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Trying To Acquire A Budget Pc


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#1 Artgathan

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Posted 16 June 2013 - 09:37 AM

Hey guys,

I'm trying to build a budget desktop PC (hoping for $1000 or less). I'm going to be using it for gaming and possibly some rendering down the line (I'm entering a Computer Science program in the fall). My laptop just won't cut it (MW:O is currently causing it to overheat for some reason; I checked the fan / heat sink on my laptop and everything is ok down there).

I wanted an opinion on a pre-made computer I'd found (http://www.newegg.ca...N82E16883227425) as well. Barring that, I'd be perfectly happy to assemble a desktop that outperforms the listed computer. I've dissembled and re-assembled my laptop before (without breaking anything) so I'm confident I could assemble a desktop using youtube videos / internet guides.

I'm not looking for specific pieces, but I'd like to be able to run MW:O on High Settings (if that's do-able given the budget of $1000).

Thanks!

#2 Catamount

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Posted 16 June 2013 - 10:24 AM

I just put together a fairly well-received parts list a couple days ago for a PC in that price range, here:

http://mwomercs.com/...79#entry2437679

It's a place to start, if not just copy outright

#3 nightstar

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Posted 16 June 2013 - 10:39 AM

I build alot of budget gaming rigs, and thought I would toss some suggestions in here. I spend 15 mins looking at newegg to find parts that either ARE, or are CLOSE TO what is in my current gaming machine. I spent 750 bucks about 8 months ago to build a rig, and the parts I listed here come out to the same. You absolutely can go cheaper on alot of these parts, and of course you can spend more.

The links lead to the US site, prices in USD. Your link was Canadian, not sure if your $1000 was Canadian or US,

Mobo - http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813130686

CPU - http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819116782

GPU- http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814130830

RAM- http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820231627

SSD- http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820147188

Price wise, there is not a lot of wiggle room on the CPU and MOBO. If you want to go cheaper, first thing to drop would be ram, there is tons of cheap ram available, and ram gets faster and cheaper faster than most other parts, so you can upgrade easily later. On the GPU, I recommend that card, it's what I have in my machine, its pretty cheap, its 2g of ram will give it some extra longevity, and it overclocks well.

On the CPU, if you dont plan to overclock, that chip is a good bet, however if you do want to OC, or are willing to learn, spend the extra 40 bucks and get yourself a K variant chip, they are unlocked, so overclock much much better, giving you potentially a year or 2 more out of your machine.

SSDs are getting cheap enough where it's a shame not to have on in every machine, no single upgrade makes a computer feel faster than moving to an ssd(10 second boot time!). That being said, if you dont want to bother, that will save you 100 bucks.

You will notice I did not include case, power supply, keyboard and mouse, speakers, a standard HDD or an OS. If you already have these things, this is definately the way to go, if not, you may need to go cheaper overall to accomodate.

Anyways, good luck!

Edited by nightstar, 16 June 2013 - 10:41 AM.


#4 Badconduct

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Posted 16 June 2013 - 11:01 AM

View PostArtgathan, on 16 June 2013 - 09:37 AM, said:

Hey guys,

I'm trying to build a budget desktop PC (hoping for $1000 or less). I'm going to be using it for gaming and possibly some rendering down the line (I'm entering a Computer Science program in the fall). My laptop just won't cut it (MW:O is currently causing it to overheat for some reason; I checked the fan / heat sink on my laptop and everything is ok down there).

I wanted an opinion on a pre-made computer I'd found (http://www.newegg.ca...N82E16883227425) as well. Barring that, I'd be perfectly happy to assemble a desktop that outperforms the listed computer. I've dissembled and re-assembled my laptop before (without breaking anything) so I'm confident I could assemble a desktop using youtube videos / internet guides.

I'm not looking for specific pieces, but I'd like to be able to run MW:O on High Settings (if that's do-able given the budget of $1000).

Thanks!


If you find yourself running virtual machines in your course, I'd go with the FX series just for the cores alone. When it comes to computing, I will argue that more cores are certainly better.

Edited by Badconduct, 16 June 2013 - 11:02 AM.


