Advice for buying a gaming PC!

Maybe I should mention the Toshiba DT01ACA050 HDD SATA3 7200 500GB. It’s just a standard drive, I guess.
I guess this is just a standard 4GB stick of Silicon Power CL11 DDR3 RAM running at 1600MHz (part number SP004GBLTU160N02). Maybe it'll do the job.
It’s just an MS Industrial ALBATROSS case, without the power supply.
Maybe it's worth looking at the AMD Athlon ™ x4 Quad-Core 860 k, specifically the 28nm Black Edition version running at 3.70GHz. It's an FM2+ socket CPU, I guess.
MSI A68HM-E33 FM2+ motherboard.
I guess the LC-Power Cosmo Cool LC-CC95 CPU cooler might be worth a look.
Thinking about picking up an AMD Radeon R7 260x Powercolor OC with 1GB of DDR5—it’s got DVI, HDMI, and DP ports. I guess it might work depending on what you're looking for.
LC Power Silent Giant 560W, LC6560GP3 V2.3 power supply.

Total: 500 miles Looks like we've got a winner.

- 20 miles
- 130 miles
- 28 miles for 320GB
- 46 miles
- 54 miles
- 142 miles
- 68 miles

- The 260, which I guess is slightly weaker than the 260X version (meaning maybe a few less FPS, but you could probably just overclock it to match performance)
- A 6-core processor that'll let you throw a much beefier GPU in there later on
- Motherboard... ideally you'd want a Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P, but this one should do fine. It comes with a taller cooler so it won't bake the VRM unnecessarily, plus there's a passive heatsink on the VRM itself, so it should be okay
- 4GB of RAM; once you save up some more cash, you can always add another 4

Just reuse your old case, find one for 12 miles or maybe ask them if they have some cheap used junk lying around, and you're set

crimsonstag84 said:HDD SATA3 7200 500GB Toshiba DT01ACA050
DIMM DDR3 4GB 1600MHz Silicon Power CL11, SP004GBLTU160N02
MS Industrial ALBATROSS Case without PSU
CPU FM2+ AMD Athlon ™ x4 Quad-Core 860 k, 3.70GHz BOX Black edition 28nm
Motherboard MB FM2+ A68H MSI A68HM-E33
CPU Cooler LC-Power Cosmo Cool LC-CC95
Graphics Card AMD Radeon R7 260x Powercolor OC 1GB DDR5, DVI/HDMI/DP/AXR7 260X 1GBD5-DHE/OC
PSU 560W LC Power Silent Giant 560W, LC6560GP3 V2.3

Total: 500 miles Best Buy

Do I really need a 560W power supply?
I think it's better to grab a Fortron 400W and a 2GB version of the 260X instead!

If you're looking for the most budget-friendly option that won't die on you immediately, this is it:

fadedorca66 said:http://www.ebay.com/itm/cool-cc-95-cooler/ - 20 miles
http://www.ebay.com/itm/gpu-1gb-ddr5/ - 130 miles
http://www.ebay.com/itm/hdd-20gb-100-speed/ - 28 miles for $320GB
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ram-memory/ - 46 miles
http://www.ebay.com/itm/net-gps-500a8/ - 54 miles
http://www.ebay.com/itm/cpu-6x3-5-4-1ghz/ - 142 miles
http://www.ebay.com/itm/motherboard-ga-78lmt/ - 68 miles

- The 260 is just a tiny bit weaker than the 260X version. Honestly, you can just overclock it to match the performance!
- It’s a 6-core processor, so you’ll have plenty of room to drop in a much beefier graphics card later on.
- Regarding the motherboard... an ASUS Prime would be the dream, but this one will definitely get the job done. It includes a taller cooler to keep those VRMs from overheating, plus there's a passive heatsink right on the VRMs, so everything should run smoothly.
- You get 4GB of RAM, and once you save up a little more, you can easily add another 4GB.

Just reuse your old case! Or find a cheap one for 12 miles or ask them if they have any budget-friendly used scrap metal lying around. Easy peasy!

The R7 260 won't bother me at all; I can overclock that thing easily.
We could have gone with a 400W power supply to save some cash and swapped in the ASUS Prime, which is 25 miles a bit pricier.

Timothy Kim60 said:If you want a decent power supply without breaking the bank, check this one out!

Will this be enough power for an FX build with an R7?

bi

Roger Mitchell4 said:I wouldn't mind an R7 260, I could probably overclock it easily enough.
Maybe you could save some cash by using a 400W power supply and swapping in that ASUS Prime, though that one's 25 miles pricier.

That store doesn't even carry any decent budget power supplies.

