioritize GPU)

2) two corsair vengeance 1600MHz 4GB DDR3 for a total 8GB RAM

3) GTX650Ti 2GB DDR5 for GPU or better (for games like battlefield 3, or maybe crisis 3)

4) SSD 60 or 120GB (or should i get one if it's within budget?)

5) HDD 500GB WD caviar blue

6) motherboard, supports usb3.0, sata3 slots (please tell me what the other important point of considerations for a motherboard?)

7) other stuffs like casing, power supply unit (how much power would be a safer choice?)

i have no clue what to choose...


***my budget for a above items are about sgd700, doable?


***priority is for gaming, so i assume highest budget allocation is on my GPU? (please correct me if lacking something)


***i'm planning to get a new monitor screen 19inch, and to go for window-shopping (or real-shop) during the coming SITEX IT SHOW at the EXPO, so any advice/strategy on how to hunt for pc components is very much appreciate =D

 

[royfrosty]

$700 is very tight to fit in everything.

Please state what else you need.

1. Monitor?
2. Windows 7/8?
3. Keyboard & mouse?
4. Wifi card?

Cause if you need everything then the $700 will definitely burst. Whats more with an SSD included.

And furthermore it wont fair well in the games you wanna play with a gtx650ti.

Best budget range would be around $1k.

 

[Jian19]

For ur budget abit tight..

i5-3350p + Asrock b75m dgs ~ $271
Adata 8gb ddr3 ~ $85
Hitachi 500gb ~ $60
PC 7850 2gb ~ $222
CM 311 + Fsp hexa 500w ~ $105

Total ~ $743 buy and DIY @ tradepac ask for discount..

 

[Kei_Age]

OO! thanks to royfrosty and jian19 for the feedback! =D

it's sgd700 budget only for the whole cpu tower for gaming;

and it's without monitor keyboard and mouse; if so, will it still in within budget?

ok, i should lower the cpu to i5-3350p(as suggested by jian19) or maybe to i5-3470? from what i read online is that 3350p lacks integrated graphic processor, and 3470 is USD10 slightly more ex than the previous...

anyway, including a SSD in the budget is impossible as suggested from both replies 0_0;

so, pc 7859 2gb is referring to amd radeon 7850 2gb ddr5 right? should i assume that it's performance is on par with gtx650ti (yet cheaper)?

ohya, any chance of having bottleneck in performance for each component?

 

[HairySpice]

Use Gigabyte b85m-d3h + 4570 is only afew dollars more compared to 4440 and way better performance. Since you not overclocking and only gaming, can use stock cooler like me. The temps about 40-55 degrees depending on game.
Get a 1TB Harddisk no need ssd.
Get a value ram 1600mhz 4gb x 2.
Any dvd-rom as long as is the cheapest.
PSU Thermaltake smart SE 600w
As for VGA, u wanna play those games of your in ultra mode, your best bet is at least AMD 270x.
Buy from Tradepac

Casing and OS wise, is your choice. Because the above is already above $700.
If you are playing at minimal, consider amd apu, sure below budget.

 

[Kei_Age]

As for VGA, u wanna play those games of your in ultra mode, your best bet is at least AMD 270x.

If you are playing at minimal, consider amd apu, sure below budget.

sorry, just to clarify: so, it means that amd r270x will just be enough to play crysis 3 at high setting like 1020p? if say i play with medium setting, what kind of lower options do i have?

i spent alot of time infront of computer, videos, word processing, internet surfing, light gaming 1 or 2 hours, and sometimes can be 10 hours straight of gamings (on holidays); is amd apu viable option for me?
thanks =D

 

[royfrosty]

For $700 it is still too tight to enjoy your games properly.

gtx650ti is no where near 7850 yet. gtx650ti boost then is on par. Reconsider your budget and you can enjoy your games better.

 

[HairySpice]

Just as what frosty said.

From the things you are doing, apu is the best option within budget that outperforms haswell especially gaming and video. If you need more graphics power, u can buy a 7750 and a 6800k and have it crossfire.
But, say if u have money to buy a 770 or 280x, you will be bottlenecking the graphics. Then haswell is the best option.

Do you need a computer urgently? If not, you can wait for kaveri apu which is said to be 30% better than current. I dont know if is true about the performance, it should be out 1st Q next year.

If you need one urgently, here is a rough price range of apu costing,

Gigabyte A88X g.1 sniper + 6800k = $349 this board can support kaveri, u can buy when is out. Also the best onboard sound option no need for sound card. Tradepac
Ram, g.skills 1866 c9 = $125 cybermind you need to get higher frequency ram to operate games and 1866 is just ok, if u have more cash, splurge on 2133 and above.
Psu, thermaltake smart se 500w $78 laser
Harddisk, toshiba 1tb hd $77 laser
Dvdrom, liteon $24 cybermind
Lastly, u need a case... Look for anything about $47.

