Sub $700 Gaming Build

[MachoCyclone]

I'm looking at the listed setup as a sub $700 gaming build. I don't have a lot of new AAA games. The newest game I play is Dragon Age Inquisition. Thoughts and recommendations are welcomed.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($110.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
CPU Cooler: Silverstone AR06 40.2 CFM CPU Cooler  ($39.99 @ Newegg) 
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($67.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($39.89 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Samsung 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($74.55 @ B&H) 
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 960 4GB Video Card  ($199.88 @ OutletPC) 
Case: Silverstone RVZ01B Mini ITX Desktop Case  ($78.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: Silverstone 450W 80+ Bronze Certified SFX Power Supply  ($69.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Optical Drive: Silverstone SOD02B DVD/CD Writer 
Total: $682.27
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-23 09:17 EDT-0400

[Herman Mcpootis]

You can use the stock cooler instead of the silverstone heatsink. Get 1x8gb to save the 2nd slot, especially since you only 2 slots. Also, get an r9 380/380x or an rx 480/gtx 1060 instead if you can.

[crysilis]

10 minutes ago, MachoCyclone said:

I'm looking at the listed setup as a sub $700 gaming build. Thoughts and recommendations are welcomed.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($110.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
CPU Cooler: Silverstone AR06 40.2 CFM CPU Cooler  ($39.99 @ Newegg) 
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($67.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($39.89 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Samsung 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($74.55 @ B&H) 
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 960 4GB Video Card  ($199.88 @ OutletPC) 
Case: Silverstone RVZ01B Mini ITX Desktop Case  ($78.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: Silverstone 450W 80+ Bronze Certified SFX Power Supply  ($69.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Optical Drive: Silverstone SOD02B DVD/CD Writer 
Total: $682.27
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-23 09:17 EDT-0400

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/list/ZdPmqk
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/list/ZdPmqk/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($199.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($24.89 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: MSI H110I Pro Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($72.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: G.Skill NT Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($30.98 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($47.49 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon RX 480 8GB Video Card  ($269.99 @ B&H) 
Case: Silverstone SG06BB-LITE Mini ITX Desktop Case  ($69.48 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: Silverstone 300W 80+ Bronze Certified SFX Power Supply  ($48.49 @ SuperBiiz) 
Optical Drive: Silverstone SOD02B DVD/CD Writer 
Total: $764.30
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-23 09:34 EDT-0400

 

went over budget slightly but better gpu and cpu

[Mr.Meerkat]

1. What games are you looking to play? It may be a good idea to trade silence for a i5 6400.

2. RX480 4GB if possible (inb4 salty people saying why not 1060? That's more expensive than a 4GB RX480 and no I don't know whether there's a stock issue or not as in Japan, China and Britain, there's plenty of stock-especially in Japan...Tokyo, Akihabara, counted 40ish RX480 8GB and 15 4GB ones across 4 stores. Prices aren't inflated either  ) as the reference costs costs roughly around the same as a 960 (like the one you listed)

3. single 8GB of DDR4 will be cheaper than 2x4 and more importantly, it will allow you to upgrade later on.

 

 

[Herman Mcpootis]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6400 2.7GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($179.89 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($67.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: G.Skill Aegis 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($30.98 @ Newegg) 
Storage: A-Data Premier SP550 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($54.99 @ NCIX US) 
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon RX 480 8GB Video Card  ($269.99 @ B&H) 
Case: Thermaltake Core V1 Mini ITX Tower Case  ($39.99 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: Corsair CXM 450W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($56.94 @ Amazon) 
Total: $700.77
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-23 09:46 EDT-0400

[MachoCyclone]

1 hour ago, Mr.Meerkat said:

1. What games are you looking to play? It may be a good idea to trade silence for a i5 6400.

2. RX480 4GB if possible (inb4 salty people saying why not 1060? That's more expensive than a 4GB RX480 and no I don't know whether there's a stock issue or not as in Japan, China and Britain, there's plenty of stock-especially in Japan...Tokyo, Akihabara, counted 40ish RX480 8GB and 15 4GB ones across 4 stores. Prices aren't inflated either  ) as the reference costs costs roughly around the same as a 960 (like the one you listed)

3. single 8GB of DDR4 will be cheaper than 2x4 and more importantly, it will allow you to upgrade later on.

