Deal or no: A roughly 380USD used build

[DJ_Gox3]

Hello there LTT forum-ers,

 

Hi from Malaysia  Just a quick reminder of where I am from, in case this bit of context might help gauge the local pricing and what-not.

 

After so many years only being part of the comments on YT, I am quite happy to say my first post here will be for my first ever gaming PC. It's quite safe to say I have spent the better half of a year trying to know the bleeding edge of tech (which is primarily covered by Linus and crew), but I am a simple man and really enjoy trying to find a budget PC (and watch the likes of TechYesCity, TechDeals, and HardwareUnboxed for my daily dose of price to performance. There are many others too including Gamers Nexus, Tech of Tomorrow, and of course the trinity: Jay, Kyle and Paul) (also, first post here; hope it's cool to give other tech tubers a shout-out; would love to hear from other you guys watch too!) Watch as many channels as I may though, it's always a sweaty, scary feeling when I actually am ready to shell out what my own money..

However, there's one big caveat: It's basically just a used build. Reason is I am a student, and money is tight but so is my ability to justify a very expensive PC (if I am able to save them after skipping three meals in a day.. haha jokes) is basically zero in the short term. Maybe 3 years down the line only am I able to get myself a real new rig to myself).

 

So after all the faff, here's the build I'm looking to buy, for an equivalent of 380 USD:

 

Processor: i7-3770K with stock cooler 

Motherboard from Asus: P8Z77-V PRO (This mobo, I honestly quite like. I have a 5.1 speaker which simply would not work properly on my current Laptop, and I would like that to change)

GPU: a GTX 660Ti

RAM: 4 GB of 1600Mhz DDR3  from Corsair

And a 650W GX PSU from CM

OS and Storage is also included.

 

What do you guys think? I have a 1080p monitor, and would like to get a solid 60fps for titles like Total War : Shogun 2 and CIV 6. Somewhere close to there will be fine for Triple-A titles.

 

I also play E-sports games, but that shouldn't be a problem, right?

I am thinking of buying a HD 7970 (3gb or 2gb GDDR5), which I can get here in Malaysia for about 105 USD and swapping the cards out. So for three years of gaming, do you think this rig will hold up? (Also, no more warranty from the supplier, except for RAM maybe.)

 

Oh and one more thing: The current laptop I am using has an i7-4810MQ @ 2.1Ghz and a GTX 870M. It's about 3 years old, come this August.

[XR6]

13 minutes ago, DJ_Gox3 said:

Hello there LTT forum-ers,

 

Hi from Malaysia  Just a quick reminder of where I am from, in case this bit of context might help gauge the local pricing and what-not.

 

After so many years only being part of the comments on YT, I am quite happy to say my first post here will be for my first ever gaming PC. It's quite safe to say I have spent the better half of a year trying to know the bleeding edge of tech (which is primarily covered by Linus and crew), but I am a simple man and really enjoy trying to find a budget PC (and watch the likes of TechYesCity, TechDeals, and HardwareUnboxed for my daily dose of price to performance. There are many others too including Gamers Nexus, Tech of Tomorrow, and of course the trinity: Jay, Kyle and Paul) (also, first post here; hope it's cool to give other tech tubers a shout-out; would love to hear from other you guys watch too!) Watch as many channels as I may though, it's always a sweaty, scary feeling when I actually am ready to shell out what my own money..

However, there's one big caveat: It's basically just a used build. Reason is I am a student, and money is tight but so is my ability to justify a very expensive PC (if I am able to save them after skipping three meals in a day.. haha jokes) is basically zero in the short term. Maybe 3 years down the line only am I able to get myself a real new rig to myself).

 

So after all the faff, here's the build I'm looking to buy, for an equivalent of 380 USD:

 

Processor: i7-3770K with stock cooler 

Motherboard from Asus: P8Z77-V PRO (This mobo, I honestly quite like. I have a 5.1 speaker which simply would not work properly on my current Laptop, and I would like that to change)

GPU: a GTX 660Ti

RAM: 4 GB of 1600Mhz DDR3  from Corsair

And a 650W GX PSU from CM

OS and Storage is also included.