There you go, $700 budget gaming machine. Go read a review, is pretty awesome.

 

[Jian19]

Huh 6800k

 

[HairySpice]

if compare haswell and 6800k built-in graphics... in games and videos AMD wins hands down.
if compare any other things, haswell wins.

Currently, playing my games with intel hd4600 built in haswell.... CMI
Not smooth at all.

 

[Jian19]

If u got dedicate gfx hoot intel is confirm better one

If u wan to have a HTPC with light gaming then 5800k,6800k is good

 

[HairySpice]

Yes but the problem is his budget and gaming, amd is good in that sense.

 

[Jian19]

I rather u get a i5 quad with 7850 2gb at least u can play most game on med-high, next time upgrade pun easier

 

[HairySpice]

I rather u get a i5 quad with 7850 2gb at least u can play most game on med-high, next time upgrade pun easier

I agree with you. But again is his $700 that is limiting.
7850 cannot run modern games on high setting smoothly.
7870 or 270x is a world of difference.
but 7850 is way better than apu... unless he is willing to use an i3...
These days games are running all 4 cores already.

 

[Kei_Age]

I agree with you. But again is his $700 that is limiting.
7850 cannot run modern games on high setting smoothly.
7870 or 270x is a world of difference.
but 7850 is way better than apu... unless he is willing to use an i3...
These days games are running all 4 cores already.

I rather u get a i5 quad with 7850 2gb at least u can play most game on med-high, next time upgrade pun easier

hmm, after some consideration, i start to think that getting i5 quad cpu pluls 2gb gpu build spec may not be a good option for me... maybe an amd fx6300 or i3?

and also, i checked some guides online, do i really need an i5 quad cpu and 2gb gpu for crysis 3? got this guy austin evans posting a guide on youtube on building gaming pc for usd400 (about 500sgd)? can tell me how u guys think about this built specs?

i'm ok with medium setting while gaming, not very demanding on high settings, definitely not looking for ultra mode lol

and thanks for providing feedbacks again =D

 

[twasken]

hmm, after some consideration, i start to think that getting i5 quad cpu pluls 2gb gpu build spec may not be a good option for me... maybe an amd fx6300 or i3?

and also, i checked some guides online, do i really need an i5 quad cpu and 2gb gpu for crysis 3? got this guy austin evans posting a guide on youtube on building gaming pc for usd400 (about 500sgd)? can tell me how u guys think about this built specs?

i'm ok with medium setting while gaming, not very demanding on high settings, definitely not looking for ultra mode lol

and thanks for providing feedbacks again =D

Games like Crysis 3 can be quite CPU dependent, so always better to go for quad core. Check out this article - Ivy Bridge quad cores can squeeze up to 7 more frames per sec on lowest settings. Lots of calculations for your CPU to do in Crysis 3 so a quad-core can definitely process info much faster than dual core (simplistically speaking).

If you're looking to play at medium settings, a 7850 will do well at about 40 FPS on full HD. Check out this other article. Best to pair a quad-core CPU with a mid-tier GPU like the 7850 for the best results. Your budget of ~$700 allows as Jian19 recommended, so why not?

Out of curiosity, I checked out the Austin Evans U$400 build (July 2013). A AMD X4 750K + a AMD 7770 can be underwhelming if you want to try Crysis 3 at medium.

Last thing, having more VRAM on a GPU is a misnomer for a "good GPU". I recall some Acer "gaming PC" a year ago with a GT630 4GB VRAM that's really... lol.

 

[HairySpice]

amd fx6300 is a better option than i3.
Right now, is the core game. The more cores you have, the better the games in future is gonna run. But most games today optimizes 4 cores.
CPU doesn't help much in games. It just helps in the physics and calculations. GPU renders the drawings and effects. The more expensive the card, the quicker the drawing.

So it boils down to, what video card are you getting? i3 with the latest cards... you gonna suffer bad bottlenecks. fx6300 is slightly better than i3.
We are talking about gaming applications.

My suggestion is go for 6800K apu, it works perfect for the time being. Until you have enough budget, upgrade the card to 270x.

