PC build around $1,500 budget

Guys, I need help. Seriously.

I’m looking to build a new rig right now, and honestly, money isn't an issue. I was dead set on getting a Samsung SSD, but is it just me, or is nobody actually keeping them in stock lately???🙂I swear, the SanDisk Extreme is such a total rip-off. The price refuses to budge, and it’s driving me insane. I just want my parts to actually work together properly—I'm tired of dropping a fortune on high-end gear only to have it run at like 10% capacity. I need stuff that actually lasts at least five years on Windows without crapping out.

So, this is basically what I was thinking, but I'm not sure if I'm missing anything. Like, should I grab an extra cooler, more RAM, or maybe a bigger case or something?

That old Intel Core i7-3770 is basically a relic at this point. It’s like trying to win a drag race in a rusted-out 90s sedan—it might still run, but don't expect it to keep up with anything modern.
The ASRock Z77 Pro3 (1155) is a total beast. Seriously, this board punches way above its weight class.
SanDisk Extreme 250GB Basic SSD
Western Digital 2TB, 32mb HDD
That old Gigabyte R9 270x with 2GB of DDR5? Total joke. It’s like trying to run a marathon in flip-flops.
Two sticks of 8GB Kingston DDR3 Fury.
That PC Build is a total joke. It's like trying to run a marathon in flip-flops—just completely wrong for the job.
The Zalman Z3 Plus is alright, I guess. It gets the job done if you aren't picky.
LG Optical Drive
Total: $9,481.05

Man, I could really use a new monitor right now, but I’m totally lost on which one to grab.
Is this thing gonna sound like a jet engine taking off?

Sophia Anderson35 said:Help me out, everyone.

I want to build a new rig right now, and budget isn't an issue. I was really set on getting a Samsung SSD, but it seems like nobody has them in stock???🙂The SanDisk Extreme feels overpriced to me, and the price just won't drop to anything reasonable. I also want to make sure all the components are balanced perfectly—I don't want expensive parts sitting idle at 10% capacity. I need this setup to last at least 5 years on Windows.

Here’s what I was thinking, but I’m not sure if I’m missing anything. Maybe an extra cooler, more RAM, a bigger case, or something like that.

Intel Core i7-3770
ASRock Z77 Pro3 (1155)
SanDisk Extreme 250GB Basic SSD
Western Digital 2TB, 32mb HDD
PC Build
2x Kingston 8GB DDR3 Fury
Corsair Builder CX CP-9020048
Zalman Z3 Plus
LG Optical Drive
Total: $9,481.05

I could also use a new monitor, but I have no clue which one to get.
Will this be a super loud computer?

This is a total mess. 🙂 First off, what are you actually going to use this computer for? If you're talking about gaming, pairing 16 GB of RAM with a Non-Ivy Bridge CPU, a Z77 motherboard, and just a mediocre graphics card for this kind of budget makes absolutely no sense. Honestly, no matter how you look at it, it's a waste of money. 😬First, tell us what your purpose is, and then we can actually help you put something together.

It really just comes down to what you’re actually planning to do with the rig—if you're gaming heavily, a ton of this needs changing, but even if you aren't, you'll probably still want to swap some stuff out 🙂

The 1155 socket is pretty ancient by now; you'd be looking at an 1150 instead
Everything else seems fine, I guess, though depending on what you need, you might want to grab a better GPU or maybe a weaker CPU
Why go with a Western Digital SSD? Honestly, SanDisk Extreme drives are probably among the best ones you can get your hands on

This rig is just for hitting games every now and then. I’m definitely skipping the overclocking—I don't have the patience to babysit temperatures all day.

I’m not buying into the hype with an Apple SSD. They're basically rookies in this game, whereas Western Digital has been killing it with drives for ages.

So, if I swap out the socket, does everything else still hold up?

Intel Core i7-4771
ASRock Z87 Killer
SanDisk Extreme 250GB
Western Digital 2TB, 32mb HDD
Gigabyte R9 270x 2GB DDR5
2x Kingston 8GB DDR3 Fury
PC Build
Zalman Z3 Plus
LG Optical Drive
Total: $9,993.05

If I were putting this together, I’d probably go with something like this

1 x Intel Core i7-4790 (3.60GHz,1MB,8MB,84W,1150) Box
1 x Gigabyte GA-B85-HD3, Socket : 1150, Intel ® B85, 4xDDR3 1333/1600
1 x Gigabyte GF GTX970 G1 GAMING, 4GB GDDR5, DVI, DP, GVN970G14GD-00
1 x Samsung 120 GB 850 Series Basic, 120 GB Capacity, 2.5", SATA
1 x Toshiba 2TB, 7200 rpm, SATA 3 6Gb/s, 64MB cache, 3.5", DT01ACA20
1 x DDR3 8GB (1x8GB) Kingston, HyperX Fury, 1866MHz, CL10
1 x CORSAIR 450W Power Supply, RM Series, CP-9020066-WW, 80 PLUS® Gold
1 x Zalman Z3 PLUS mid tower case. 192(W)x465(H)x430(D)mm. ATX standard
1 x LG GH24NS DVD Burner, DVD±RW, 24x DVD±R ,8x DL , 40x CD-R
1 x SCYTHE Katana 3 SCKTN-3000I White Box, 775/1155/1156/1366

$3226
admin.com

Quote : Robert Rodriguez2

Sophia Anderson35 said:I'm just using this rig for some casual gaming. I have zero interest in overclocking—too much hassle dealing with temperatures and all that extra babysitting.