 

What do you guys think? I have a 1080p monitor, and would like to get a solid 60fps for titles like Total War : Shogun 2 and CIV 6. Somewhere close to there will be fine for Triple-A titles.

 

I also play E-sports games, but that shouldn't be a problem, right?

I am thinking of buying a HD 7970 (3gb or 2gb GDDR5), which I can get here in Malaysia for about 105 USD and swapping the cards out. So for three years of gaming, do you think this rig will hold up? (Also, no more warranty from the supplier, except for RAM maybe.)

 

Oh and one more thing: The current laptop I am using has an i7-4810MQ @ 2.1Ghz and a GTX 870M. It's about 3 years old, come this August.

I'd get a 3GB 7970 and 8-16GB of RAM.

Also a good YT channel to watch for budget builds is RandomGaminginHD. 

Hope this helped  

[killer5247]

why a 3rd gen build lemme build one for you

[DJ_Gox3]

Just now, killer5247 said:

why a 3rd gen build lemme build one for you

Well, it's because this is a deal I am getting right now online. Other builds. especially those featuring 4th gen Intel CPUs (especially i7s), will go into 450+ USD territory. And I think it's kinda a bit too expensive for a generational upgrade.

 

I personally think so long as the Mobo's interfaces are relatively modern, like usb 3.0 and Pcie 3.0, then I am quite happy with the CPU generation.

And @1kv, thanks for your input! I certainly agree that some extra RAM is needed, and maybe that Graphic card upgrade too. We'll see..

[Abhinav Ashish]

Get atleast 8gb of ram and if u want to overclock u can, but before change the stock cooler. You got a good motherboard. And try to add a ssd drive if it does not have one.

[killer5247]

Just now, DJ_Gox3 said:

Well, it's because this is a deal I am getting right now online. Other builds. especially those featuring 4th gen Intel CPUs (especially i7s), will go into 450+ USD territory. And I think it's kinda a bit too expensive for a generational upgrade.

 

I personally think so long as the Mobo's interfaces are relatively modern, like usb 3.0 and Pcie 3.0, then I am quite happy with the CPU generation.

And @1kv, thanks for your input! I certainly agree that some extra RAM is needed, and maybe that Graphic card upgrade too. We'll see..

dude whats your budget tell me

[XR6]

Just now, DJ_Gox3 said:

Well, it's because this is a deal I am getting right now online. Other builds. especially those featuring 4th gen Intel CPUs (especially i7s), will go into 450+ USD territory. And I think it's kinda a bit too expensive for a generational upgrade.

 

I personally think so long as the Mobo's interfaces are relatively modern, like usb 3.0 and Pcie 3.0, then I am quite happy with the CPU generation.

And @1kv, thanks for your input! I certainly agree that some extra RAM is needed, and maybe that Graphic card upgrade too. We'll see..

No problem! Always nice to help other people.

[LHJKO]

Just now, killer5247 said:

dude whats your budget tell me

Dude that cpu is fine dont worry about that ok he doesent need the next gen what he really needs to spend his extra money on is a better gpu

[DJ_Gox3]

Oh sorry there @killer5247, didn't catch you the first time. Sure, my budget will be around 400 USD max. (It's very tight, hence why I was looking for this used rig)

 

And to @Abhinav Ashish, thanks for the input. I certainly agree that an SSD will come in handy down the line. And maybe an AIO cooler to give a bit of OC'ing headroom.

[killer5247]

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/qXXxQV see this 420 USD you can play on 1080p max out the settings

[killer5247]

dude that cpu is dead ddr5 is gonna launch and you are still buying ddr3

[XR6]

3 minutes ago, killer5247 said:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/qXXxQV see this 420 USD you can play on 1080p max out the settings

Honestly, I think the i7 is much better value for money.

[Unhelpful]

6 minutes ago, killer5247 said:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/qXXxQV see this 420 USD you can play on 1080p max out the settings

That is a drastically worse build than what he posted. The GPU is a bit better but the CPU is shit. He should go with what he has picked out put a used 7970 instead of a 660ti.

 

3 minutes ago, killer5247 said:

dude that cpu is dead ddr5 is gonna launch and you are still buying ddr3

The 3770k crushes the G4560 lol. CPU's haven't improved very much, and the 3770k was a beast. RAM doesn't have a massive impact, this isn't 2003.