#5 Bloodshed Romance

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Posted 16 June 2013 - 12:35 PM

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813157281
Motherboard currently comes with 8GB Ram
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16817207014
PSU 650Watt
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819113284
CPU FX 8350
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814150632
XFX 7970 video card
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820147188
Samsung 840 120GB SSD (can swap for HDD if you want more space)
if you wanted to swap for a HDD heres a 1TB 7200RPM for ~100 (roughly the same price as the SSD) http://www.newegg.co...N82E16822136533

that total before shipping is $914.95
that leaves about $85 for a nice case or you can get a aftermarket cooler and case if you get a ~$50 case
the XFX video card has a "lifetime" warranty and you get the current 8 core processor from AMD with this build

I run:
Biostar 990FX motherboard
AMD FX 8350 (cooled with H80 Watercooler)
XFX 7970
2X4GB Gskill 1866 Ram
128GB OCZ SSD
1TB WD Black (7200 RPM)
1TB HGST (7200RPM)
XFX 650 Watt power supply (same I listed in the build)

I went for the Cooler Master Storm Scout for my case for portability when I want to do Lan parties.. just putting that out there.

other notes: I play the game max settings and get ~60+ even while recording (using Avermedia LGP or Live Gamer HD.. but those were made to take load of the CPU anyway so thats not much to mention..)
I also at times play triple monitor and don't notice a major FPS drop.

one of many, many after market coolers
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16835103057

one of many many cases to keep you within your budget
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811147023

after that cooler and case the total would be $998 before shipping.. just putting that out there..
if you need accessories (keyboard, mouse, monitor) you would either need to drop down on motherboard/gpu/cpu
which is doable..
you could drop to a 7950 or 7870 and still be fine on performance, even a 7850 would be fine
you can drop the processor to a FX8150 (previous model to the 8350) or even the FX6300 or FX6100 and still get a six core machine for less.. so you can always tweak the prices to what you need, but if you're just looking for the machine then you'll get most bang for your buck with the AMD system I built up

Edited by Bloodshed Romance, 16 June 2013 - 01:02 PM.


#6 ArmageddonKnight

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Posted 16 June 2013 - 12:46 PM

This build is a tad over budget, but ull find that when it comes to PC's u can gain big performance leaps by just uping what ever ur budget is by 10% or so. Untill u get into the extreme rigs that is.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/175LX

Enjoy :D

#7 Kisko

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Posted 16 June 2013 - 01:09 PM

Try this :-)
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/176f2

its 1200 but the cpu is much better (cause of new generation)
You could safe money to buy cheaper DVD/storage/Case...
but the main component:cpu 4670k (boxed), should be the best :-)

#8 B0oN

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Posted 16 June 2013 - 03:07 PM

Me personally would rather recommend IvyBridges than Haswells, because the latter are even more hotheaded than the former and still pack a punch.
Running an i5-3570K at 4.2GHz with a Noctua NH-D14 cooler, Asus P8-Z77 V MB, 8GB Corsair Ram and an Asus DC2 580GTX.

Oh and before I forget : 1k in Dollars ain´t quite budget no more^^

#9 Artgathan

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Posted 20 June 2013 - 07:11 PM

Thanks everyone for the replies!

I think I'll be going with Catamounts suggestion as it most closely adheres to my budgets (which was in CAD, but the USD exchange is comparable at the moment so it doesn't really make a difference).

@Badconduct: I don't know if my courses will be using Virtual Machines, though I would assume we'll touch on them at some point given their usefulness. I'll bear your suggestion in mind though!

#10 Narcissistic Martyr

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Posted 20 June 2013 - 07:41 PM

You mentioned you wanted to do some rendering. What programs are you using and how much emphasis do you want to put on gaming vs rendering?

#11 Artgathan

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Posted 20 June 2013 - 07:54 PM

View PostNarcissistic Martyr, on 20 June 2013 - 07:41 PM, said:

You mentioned you wanted to do some rendering. What programs are you using and how much emphasis do you want to put on gaming vs rendering?


I'm not sure what programs I will be using at this point (I'll be starting a Computer Science degree in Fall). I'd prefer to have the emphasis placed on gaming as I'm sure that my university will provide access to computers capable of handling the rendering that some classes might demand.

