New gaming PC build around $900?

Hey everyone.

So, my old rig is starting to give up the ghost more often than not, and honestly, it’s getting pretty ancient... so I decided to treat myself to a new setup for New Year's Day. I was thinking of heading over to $2000, nothing crazy, because I really think you can snag a decent configuration for that kind of cash. I've got my eye on these two builds right about now:

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K, LGA 1150
Cooler: Raijintek Themis
Motherboard: ASUS Z97, LGA 1150
Graphics Card: Nvidia GTX 970, 3GB DDR5
Memory: 8GB DDRIII
Hard Drive: 1TB HDD
Case: Zalman Z3 Plus
Optical Drive: DVD-RW, Dual Layer, SATA
Power Supply: Fortron Hyper 700W

The price is $1966.

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460, 3.5Ghz LGA 1150
Motherboard: ASUS Z97, SATAIII, LGA 1150
Graphics Card: Nvidia GTX 760, 2GB
Memory: 8GB DDRIII
Hard Drive: 1TB SSHD
Case: Zalman Z1
Optical Drive: DVD-RW, Dual Layer, SATA
Power Supply: ZALMAN 700W PFC

The price is $1800.

Now, look, I don't exactly consider myself an expert when it comes to all these individual components, so I need someone who actually knows their stuff to tell me if this cheaper build is actually good enough, or if I should just bite the bullet and shell out another $167 (I mean, damn it, I'm not buying a whole new computer every single year, so if I have to cough up a bit more cash, fine...). I'm also wondering if there's anything else I should add—maybe some extra RAM?—or if there's somewhere I could pick up the same (or similar) parts for less money. Just to be clear, I'm not looking to buy peripherals, since mine still work perfectly fine.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Andrew Roberts3 said:Hey everyone.

Since my old rig is basically dying on me and it’s getting pretty ancient, I decided to treat myself to a new one for New Year's Day. I was thinking about heading over to $2000, but not too far, because I think you can find a decent setup for that kind of cash. I've narrowed it down to these two builds:

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K, LGA 1150
Cooler: Raijintek Themis
Motherboard: ASUS Z97, LGA 1150
Graphics Card: Nvidia GTX 970, 3GB DDR5
Memory: 8GB DDRIII
Hard Drive: 1TB HDD
Case: Zalman Z3 Plus
Optical Drive: DVD-RW, Dual Layer, SATA
Power Supply: Fortron Hyper 700W

Price is $1966.

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.5GHz LGA 1150
Motherboard: ASUS Z97, SATAIII, LGA 1150
Graphics Card: Nvidia GTX 760, 2GB
Memory: 8GB DDRIII
Hard Drive: 1TB SSHD
Case: Zalman Z1
Optical Drive: DVD-RW, Dual Layer, SATA
Power Supply: ZALMAN 700W PFC

Price is $1800.

Now, since I don't really know much about parts, I need someone who actually knows their stuff to tell me if this cheaper build is good enough, or if I should just bite the bullet and shell out another $167 (I mean, I don't buy a new PC every year, so if I have to spend a few extra bucks, fine). Also wondering if I should add anything else—maybe more RAM—or if there's a way to get the same components for less money. Just to be clear, I'm not looking at peripherals since mine still work fine.

Thanks in advance for any help.

1 x ASUS M5A97 R2.0,
AM3, AM3+, AMD 970,
SB950, BUS 5200 MHz,
DDR3
1 x Intel Core i5-4460
8320
3.5GHz, 16MB, 125W, AM3+,
FD8320FRHK
1 x DDR3 8GB (1x8GB)
Crucial, 1600MHz CL11
1 x Sapphire R9 280 3GB OC
Dual-X, 3GB GDDR5
384bit, 28nm
1 x HDD WD 1TB, Caviar Blue
10EZEX, 1000 GB,
SATA3, 64 MB, 3.5", 24mj
1 x Power Supply FORTRON 550W
Raider, RA550, 12cm
fan
1 x DVD drive LG GH24NS,
DVD±RW, 24x DVD±R ,8x
DL , 40x CD-R
1 x Zalman Z3 mid tower
case.
192(W)x465(H)x430(D)mm.
MB standard
1 x ZALMAN CNPS 5X
Performance, socket
775/1155/1156/AM2/AM2/
AM3
$1806

www.newegg.com

this is more than enough for gaming.
The gap between the 280 and 280x isn't big enough to justify the $200 price difference.
Plus you'll have room left in the budget if you want to grab an SSD.

Honestly, just grab this and you’ll be set for years if you’re sticking to 1080p—later on, you can always just snag an i7, a beefier GPU, maybe some extra RAM, and you won't even need to touch the rest of the build.

Example:

Intel Core i5-4460
ASROCK H81M-HDS
Crucial 8GB 1600 MHz
Intel 520 120 GB SSD SATA 3
Toshiba 3.5" 1TB SATA 3
Inno3D GeForce GTX 970 4GB DDR5
FSP Hyper 500W 80+
Zalman Z3 Midi ATX USB 3.0

= $2160 including assembly and shipping.

Or, if you really need to stick to that $600 budget, you could save some cash by opting for an SSHD and a slightly weaker GPU:

1 x SAPPHIRE R9 290, TRI-X OC, 4GB, GDDR5, UEFI
1 x Asrock H81M-HDS, LGA 1150
1 x Crucial 8GB DDR3 1600 Mhz (PC3-12800) CL11
1 x SEAGATE HDD DESKTOP SSHD 3.5" / 1TB / 64m/ SATA/ 7200rpm
1 x Intel Core i5-4460 soc 1150
1 x Fortron Hyper 600W, 80+
1 x Zalman Z3, USB3.0 black, 3x120mm

Total: $2012 Best Buy

I honestly don't think you need to sink any more money into this than what you've already listed. That GPU is plenty solid for 1080p gaming, the SSD will keep the system feeling snappy, and I’d probably stick with an Intel processor since I doubt you're looking to mess around with overclocking anyway...

1 x Intel Core i5-4460 (3.20GHz,1MB,6MB,84 W,1150) Box
1 x Gigabyte GA-B85M-D3H, Socket : 1150, Intel ® B85, 4xDDR3 1600
1 x Gigabyte R9 280 3GB WF3 OC, 3GB GDDR5 384bit, GV-R928WF3OC-3GD
1 x DDR3 8GB (1x8GB) Crucial, 1600MHz CL11
1 x TOSHIBA 1TB, 7200rpm, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB, DT01ACA100
1 x Intel 120GB SSD 520, 2.5", SATA III-600, R/W:550/520MB/s
1 x XFX TS Series 550W PSU -P1550S-GREEN
1 x Zalman R1 mid tower case. 192(W) x 465(H) x 450(D)mm.
1 x LG GH24NS, DVD±RW, 24x DVD±R ,8x DL , 40x CD-R

$2015
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