I don't trust Samsung SSD enough. They're still the new kids on the block with this tech, whereas Toshiba has been the heavy hitter in the storage game for ages.

So, I swap out the socket, everything else stays fine?

Intel i7 4771 3,5 Gh (1150)
The ASRock Z87 Killer (1150) is basically just a motherboard. It does what it needs to do, nothing more, nothing less.
Samsung 250 GB 850 Series Basic SSD.
Toshiba 2TB, 32mb HDD
HDD Gigabyte R9 270 x 2 GB DDR5 2 x Kingston 8 GB DDR3 Fury Corsair Builder CX CP-9020048
2x Kingston 8GB DDR3 Fury
Corsair Builder CX CP-9020048
Zalman Z3 Plus.
LG GH24NS95
Total comes to $9,993.05.

Here you go.
For ten bucks, you aren't getting a gaming rig or a workstation. You're lucky if you walk away with a used mouse. 👍

One Asrock H97 ANNIVERSARY motherboard, s1150 socket, Intel ® H97 chipset, 4 slots for DDR3, and one PCI Express slot.
One Intel Core i7-4770 3.40. It's a Haswell chip.
Just one set of 8GB (2x4GB) HyperX Fury DDR3 at 1866MHz, CL10.
One Samsung 250 GB 850 Series Basic, 2.5".
Just one Toshiba 2TB drive. 7200 rpm, SATA 3 6Gb/s, 64MB cache, 3.5", DT01ACA20.
One LG GH24NS DVD burner—standard stuff. It does 24x DVD±R, 8x DL, and 40x CD-R.
Just one Scythe Katana 3 cooler. It fits 775, 1155, 1156, and 1366 sockets.
One LG 23" monitor, 1080p, IPS panel, 250 nits. Standard stuff.
One Gigabyte R9 280X 3GB OC, 3GB GDDR5 384bit, GV-R928XOC-3GD.
One Fortron 600W power supply, Hyper model, PPA6003302, with a 12cm fan.
Zalman Z3 mid tower case. 192(W)x465(H)x430(D)mm. Standard ATX motherboard support.

$3342

Check out the site at www.adm.us.

One Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H motherboard, LGA 1150 socket, running an Intel ® B85 chipset.
Just one Intel Core i7-4770 3.40. It's like buying a single engine instead of the whole truck.
One Sapphire TRI-X R9 290 with 4GB GDDR5 and a 512bit bus—it's got dual DVI, plus HDMI and DisplayPort.
Just 2 x DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Kingmax, 1600MHz, FLGF.
One Fortron 600W power supply, Hyper model, PPA6003302, featuring a 12cm fan.
One Zalman Z1 mid tower case. Standard motherboard fit. Dimensions: 199(W)x432(H)x457(D)mm.
One LG GH24NS DVD burner—it’s a DVD±RW that handles 24x DVD±R, 8x DL, and 40x CD-R. Just a basic burner.
Just one Scythe Katana 3 cooler. Standard stuff.
One Toshiba 2TB drive, 7200 rpm, SATA 3 6Gb/s, 64MB cache, 3.5", DT01ACA20. Just like any other standard workhorse.
One ACER V236HLBd 23" monitor. It's got an IPS panel and a 1920x1080 resolution. Simple enough.
One Samsung 250 GB 850 Series Basic, 2.5".

$3331

It'll hold up, even with a beefier GPU. 👍

Sophia Anderson35 said:I don't really trust the Samsung SSD; they're pretty new to this game, whereas Toshiba has been in the hard drive business for ages.

I wouldn't sweat the Samsung stuff too much; their SSDs are killing it right now. Besides, comparing an HDD to an SSD isn't really fair since they're totally different technologies. Plus, I guess Samsung has made HDD-ove before too.

If you're really that skeptical about Samsung, then you might want to look into an OCZ SSD instead—though, as far as I know, that company went under and ended up being bought out by Toshiba 😁

Ryan Hayes82 said:If I were building this, I'd go

1 x Intel Core i7-4790 (3.60GHz,1MB,8MB,84W,1150) Box
1 x Gigabyte GA-B85-HD3, Socket : 1150, Intel ® B85, 4xDDR3 1333/1600
1 x Gigabyte GF GTX970 G1 GAMING, 4GB GDDR5, DVI, DP, GVN970G14GD-00
1 x Samsung 120 GB 850 Series Basic, Capacity 120 GB, 2.5", SATA
1 x Toshiba 2TB, 7200 rpm, SATA 3 6Gb/s, 64MB cache, 3.5", DT01ACA20
1 x DDR3 8GB (1x8GB) Kingston, HyperX Fury, 1866MHz, CL10
1 x CORSAIR 450W Power Supply, RM Series, CP-9020066-WW, 80 PLUS® Gold
1 x Zalman Z3 PLUS mid tower case. 192(W)x465(H)x430(D)mm. MB standard
1 x LG GH24NS DVD burner, DVD±RW, 24x DVD±R ,8x DL , 40x CD-R
1 x SCYTHE Katana 3 SCKTN-3000I White Box, 775/1155/1156/1366

$3226
US Tech Forum

Isn't 450W cutting it too close for a build like this? I'm running 500W right now and honestly, if you aren't looking at at least 600W, why even bother?