 

 

The games I'm looking to play Dragon Age: Inquisition, Mass Effect Trilogy, GW2 with the wife, Kerbal Space Program, and Farming Simulator 2015. Wife plays GW2, Spore, Plants vs Zombies 2

 

I didn't even look at the AMD cards as I haven't used AMD in years. Going to have to look into those again.

 

Going to take a look at the ram again. But I thought that 2 stick set was cheaper than the single stick.

 

The RVZ01 is pretty much set in stone. I'm building two of these and going to custom paint the cases and they are going on one large two person desk along with monitors and printer. It's also the case the wife likes. Happy wife, happy life. LOL.

 

I was looking at the reference blower type card for the RVZ01 case because I can put all the fans as intakes and that will keep cool clean air feeding directly to the video card. Which should help keep the card cool and internal case temps down. That will also give positive air pressure in the case and keep dust out. The magnetic filters will be very easy for the wife to remove, clean, and put back while I'm on the road.

[Quaker]

1 hour ago, crysilis said:

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($24.89 @ OutletPC) 

Case: Silverstone SG06BB-LITE Mini ITX Desktop Case  ($69.48 @ Amazon) 

It could be fun trying to jam an EVO into that case.

[crysilis]

3 minutes ago, Quaker said:

It could be fun trying to jam an EVO into that case.

just use stock then you don't need to oc ;p

[MachoCyclone]

Is there really that big of a performance difference between the Skylake i3 and i5 rated at similar clock speed?

[Quaker]

6 minutes ago, MachoCyclone said:

Is there really that big of a performance difference between the Skylake i3 and i5?

You mentioned that you want to play GW2. GW2 (like most MMOs) is very CPU intensive. You'll find that GW2 will work a lot better with an i5. Other than that, the i5 would be better, but the i3 should be good enough.

I'd suggest you drop the fancy Silverstone cooler and use the money to get an i5-6400 (with stock cooler).

 

Also, I'd stick with the 2x4G RAM instead of a single 8G stick. 8Gigs of RAM is enough for the foreseeable future and dual-channel RAM is preferable to single channel, performance-wise.

[MachoCyclone]

Wow, some good advice here. I've been doing more research, and I can't find a reason to justify the extra $80 or more for an i5 for my needs in both builds. Even seen a video of GW2 running on an i3-4170 with a GTX 970 with an average 90fps on high settings.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at_mJxIUDxE&feature=share

 

I did drop the cpu cooler and part of research did confirm that the stock will keep the i3 cool. Still not sure about going to an RX 480 instead of the GTX 960. Going have to look more into that also as the two cards are not even in the same league. But, I do think the GTX 960 will be just fine for my needs.

 

I do plan to stick with the 450watt PSU though. I have some 2TB 2.5in HD not being used at the moment and plan on dropping those in with the build. I also do plan to stick with the 2x4GB of ram. I always use this ram again when my son builds his first system next year and upgrade my ram to the 16GB. 

[antisleep]

Parts list with fixed merchants. I would try to avoid getting parts from SuperBiiz, PCpartpicker doesn't include their shipping fees so you get inaccurate prices - prime example being the RVZ01 case having $16 shipping fee not being taken into account.

 

PCPartPicker part list

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($117.99 @ B&H) 
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($69.98 @ Newegg) 
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($39.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: PNY CS1311 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($63.99 @ Newegg) 

^Stick to the 750EVO if you want but this one's pretty good for the price. >UserBenchmark comparison

Video Card: Sapphire RX 480 Nitro 4GB ($200.00)
Case: Silverstone RVZ01B Mini ITX Desktop Case  ($84.99 @ B&H) 
Power Supply: Silverstone 450W 80+ Bronze Certified SFX Power Supply  ($72.98 @ Newegg) 
Optical Drive: Silverstone SOD02B DVD/CD Writer 
Total: $649.92

 

There's no reason to get a 960 right now, the RX 480 4GB shits on this card and they're at the same price point. Even the cheaper $150-180 R9 380/380x perform better than the 960.

[MachoCyclone]

Thanks for the heads up on SuperBiiz. 

 

That was intereting info on the SSD's. 

 

I know the RX480 out performs the 960. They aren't even in the same league. The RX480 was not meant to be a direct competitor with the 960. It's a competitor with the 970 and newer.