[DJ_Gox3]

3 minutes ago, killer5247 said:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/qXXxQV see this 420 USD you can play on 1080p max out the settings

Interesting choice, but I do think that the G4560 might be bottle-necked if I decide to upgrade my GPU one day, to say an RX Vega card when it launches.

 

Basically, I just need a rig that can last me a couple of years before I can actually buy myself a fully new and high end PC. I reckon in 2019, and I would hope to have saved a budget of around 1500 USD.

Thanks for the help anyway.

2 minutes ago, killer5247 said:

dude that cpu is dead ddr5 is gonna launch and you are still buying ddr3

Quite the reason why I would rather wait before I buy a completely new system: GDDR5 will at least take another year to go into mainstream, I would reckon...

[Unhelpful]

Just now, DJ_Gox3 said:

Interesting choice, but I do think that the G4560 might be bottle-necked if I decide to upgrade my GPU one day, to say an RX Vega card when it launches.

 

Basically, I just need a rig that can last me a couple of years before I can actually buy myself a fully new and high end PC. I reckon in 2019, and I would hope to have saved a budget of around 1500 USD.

Thanks for the help anyway.

Quite the reason why I would rather wait before I buy a completely new system: GDDR5 will at least take another year to go into mainstream, I would reckon...

Just ignore his build. What you have is good, just grab a 7970 instead of a 660 ti. I would also grab 8gb of ram.

[honor]

the used build is a great value for just 380$. Go for it!

[XR6]

The 3770K absolutely destroys the G4560. 

The pentium is a new low-end CPU meanwhile the i7 is a high-end CPU from a couple generations ago.

The G4560 is HORRIFIC value for money compared to the i7. 

Buy the i7, 12GB RAM and HD 7970

[thenastyjbenny]

9 minutes ago, killer5247 said:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/qXXxQV see this 420 USD you can play on 1080p max out the settings

 

7 minutes ago, killer5247 said:

dude that cpu is dead ddr5 is gonna launch and you are still buying ddr3

Excuse you.

[killer5247]

Just now, 1kv said:

The 3770K absolutely destroys the G4560. 

The pentium is a new low-end CPU meanwhile the i7 is a high-end CPU from a couple generations ago.

The G4560 is HORRIFIC value for money compared to the i7.

you can see that he is only playing games not rendering and all that so mostly he should focus on the GPU there are too less games which are CPU based

[thenastyjbenny]

2 minutes ago, 1kv said:

The 3770K absolutely destroys the G4560. 

The pentium is a new low-end CPU meanwhile the i7 is a high-end CPU from a couple generations ago.

The G4560 is HORRIFIC value for money compared to the i7.

@killer5247 ^^^^

[killer5247]

Just now, JR8 said:

@killer5247 ^^^^

i didnt understood what do you mean

[honor]

http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Pentium-G4560-vs-Intel-Core-i7-3770/3892vs1979

[thenastyjbenny]

1 minute ago, killer5247 said:

you can see that he is only playing games not rendering and all that so mostly he should focus on the GPU there are too less games which are CPU based

We're talking maximum VALUE.

 

The 3770k expecially with it's OC'ing ability, will outlast the g4560 in modern games because more cores is the future.

 

Not trying to bash the g4560 though, it's a fantastic value, but it cannot stand up to the 3770k, especially an overclocked one.

[XR6]

2 minutes ago, killer5247 said:

you can see that he is only playing games not rendering and all that so mostly he should focus on the GPU there are too less games which are CPU based

The i7 is much better IMO. Pentium is still gonna perform worse than the i7. 

Also you can OC with the i7. Much better. 

[DJ_Gox3]

Thanks a lot guys for the input. I will put Killer's recommendation to one side, and give it a look when I can, but I honestly do agree with the rest of you guys that an i7 will serve better moving forward. The only worry is that it is a second hand build versus getting new..

 

Thanks for build improvement recommendation @JoeyDM, and for the bit of enthusiasm @honor What a swift response from you guys, and I am starting to feel warm all around too.. Thanks for the great welcoming committee from all

 

It's close to 2am here, and I honestly need to go off first. Once again, thanks to all for their input + opinions. I will try to weigh them all the options I have. Cheers.