$600 Budget Gaming Rig

Geoff

Geoff

VIP Member
I'm helping a friend build a low-cost gaming rig. He has $600 to spend, and already has a case, monitor, keyboard, and mouse. I originally looked at an Intel i5 build, but it was $50 over budget.

Asus M5A97 AM3+ Motherboard - $70
AMD FX-6300 6-core 3.5GHz AM3+ - $109
G.Skill Value Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3-1333 - $45
Zotac GeForce GTX 760 2GB - $159
EVGA 500W Power Supply - $50
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200RPM HD - $51
Windows 8.1 x64 - $100

Total is $586. Thoughts?
 
I'd stay away from Zotac personally, but at that price it's hard to beat. Where are you finding a 760 for $159?

I really hate seeing people spend money on an AM3+ platform at this point, but not a whole lot can be done about it. If he has any type of flexibility, saving for an i5 set up would be beneficial so he could keep the same mobo when upgrading down the line to an i7. Hell even an i3 with HT (do they all have that now?) would compete or beat a 6300 in gaming and not tie you to an already dead socket. I expect the day of my AMD core inefficiency catching up with me is approaching fast.

If you've got a bit leftover, go for a GTX 960. Under 200 for this one. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487091&cm_re=gtx_960-_-14-487-091-_-Product
 
WhoX said:
Ouch! The U.S. needs to take another look at laws concerning OEM software. I could buy that same title here for $30.
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Is that legal?

jevery said:
FWIW, There's a $20 rebate on MSI 960s bringing them down to $174 - $179.
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Good eye, I'll see if this is still available when he purchases it.

Darren said:
I'd stay away from Zotac personally, but at that price it's hard to beat. Where are you finding a 760 for $159?

I really hate seeing people spend money on an AM3+ platform at this point, but not a whole lot can be done about it. If he has any type of flexibility, saving for an i5 set up would be beneficial so he could keep the same mobo when upgrading down the line to an i7. Hell even an i3 with HT (do they all have that now?) would compete or beat a 6300 in gaming and not tie you to an already dead socket. I expect the day of my AMD core inefficiency catching up with me is approaching fast.

If you've got a bit leftover, go for a GTX 960. Under 200 for this one. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487091&cm_re=gtx_960-_-14-487-091-_-Product
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This is the 760: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500306

I originally built the system with the cheapest i5 for the 1150 platform, but the CPU was $60 or so more. I'll look into an i3 instead. I wouldn't be able to do an i5 and the 960, so I may look at switching to an Intel build instead.
 
So I switched out the AMD CPU and motherboard for an Intel i3-4160 3.6GHz and BIOSTAR H81 motherboard. The total cost is now $583 shipped. I may be able to squeeze in a slightly better video card if he wants to spend some more.
 
Geoff said:
Is that legal?
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In Europe the private or retail sale of new or used OEM software for the purpose of installing it on any computer is legal. You'll find OEM versions of Windows on Ebay, in computer shops, and on online retailers sites (including Amazon).

I know those selling multi-lingual versions of it on Ebay here will send it internationally, I just don't know if it is legal for users in the U.S. to import and install it.
 
WhoX said:
In Europe the private or retail sale of new or used OEM software for the purpose of installing it on any computer is legal. You'll find OEM versions of Windows on Ebay, in computer shops, and on online retailers sites (including Amazon).

I know those selling multi-lingual versions of it on Ebay here will send it internationally, I just don't know if it is legal for users in the U.S. to import and install it.
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That sounds like used software. OEM just mean it's software destined for equipment manufactures who don't need packaging or documentation. The software is still brand new from Microsoft.
 
 
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Price is $115 for the cheapest 8.1 here in Denmark, but I can buy a $30 key online and use that legally :P
As for the build, it looks really good. In this case the i3 is also better in the sense of heat/noise. You don't really need to buy a new cooler, since the stock is decent and quiet. Compare that to the AMD, I would suggest buying a third party cooler regardless of overclocking or not.
 
The 6300 isn't too bad with the stock cooler, but the 8320 is. My roommate had a 6300 and I never noticed it but another friend had an 8320 and it was a jet engine.

Intel switch is a good idea. If he's fine with used, a GPU off Ebay might not be a bad idea to get some extra oomph.
 
Yeah, it gets bad when you throw 100W+ on it :)
My Phenom II X6 1055T is same wattage as FX-6300, and it's decent, but on the FX-8320 I recently built it was horrid.
For me, there's no excuse to have a loud PC. It's almost always very easy to tune them down a lot in terms of noise, and if not, it's cheap to replace noisy parts.

But Geoff, if the budget allows it, there's a 37% discount on 1TB SSHD, so it's ~$75.
Newegg 1TB Seagate SSHD
I've found these to be very much right in the middle of a normal HDD and an SSD.
 
Jiniix said:
Yeah, it gets bad when you throw 100W+ on it :)
My Phenom II X6 1055T is same wattage as FX-6300, and it's decent, but on the FX-8320 I recently built it was horrid.
For me, there's no excuse to have a loud PC. It's almost always very easy to tune them down a lot in terms of noise, and if not, it's cheap to replace noisy parts.

But Geoff, if the budget allows it, there's a 37% discount on 1TB SSHD, so it's ~$75.
Newegg 1TB Seagate SSHD
I've found these to be very much right in the middle of a normal HDD and an SSD.
Click to expand...
Not bad, I'll see what his thoughts are. Thanks everyone!
 
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