 

I still have some research to do for a video card when I get more time. I also have seen that people are having issues with PCI-E power draw. Not sure how they measure that, but apparently it's happening. I could also see myself going to a GTX 970 and still not breaking budget. Not saying a RX 480 is out of the equation though. Just like to compare my options. 

 

The RX 480 also always seems to be out of stock. Especially the $200 variants.

[Herman Mcpootis]

6 hours ago, MachoCyclone said:

Thanks for the heads up on SuperBiiz. 

 

That was intereting info on the SSD's. 

 

I know the RX480 out performs the 960. They aren't even in the same league. The RX480 was not meant to be a direct competitor with the 960. It's a competitor with the 970 and newer.

 

I still have some research to do for a video card when I get more time. I also have seen that people are having issues with PCI-E power draw. Not sure how they measure that, but apparently it's happening. I could also see myself going to a GTX 970 and still not breaking budget. Not saying a RX 480 is out of the equation though. Just like to compare my options. 

 

The RX 480 also always seems to be out of stock. Especially the $200 variants.

the pci-e power draw issue has been fixed with a new driver update. don't bother with anyone's '$200' Rx 480 recommendations, it'll take a long time for prices to actually reach MSRP. if you can't afford the rx 480 than the powercolor myst r9 380x for $155 after rebates is still a good choice for gaming.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($199.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($67.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: G.Skill Aegis 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($30.98 @ Newegg) 
Storage: A-Data Premier SP550 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($59.99 @ Newegg) 
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 380X 4GB PCS+ Myst. Edition Video Card  ($149.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: Silverstone RVZ02B HTPC Case  ($64.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: Silverstone Strider Gold 450W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular SFX Power Supply  ($87.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Total: $661.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-24 00:43 EDT-0400

[MachoCyclone]

1 hour ago, herman mcpootis said:

the pci-e power draw issue has been fixed with a new driver update. don't bother with anyone's '$200' Rx 480 recommendations, it'll take a long time for prices to actually reach MSRP. if you can't afford the rx 480 than the powercolor myst r9 380x for $155 after rebates is still a good choice for gaming.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($199.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($67.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: G.Skill Aegis 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($30.98 @ Newegg) 
Storage: A-Data Premier SP550 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($59.99 @ Newegg) 
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 380X 4GB PCS+ Myst. Edition Video Card  ($149.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: Silverstone RVZ02B HTPC Case  ($64.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: Silverstone Strider Gold 450W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular SFX Power Supply  ($87.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Total: $661.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-24 00:43 EDT-0400

I don't know how I missed the RVZ02 case, but damn, that is one sexy case. The front led reminds me of a Cylon from Battlestar Galactica.

 

I did some looking into the AMD cards and they are looking better to me when it comes to bang for buck. 

[MachoCyclone]

After looking at several options for video cards and configurations; I have decided on the following build:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($199.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($67.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: Crucial 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($32.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Mushkin ECO2 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($129.99 @ Newegg) 
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 380X 4GB PCS+ Myst. Edition Video Card  ($149.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: Silverstone RVZ02B HTPC Case  ($64.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: Silverstone 450W 80+ Bronze Certified SFX Power Supply  ($69.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Total: $715.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-24 08:06 EDT-0400

 

I know it goes over the $700 budget, but I feel this is what I am looking for in builds for me and my wife. I figured I could partition the SSD into a 120GB boot drive + minor programs like VLC, Open Office, and Antivirus. The remaining would be for game installations. Since I have 2 of the 2.5in 2TB Seagate 5200rpm HD already; I can throw one of those in each case for mass storage.

 

As for the memory, I figure I will not notice a loss of performance between 15 and 16 CAS.

 

I will be ordering parts each payday starting next week and once all the parts come in I will do a build log.

[Herman Mcpootis]

7 minutes ago, MachoCyclone said:

After looking at several options for video cards and configurations; I have decided on the following build:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($199.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($67.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: Crucial 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($32.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Mushkin ECO2 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($129.99 @ Newegg) 
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 380X 4GB PCS+ Myst. Edition Video Card  ($149.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: Silverstone RVZ02B HTPC Case  ($64.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: Silverstone 450W 80+ Bronze Certified SFX Power Supply  ($69.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Total: $715.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-24 08:06 EDT-0400

 

I know it goes over the $700 budget, but I feel this is what I am looking for in builds for me and my wife. I figured I could partition the SSD into a 120GB boot drive + minor programs like VLC, Open Office, and Antivirus. The remaining would be for game installations. Since I have 2 of the 2.5in 2TB Seagate 5200rpm HD already; I can throw one of those in each case for mass storage.

