Advice needed!

[motomage]

I have been saving for 2 years now and would like to build the most cost efficient desktop. I have a budget of $1000 for the desktop. I play mostly only dota2 but would like to play some other games too.

To my understanding, this build should be good enough to play dota on the highest setting right? http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/hardware-clinic-2/buyers-guide-ii-extreme-high-end-mid-range-budget-entry-level-systems-part-2-a-3396832-632.html

Mid-Range Systems
Intel Core i5 3470 & Asrock B75 PRO3 M ~ $345
or AMD FX-8150 & ASUS M5A78L-M LX3 ~ $348
G.Skill DDR3-1600MHz 8GB (2X4GB) ~ $77
Gigabyte R9 270X~ $309 or Gigabyte GTX 660 ~ $
HDD 1TB ~ $82
Samsung SATA 24X DVD Rewriter ~ $24
Superflower HX 500 500W ~ $90
Ikonik EN2 ~ $55
Total ~ $11XX

On a scale of 1-10, I suppose this would be somewhere near 5.5? If I want a 7/10 desktop, how much more will it cost roughly?

Since the guide is a bit "old" from now, is there any recommendation on parts that can be further optimized?
and shops/online store for the parts ?

What are some brand of headsets/mouse/keyboard that are at mid range level to recommend?

Thank you!

 

[spiky0180]

You need OS, mouse, keyboard, wifi, headset? If yes, are they part of your $1000 budget?

 

[avsquare]

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On a scale of 1-10, I suppose this would be somewhere near 5.5? If I want a 7/10 desktop, how much more will it cost roughly?

Rating such as X out of 10 are going to be very subjective to individual, but if I were to look at something that I'd rate minimally as 7/10 (mainly based on CPU/GPU combination, other parts can cheapo a bit without much performance loss), a ballpark would be

- an i5 non-K chip (4460 to 4690) with mobo combo, approx $370-430
- a mid tier GPU like GTX 970, approx $480
- 8GB value RAM, approx $60
- an entry level 240/250GB SSD, approx $120
- a WD Blue 1TB drive for storage, approx $75
- FSP 80+ 550W Hexa Plus PSU, approx $70

This core skeleton itself will set you back $1175-1235, prices quoted from PCThemes. As these prices are already the cheaper items so I doubt there is a large room for haggling, you can shop around SLS or even look at lazada promo codes etc, you might be able to bring the above total down by $50 ballpark maybe.

Add in OS (OEM) and a reasonable casing and maybe an optical drive you might be looking at $13XX. $13XX to $16XX is about the average cost of an upper-mid range rig that sports at least an i5 CPU and a GTX 970 or equivalent GPU that is able to power most game at high settings on 1080p to be considered worthy of a 7/10 rating, at least to me.

A budget of $1000 would restrict you to a pretty much entry level gaming rig mainly for non-demanding games that are typically MOBA or games like CS:GO

 

[motomage]

You need OS, mouse, keyboard, wifi, headset? If yes, are they part of your $1000 budget?

I have OS, mouse and keyboarde. What is wifi? I ddon't need if I can use ethernet cable right?

 

[motomage]

Rating such as X out of 10 are going to be very subjective to individual, but if I were to look at something that I'd rate minimally as 7/10 (mainly based on CPU/GPU combination, other parts can cheapo a bit without much performance loss), a ballpark would be

- an i5 non-K chip (4460 to 4690) with mobo combo, approx $370-430
- a mid tier GPU like GTX 970, approx $480
- 8GB value RAM, approx $60
- an entry level 240/250GB SSD, approx $120
- a WD Blue 1TB drive for storage, approx $75
- FSP 80+ 550W Hexa Plus PSU, approx $70

This core skeleton itself will set you back $1175-1235, prices quoted from PCThemes. As these prices are already the cheaper items so I doubt there is a large room for haggling, you can shop around SLS or even look at lazada promo codes etc, you might be able to bring the above total down by $50 ballpark maybe.

Add in OS (OEM) and a reasonable casing and maybe an optical drive you might be looking at $13XX. $13XX to $16XX is about the average cost of an upper-mid range rig that sports at least an i5 CPU and a GTX 970 or equivalent GPU that is able to power most game at high settings on 1080p to be considered worthy of a 7/10 rating, at least to me.

A budget of $1000 would restrict you to a pretty much entry level gaming rig mainly for non-demanding games that are typically MOBA or games like CS:GO

Thanks! Very informative and direct for me!
Now I just need to decide whether to get a upper or lower middle range rig..

 

[spiky0180]

Thanks! Very informative and direct for me!
Now I just need to decide whether to get a upper or lower middle range rig..

Don't want to burst your bubble.

What about consider this build? Can manage mid-high settings for AAA titles. From PC Theme Pricelist:

Mobo+CPU: Asrock H81M-HDS + i5 4460 (335)
Ram: 8gb Kingston DDR3 valueram (61)
GPU+PSU: Zotac Gtx 960 + Seasonic S12G 450W PSU (349 *CNY promo)
Casing: Coolermaster N200 non-window (61) (add $5 for window)
HDD: Western Digital blue 1tb (77)
SSD: Transcend 256gb SSD (109 from lazada)

Total: $992 / $997 w window case

Bargain for discount. Prices exclude assembly fee.

Alternative SSD: Crucial BX200 240gb (115 from PC theme if you cannot wait)

 

[motomage]

actually, i dont know too much about the hardware stuff. So any recommendation is good for me, hahaha..

For ssd, my friend was saying that Transcend is not as good as samsung.. Hmm any verdicts on this?

 

[spiky0180]

Transcend is just cheap and good. Samsung definitely perform better, but pay a bit more. Your budget tight so I just propose transcend. But I think you will barely feel the difference when using in real-life.

I using Samsung SSD. I recommend if you really want to get, buy from Lazada cheaper. With discount codes can be as cheap as transcend.

Another alternative is zotac ssd, also from lazada.

 

[motomage]

GPU+PSU: Zotac Gtx 960 + Seasonic S12G 450W PSU (349 *CNY promo)

Where do I get this cny promo??

 

[kandinsky]

Where do I get this cny promo??

PCT: https://www.facebook.com/PCThemes/posts/827223157399558
https://www.facebook.com/PCThemes/photos/p.827755520679655/827755520679655/?type=3&theater

 

[herzog21]

Actually he should get a skylake processor and ddr4 rams.
ddr3 is beginning to become obsolete alr.

 

[th3pr0]

the budget is too tight for that i think..

 

[motomage]

the budget is too tight for that i think..

yea man. the difference is too much.ahahaha

other than ssd, is there any parts i can get online that is reliable and cheaper than SLS?

 

[spiky0180]

I can go a bit above the budget, no problem..

other than ssd, is there any parts i can get online that is reliable and cheaper than SLS?

If you can go above budget, rather spend more to get better GPU than a better CPU. Most games are GPU intensive.

 

[th3pr0]

If you can go above budget, rather spend more to get better GPU than a better CPU. Most games are GPU intensive.

i think should go skylake so in the future when upgrade just upgrade gpu will be enough since ddr4 will be the new norm i think

 

[jedi5diah]

ddr3 n ddr4 all dropped price already...

 

[sharkapl]

Please take note of OS the TS want to use when recommending SKYLAKE