Need help building a gaming PC for ~$800

Hey guys,

I was wondering if I could get some help in terms of building a gaming PC for around $800.
I'm hoping to have a mid-high end graphics card, just something that can handle all of the current games on the highest settings and if possible, some of the more recent yet to be release games.

I haven't done this in a while, so I'm not too sure where or how to start. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Will give rep as well, thank you in advance!

Do you live near a Micro center or Fry's?

well I built this from newegg

I am sure folks will have comments, I built the system around the video card then power supply motherboard... hard drive was tough everyone is hot on SSD right now but I have seen how much they slow down over time and for a laptop they offer a lot of plusses not 1005 sold on desktops

Quote from komondor : hard drive was tough everyone is hot on SSD right now but I have seen how much they slow down over time and for a laptop they offer a lot of plusses not 1005 sold on desktops

not sold on SSD's, buys 250gb hard drive for $110 - where is the meme for that?

Quote from dhc014 : Do you live near a Micro center or Fry's?

I live kind of close to a Fry's, but I'm most likely planning on buying everything online.

Quote from komondor : well I built this from newegg I am sure folks will have comments, I built the system around the video card then power supply motherboard... hard drive was tough everyone is hot on SSD right now but I have seen how much they slow down over time and for a laptop they offer a lot of plusses not 1005 sold on desktops

Checking it out, thanks!

CPU: i5-3570k ( $220)
RAM: Corsair 8gb DDR-3 1600 ($50)
GPU: EVGA SC GTX 660 ($200 on sale at Microcenter)
HDD: 1TB HDD ($90)
MB: Asrock Z77 ($125)
OS: Win8/ Win 7 ($90)
PSU: Seasonic 650watt ($90)
Case: Idk, whatever you think looks sweet ($100)

Total: around $950

You can bring that down to $800 by:

- getting a non-k i5 for $20 less
- Corsair CX600 can be had for $40 less
- Cheap case- save $30 at least
- If you already have an OS, skip that expense, save $90

Of course, you can find a lot of this stuff on sale if you look around. I'm just providing the typical prices.

Quote from Ps3Rules : CPU: i5-3570k ( $220) RAM: Corsair 8gb DDR-3 1600 ($50) GPU: EVGA SC GTX 660 ($200 on sale at Microcenter) HDD: 1TB HDD ($90) MB: Asrock Z77 ($125) OS: Win8/ Win 7 ($90) PSU: Seasonic 650watt ($90) Case: Idk, whatever you think looks sweet ($100) Total: around $950 You can bring that down to $800 by: - getting a non-k i5 for $20 less - Corsair CX600 can be had for $40 less - Cheap case- save $30 at least - If you already have an OS, skip that expense, save $90 Of course, you can find a lot of this stuff on sale if you look around. I'm just providing the typical prices.

HDD: The Raptor HDD is overkill unless you plan on using 2 in RAID imo. I personally just use a WD Blue 500gb at the moment. I picked up a Samsung 840 SSD (120gb) for about $50 last month with the microcenter coupon fiasco that I haven't even bothered to install yet. If you do get a SSD, make sure you disable defrag on limit it to OS only imo. That is unless you have the money to fork out for a 500gb+ one. You can get a 500gb HDD for ~$50

RAM: If you don't need everything IMMEDIATELY, RAM has been as low as $20 AR for 8gb, hell there was a 16gb set for under $40 no rebate back in December I think.

PSU: For PSU definitely look out for one of the CX600s for under $40 AR. There are generally other nice brands you can find for $50 AR monthly or every two months as well.

Case: For a great cheap case I honestly have to recommend a HAF 912. Can be had for under $50-60 easy I'm pretty sure.

I count under $180 at this point.

Motherboard and CPU: If you don't plan on using duel video cards, hold out for Fry's combos. An i5-3570k ideally, but if you went with an i3-3220 instead and put the difference toward a better video card you'd be better off for gaming (if that is your thing.) You'll be under $300 for an i5 + mb, or under $200 with an i3 + mb (for sure I think right?)

Stock cooler will be fine if you go with the i3, or a very mild overclock on the i5 (under 10%.)

Cheap <$20 DVD drive...

We're at either $400 or $500 (whether we went i3 or i5) at this point and all we need is graphics. I say hold out for ~GTX670 after the 700 series is released for the $300 or so range.

