Posts by Sam Rodriguez55

Alright folks, it’s finally happening. I’ve locked this build in. Let me know what you think—critique it, suggest changes, whatever...

Intel Core i7
ZALMAN CNPS10X Optima
Intel Core i7 AMD Radeon NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080
A-DATA 8GB 1600 MHZ
KINGSTON V300 120 GB SSD
TOSHIBA 3,5 500 GB SATA 3
SAPPHIRE R9 280X 3GB DUAL-X OC
SAMSUNG DVD-RW SATA
CORSAIR CX 500W 80+ BRONZE
ZALMAN Z3 PLUS

ACER 23" IPS
GENIUS GAMING TIP.
Razer gaming MIS
Logitech HF WOOD 2.0 ZVUC
MOUSE PAD

Total: $2852 including shipping from Best Buy

We’ve finally reached $3167 the point where I’m fed up—I mean, screw a high-end rig if I still can't crank current games to max settings! My goal is to get this build down to $85 or less if possible!
I don't need a massive terabyte HDD; let's just go with 500 GB. For the GPU, I want to stay around the Radeon R9 280 level. Or maybe a GeForce GTX 770? Honestly, I have no clue, so you guys tell me—let's settle this once and for all. 🙂 Cooling is huge for me because every PC I touch ends up overheating. Maybe it's because my room has zero airflow or my desk setup is cramped... anyway, motherboard, CPU, PSU, and case are all a complete mystery to me. I'm never going to overclock, so there's no point in paying extra for a chip that does.

Thanks everyone, but I’ll be real: I'm totally lost because there are way too many builds out there. By the way, Smartić's build is missing a monitor and an SSD, so that puts it at roughly $90 just like the others. Ugh...

Timothy Fisher79 said:Intel Core i5-4670
ASRock H87 Pro4
Kingston Technology HyperX red 8GB DDR3-1600MHz Kit
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 770 2GB
Toshiba 1TB 3.5" 7.2k SATA Gb/s 32MB
Kingston Technology SSDNow V300 120GB
LG GH24NSB0
Corsair CX600M
Cooler Master Silencio 550
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo

+ monitor Samsung S24B150BL

$3013 Amazon.com

Here’s the breakdown I was telling you about. You can grab this exact same rig around August 1st when the shop goes live. I just put this list together early so I wouldn't forget. Honestly, anything more than this is overkill. You've got a killer CPU that crushes any game out there without breaking a sweat, a budget motherboard that still packs a huge punch, and 8GB of RAM—can't get better for gaming. The GPU is an absolute beast, right up there with the R9 280X. Pairing a 1TB hard drive with an SSD is the sweet spot for speed and storage. It's a solid setup: 80+ bronze power from Corsair, an aftermarket cooler to keep things chilled, and a case that'll keep the whole thing quiet...

Alright, why go GeForce instead of the R9? I don't really want to deal with the headache of building a PC myself, but I could always find someone to do it for me. If the bundle price at Amazon is significantly lower, then maybe I'll just build it myself.

What does everyone else think of this build?

Thanks for the help, everyone. 🙂

cosmicseal98 said:That’s not mine—just one of the options I looked at. I ended up going with the Intel setup; you can see the specs a few pages back. Honestly, I’ve been loving it so far in the short time I've had to play. And man, regarding the SSD... holy crap, if my math is right, Windows 7 boots in about 6 seconds 🙂. Games load just as fast, so seriously, get an SSD if you can. Grab a Z5 case, they're killer. As for the GPU, I had to step it up since I play at a super high resolution. I actually kind of regret not grabbing the 290. Running Chris on max settings at 2500p or whatever, my FPS can tank down to 15-20, but if I dial things back a notch, it looks awesome. Plus, I haven't heard a single damn sound coming from the GPU or anything else. The whole rig is dead silent. I don't even know how to put it better—it's probably thanks to those three fans in the Z5 and the CPU cooler.
I'll post pics soon; promised I'd wait until I stopped fidgeting with it after this crazy week.
Later,

Saw the build, total beast. You think 120 GB is enough? How much space does Windows take up?

Timothy Fisher79 said:An SSD is a total game changer. Honestly, if you've got a decent budget like this, it's a crime not to have one. It just takes everything to a whole new level. Plus, they still hold their value since they're relatively new tech, so the best move is definitely an SSD+HDD combo. I'm actually hoping that in the near Future, SSDs completely kill off HDDs. Once that happens, prices will tank and they'll probably get even more reliable...

If you don't mind waiting another 6 days, I can put together a build for you using parts from Amazon that'll definitely outperform what I put together at Future, and you'll get a full 2-year warranty on everything.

Alright, I don't mind waiting a bit longer. Please include an SSD + HDD option because, like cosmicseal98 said, Windows boots up in like 6 seconds. No more sitting around waiting for Far Cry to load. I'm assuming we'd order the parts from Amazon, but what about the actual assembly? Any recommendations?

