Advice for buying a gaming PC!

David Sanders4 said:That’s exactly how I calculated it—using Exelon's rates, factoring in peak and off-peak hours. But there is another variable to consider. Take gaming, for instance. When the GPU is running at full load, the CPU isn't even hitting half capacity; it all depends on the card. We're looking at a daily difference of maybe 20 or 25 cents. That adds up to about $2.50 a month, or roughly $30 a year. So, if you're running an AMD build, you might just skip one coffee a month 🤣
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Out of everyone here, you should listen to The New Guy most of all—the captain, Data.

I'm dedicating this song to him as a small token of appreciation for everything he's done for the folks on this forum.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=g3sJB2tcoJY

Do pay close attention to the brand of ship keyboards (touch screen), of course.😉

Goodness 🤣

Hey there.

I’m looking to drop about $750 (give or take) on a new PC build. I'm in no huge rush, though, so I'm thinking about sitting tight until Christmas to see if any decent holiday sales roll around.

Quick question for the group... does anyone actually offer a discount if you pay in cash, and if so, how much of a break can I expect?

Thanks.

Give me a shout in about half a day 🙂

Most shops list their prices based on cash payments, but if you opt for monthly installments, expect an 8-10% markup. The one exception is Best Buy, where the advertised prices apply whether you pay upfront or via financing.

For about 5 grand, you can snag a solid setup featuring an i5 4440 paired with an R9 280. By the end of the year, I might even upgrade the GPU—I'm eyeing an R9 285 if the price drops, and it definitely will. Get in touch with me before you pull the trigger on anything.

Timothy Kim60 said:Hit me up before you pull the trigger on this

I definitely want thanks 🙂

Thanks.

Greetings,
I am currently in the market for a gaming PC! If anyone could suggest a solid configuration for $1000, I would be ever so grateful. What are your thoughts on this setup: CPU: AMD Athlon X4 860K
GPU: Gigabyte 260X
RAM: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB RAM
Motherboard: ASRock Extreme 4 + A88M mobo
Case: Raidmax Stingray 249-BATX case

Roger Mitchell4 said:hey,
I'm picking up a gaming rig this week. Any advice on a solid build for $1000? What do you think of this setup:cpu:amd athlkon x4 860k
gpu:gigabyte 260x
ram:crucial ballastix sport 8 gb ram
motherboard:asrock extreme 4+a88mmobo
case:raidmax stingray 249-batxcase

Do you have the rest of the parts already or are you starting from scratch?

Hey everyone, I wanted to get your take on this build. It’s priced at $1000. Do you think it can actually handle modern games on medium settings?

-Processor: Intel Core i5 (3.9GHz, 4MB, 100W) (4 cores)
-Motherboard: Intel Core i5 chipset
-Hard drive: 500 GB SATA
-Optical drive: Black CD/DVD burner
-RAM: 8GB DDR3 1600MHz
-Graphics: Radeon HD 8570D 2GB shared
-Case: MS Dragon
-Power Supply: 500W with 120mm fan
-Sound Card: Onboard
-Network Card: Onboard

New games won't even run on mid-range hardware, and honestly, the price is a joke—it's basically the same cost as grabbing a quick meal at $800.

That build is pretty rough.

With that CPU, you’re definitely going to need an aftermarket cooler—the stock one just won't cut it since it's way too loud. Also, I'm a bit unsure about which specific HDD and power supply you're looking at. For an Apple setup, you really need fast dual-channel RAM (around 1866 - 2400 MHz) because that makes a huge difference for integrated graphics performance. Plus, that Low end Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset doesn't play nice with K-series processors; you'd be much better off going with an A68, 78, or 88.

Honestly, just swap the whole thing out for this configuration. It’s a massive upgrade and includes a dedicated GPU:

X4 860K
LC CC 95
MSI A68HM-P33 FM2+
CRUCIAL 4GB 1600 MHZ
TOSHIBA 3,5 500 GB SATA 3
MSI R7 260 1GB DDR5 OC
SAMSUNG DVD-RW SATA
FORTRON HEXA+ 400W 80+ ACTIVE
ZALMAN T1 PLUS USB 3.0 MATX

= $1017 - Micro Center (includes assembly and shipping)

- If you don't actually need an optical drive—since you can just install macOS via a USB stick anyway—grab the 1Tb hdd instead.

Roger Mitchell4 said:Hey guys,
I'm picking up a gaming PC in the next few days and was wondering if you could suggest a solid build for $1000. What do you think about this setup: cpu:amd athlkon x4 860k
gpu:gigabyte 260x
ram:crucial ballastix sport 8 gb ram
motherboard:asrock extreme 4+a88mmobo
case:raidmax stingray 249-batxcase

For $1000, it's okay, but you're missing a few essentials. Like a power supply and an HDD 🙂

So, they almost pulled one over on me there. I really appreciate you looking out for me. 👍

Robert Rodriguez2 said:Do you have any leftover parts, or do you need everything?

I'll need the whole setup. If anyone could suggest a power supply, an HDD, and so on, that would be great!
But let's try to keep the total around $3,000.

Well, there’s McLovin’s conference layout above—same budget, same result.

Roger Mitchell4 said:I need everything—so if you guys could suggest a power supply, an HDD, etc.
But I need to keep the total around $300.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti OC, 1GB GDDR5, VGA, DVI, HDMI

Intel Core i5-3570K

ASUS M5A97 motherboard, LGA 1155, A970, D3, S3, USB 3.0, A

Raijintek CPU Cooler Rhea - 92mm P/N: CPRT-008

Patriot Signature DDR3 1600Mhz, 4GB, Cooler Master

EVGA 400 W power supply, 80+, active, 12 cm

Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5''

MIDI ATX Case Akyga AKY921BL without PSU

Total:$1046 Best Buy
I'm going to be blunt here—it’s probably better to aim for a six-core Intel Core i5 instead. You'd actually have a decent foundation for future upgrades, like stepping up to those beefier eight-core processors later on. With this specific processor you've listed, you really don't have much room to grow; you'll hit a ceiling almost immediately.

Rhea seems to only work with Intel...

crimsonstag84 said:Rhea really should stick to Intel...

At that point, you might as well just swap out the cooler—it’s basically the same price anyway http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Hyper-212-Evolution/dp/B001I8T5S6

Kepler parts available for $26

Budget is 3000, not 3200 🤦