Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Was suggested to come to this site for some help
I had a pretty nice Vaio laptop which could handle all of my gaming needs, unfortunatly it shat out on me after 2 years of good service and so now I'm looking to get a new desk top. The catch is, I only really have about $500-$700 to spend and I would rather buy the parts and put it together myself rather than paying too much for a name brand or just over paying in general. I'm just looking for some suggestions on what I should put into the computer that will get the most bang for my buck.
So the question is: What's the best gaming desk top I can put together for $500-$700?
I WANNA GAME SON. Thanks for the help
Comments
Do you need to fit new peripherals into that budget, or do you have a monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers, and surge protector that you'll reuse from an old computer?
You could take a look at monthly combinations posted on MMO-champion: http://www.mmo-champion.com/content/2422-Patch-4.2.2-Release-Build-Setup-of-the-Month-MMO-Report-The-Daily-Blink
Yeah I have everything but a surge protector.. wouldn't mind a 20in+ monitor though
hey thanks!
You can usually do better by looking at current prices than by grabbing something that made sense at the prices of weeks or months ago. A lot of builds on sites like that never made sense, and show a heavy bias toward hardware that the site has reviewed, even if it is overpriced. The builds on that site don't look flagrantly bad, but again, you can do better by taking current prices into account.
All prices including shipping and before rebates:
Processor/motherboard combo deal: $198
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.693504
The processor will be $15 more expensive if you don't buy it today, as there's a special on it if you see the promo code. The motherboard has a $20 rebate, too. It's Socket AM3+, so if you decide you need a faster processor in the future, you'll be able to upgrade to a much faster processor without having to replace anything else.
Case/operating system combo deal: $155
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.722409.11-119-196
Nice case for cheap, with three big fans. Note that the case has a promo code on it, too, which ends today.
Hard drive: $60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136794
You can't afford an SSD on your budget, so a WD Caviar Black hard drive is the next best thing.
Power supply: $59
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371047
That's a rebranded Seasonic S12II, so it's pretty good.
Optical drive: $20
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151233
Memory: $43
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820313086
8 GB is more than you'll have any plausible use for in the foreseeable future.
Video card: $160
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150551
Also comes with a free game and a $30 rebate.
Total: $695
The only build on MMO Champion that fits your budget is the Puppy one, which comes to $680 once you add an OS license.
As compared to that one, mine has a processor that is perhaps 15% faster (higher clock speed and L3 cache), a motherboard that isn't quite as good of quality, but will accept future processors in case you want to upgrade the processor later without replacing the whole machien, a much nicer case with far more airflow, a substantially faster hard drive, a much higher quality power supply, double the memory capacity, and a video card that is perhaps 50% faster. Mine also offers $50 in mail-in rebates and a free game. And that's for only $15 more, before the rebates.
That's not a bad build at all, and the case, it is excellent, I use one, very durable, and lots of air flow. oh better also include a cpl extra 120mm fans for the side, as it has the places for em, but doesnt come with any (comes with all the other fans listed)
Techspot keep their guide reasonably up to date (updated August 19). Their entrylevel rig lands you at 615$. You get quite a good processor, and if you choose a 6850 GPU, you can get that by adding 40$ to their estimated price. Landing you at 655$
http://www.techspot.com/guides/buying/page3.html
Not to mention that Quizzies promocode sales are running out today...
The TechSpot build ignores shipping costs and also doesn't include an OS. Add those in and you're way over the stated $700 budget, even with a 6770. Upgrade that to a 6850 and you might not even stay inside an $800 budget.
As compared to that build, mine gets you a better motherboard, double the memory, a much faster video card, a better power supply, and a better case. Theirs gets you a faster processor. But by taking a lower bin of Core i5 and having an H67 chipset cripple turbo boost, it's only perhaps a 20%-30% faster processor. My build gives you a much better upgrade path on the processor, too, in case you want to upgrade it in a few years.
I'm gonna kick Techspots ass. brb.
Quiz coming up in the clutch.. I may pay extra for a better processor just to have it for the long run, but everything else looks awesome. Good look man much appreciated!
I wanna say I did an I-5 2500k build with OS for just under 900, that would beat the techspot, but I cant find the dang thing.
Quiz you got anything on that?
Sorry for jumping in late. I do not like ASrock, got some fried ones right here beside me. processor aint worth a damn on a fried board.
edit scratch mine was Z 68 based and a 6790 w/2400s. Had a decent gigbyte board, heres a look since Ive dug the hole this far
https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=16773385
shipping and OS should put it near 900. didnt look for deals just straight up front costs.
Happy hunting OP
See the world and all within it.
Live a lifetime in every minute.
If you want to find a 2500K build that includes overclocking the processor, then try the above one, but replace the processor/motherboard combo deal by this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.660726
And then add a cooler for it:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065