Also, I'm debating between an R9 290 or two 270s. I just can't run Chris smoothly on this budget...

Timothy Fisher79 said:So basically

Dell Inspiron Desktop with Intel i5, Kingston RAM, and AMD Radeon GPU
Asrock B85-Pro4
Kingston HyperX Beast 2X4GB 160Mhz
VC Sapphire AMD Radeon R9 280X 3GB
WD Caviar Blue 1TB
Kingston V300 120GB
Samsung DVD Writer Bulk Pack
Fortron Raider S PSU 550W,80+ SILVER
Cooler Master Z1
Zalman CPU Cooler 92mm Perform

+

Samsung monitor 24EA53VQ-PAH-IPS

$3042 Futura It

You're looking at a solid bucket here that won't overheat, so you can just chill with it for the next few years. Honestly, if you can hold out until 8.1 when Newegg opens up, you'll get way more bang for your buck there.

I don't mind waiting, and I actually dig this setup. Can someone break down SSDs for me? Is it worth grabbing one for a gaming rig? The pros sound awesome—way faster read speeds. The cons seem to be low capacity and shorter lifespan. That's what I'm seeing on the forums, so let me know if I've got that wrong... What about running an SSD and an HDD together?🤔

Timothy Fisher79 said:Look, if you want this rig to actually last more than two years—like, say, through the next three or four—my advice is to stop looking at anything in the $300 range and aim for $1667...

The "Reality Check" vs. Robert Rodriguez2's build

Robert Rodriguez2
Motherboard: 1 x ASUS Motherboard, AM3, AM3+, Intel 990 x SB950, BUS 5200 MHz, DDR3
CPU: 1 x AMD FX-Series X6 6300 3.5GHz, 14MB, 95W, AM3+, FD6300WMHK
RAM: 1 x DDR3 8GB (1x8GB) Kingmax, 1333MHz, non-ECC, CL9.0
Hard Drive: 1 x TOSHIBA 500GB, 7200rpm, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB, DT01ACA050
PSU: 1 x SILVERSTONE Strider 500W, Essential ST50F-ES AC 90-264V, 47/63Hz
Case: 1 x Zalman Z1 mid tower case. 199(W)x432(H)x457(D)mm. MB standard
Optical Drive: 1 x Dell DVD Drive, DVD-R 24x, DVD-RW 6x, DVD+R 24x
GPU: 1 x GeForce GTX 750 2GB OC, 2GB GDDR5 256bit, GV-R927XOC-2GD, 28nm
CPU Cooler: 1 x ZALMAN CNPS 5X, socket 775/1155/1156/AM2/AM2/AM3
$1.75

The Reality Check
EVGA Radeon R9 290, Intel Core i7, ASUS Motherboard
Intel Core i7
Asus M5A97 R2.0
......
HDD 1TB Caviar Blue 7200 448.26
Dell DVD Drive 148.50
Thermaltake Chaser A21 381.1
Zalman CPU cooler 120mm FAN 249.00
Corsair VS550 489.35
Total $2.50 cash

If I throw in a monitor for $0.50, the whole thing jumps to $3.00 for the high-end version. Should I upgrade the cooler or something on either of these builds? Based on my luck so far, every PC I've owned has basically turned into a space heater.

I went through the entire "build for $2667" thread by Timothy Fisher79 from start to finish, and he actually picked up a solid setup there. You’re suggesting an GeForce GTX 750 here, but over in that thread, they're pushing the 280 or even the 290. Please, give me the breakdown—what's the actual price-to-performance ratio on those three models?

Thanks for the tip. Could you please break down which part is the GPU, the PSU, the hard drive, etc.? I'm completely out of the loop on all this stuff lately.

Alright, so here’s the cheapest gaming build that won't be total junk for at least two years.

Robert Rodriguez2 said:There’s zero point in building a PC without a ballpark budget. Since you could technically pick out anything—even extreme high-end stuff you probably couldn't afford anyway—it doesn't help us much...
Give me a rough budget you're working with, plus a little wiggle room if you want to go over, and I'll put together the best possible build within those limits.

I can drop up to 10 $0.00 but looking at this forum, people are putting together gaming rigs for $1000 too. Just so we're clear, I don't expect this setup to last more than two years. I'm not expecting a $10,000 build, but I didn't give a budget because I wasn't sure where to start.

I’m looking to build a new rig that’ll be used about 99% for gaming—mostly heavy hitters like ARMA III, the latest GTA, and stuff like that. I don't have a strict budget, but I want a setup that runs flawlessly for at least the next two years without any overheating issues or wasted cash on useless parts. As long as it hits those marks and can handle whatever comes out in that timeframe, I don't really care about specific brands.

I haven't even set a price point because honestly, I have no clue what a decent setup costs these days. To get a machine that stays relevant for two years, should I go with $1000, $1667, or $5000? I'll need a monitor included too.

Thanks, cheers!