 

[royfrosty]

hmm, after some consideration, i start to think that getting i5 quad cpu pluls 2gb gpu build spec may not be a good option for me... maybe an amd fx6300 or i3?

and also, i checked some guides online, do i really need an i5 quad cpu and 2gb gpu for crysis 3? got this guy austin evans posting a guide on youtube on building gaming pc for usd400 (about 500sgd)? can tell me how u guys think about this built specs?

i'm ok with medium setting while gaming, not very demanding on high settings, definitely not looking for ultra mode lol

and thanks for providing feedbacks again =D

Is best to go for the FX6300 instead of the i3. Or get at least an i5.

Games like Farcry 3, Tombraider, Hitman, Battlefield 4. This games utilizes more than 4 cores. Giving AMD a slight advantage over Intel core advantages.

However, with your current budget it could be best to go for an APU rig with slight overclock.

Asrock FM2A75M DGS + A10-6800k ~ $280
ADATA 8gb 1600mhz ~ $85
Hitachi Deskstar 500gb ~ $58
Powercolor 7750 1gb ~ $122
CM311 + FSP Hexa 500w ~ $105

Total $650 Buy at tradepac DIY.

Run the 7750 and iGPU in Xfire to get performance boost. OC the ram to 1866mhz to boost your overall iGPU performance further.

For intel rig i suggest you get another lower end board. And lastly drop the ram to 4gb instead of 8gb. You are still able to game. But not multitasking heavily.

Asrock H71M DGS + i5-3350p ~ $255
ADATA 4gb 1600mhz ~ $45
Hitachi Deskstar 500gb ~ $58
Powercolor 7850 2gb ~ $222
CM311 + FSP Hexa 500w ~ $105

Total ~ $685 Buy at tradepac. DIY

Lets just say you go for APU rig. It is able to be overclocked, increasing the overall speed of the igpu. With a high speed ram it will match a 7850 performance. But you are probably running at a limit of your PC.

 

[HairySpice]

I think i will go for the 2nd option, though is EOL parts.
TS, try going to the garage forum to find 2nd hand parts... sure below $700.
When you purchase with a buyer, ensure that there is still warranty for it.

For graphic card, go for 7870 and above amd or GTX660 ti and above for nvidia. *50 and below for both nvidia and amd, don't buy.

example amd 7850 or GTX650, these cards only play well on medium to low settings.

 

[Kei_Age]

Games like Crysis 3 can be quite CPU dependent, so always better to go for quad core. Ivy Bridge quad cores can squeeze up to 7 more frames per sec on lowest settings. Lots of calculations for your CPU to do in Crysis 3 so a quad-core can definitely process info much faster than dual core (simplistically speaking).

If you're looking to play at medium settings, a 7850 will do well at about 40 FPS on full HD. Best to pair a quad-core CPU with a mid-tier GPU like the 7850 for the best results. Your budget of ~$700 allows as Jian19 recommended, so why not?

Is best to go for the FX6300 instead of the i3. Or get at least an i5.

Games like Farcry 3, Tombraider, Hitman, Battlefield 4. This games utilizes more than 4 cores. Giving AMD a slight advantage over Intel core advantages.

For intel rig i suggest you get another lower end board. And lastly drop the ram to 4gb instead of 8gb. You are still able to game. But not multitasking heavily.

Asrock H71M DGS + i5-3350p ~ $255
ADATA 4gb 1600mhz ~ $45
Hitachi Deskstar 500gb ~ $58
Powercolor 7850 2gb ~ $222
CM311 + FSP Hexa 500w ~ $105

Total ~ $685 Buy at tradepac. DIY

Lets just say you go for APU rig. It is able to be overclocked, increasing the overall speed of the igpu. With a high speed ram it will match a 7850 performance. But you are probably running at a limit of your PC.

I think i will go for the 2nd option, though is EOL parts.
TS, try going to the garage forum to find 2nd hand parts... sure below $700.
When you purchase with a buyer, ensure that there is still warranty for it.

For graphic card, go for 7870 and above amd or GTX660 ti and above for nvidia. *50 and below for both nvidia and amd, don't buy.

example amd 7850 or GTX650, these cards only play well on medium to low settings.

I rather u get a i5 quad with 7850 2gb at least u can play most game on med-high, next time upgrade pun easier

really appreciate alot for the feedbacks, i've learned quite a few (still need to learn more =D)

and...

@_@ yes, after doing some reading, and pondering for a while...

i5 quad with amd7850/gtx650 rig lor ^^;
then i will just add a cheap dvd burner, a wifi card, get a 2nd hand 19' monitor, and a new win8.1 OS, probably will still be able to keep my overall budget still within 1k(i hope...)

WILL POST UPDATES AFTER PURCHASE!! =D

one last question 0_0;
if say, i expand my budget a bit and get 2X4gb 1866MHz ram instead... doable within budget of 1k?