That said, I would still like to be able to do some rendering. Not AAA 'omg it looks like real life' rendering, but a little bit. I'm interested in game design and I'd like to be able to produce some of the art assets myself.

#12 evlkenevl

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Posted 20 June 2013 - 10:05 PM

I really wouldn't call a $1000 pc a budget build. I recently put together a complete Ivy quad rig with 16gig RAM and good graphics for $700 out of Newegg. That includes Win7.

#13 Dragoon20005

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Posted 20 June 2013 - 11:59 PM

View Postevlkenevl, on 20 June 2013 - 10:05 PM, said:

I really wouldn't call a $1000 pc a budget build. I recently put together a complete Ivy quad rig with 16gig RAM and good graphics for $700 out of Newegg. That includes Win7.


mind showing us the build specs?

my take of the 1k build

just below 1k but quite decent

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/18Geq

Rendering use all your cores

#14 Badconduct

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Posted 21 June 2013 - 06:02 AM

View PostDragoon20005, on 20 June 2013 - 11:59 PM, said:


mind showing us the build specs?

my take of the 1k build

just below 1k but quite decent

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/18Geq

Rendering use all your cores


I tweaked this a little.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/18J8U

Cooler Master powersupplies are not always the best.
$883.63

If you are in Canada, I usually do this:


Search the parts you want at Shopbot.ca
http://www.shopbot.ca/

Find the lowest price.

Go to Memory Express. (www.memoryexpress.com)
http://www.memoryexp...eatPlus.cm.aspx

When you go to checkout, there should be a price beat option beside each price. Plug in the best price you found on Shopbot (and check a few other places, like Canadacomputers.ca). Past the link for the advertised price in there (the actual store, not the Shopbot page)

They'll beat it by 5%. Shipping is only $5.

You will get the best price and 5% off your total order. I saved probably $50 on my motherboard and CPU, FX-8350 around 185, and the Sabertooth R2.0 for 179

Edited by Badconduct, 21 June 2013 - 06:03 AM.


#15 Catamount

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Posted 21 June 2013 - 07:43 AM

OP, if you want to go the 8350 direction, and you are interested in rendering (which has larger RAM requirements than gaming, by far), I tweaked some of the above builds to still keep the 7970, while still keeping you in budget.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/18KbB


You didn't express some desire for some sort of extreme overclock, so I knocked down the CPU cooler a bit, and the Zalman Z11 is still a better case than other suggestions (at least as good for cooling, but better wiring) so I switched that out.

Normally I'd also reduce the PSU, because, again, you' haven't expressed a desire to do anything that would require close to 750W of power, but BC also found one hell of a deal there, so you might as well get it.
It's $1060 up front, but when the rebates come back, you'll be back at $1000.

It's your decision whether you'd rather go for the 3570k or the FX8350. The 3570k is faster in current games, but the FX8350 will be faster in most rendering work, and will probably be at least as fast as the 3570k in future games a couple years down the road, perhaps even faster. AM3+ also gives you the option to sell that 8350 later and pick up Steamroller if it's notably better, so the upgrade path is better.

Overall, I'd recommend the FX8350, but with a caveat: MWO, specifically, vastly prefers the 3570k. Stock, a 3570k will be close to 60fps minimums in MWO, and much higher the rest of the time. The 8350 doesn't even come close to 60fps minimums in MWO when the action gets tough from every report I've seen here.

If it's to be a general gaming machine though, and not heavily MWO-centric, you might as well get the 8350.

Edited by Catamount, 21 June 2013 - 07:46 AM.


#16 Shamous13

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Posted 21 June 2013 - 08:03 AM

I currently run an FX-8350 with a corsair H80i water cooler,16gb ram and a 7970 vid card and I avrage 50-60 FPS. I do have the core clocked to 4.4ghz but it tops out at 51C under heavy load.

#17 Narcissistic Martyr

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Posted 21 June 2013 - 10:31 AM

View PostArtgathan, on 20 June 2013 - 07:54 PM, said:


I'm not sure what programs I will be using at this point (I'll be starting a Computer Science degree in Fall). I'd prefer to have the emphasis placed on gaming as I'm sure that my university will provide access to computers capable of handling the rendering that some classes might demand.

