Used Budget Gaming/coding PC

[Stumar]

Hi,

 

I am a computer science student in Pakistan and im looking to build a Value gaming/coding pc using used parts.

Budget: 800 dollars US. (About 80,000 rupees Pakistani) (no monitor)

 

Build philosophy: I don’t want to spend a whole lot on a gaming pc as I am on a budget and I need maximum Fps/dollar. Games I like to play include Farcry, CIV 5, Assassins creed, cod, battlefield and some pcsx2 emulated games like kingdom hearts 2 rendered at 1080p. Software I use for coding include Python 2.7, visual studio, android studio, eclipse. I may need to do some light rendering but that is not a priority. I will be gaming on a 40 inch tv that I will view from 3 meters (10 Feet). Im not much of a graphics snob as long as the experience is good (never gamed on a pc before. Owned an xbox 360 and I never thought the graphics were bad). Bottom line, I don’t want to spend too much or too little that gives me less for my money.

 

Problems of Pakistan:

·         AMD CPUs/mobos are out of the question they simply are not available  

·         Ambient temps average 35C in the summers.

·         Unreasonable markups on new items.

 

 CPU: I don’t plan to overclock at all so these are my options if your recommendation is different I can always call and ask for the price.

·         Intel Core i5 2500 (used): 125$(US) about 12500 rupees Pakistani

·         Intel Core I7 2600 (used): 140$(US) about 14000 rupees Pakistani

·         Intel Core i3 4150 (new):  128$(US) about 12800 rupees Pakistani

 

 

Motherboard: cheapest used thing that has Usb3/Sata 6gigabit. Around 40$ – 50$

 

Ram: 8gb of the cheapest used ram of a good brand Kingston, corsair, Samsung etc 30$ for a 4gb stick

 

Power Supply: Now im confused shuld I spend the extra money on a new PSU or should I go used.

·         Antec 500W (used): 35$

·         Thermaltake SMART SE 530W (new): 55$

 

Case: cheapest case I can find 10$ (new or used whatever looks better)

 

Storage: Kingston v300 120GB for 58$ or a 250GB for 100$ (brand New) (I own a 2tb wd green for mass storage)

 

GPU: now this is the most confusing part I wake up every day with a new prospective.

• Gigabyte GTX 970 G1 Gaming (new): 490USD

·         Asus Gtx 970 Strix (new): 490USD

·         MSI GTX 970 armor 2x (New): 450USD

·         Inno3d GTX 970 (the one with 2 fans) (New): 430USD

·         R9 290 (used): 330USD

·         Asus R9 270 (new): 220USD

·         HIS R7 265 (new): 180USD

·         GIGABYTE GTX 960 (new): 280USD

 

This is my first post on the linus tech tips forums. and if you recommend a different component ill try and get a quote on it asap.

Thank you all for taking all this time to read my post and help me figure things out.

 

EDIT* Not Including OS i have a windows 7 licence from my old laptop.

[Bonesy]

Given your options, here are my thoughts:

 

CPU - Core i5 4460 - Best bang-for-buck without OC'ing CPU (IMO)

Mobo - Any z97 board; the ASROCK Anniversary and the MSI PC MATE are both inexpensive

RAM - 2x4GB of any 1600Mhz+

Case - Up to you

Storage - I dont particularly care for Kingston SSD's - other similarly priced options are available

GPU - With the prices in your area, I'd go with a 960...but if you can find a better deal on the 970, go for it

PSU - If going with a 960, almost any PSU will work just fine...if using something more demanding like a 280x/970/etc...than I'd recommend a 500w+ 80 bronze

[matthewmarchant]

including OS?

[Stumar]

@bonsey

 

Z97-K costs 150$ and is the cheapest z97 in the market

 

A 4460 costs 210$

 

@matthewmarchant

 

Not including OS i have a windows 7 key from my old laptop

[stconquest]

@bonsey

 

Z97-K costs 150$ and is the cheapest z97 in the market

 

A 4460 costs 210$

 

@matthewmarchant

 

Not including OS i have a windows 7 key from my old laptop

 

Look to a Xeon with hyperthreading for the CPU... E3-1230-V3 or E3 1231-V3.  You get the benefit of hyperthreading (great for Virtual Machines and other stuff) and it does great in games.  It performs exactly like an i5 or i7 for gaming, clock-for-clock.

 

If you do not need the cuda cores, the R9 290 is your best option in your list.  If you do need the Nvidia Card you only have two choices:  the 960 or 970.  It all depends what you can afford.

 

PSU is important and would recommend buying new.  If you go with the R9 290, you will want a 600W PSU.  You can get away with 500W-550W for the 970.

 

The Kingston V300 is not a good pick.  Apparently, Kingston released the specs at launch and then changed the manufacturing process.  They switched out the memory modules for a cheaper brand.

 

...and...

 

Welcome To The Forums!

[Stumar]

stconquest thanks for the awesome reply! but if i cant find a used xeon will the i7 work? secondly do i even need such a powerful card i did a calculation of games i want to play fps divided by price comparison and the r7 265 came on top followed by r9 270 and third the gtx 960. secondly if i spend twice as much on a gpu will it last twice as long. ill consider a card good as long as it can play games at 30FPS locked at medium low settings  at 1080p (720p works too i cant honestly tell the difference)

[stconquest]

stconquest thanks for the awesome reply! but if i cant find a used xeon will the i7 work? secondly do i even need such a powerful card i did a calculation of games i want to play fps divided by price comparison and the r7 265 came on top followed by r9 270 and third the gtx 960. secondly if i spend twice as much on a gpu will it last twice as long. ill consider a card good as long as it can play games at 30FPS locked at medium low settings  at 1080p (720p works too i cant honestly tell the difference)

 

The i7 4770K/4790K is usually just more expensive, but it will work.  The Xeon E3-1231-V3 is usually around $60-$75 cheaper, but has a locked multiplier so no massive overclocks.