I am planning to build the following gaming PC, and I would appreciate some advice on whether I can get better performance for roughly the same amount of money.

Crucial 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 RAM

Intel Core i5-4440 CPU (3.1 GHz up to 3.3 GHz, Skylake,
1MB/6MB, Socket 1150, 84W), Intel HD Graphics 4600, box

GTX 1050 Ti JetStream, AMD Radeon, GTX 960, PCIe 3.0 x16, 2048 MB,
DDR5, 128-bit, GPU clock 1203 MHz, Memory clock 7200 MHz,
DVI-D, DVI-I, 1x Display port, HDMI

ASUS Z97 Motherboard
(S1150, DDR3, HDMI, USB3.0/USB2.0, RAID, LAN, SATAIII) ATX Retail

1TB Hard Drive, 500W Power Supply. I already own the burner, case, and peripherals, so I am only interested in the components listed above—specifically, if there is anything better in this price range. My total comes to approximately $1333 plus or minus $50 depending on the retailer. I want the base to be Intel.

You don't really need a Z chipset. Since you can't even overclock that processor, it feels like a waste of cash to me.
That GTX 1050 Ti isn't worth it at that price point; it should be closer to $467 but it’s definitely overpriced here in the States. I'd probably look at an R9 280 instead.

And one more thing—what kind of power supply are you running? You've got those cheap 500W units for $33 that barely put out 200W, then there are the actual 500W units for $167 that actually deliver. It'd be helpful if you could just list the brand and model.

I'm not sure which case this is, but it should be an easy swap.
PSU - OCZ ModXStream 500W

Your PSU is solid, so you don't need to worry about that. Like others have already mentioned, though, you're better off looking for an R9 280, 280X, or 290 if possible, paired with a B85 or H97 motherboard. There's really no need to go for a Z97 board.

So, what’s actually the difference between a Z97 motherboard and these options being offered?

With an ASUS Z97 Motherboard, you could actually overclock processors with unlocked multipliers, but since you're working with a locked one, maybe an ASRock H81M or an H81M-HDS would be enough for you.

Grab yourself a B85 board instead; you get more RAM slots than the H81, and the price difference is pretty negligible.

The B85 with 4 RAM slots gives you ~$50 more breathing room, though I guess they probably won't be pushing past 2x8GB anyway 😁

Understood.
Is the processor decent?

Yeah, more than okay, I guess.

restlessviper30 said:Thinking about putting together this gaming rig. Looking for advice—can I get better performance for roughly the same amount of cash?

Crucial 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 RAM

Intel Core i5-4460 CPU (3.1 GHz up to 3.3 GHz, Skylake,
1MB/6MB, Socket 1150, 84W), Intel HD Graphics 4600, box

GTX 1050 Ti JetStream, AMD Radeon, GTX 960, PCIe 3.0 x16, 2048 MB,
DDR5, 128-bit, GPU clock 1203 MHz, memory clock 7200 MHz,
DVI-D, DVI-I, 1x Display port, HDMI

ASUS Z97 Motherboard
(S1150, DDR3, HDMI, USB3.0/USB2.0, RAID, LAN, SATAIII) ATX Retail

1TB Hard Drive, 500W Power Supply. I already have the monitor, case, and peripherals, so I just need these parts. Basically, is there anything better in this price range? Total comes out to about $1333 +/- $500 depending on the shop. Wants an Intel base.

1 x ASUS B85M-G, s1150
1 x Intel Core i5-4460 (3.20GHz, 1MB, 6MB, 84 W, 1150) Box
1 x DDR3 8GB (2x4GB) Crucial 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 RAM, 1866MHz, CL10, HyperX Fury
1 x MSI R9 280 3GB GAMING 3GB GDDR5 384bit, R9 280 GAMING, TF4

$1476
www.newegg.com 👍
Free shipping if you spend over two hundred bucks.

Robert Rodriguez2 said:1 x ASUS B85M-G, LGA 1150
1 x Intel Core i5-4460 Processor (3.20GHz, 1MB, 6MB, 84W, 1150) Box
1 x DDR3 8GB (2x4GB) Kingston, 1866MHz, CL10, HyperX Fury
1 x MSI R9 280 3GB GAMING 3GB GDDR5 384bit, R9 280 GAMING, TF4

$1476

👍

crimsonstag84 said:A B85 with 4 RAM slots costs about $50 more, and they definitely won't be adding more than 2x8GB 😁

It's cheaper than $27 $150 😬 on Amazon vs. Walmart. Plus, having a little extra cash doesn't hurt, and you get a much better feature set from that chipset 😁