Robert Rodriguez2 said:Check this out,
you get a full gaming/workstation rig with a monitor for just a few hundred bucks. 👍

1 x Asrock H97 ANNIVERSARY, s1150 , Intel ® H97, 4 x DDR3, 1 x PCI Ex
1 x Intel i7 4771 3,5 Gh Processor, Haswell
1 x DDR3 8GB (2x4GB) Kingston, 1866MHz, CL10, HyperX Fury
1 x Samsung 250 GB 850 Series Basic, Capacity 250 GB, 2.5"
1 x Toshiba 2TB, 7200 rpm, SATA 3 6Gb/s, 64MB cache, 3.5", DT01ACA20
1 x LG GH24NS DVD burner, DVD±RW, 24x DVD±R ,8x DL , 40x CD-R
1 x SCYTHE Katana 3 SCKTN-3000I White Box, 775/1155/1156/1366
1 x LG 23MP65VQ-P 23" AH-IPS, 16:9, 1920x1080, 250 cd/m2
1 x Gigabyte R9 280X 3GB OC, 3GB GDDR5 384bit, GV-R928XOC-3GD
1 x Fortron 600W Power Supply, Hyper, PPA6003302, 12cm fan
1 x Zalman Z3 mid tower case. 192(W)x465(H)x430(D)mm. MB standard

$3342

I dig this setup. Though I'd definitely swap to a single 1x8GB stick of RAM.

Regarding the Toshiba drive, check this comparison link here. Toshiba scored an "excellent" rating while Samsung was just "very good." If I walk into a Best Buy and see the Toshiba sitting there, that's what's going straight into my PC over the Samsung.

Sophia Anderson35 said:Isn't 450W a bit cutting it close for a build like this? I'm running 500W right now, and honestly, I don't think it's even worth looking at anything under 600W.

Nah, you've got an 84W CPU + ~170W GPU + about 50W for everything else.

I honestly don't see the point in going with an i7 if you're just playing games occasionally. 🤷
She didn't mention needing any heavy-duty performance for things like 3D rendering or anything else demanding...

The only reason to do that would be if the goal is to blow the entire budget at once.

Sophia Anderson35 said:I feel like the Samsung Evo is way overpriced, and I can't see the price ever dropping to a reasonable level.

It's not "overpriced" when the Samsung 250 GB 850 Series Basic is hands down the best value SSD for that kind of money, especially with a 5-year warranty. It's a total no-brainer best-buy.

Sophia Anderson35 said:Isn't 450W a bit low for a build like this? I'm running a 500W unit right now, and honestly, I don't think there's any point in even considering anything under 600W.

I like this setup. Though, I'd probably go with 1x8GB RAM.

Regarding the Toshiba, here's the comparison link. Toshiba got an "excellent" rating while Samsung got a "Samsung very good." If I walk into the store and see the Toshiba available, I'm definitely grabbing that over the Samsung.

Look at the difference between the 1350 SSD and $267. This 1350 is only 4% better (according to that site), and you're basing your whole decision on Toshiba because of that? Don't you think the guys on this forum would just tell you Toshiba is a better value than Samsung? If that were actually the case... All these builds being suggested to you are already optimized for the best bang for your buck. Honestly, changing anything will likely just mess up what's already been perfectly proposed, so... 🙂

Actually, running this with 16GB of RAM works just fine too.

Monitor:
1 x Dell UltraSharp Monitor, 23", IPS panel, 1920x1080 resolution

PC Build:
1 x Sapphire TRI-X R9 290 4GB GDDR5 512bit, 28nm, 2xDVI + HDMI + DP
1 x Intel Core i7-4790 (3.60GHz,1MB,8MB,84W,1150) Box
1 x Asrock H81M-HDS, s1150, Intel H81, M-ATX, dual Channel 2xDDR3
2 x DDR3 8GB (1x8GB) Kingmax, 1600MHz, non-ECC, CL9.0, FLGG
1 x Fortron 700W Hyper Power Supply, PPA7002702, 12cm fan
1 x SanDisk 250 GB SSD, 250 GB Capacity, 2.5"
1 x TOSHIBA 1TB, 7200rpm, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB, DT01ACA100
1 x Zalman Z3 PLUS mid tower case. 192(W)x465(H)x430(D)mm. Motherboard standard

Total: $3.25 Micro Center, includes free assembly and shipping!
I didn't include the optical drive. In my opinion, it’s a relic of the past that nobody really uses anymore; you can install everything you need via a USB drive anyway.