Advice for buying a gaming PC!

Timothy Kim60 said:Is that $4,800 with or without a monitor?

Look, the ball is entirely in your court. You first need to decide when you're actually pulling the trigger—are we talking right now, or waiting until summer like you mentioned before? If you're holding off until summer, there's really no point in me giving you advice today. Plus, you have to figure out if you want new or used, local or online, cash or financing, and so on. There are just way too many variables involved!

$1667 And the monitor is included!
So, I'll be buying the PC at the start of June.
I'm going with a new build (probably from Best Buy), most likely paying cash.😉
And honestly, June isn't that far off; I doubt all the components will suddenly vanish by then.

Roger Mitchell4 said:$1667 and that includes the monitor!
So I'm grabbing the rig at the start of June.
I'll get a new build (probably from Best Buy), likely paying cash 😉
Besides, June isn't that far off. Components aren't going to just vanish into thin air by then.

Are you kidding? You've still got three months... AMD is dropping a new GPU lineup before then, and Intel’s releasing new CPUs in the second half of the year... who knows what other surprises might pop up by then.

I’m just praying to God that component prices drop by then! 😬

Good God, you're really messing with us if you're waiting three months to buy. I guess we'll just see who's still standing by then,

fadedorca66 said:Good grief, you're really messing with us! You aren't even buying anything for another three months—who knows if we'll all still be around by then!

Messing with us? What are you talking about?

You're planning three months ahead, then you show up and mess everything up with these combinations... just come by 3 or 4 days before you buy... not freaking three months out

Robert Rodriguez2 said:You can't just mess around with random component combos three months out... you should be finalizing things maybe 3 or 4 days before you actually buy... not freaking three months early

This is exactly what you all suggested to me here on the forum:
''Stop wasting time over the next two months....
Do some research, build up your knowledge, track market prices... stay in the loop''
That is precisely what I am doing! ☕

Hey everyone... not really sure where to post this, but if anyone here knows their way around a PC build, I could use some help. Looking to put something together for maybe around $4,000—$1667—so if you could just drop a list of parts or whatever...

Are you just looking for the tower, or do you need the monitor and all the other peripherals too? (If you do, let me know exactly what's included).

briskorca11 said:Hey everyone, I'm lost on where to ask this. Anyone here actually know how to build a PC? If you have a second, could someone drop a parts list for about $4,000? $1667 Just need some ideas on what to buy.

And when exactly are you planning to buy? It’s kind of stupid to be shopping if you don't even have the cash sitting there yet.

Hey there. I’m having a really hard time pulling the trigger on a new PC. I’ve been browsing the deals over at Future, and honestly, I’m pretty confused about the actual differences between these various i4460 processors and the R9 280 graphics cards. It looks like there are three or four different versions of each, with price gaps ranging from $50 to $33. Since I’m definitely not an expert, I’m worried about making a mistake. Is it actually better to just grab one of their pre-built systems, or should I try building it myself from individual parts?

I’m really aiming to get an Intel i5 (and while we're on the subject, does anyone know the real difference between the i4460 and the Intel Core i5-4440 soc?) along with an AMD Radeon R9 280. But looking at the pre-built options, the prices climb up to $2000, and my budget is capped at $5,000. From what I can tell, those two components are basically the sweet spot for value right now.

Thanks in advance.

Future has several different vendors, so prices vary and you can just pick through them. Though, let's be real, you'll probably just grab the cheapest one.

There’s basically no difference between the i4460 and the Intel Core i5-4440 soc, so I guess just take whichever one is cheaper.

As for the GPU, I'd just look for the best balance between price and warranty length. Maybe check some online reviews to see how the cooler holds up, but that's about it.

It’s probably smarter to buy individual components, though I bet someone's gonna try to tell you exactly what to get anyway.

Bryan Jackson12 said:Hey there. I'm having a hard time deciding on a new PC. I've been looking at the Future offers, but I don't really get the difference between the various i5 4460 processors and those R9 280 graphics cards. There seem to be 3 or 4 different versions with price gaps of $50-$33. Since I'm no expert, I'm worried about making a mistake. Is it better to just grab a pre-built from them or pick out individual components?

