$600 Build

[TheMastr13]

Hey, LTT community!

 

I'm looking for some help on a $600-650 gaming build. My goal is to hopefully be able to get 60 fps on medium-high settings at 1080p on most games.

 

For the CPU I was thinking a G3258, but if there is something better out there that still fits in my budget, I'm good with it. I prefer intel.

 

For the GPU, I thought the new GTX 960 would be a good idea. I'm not opposed to AMD, but i would like to stick to Nvidia if I can.

 

Ram = 8gb

 

Hard drive = Western Digital 1tb or more

 

I don't really know what I should look for for any of the other parts. That's why I came here.

 

Any help is appreciated

 

Thanks,

    TheMastr13

[boboman342]

If you prefer intel, you probably will have to buy an amd gpu with the money you have left if you want 1080p high 60fps in AAA games for a reasonable price.

 

Hell, before I sold my r9 270x, I could play bf4 on high with 2x msaa at 1080p and never dropped below 60fps with my i7 4790k

[MattTheMayor]

Hey, LTT community!

 

I'm looking for some help on a $600-650 gaming build. My goal is to hopefully be able to get 60 fps on medium-high settings at 1080p on most games.

 

For the CPU I was thinking a G3258, but if there is something better out there that still fits in my budget, I'm good with it. I prefer intel.

 

For the GPU, I thought the new GTX 960 would be a good idea. I'm not opposed to AMD, but i would like to stick to Nvidia if I can.

 

Ram = 8gb

 

Hard drive = Western Digital 1tb or more

 

I don't really know what I should look for for any of the other parts. That's why I came here.

 

Any help is appreciated

 

Thanks,

    TheMastr13

if you could afford a bit more than 600. i did a z97 board to give you a better upgrade path. 

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($179.47 @ OutletPC) 

Motherboard: MSI Z97 PC MATE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($89.98 @ OutletPC) 

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($64.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($48.89 @ OutletPC) 

Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 280 3GB WINDFORCE Video Card  ($172.98 @ Newegg) 

Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($34.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Power Supply: Corsair CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($54.09 @ Newegg) 

Total: $645.39

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-17 18:46 EST-0500

[TheKDub]

G3258 is a good option for a budget, then you can upgrade it to an i5 or so when you get the money, 960 is also a good choice, for a psu a corsair cx600m would be fine, thats what I've been using in my rig (see signature), and any z97 mobo would be fine, I tend to stick with msi, gigabyte, and asus for mobos, and a WD Blue 1TB is fine for storage, or you could get a WD Black instead.

 

The case is really up to you.

[TheMastr13]

If you prefer intel, you probably will have to buy an amd gpu with the money you have left if you want 1080p high 60fps in AAA games for a reasonable price.

 

Hell, before I sold my r9 270x, I could play bf4 on high with 2x msaa at 1080p and never dropped below 60fps with my i7 4790k

Is an R9 280x good? what about the G3258?

[TheMastr13]

 

if you could afford a bit more than 600. i did a z97 board to give you a better upgrade path. 

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($179.47 @ OutletPC) 

Motherboard: MSI Z97 PC MATE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($89.98 @ OutletPC) 

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($64.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($48.89 @ OutletPC) 

Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 280 3GB WINDFORCE Video Card  ($172.98 @ Newegg) 

Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($34.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Power Supply: Corsair CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($54.09 @ Newegg) 

Total: $645.39

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-17 18:46 EST-0500

 

Is the 4460 overclockable? and is it worth the extra few dollars for a western digital hard drive?

[MattTheMayor]

Is the 4460 overclockable? and is it worth the extra few dollars for a western digital hard drive?

the 4460 is not overclockable since it is locked. if the name has a "k" at the end, it is unlocked and overclockable. the wd blue and barracuda is the same i think. they are 1 dollar different so choose what you want.

[TheMastr13]

Thanks so much for the help! Now I have an idea of what I need to be looking for

[s3ns3]

Is the 4460 overclockable? 

no its a locked cpu.but it doesnt need oc its a very good cpu

[boboman342]

Is an R9 280x good? what about the G3258?

I would say go for the locked i5 because it will last you almost indefinitely. 

 

The r9 280x is a very capable card for its price, but if you cant afford it, I would not recommend getting an r9 280 because you will save more money going with an r9 270 and overclocking it for free to match/beat an r9 280. An r9 280x can play games at high-ultra 60fps.

[TheMastr13]

I would say go for the locked i5 because it will last you almost indefinitely. 

 

The r9 280x is a very capable card for its price, but if you cant afford it, I would not recommend getting an r9 280 because you will save more money going with an r9 270 and overclocking it for free to match/beat an r9 280. An r9 280x can play games at high-ultra 60fps.

Good to know. and should I spend the extra $30 on a Hyper 212 evo, or just use the stock cooler?

[boboman342]

Good to know. and should I spend the extra $30 on a Hyper 212 evo, or just use the stock cooler?

If you wanted it purely for thermal performance, the stock intel coolers fair pretty well on locked processors. I can't speak from personal experience about the stock coolers noise level (slapped that 212 evo on my i7 and threw away the stock cooler), but It would seem if it can cool the cpu it will probably do it at a low noise level. Better to spend that extra $$$ on dat gpu.

[MattTheMayor]

Good to know. and should I spend the extra $30 on a Hyper 212 evo, or just use the stock cooler?

use stock cooler for now. it gets the job done especially for locked processors. i still use mine for my i7. takes a while for the thermal paste to melt down tho.

 

the noise isnt that loud. but you can definitely hear it while playing games or on load. to give an example, it sounds like a laptop.

 

get the hyper212 if you dont feel comfortable with temps.

[TheMastr13]

r9 270 or r9 270x?

[MattTheMayor]

r9 270 or r9 270x?

270x. even better a 280.

[TheMastr13]

This is where I am right now:

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/X38g4D

 

any Ideas on how to bring it down to at least 700?

[boboman342]

Don't buy the z97 board and instead go for a cheaper one and/or find a win 8 key off g2a for $40?

That z97 board is actually cheap.

[MattTheMayor]

This is where I am right now:

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/X38g4D

 

any Ideas on how to bring it down to at least 700?

you could either get an h97 board which doesnt allow overclocking for unlocked boards, or get z97 board for better upgrade path. in my opinion, i would go with the z97 boards because the pc mate is the same price as an h97 board.

 

for 1 dollar less, you could get a z97 pc mate by msi. also, don't get windows copy. get a windows key off of here www.reddit.com/r/microsoftsoftwareswap . I used it on my PC and it works like normal. you just need a usb to create a bootable drive with

[TheMastr13]

Thanks everyone!