Good Gaming rig made cheaper?

Bourne Endeavor · May 25, 2015

As the thread title implies. I wanted to know what could be sacrificed to maybe knock the price back on the following build without hurting game performance too badly. My general aim is around 1000-1200 but there is some flexibility there.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($285.00 @ Canada Computers)

Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($164.99 @ NCIX)

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($129.99 @ NCIX)

Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($59.99 @ Canada Computers)

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($62.98 @ Newegg Canada)

Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($429.99 @ Newegg Canada)

Case: Corsair 400R ATX Mid Tower Case ($105.95 @ DirectCanada)

Power Supply: Corsair Professional 750W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($159.98 @ Newegg Canada)

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($104.99 @ Canada Computers)

Monitor: Asus VS238H-P 23.0" Monitor ($159.33 @ Newegg Canada)

Total: $1663.19

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-05-25 04:23 EDT-0400

IMPERIUS · May 25, 2015

The mobo, you can use MSI's Krait Edition or any other z97 mobo, the case can be swapped out for a define r4 (if you wish to stay at the 100$ price range I highly recommend the enthoo pro (I have it and love it) or the define r4/5 w/ window), you can get the os @ g2a for waaay cheaper and the psu can also be swapped out if you wish

JebKerman · May 25, 2015

Almost the same as mine haha.

If you want to knock a bit of money off, EVGA G2 Power-supplies are generally cheaper, without sacrificing quality, than their corsair equivalent. and if you really want to keep costs down 8GB of ram is plenty (i think GTA V is so far the only game I have that even slightly breaches it, and that's with Steam and it's web browser running as well).

And, although this adds to the price, I'd suggest an aftermarket cooler like the Hyper 212 or Cryorig H5, so you can get more out of the CPU.

I've managed to knock about 150 off despite adding an aftermarket CPU cooler though the 550W is assuming you don't plan on SLI, if you are considering it at all, get a G2 750W:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($279.99 @ Newegg Canada)

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($34.98 @ NCIX)

Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($164.99 @ NCIX)

Memory: Kingston Fury Red Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($72.99 @ Memory Express)

Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($59.99 @ Canada Computers)

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($62.98 @ Newegg Canada)

Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($429.99 @ Newegg Canada)

Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.98 @ NCIX)

Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($74.99 @ NCIX)

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($104.99 @ Canada Computers)

Monitor: Asus VS238H-P 23.0" Monitor ($159.33 @ Newegg Canada)