OS is what really puts the price up, if you're a student get it through your college, if not good luck.. I think I got Win7 around $70 this time last year with a newegg coupon code.

Here's an i5 Fry's combo:
http://www.frys.com/product/75782...ate:022213

Also, always remember, unless your running an extremely high resolution, or going with 2 high end cards or something... i3 > i5 if you put the price difference toward greater graphics.

OP do you care about having the option to overclock and would you ever want to sli/crossfire? Be careful by which motherboard you choose, a lot of these cheap ones don't support either.

Quote from isAndrew : Hey guys, I was wondering if I could get some help in terms of building a gaming PC for around $800. I'm hoping to have a mid-high end graphics card, just something that can handle all of the current games on the highest settings and if possible, some of the more recent yet to be release games. I haven't done this in a while, so I'm not too sure where or how to start. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Will give rep as well, thank you in advance!

Since picking exact components will take too long, let me see if I can guide you in the right direction:

1. CPU: Stick to Intel. Don't pay the premium for an i7 since most games wont take advantage of threading which is the only real advantage to an i7. So your choice really boils down to a 2500k or a 3570k. You should pay the premium for a K processor because its better to have the option to overclock even if you do it now.

2. GPU: Given you are going for bang for buck your only real choice is an ATi 7850 or 7870. Those cards are really just crazy good. The only worthy Nvidia cards are the high end ones which you cant afford given your budget.

3. Motherboard: Too many choices and features to mention here so I will just recommend the Gigabyte D3h. Dirt cheap and has almost everything you need.. I personally would go with the UD5H but that might push up your budget.

4. Hard drive: While its true that an SSD will not do much to your gaming experience since it only affects load times.. please dont listen to the clown above who said SSDs are not worth it for desktops. My god he needs a helmet! Your budget would allow for a solid 120 GB SSD. I would recommend the Samsung 840, or the Crucial M4.

5. Power Supply: Dont skimp on the PSU. Something around ~700w from Seasonic or Corsair.

Good luck with your shopping and feel free to message if you need any help.

with an SSD + Win8, startup times are under 10 seconds for me. I hear the 830 is a lot better than the 840 so if you can find an 830 get that. Or get the 840 PRO instead, since it's comparable to the 830. Although a PRO isn't going to be as cheap as the 830/840.

Quote from komondor : well I built this from newegg I am sure folks will have comments, I built the system around the video card then power supply motherboard... hard drive was tough everyone is hot on SSD right now but I have seen how much they slow down over time and for a laptop they offer a lot of plusses not 1005 sold on desktops

um, what SSD do you see slow down over time?
any SSD that supports trim doesn't see decay as severe as the equivalent spin disk drive...
And why is there a significant difference in performance for laptops compared to desktops on SSD?

Case: Corsair Carbide Series 200R for $49.99 after rebate. [newegg.com]
CPU: AMD FX-6300 for $139.99. [newegg.com]
Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-970A-UD3 for $104.99. [newegg.com]
Ram: Any regular ram (preferably samsung) for $40-50. [newegg.com]
HDD: Seagate barracuda 1TB for $79.99. [newegg.com]
GPU: MSI 7870 for $219.99 after rebate. [newegg.com]
CPU Cooler: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus for $23.99. [newegg.com]
PSU: SeaSonic S12II 620W 80+ bronze for $74.99. [newegg.com]

Total comes out about $744 ish at newegg, though you'd still need an OS. Amd's piledriver chips are solid for gaming, despite what you hear from the fanboys .

http://www.brighthub.com/computin...43400.aspx

http://forums.anandtech.com/showt...?t=2300709

http://www.macworld.com/article/2...money.html


Many folks have found that with or without TRIM SSDs slow down it depends on usage, laptop hard drives are slower and there are few laptops that support SATA III so your biggest improvement with a SSD is comparing a laptop hard drive to a SSD, given that laptops get moved while running and SSDs have no moving parts, laptops use batteries, SSDs consume less power they have lots of Pluses.

But with a desktop you can have a very fast hard drive that will be working just as well after 3 years whereas the SSD will be slowing down and have other issues.

This is not to say that everyone will, I tend to download and move a lot of files but a quick web search shows quite a few people with the same opinion, I limited my search to 1 yr since many older SSDs had real issues with slowdowns.