That said, I would still like to be able to do some rendering. Not AAA 'omg it looks like real life' rendering, but a little bit. I'm interested in game design and I'd like to be able to produce some of the art assets myself.


Ok, if rendering was your main concern I was gonna suggest a FirePro W7000 which can be had for $350 if you have a company. Since you care mostly about gaming any of the above builds will do.

*Edit*

On second thought, if you are going to be doing rendering occasionally it may be worth considering going with a velociraptor 10k HDD instead of a SSD+large HDD system (refurb 600GB) and then buying more RAM for use as a RAM disk. Plus you can store a couple games in the excess 24GB of space when you aren't doing rendering or photoshop type work. You should also consider that some rendering programs require CUDA (I'm a engineer who does solidworks and autocad mostly so CUDA doesn't concern me) so a used GTX580 may be the way you want to go in your price range.

Also, you may want to consider the xeon E3 1230 v2. It's basically an i7 3770 for $220-230 and should be faster in many rendering programs than the fx8350 (before overclocking anyways) and it has a 69W vs 125W TDP as a bonus. The xeon e3's also have a number of virtual machine goodies since they're server parts and ECC RAM support which realistically you won't need for most applications but I'm mentioning it since I don't know much about 3D modeling/rendering software outside of the CAD world so it may be useful for you (especially if you want to run a server off your PC). If you're interested in the ECC RAM you'll need a server motherboard (same price as a decent gaming motherboard) and will spend about $300 for 32GB of RAM vs $150-250 for 32GB of non ECC RAM.

Of course since the LGA1155 socket is dead, you won't be getting any upgrades while AM3+ and LG1150 both have new chips coming down the line so you may end up being best off going with the haswell e3 1230 instead or even with the the fx8350 and over clocking it.

TL:DR:Velociraptor+more RAM vs SSD+HDD, Xeon e3 1230 v2 vs fx835, GTX580>HD7970 or GTX770 for CUDA.

Edited by Narcissistic Martyr, 21 June 2013 - 03:46 PM.


#18 Badconduct

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Posted 21 June 2013 - 05:05 PM

You won't need to overclock the 8350. It's pretty quick out of the box, comparable to the i5. Anything that uses the cores will perform faster. Anything that depends on single thread will run better on the i5 and i7.

Since intel is releasing an 8 core i7, I assume more cores will actually perform better in the near future and single thread performance and fewer cores will not be utilized as much.

Don't bother with the Xeon.
ECC Ram is a waste of money.
For the 1 or 2 times you might use a Virtual machine, the 8350 will perform just fine. If you plan on hosting a network server in your home and turning into a DHCP, DNS and running Active Directory 24/7.

If your just going to use an Oracle virtual box to do some testing, the FX8350 will be plenty. It will mostly be lab work you do at school.

You would probably be fine with the lower 8320 and save the $20

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/18U78

I'm biased towards brands I buy, g-skill, Coolermaster and Asus. You can buy whatever brand.

Edited by Badconduct, 21 June 2013 - 05:14 PM.


#19 Artgathan

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Posted 22 June 2013 - 03:52 AM

I've got another question for you guys if you don't mind:

I've been comparing the Sapphire 7870 (2GB memory, 1280 stream processors, 256 bit memory interface) and 7970 (3GB memory, 2048 stream processors, 384 bit memory interface). Those are the only differences in the two cards specs; but they result in a price difference of roughly $250. I was wondering if the extra money is worth it for the 7970?

Thanks again!

#20 Smokeyjedi

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Posted 22 June 2013 - 04:15 AM

View PostArtgathan, on 22 June 2013 - 03:52 AM, said:

I've got another question for you guys if you don't mind:

I've been comparing the Sapphire 7870 (2GB memory, 1280 stream processors, 256 bit memory interface) and 7970 (3GB memory, 2048 stream processors, 384 bit memory interface). Those are the only differences in the two cards specs; but they result in a price difference of roughly $250. I was wondering if the extra money is worth it for the 7970?

Thanks again!

Posted ImagePosted Image
well that memory buswidth explains a lot,It translates directly to higher resolutions and smoother framerates more is always better is this case a whole other memory controller @128bits........ :D

Edited by Smokeyjedi, 22 June 2013 - 04:19 AM.






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