 

As far as the GPU, no you don't need a 290... but it does make your experience playing higher-end games much more enjoyable.

 

Worst to best experience:  GTX 750ti < R7 265 < R9 270 < GTX 960/R9 280 < R9 280X < R9 290 < R9 290X < GTX 970

 

There is a huge difference between 30 and 60 fps in games that are played in real-time (not turn-based).  What is the refresh rate of you display?

[Stumar]

The i7 4770K/4790K is usually just more expensive, but it will work.  The Xeon E3-1231-V3 is usually around $60-$75 cheaper, but has a locked multiplier so no massive overclocks.

 

As far as the GPU, no you don't need a 290... but it does make your experience playing higher-end games much more enjoyable.

 

Worst to best experience:  GTX 750ti < R7 265 < R9 270 < GTX 960/R9 280 < R9 280X < R9 290 < R9 290X < GTX 970

 

There is a huge difference between 30 and 60 fps in games that are played in real-time (not turn-based).  What is the refresh rate of you display?

 

60HZ, im talking about the used core i7 2600 not these new processors. 

[stconquest]

60HZ, im talking about the used core i7 2600 not these new processors. 

 

Sure, that CPU is good... but how much does it cost? 

 

@Stumar Where do you shop from?  I can take a look maybe put together a good build. 

[Stumar]

http://galaxy.com.pk/index.html

 

stconquest

 

for used parts i have a contact hell give me a price list in a day or 2

 

for the price of the 2600 core i7 look the the first post

 

 

 CPU: I don’t plan to overclock at all so these are my options if your recommendation is different I can always call and ask for the price.

·         Intel Core i5 2500 (used): 125$(US) about 12500 rupees Pakistani

·         Intel Core I7 2600 (used): 140$(US) about 14000 rupees Pakistani

·         Intel Core i3 4150 (new):  128$(US) about 12800 rupees Pakistani

[stconquest]

Motherboard - 5400 - ASUS H61M-K Micro-ATX  Intel LGA1155 Platform - Intel® H61(B3) Chipset

 

Power Supply - 5500 - Thermaltake SMART SE 530W Semi-Modular (SPS-530M)

 

SSD - 12000 - Transcend  256GB SSD370 SOLID STATE DRIVE  Seems a bit expensive but there are not many choices at this site.

 

Memory - 7100 - Kingston Hyperx 8GB 1866 BUS DDR 3 (KHX318C10F/8)

 

Case - 6800 - Thermaltake CHASER A21

 

Graphics - 22000 -  Asus R9 270 2048MB - 256BIT - GDDR 5  CLOCK 950 MHZ - MEMORY CLOCK 5600MHZ –  DUAL LINK DVI – HDM-  HDPC  (R9270-DC2OC-2GD5)

 

Total 58,800  (Is this too expensive?)

 

Add that i7 and your storage drive.  This is a good example of a build. 

 

 

 

I picked a decent case because I think you can fit it in your budget. 

 

The 270X is exactly the same as the 270, it is just overclocked.

 

If you have extra money after the CPU you can jump to the GTX 960 for 28000... or... you can up to 16GB of RAM if you need it for your work (8GB is usually enough). 

[brob]

I would suggest an i7.

 

At least 8GB of memory, 16GB if there is budget left over. Module height may be constricted by the choice of cpu cooler.

 

Any motherboard that has enough ports and is compatible with the cpu.

 

The largest ssd that can be afforded. It will make a big difference in program development tasks. A new psu that is decent quality.

 

If the system is not being operated in an air conditioned environment then you will want a good cpu cooler. Unless you are overclocking, something like the Hyper 212 EVO or Noctua NH-U12S will likely do a decent job.

 

GPU is not going to do much to improve coding work. The choice comes down to available budget. One advantage of the GTX 9xx gpu is that they do use less power and tend to run cooler than the AMD R9 series.

 

Before selecting a case you will want to know the motherboard format, gpu length, and cpu cooler choice.

[Stumar]

stconquest Awesome build!, ill just need a slightly better motherboard since the selection on galaxy isn't very good, something with usb 3 and stata 6gb so i can utilize my ssd. but the graphics card is my main problem still is it worth it to spend 45000 on one now or is it better to get a 270 now and upgrade later? i doubt ill need 16GB Ram im perfectly happy with the 8gigs in my laptop  

[stconquest]

stconquest Awesome build!, ill just need a slightly better motherboard since the selection on galaxy isn't very good, something with usb 3 and stata 6gb so i can utilize my ssd. but the graphics card is my main problem still is it worth it to spend 45000 on one now or is it better to get a 270 now and upgrade later? i doubt ill need 16GB Ram im perfectly happy with the 8gigs in my laptop  

 

The R9 270 will do 60 FPS 1080p medium(and some high) settings... the GTX 960 a little better.  For higher quality settings start at a R9 280 and go up.

 

45000 is more than half your budget, that is a bit unrealistic.