Posts by rustydriver11

It looks like this is what I'll be going with:

Gigabyte GA-H81M-DS2V, Socket 1150, Intel® H81 express chipset, 2 x 1.5V
Intel Core i5-4440 (3.10GHz,1MB,6MB,84 W,1150) Box
DDR3 8GB (1x8GB) Crucial, 1600MHz CL11
XFX R9-270A, R9-270A-CDFC, Double Dissipation Edition 925M Boost
HDD WD 1TB, Caviar Blue 10EZEX, 1000 GB, SATA3,64 MB, 3,5", 24mj
XFX Core edition 80 + 450 w pas - EasyRail Technology 1 x Thermaltake Versa ii
Samsung SH-224DB sat Bulk Black, SATA
Thermaltake Versa ii, Midi Tower, ATX, mATX, 5,25" external slot

I really want to thank everyone for all the helpful advice you've given me.

Robert Rodriguez2 said:I generally don't enjoy building systems in this budget range using the absolute cheapest components available, so I'd honestly rather pick a slightly more affordable GPU; it offers much better potential for future upgrades than a motherboard would.

And when it comes to RAM, you really won't notice any difference at all during your everyday tasks.🙂

It’s all a bit of a toss-up, really. I think we all dream of building a rig from top-tier, high-end parts, but we have to work within the reality of our actual purchasing power. It isn't that I can't afford a better machine, but life happens—there are other responsibilities and expenses to take care of, so you just have to make compromises.
Besides, it feels a bit pointless to build an overkill PC just to make the specs look impressive on paper for the games and apps I actually run. At the end of the day, this setup will probably be obsolete in just a few years anyway.

Robert Rodriguez2 and Amy Vaughn12, I really appreciate you both walking me through those i5 configurations,

While I realize that having 8GB of RAM has become pretty much a non-negotiable standard these days, I can't help but feel that opting for an H81 motherboard might be a bit too risky given the tier of components we are looking at, so I find myself wondering just how much of an upgrade moving up to a B85M would actually be...
One other thing on my mind is the actual performance gap between CL9 and CL11 RAM; is that something I'll even notice during real-world use, or am I just chasing diminishing returns?

Adam Moore3 said:Here is an alternative build using AMD components:

1 x AMD FX-Series X6 6300 Processor, 3.5GHz, 14MB, 95W, AM3+, FD6300WMHK
1 x ASUS M5A97 R2, AM3+, AMD 970/SB950, DDR3, 4 slots
2 x 4GB DDR3 Crucial, 1600MHz CL11
1 x SCYTHE Katana 3 SCKTN-3000A White Box, 754/939/AM2/AM2+/AM3
1 x XFX Core edition 80 + 450 w pas - EasyRail Technology
1 x Thermaltake Versa ii, Midi Tower, ATX, mATX, 5.25" external bay
1 x TOSHIBA 500GB, 7200rpm, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB, DT01ACA050
1 x XFX R9-270A, R9-270A-CDFC, Double Dissipation Edition 925M Boost

$1430 us-tech-forum.com

This setup actually comes in a bit cheaper than your initial list, yet I truly believe it will deliver essentially the same level of performance when you're gaming. I decided to stick with the case you originally picked out, mainly because I assumed you had a particular fondness for its design. You also end up with a significantly higher quality, more robust power supply here. For some people, $93 it might even be worth stretching the budget just a little to grab the R9 280; honestly, it's such a fantastic value right now, often priced lower than certain R9 270X cards despite being objectively more powerful. You could potentially save a few extra bucks on the PSU if you went with a weaker, less reliable unit than this XFX model, or maybe shave some cost off the motherboard, though I really wouldn't advise compromising there. If you're feeling ambitious, I think you should definitely go for that 280—it would likely still keep your total under $500 and result in a noticeably beefier gaming rig. 😉

Yeah, this looks like a solid configuration with the AMD processor, pretty much mirroring what I put together myself.
I was looking into that R9 280, but I'm having second thoughts about whether it's actually worth the premium; from what I've seen in the reviews, the jump in power isn't massive, even if the price difference is relatively small.

graniteharbor85's build looks excellent, but I'm just not sure if paying 15% more money is worth chasing a tiny percentage increase in actual performance.
Unless, of course, that better balance makes the whole system run smoother and last longer without any hiccups.

Greetings,

I’ve put together a preliminary build that looks something like this:
http://www.microcenter.com/shopping_cart.php
ASUS B85 Pro4, LGA 1150, Intel Haswell
Intel Core i5-4440 Processor (3.10GHz, 1MB, 6MB, 84 W, 1150) Box
DDR3 8GB (1x8GB) Corsair 1600MHz CL9, Black
XFX R9-270A, R9-270A-CDFC, Double Dissipation Edition 925M Boost
TOSHIBA 500GB, 7200rpm, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB, DT01ACA050
Corsair CX430M Power Supply, Corsair CX Series Modular, EPS12V v2.3
Samsung SH-224DB sat Bulk Black DVD burner, SATA
Thermaltake Versa II, Midi tower, ATX, mATX, 5.25" bay
$650.00 at Micro Center

Now, my primary goal is to trim this total down as close to $550 as possible without making any massive sacrifices in terms of actual performance.
I have never been much of an overclocking enthusiast myself; I just want things to work reliably.
I generally prefer shopping at Micro Center, though I am certainly not strictly wedded to them if there's a better deal elsewhere. :P
The main thing is that I am working with a very specific amount of cash on hand.

Thank you all so much.