I want to squeeze in an Intel i5 (by the way, what's the actual difference between the i4460 and the i4440?) and an R9 280, but the pre-builts are hitting $2000 while my budget is $5000. From what I can tell, that combo is pretty much a best-buy for GPU and CPU.

Thanks in advance.

The fact that they have more 4460s listed on their site is just their business model. Honestly, the difference between the 4440 and 4460 is negligible, so just grab the 4440 since it’s cheaper. Same goes for the graphics cards—just take the cheapest one because they're basically all the same. Any variation is usually just an extra year of warranty, whether it's factory OCan, the heatsink quality, or stuff like that. Either way, go with the cheapest version and you won't go wrong. Here is roughly what it would look like using the parts you asked for:

1 x Intel Core i5-4440 soc 1150 CPU
1 x Crucial 4GB DDR3 1600 Mhz (PC3-12800) CL11
1 x Motherboard 1150 ASR H81M-VG4
1 x XFX AMD Radeon R9 280A 3GB DDR5 Graphic Card
1 x MS PHOENIX case without PSU
1 x Fortron Hyper 500W, 80+
1 x HDD SEAGATE Barracuda (3.5",1TB,64MB,SATA III)
Total: $1623

Keep a few things in mind. You'll only fit 4 GB of RAM with an i5 and R9 280 combo, so you really should add another 4 GB as soon as possible because most modern games will absolutely tank on just 4 GB. You could add another 2 GB now if it fits, then add another 2 GB later. You still have $50 of breathing room left in your $5000 budget, so you could maybe opt for a slightly nicer case like THIS. Now, that's all optional; you could also save that $50 and put it toward that 4 GB of RAM which is pretty essential for a build like this—it's up to you. If I were you, I'd try to stretch another $100 or so to just get 8 GB of RAM right away so the build is complete, and that case will serve you well too.

Thanks so much for clearing that up for me. Regarding the specific build, that’s pretty much what I was aiming for. Honestly, I’d be more than willing to stretch my budget by maybe 5% if it meant getting a high-quality setup—I really don't want to skimp on such a critical part. I feel a lot better informed now, so hopefully, I can finally make a decision.

Grab a better motherboard (ASRock H81M HDS), stick with some 8GB single channel RAM (Crucial), and pick up a decent case—maybe a Zalman Z1, Z3, Z3+, or even a Sharkoon VG4-S—plus the rest of those parts listed above, and you’ll be good to go.

Is Crucial better than Kingston for RAM? I noticed the price difference is pretty minor, but I've honestly never heard of this Crucial stuff before...

Honestly, it’s all pretty much the same thing—just different packaging. If you feel better about grabbing the Kingston brand over Crucial, go ahead and take it—assuming the price difference isn't more than 10-$5.00.

Bryan Jackson12 said:Hey. I can't decide on a new PC. Looking at Futurin's deals and I don't get the actual difference between those various i5 4460 processors and R9 280 cards. There are like 3 or 4 versions with price gaps of $50-$33. Since I'm no expert, I'm worried about screwing up. Is it better to grab a pre-built from them or just pick parts?

I want to squeeze in an Intel i5 (by the way, what's the deal with the difference between i4460 and i 4440?) and an R9 280, but the pre-built prices hit $2000 while my budget is $5000. From what I can tell, those are basically the best buy combo for GPU and CPU.

Thanks.

1 x Intel Core i5-4440 soc 1150 CPU
1 x XFX AMD Radeon R9 280A 3GB DDR5 Graphic Card
1 x MS PHOENIX case without PSU
1 x SILVERSTONE Strider Essential ST50F-ES230, 500W, 80+, Black
1 x Crucial 8GB DDR3 1600 Mhz (PC3-12800) CL11
1 x Toshiba HDD 1TB,7200rpm, 32MB
1 x Asus H81M-R ukupno
Total: $1705

something like this 🙂

That power supply 🙂 Terrible regulation and ripple issues 😉

The Hyper for $17 is way better, can hit up to $1733.

crimsonstag84 said:It's not the power supply 🙂 Terrible regulation and Ripple 😉

Hyper is way better for $17, you can hit up to $1733.

So just go with Hyper +best and you've got a solid gaming rig +best