 

As for the memory, I figure I will not notice a loss of performance between 15 and 16 CAS.

 

I will be ordering parts each payday starting next week and once all the parts come in I will do a build log.

its good, but use 1x8gb, save the 2nd slot for later.

[MachoCyclone]

1 minute ago, herman mcpootis said:

its good, but use 1x8gb, save the 2nd slot for later.

 Wouldn't I get better ram performance running two sticks in dual channel vs single channel? It is a dual channel MB after all. Didn't LTT put out a video stating that it's best to run your memory in the channel the MB was designed for. Or does that not matter anymore?

[Herman Mcpootis]

1 minute ago, MachoCyclone said:

 Wouldn't I get better ram performance running two sticks in dual channel vs single channel? It is a dual channel MB after all. Didn't LTT put out a video stating that it's best to run your memory in the channel the MB was designed for. Or does that not matter anymore?

dual channel doesn't really do much, you're better off keeping the extra slot for future expansion.

[MachoCyclone]

2 minutes ago, herman mcpootis said:

dual channel doesn't really do much, you're better off keeping the extra slot for future expansion.

Ah. Oh, it was Techquickie that put out the single vs dual vs quad channel memory. I thought it was LTT since Linus is giving the info.

 

 

[antisleep]

13 hours ago, herman mcpootis said:

the pci-e power draw issue has been fixed with a new driver update. don't bother with anyone's '$200' Rx 480 recommendations, it'll take a long time for prices to actually reach MSRP. if you can't afford the rx 480 than the powercolor myst r9 380x for $155 after rebates is still a good choice for gaming.

Yeah I did consider the prices going above the MSRP due to limited stocks, it's why my build only totaled $650. Hell, even if he goes for the 8GB, it's still a sub $700 build.

 

In fact, all my recent posts about the '$200' RX 480 takes the price increase into consideration.

>Build Budget Advice

22 hours ago, antisleep said:

~snip

Video Card: Sapphire RX 480 Nitro 4GB ($200.00)
~snip
Total: $740.09 ($750-$10 rebate) / Prepare $780-800 just in case.

>PC 700 bucks thread

On 7/24/2016 at 0:37 AM, antisleep said:

Video Card: Sapphire RX 480 Nitro 4GB ($200.00)

Total: $698.92

~snip

 

Ways to save a few $:

>EVGA 500B for $25 less

>i5-6400 for $20 less

>120gb SSD for $18 less (wouldn't recommend)

>I need your opinion!

On 7/22/2016 at 7:44 AM, antisleep said:

Video Card: Sapphire RX 480 Nitro+ 4GB ($210.00)

^Build your PC now and order this when it's available, the aftermarket variants should be out in no more than a week.

[MachoCyclone]

Well, after some wheeling and dealing with the wife (aka the bank), I managed to get approved for a $2400 budget for two systems. That's $1200 hard cap per computer. This made me happy of course. Then I actually managed to find a Zotac GTX1060 Mini that now used to be in stock at B&H for $269 with free shipping. So, I jumped on that. Then I saw this video:

 

 

And I was like, I have to try that myself. Grant it, not with the same exact parts, but still it leaves me with cpu upgrade options later on down the road. I am going to try one thing different and that I'm going to replace the piece that gets cut out by using a thin coat of JB Weld to hold it in place. Should be a fun and interesting build.

 

Here is the new parts list:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($204.99 @ B&H) 
CPU Cooler: Corsair H55 57.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($59.75 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B150N Phoenix-WIFI Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($117.98 @ Newegg) 
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($59.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Crucial MX200 500GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  ($149.99 @ Adorama) 
Storage: Mushkin ECO2 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($129.99 @ Newegg) 
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 1060 6GB Mini Video Card  ($269.99) 
Case: Fractal Design Node 202 HTPC Case  ($79.99 @ NCIX US) 
Power Supply: Silverstone Strider Gold 450W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular SFX Power Supply  ($88.99 @ B&H) 
Case Fan: Fractal Design HP12-PWM 61.4 CFM  120mm Fan  ($16.98 @ Newegg) 
Total: $1178.64
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-27 16:12 EDT-0400