Cheap Gaming Build

[Yorak]

I am going to build a new gaming rig. I wish I could spend more on hardware but my medicine I get each month eats up almost half of my money, and that is even with insurance. Basically just various high tier medicines. Anyways, I also want to get a new monitor. I know this rig will not be powerful enough for 4K but that is alright. Oh, I also need a new desk too. My male cat jumps up on this wood one and his back claws have done some good damage over the years.

 

This is what I am thinking about so far for monitor and desk:

 

Asus VG248QE 24-Inch LED-Lit Monitor

Atlantic 33935701 Gaming Desk

 

Hardware:

 

ASUS M5A97 R2.0 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

AMD FD8350FRHKBOX FX-8350 FX-Series 8-Core Black Edition Processor

NZXT Technologies SOURCE 220 CA-SO220-01 Matt Steel Mesh Front Mid Tower Case with USB 3.0

Corsair CX750 Builder Series ATX 80 PLUS Bronze Certified Power Supply

Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO - CPU Cooler with 120mm PWM Fan (RR-212E-20PK-R2)

Kingston HyperX FURY 8GB Kit (2x4GB) 1600MHz DDR3 CL10 DIMM - Black (HX316C10FBK2/8)

ADATA USA Premier Pro2.5-Inch 256GB SATA III Synchronous NAND SSD ASP900S3-256GM-C

Western Digital 2 TB SATA III 7200 RPM 64 MB Cache Bulk/OEM Desktop Hard Drive, Black, WD2003FZEX

MSI GTX 970 4GD5T OC Graphics Cards GTX 970 4GD5T OC

 

See any place I can cut costs for the same performance? I know Intel makes better CPUs but I feel like I owe AMD for never letting me down over the years.

[Mindovermaster Moderator]

Wow, %50 off on that SSD? good find.

 

All else looks alright to me

[Luc2k]

MSI GTX 970 4GD5T OC Graphics Cards GTX 970 4GD5T OC

 

See any place I can cut costs for the same performance? I know Intel makes better CPUs but I feel like I owe AMD for never letting me down over the years.

You can find a 290X for 230$ after rebate. Bonus points for not having memory allocation issues.

 

And get a modular PSU. You'll thank me later.

[Yorak]

Wow, %50 off on that SSD? good find.

 

All else looks alright to me

Indeed, I must get that ASAP so I get the good price.

 

You can find a 290X for 230$ after rebate. Bonus points for not having memory allocation issues.

 

And get a modular PSU. You'll thank me later.

I am guessing that is a 3GB one for that price? Can you link me to which one you are talking about, please? Yes and you are right, I put this list together fairly quickly and did not notice it was not modular... that is a requirement. I hate trying to hide a huge bundle of them somewhere.

[tsupersonic]

Wow, %50 off on that SSD? good find.

 

All else looks alright to me

Not sure where you're seeing 50% off for the SSD - that is average price for that SSD. You can find many other 240/256 GB for around the same price, if not cheaper. 

 

@ OP - I'd scrap AMD. They make good CPU's, and will hold up, but at the end of the day, Intel will provide much better performance. 

[Luc2k]

I am guessing that is a 3GB one for that price? Can you link me to which one you are talking about, please? Yes and you are right, I put this list together fairly quickly and did not notice it was not modular... that is a requirement. I hate trying to hide a huge bundle of them somewhere.

Damn, you missed it. This one was 232$ yesterday after a 30$ rebate with 18 in stock when I looked. Sorry I didn't link it.

 

Alternatively, there's this 290X, but it's far less attractive at 300$ or this 290 at 220$. At this point I'd suggest, as an option, waiting for AMD's 300 series and/or unlocked Maxwell.

[Mindovermaster Moderator]

Not sure where you're seeing 50% off for the SSD - that is average price for that SSD. You can find many other 240/256 GB for around the same price, if not cheaper. 

 

@ OP - I'd scrap AMD. They make good CPU's, and will hold up, but at the end of the day, Intel will provide much better performance. 

 

If he's buying from Amazon, that IS a good deal. But if he was buying from Newegg, no, that is standard price.

[tsupersonic]

If he's buying from Amazon, that IS a good deal. But if he was buying from Newegg, no, that is standard price.

What are you talking about? The Adata SSD is currently $109.29 w/ Prime shipping, lowest price of this SSD ever on Amazon was $104.29 ($5 cheaper). Hell if OP really wants that Adata SSD, it's cheaper on Newegg currently anyways

Other SSD's:

256 GB Samsung 850 Evo = $118

240 GB Crucial M500 = $98

240 GB SanDisk Ultra II = $99

 

Honestly I could go on, but that shows you it's an average price for that Adata SSD that OP chose. I'd personally go with the 850 Evo.

[Mindovermaster Moderator]

Maybe he can't buy on newegg? Maybe he has Amazon gift cards?

 

Personally, I would never go with the 120/240GB brands. Those are some messed up numbers... Not to say old...

[tsupersonic]

Maybe he can't buy on newegg? Maybe he has Amazon gift cards?

