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Forums - PC Discussion - Recommend me a great PC rig

Something like this is probably the best you can get for around $650. If you don't want an overclockable CPU you can cut something like $80 off that by getting a cheap MOBO ($50) and a cheaper i5 ($200 vs. $240.)

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/MyQCWZ

I am also assuming you are getting a good deal on a Windows key, through something like Reddit or otherwise. (Nobody pays $100 for windows.) Also $30 or so for a decent mouse + keyboard.



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Here's one of my builds:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/vY9JdC

I cut corners by using an old hard drive, torrenting Windows using Linux ;), and using an old monitor, keyboard, and mouse



greenmedic88 said:
generic-user-1 said:
greenmedic88 said:
$500-700 is considered budget level PC gaming.

No one builds a gaming PC with anything approaching a 10 year life expectancy, even for actual top of the line systems that run in excess of several thousand dollars.

This is very realistically what a $700 budget buys for a build it yourself gaming PC:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/build-budget-gaming-pc,4065.html

Current Budget Gaming PC Components
CPU Intel Core i3-4150 (Haswell) $120
CPU Cooler Intel Boxed Heat Sink and Fan $0
Motherboard ASRock H81M-HDS, LGA 1150, Intel H81 Express $57
RAM G.Skill Ripjaws 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600 F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL $64
Graphics Sapphire Dual-X Radeon R9 280 100373L $180
Hard Drive Western Digital WD Blue WD10EZEX 1TB $55
Power EVGA 100-W1-500-KR 500W $43
Performance Platform Cost $519
Storage Drive None $0
Case NZXT Source 210 Elite Black $50
Optical Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK SATA 24x DVD Burner $20
Total Hardware Cost
$589
OS Windows 8.1 X64 OEM $100
Complete System Price
$689

As anyone familiar with PC components will recognize (anyone familiar will already have a good idea of what $700 in hardware will buy anyway) this is a competent but modest 1920x1080 gaming PC.

I suggest reading builder articles from Tomshardware.com to better educate yourself on what various budgets will currently buy and the tested performance numbers said builds will yield.

i3 is realy weak for gaming...   and wo the hell buys fullprice windows?

Balance still matters in PC builds. The i3 pairs well with any video card under the R9 290/390 or GTX 970 when working within budgetary constraints. Generally speaking, spending an extra $100 on an i5 would be better spent on a $300 card rather than a $200 one for a gaming PC.

As for the Windows license, it's generally fallen out of favor to cut costs like the price of a license out of a build. Yes, everyone knows how to illegally pirate software, just as anyone can salvage/steal/canibalize components; this doen't count when it comes to pricing the cost of a PC. Anyone can see where this is going: if you can score a $300 CPU for free you have a $1200 build for $900 and while you're at it, if you can get all components for free or a fraction of the current market prices, you can get a $1500 build for a few bills. 

the i3 is way to weak for alot of PC games. balancing a system in favour of a gpu heavy system is just a good idea if you want to lay alot of AAA ports.   and 100$ for windows is just a joke, you can get it for 15 "used" from pc stores or fo 25-40 new.or you can get it for free if you are a student at a decent college, or get it realy cheap if you go to school.



The biggest problem in building a PC this year is that AMD is late with its next gen CPUs and APUs and adopting DDR4, so lack of competiition is slowing the arrival of cheaper but more future-proof machines in the high-end and gaming segments. AMD GPU are going to be fine soon with the new HBM tech, but currently it's still expensive and at the beginning of its life, this, coupled with AMD aforementioned delay on CPUs and RAM support, will delay the moment when we'll have again competitively priced systems in the high-end.



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