Budget Gaming Desktop would like guidance.

[Razerus]

So im trying to build my computer for the 2nd time in years, ive been using a laptop for the past 3 years and its time to make a desktop. Keep in mind im Budget conciouss around 400.00 - 700.00 USD at the most. Im generally a mainstream computer gamer nothing too fancy. But i chose this case and hopefully one of these graphic cards should suffice. And hopefully build around them. Some help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

Edit: The reason my budgets "High" is becuase i dont have an OS, Monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers or a wireless internet card as well.

 

[Drenlin]

Welcome to the forum

I wouldn't exactly call a $1k+ machine a "budget" build, haha.

What do you need to buy with that budget? Just the tower? Or the monitor/mouse/keyboard/OS as well?

 

[Razerus]

Haha sry maybe i was paranoid, i figured it was atleast 1,000.00 becuase i still dont have a monitor or Windows 7.

 

[Razerus]

Hey man if you could recommend some good stuff that would be amazing! i feel like im getting overwhelmed with options and im not familiar at all with motherboards nowadays.

 

[Drenlin]

Motherboards and power supplies are definitely the tricky options right now.

Asus and Gigabyte are generally dominating the field with motherboards right now, but most of the other major brands have at least one good board out...even the "cheap" brands like Biostar. ASRock in particular has come a long way from being the "poor man's Asus". DFI is the only one I can think of that's kinda' dropped off a bit.

With power supplies it's as much about who the original OEM is as it is about the actual brand. Seasonic is dominating, but Channel Well(CWT) is a close second, and I'd have to put Delta in 3rd. Superflower is also making a run for the top spot. Several other companies also have some great stuff out, though. Sparkle computer corp has a strong showing with their new line of units...hell, even HEC is moving into the high end field with their "cougar" brand.

As for the end-user, the dominant brands right now as far as value/quality goes are usually (but not always) Seasonic, Antec, Corsair, XFX, and Silverstone.


I'll put together a build with monitor and OS included to give you an idea of what you can get.

edit: A bit rough around the edges, but this is about what you'd expect for a $1200 maximum including monitor/OS. It could probably be improved a bit though.

CPU- i5 2500K- $229
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

Mobo + RAM- 2x4GB G.Skill Ripjaws X 1600 + MSI P67A-GD65- $268 (onyl B3 board availble uner $300 right now...more will be in stock soon)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.616761

PSU + GPU- Corsair TX850 V2 + Sapphire Radoen HD6950- $290 ($15 MIR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.613588

HDD + OS- Spinpoint F3 1TB + Win7 home premium X64 OEM- $160
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.591429

DVD- Lite on iHAS124-04- $18
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106289

Case- CM HAF 912- $60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233

Monitor- Asus VH238H- $190 ($10 MIR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236117

Total- $1215 shipped, $1190 after rebates

It lacks an aftermarket cooler for overclocking, but the CPU shouldn't be the bottleneck. You can top 4GHz on the stock cooler anyway.

 

[Razerus]

Hey that mother board you recommended looks amazing! i looked up it says it comes with a chipset does that mean i to buy a processor? im confused D:

 

[Drenlin]

A chipset is part of every motherboard, but it isn't the processor. So yes, you still need one. :good:

 

[Aastii]

Drenlin's build is good, but would change a few things:

Monitor: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001444

You are losing a bit of width (1.5"), but getting a higher quality thinner, lighter, monitor and better support.

PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371044

GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150505

Still an excellent quality PSU, but you are saving a bit of money, and the graphics card comes with lifetime warranty, rather than 2 years which the other comes with

 

[Razerus]

All right guys Ive been in the lab and thanks to your help i did allot of tweaking myself, please dont hesitate to let me know if there are any compatibility issues. Thats the one thing that seriously frightens me.

Monitor: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspxItem=N82E16824001444

Case:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811108380

Mother Board: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130574

Graphics Card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130565

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

RAM:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428

Harddrive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

Disk Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106289

OS: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116754

Wireless Solution: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833122318

Powersupply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371044

I kinda like the monitor Drenlin recommended though because it had built in speakers, but i have time to decide as for the motherboard its out of stock atm. Also the graphics card you link'd Aasti, the reason you recommended that graphics card the Radeon 6850 was it because you can crossfire that card to increase performance if so i may decide to go with that one.

I took a look at the GPU that Drenlin Link: And im also impressed with it! but do i really need that BEEFY PSU?

Also if i do get the Antec 650 Watts PSU will that strongly affect everything else im trying to do? if so i may bump it up. Im trying to really make this computer affordable within my limits which is no more than 1.3k i wish i could drop it lower but i want that graphics power for future safety ya know?