 

Personally, I would never go with the 120/240GB brands. Those are some messed up numbers... Not to say old...

Amazon can price match Newegg's cheaper price on that Adata SSD, again if OP really wants that drive. 

 

Wait, what? There are great manufacturers who produce 120/240 GB SSD's - Samsung, Intel, Crucial, SanDisk, etc. I wouldn't count any of those out to make a good SSD. On the other hand, I wouldn't an SSD from Adata...

[Yorak]

Thanks everyone for the recommendations. I think I'll go with the 256GB Crucial... for $100 I can't really go wrong. I have been doing some research on the FX-8350, FX-8370, i5-4690K and the Xeon 1231v3. I decided to up my budget a bit. I have until the 15th to decide, and prices always change. I would totally get the Xeon if the price goes down a bit. Right now I am leaning towards the 4690K. Lower clock speed but seems to slightly outperform 8350 and 8370 in gaming. Any other recommendations?

[Soham]

core i5 3570k could be cheap too got one for $150 at microcenter. WaterBlocks are like $50 bucks if search around like ebay for new or refurb ones. I would not the 970 gtx because of the ram isn't 4gb.

[Yorak]

Complete build.

 

Screw it, going Intel:

 

MSI Z97-Gaming 5 LGA 1150 Intel Z97 Motherboard

Intel Core i5-4690K Devil's Canyon Quad-Core 3.5GHz

 

Changing RAM:

 

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900)

 

Cooler:

 

Noctua NH-U14S

 

Case:

 

Fractal Design Define R4

 

Think the cooler will fit? From what I have read, it will. I am not getting the regular NH-U14 because that will probably be too large. I do not want to overclock too much, perhaps just 4.0 GHz.

core i5 3570k could be cheap too got one for $150 at microcenter. WaterBlocks are like $50 bucks if search around like ebay for new or refurb ones. I would not the 970 gtx because of the ram isn't 4gb.

 

The 970 still performs better than most 290X though from what I have read. I have owned a fair share of video cards, and I have to say that I absolutely despise Catalyst drivers.

[SouthGate]

Not sure where you're seeing 50% off for the SSD - that is average price for that SSD. You can find many other 240/256 GB for around the same price, if not cheaper. 

 

@ OP - I'd scrap AMD. They make good CPU's, and will hold up, but at the end of the day, Intel will provide much better performance. 

 

Don't have an awful lot to add, but I'm backing this guy up. I was running an AMD FX 8350 OC'd to 4.9Ghz, upgraded to 5820k a few weeks ago and even stock the performance is so much better.

[Open Minded]

Cheap gaming build?

 

 

i5

970

SSD

16GB RAM

 

That's not a cheap build at all.  That's some pretty good stuff you picked out. 

[Luc2k]

Don't have an awful lot to add, but I'm backing this guy up. I was running an AMD FX 8350 OC'd to 4.9Ghz, upgraded to 5820k a few weeks ago and even stock the performance is so much better.

What was the price difference between the two platforms (CPU+RAM+MOBO)?

[tsupersonic]

Complete build.

Damn OP, nice build. The R4 is an awesome case, I love my mine - quiet, offers tons of room and cable management is easy. You'll be happy with the i5 - I have the 4670, and it's excellent for games. Yes, the NH-D14 will fit in the Fractal Design Define R4.

 

Don't have an awful lot to add, but I'm backing this guy up. I was running an AMD FX 8350 OC'd to 4.9Ghz, upgraded to 5820k a few weeks ago and even stock the performance is so much better.

Nice step up!  

[Yorak]

Damn OP, nice build. The R4 is an awesome case, I love my mine - quiet, offers tons of room and cable management is easy. You'll be happy with the i5 - I have the 4670, and it's excellent for games. Yes, the NH-D14 will fit in the Fractal Design Define R4.

Nice step up!

Thank you. :-) I decided to make one last minute change and opted for the i7 4790K. Got half of my items from Newegg, they arrived today. The other half are from Amazon and they will probably not be here until the 17th... :-( I look forward to Battlefield Hardline and Dragon Age: Inquisition.

[seta-san]

Micro ATX mobo

i5 proecessor

at least 8 gigs of ram

GeForce 860 or 960 video card

[T3X4S]

Thank you. :-) I decided to make one last minute change and opted for the i7 4790K. Got half of my items from Newegg, they arrived today. The other half are from Amazon and they will probably not be here until the 17th... :-( I look forward to Battlefield Hardline and Dragon Age: Inquisition.

Was expecting to see some crappy build like:

AMD 965 CPU

2GB RAM

onboard Grfx

 a WD Caviar Green

with a no-named 500W PSU --  

 

That is a nice little build you have !

[Yorak]

All done! My Amazon shipment was delayed for 3 days from the "weather" even though it wasn't that bad, but I digress.

Might have put a tad too much thermal grease, might remove it and try again. Getting around 32 C idle. Haven't had a chance to push it as I had to go in for night shift, but tomorrow morning shall be fun.

I can't wait for Battlefield Hardline, too bad I missed the beta.