Building a budget rig for a friend. ($700 budget.)

[wyattzx]

Hey guys! 

 

My friend is trying to build a new rig, but she's on a tighter budget. She's looking to play Grand Theft Auto V, Portal 2, League of Legends, Skyrim, and so on! I wasn't sure if I should go Intel or AMD at a budget like this, so any input could be very beneficial! I'm... not actually sure what else to say here.

[dadasmithywinkle]

Hey guys! 

 

My friend is trying to build a new rig, but she's on a tighter budget. She's looking to play Grand Theft Auto V, Portal 2, League of Legends, Skyrim, and so on! I wasn't sure if I should go Intel or AMD at a budget like this, so any input could be very beneficial! I'm... not actually sure what else to say here.

$699.85 for an i5 and a GTX 970. What now

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($173.95 @ SuperBiiz) 

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H81M-H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($36.99 @ Newegg) 

Memory: Team Elite Plus 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($43.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Hitachi Deskstar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($43.00 @ Amazon) 

Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card  ($310.95 @ B&H) 

Case: NZXT Source 210 Window ATX Mid Tower Case  ($52.98 @ Newegg) 

Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($37.99 @ NCIX US) 

Total: $699.85

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-09 04:23 EDT-0400

[Panzer003]

Hey guys! 

 

My friend is trying to build a new rig, but she's on a tighter budget. She's looking to play Grand Theft Auto V, Portal 2, League of Legends, Skyrim, and so on! I wasn't sure if I should go Intel or AMD at a budget like this, so any input could be very beneficial! I'm... not actually sure what else to say here.

AMD gives a lot of value for their CPU's for example, a nice 4 core Athlon will only set you back around $80.

But Have a look at this video, and you can add a better CPU and GPU if you want, as I don't think a MSI 7770 would run it very well at high.

[Panzer003]

 

$699.85 for an i5 and a GTX 970. What now

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($173.95 @ SuperBiiz) 

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H81M-H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($36.99 @ Newegg) 

Memory: Team Elite Plus 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($43.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Hitachi Deskstar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($43.00 @ Amazon) 

Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card  ($310.95 @ B&H) 

Case: NZXT Source 210 Window ATX Mid Tower Case  ($52.98 @ Newegg) 

Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($37.99 @ NCIX US) 

Total: $699.85

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-09 04:23 EDT-0400

 

Well, you did better than me. That's 25c short of the $700 mark, and you fit a 970 and a i5 in there, well done.

[yNeolh]

 

$699.85 for an i5 and a GTX 970. What now

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($173.95 @ SuperBiiz) 

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H81M-H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($36.99 @ Newegg) 

Memory: Team Elite Plus 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($43.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Hitachi Deskstar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($43.00 @ Amazon) 

Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card  ($310.95 @ B&H) 

Case: NZXT Source 210 Window ATX Mid Tower Case  ($52.98 @ Newegg) 

Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($37.99 @ NCIX US) 

Total: $699.85

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-09 04:23 EDT-0400

 

 

Good, good... And now If he needs to buy Windows 8.1 license... It's important an OS and he didn't say If he needs one...

[Sam Z Man]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($176.98 @ NCIX US)

Motherboard: Asus Z97-E ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($89.99 @ Newegg)

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($49.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)

Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 290 4GB PCS+ Video Card ($238.98 @ Newegg)

Case: Corsair SPEC-01 RED ATX Mid Tower Case ($47.99 @ Micro Center)

Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($64.99 @ NCIX US)

Total: $718.91

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-09 04:32 EDT-0400

[c0d0ps]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($176.98 @ NCIX US)

Motherboard: Asus Z97-E ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($89.99 @ Newegg)

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($49.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)

Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 290 4GB PCS+ Video Card ($238.98 @ Newegg)

Case: Corsair SPEC-01 RED ATX Mid Tower Case ($47.99 @ Micro Center)

Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($64.99 @ NCIX US)

Total: $718.91

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-09 04:32 EDT-0400

That's over budget (and I think he/she wanted OS included in the build).

[c0d0ps]

Hey guys! 

 

My friend is trying to build a new rig, but she's on a tighter budget. She's looking to play Grand Theft Auto V, Portal 2, League of Legends, Skyrim, and so on! I wasn't sure if I should go Intel or AMD at a budget like this, so any input could be very beneficial! I'm... not actually sure what else to say here.

Intel processors will give better gaming performance on those games.

[Momkai]

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

 

CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor  ($164.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($26.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard  ($64.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($48.75 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 290 4GB TWIN FROZR Video Card  ($252.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case  ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $723.56

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-09 04:34 EDT-0400

[Sam Z Man]

That's over budget (and I think he/she wanted OS included in the build).

It's less than 3% over budget so not a big deal, and op said nothing about a os.

[AliveGhost13]

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-220gs0650v1

 

This is the same price as the NEX, and is much better, making the NEX redundant.

[wyattzx]

Right, so you guys pretty much confirmed what I was thinking. Source 210, i5 4460, etc. I had one budgeted out at $655 with a 270x, so shifting around a bit could really help! I just needed multiple perspectives! Thanks guys!

[Sam Z Man]

Right, so you guys pretty much confirmed what I was thinking. Source 210, i5 4460, etc. I had one budgeted out at $655 with a 270x, so shifting around a bit could really help! I just needed multiple perspectives! Thanks guys!

You can do a whole lot better than a 270X

[wyattzx]

You can do a whole lot better than a 270X

But in order to start saving, huge compromises are made. Like a $34 motherboard. Yikes. No thank you. I don't plan to do a 270x, but I don't think the build quite needs a 970 if the bulk of her gaming is on titles of Portal 2, League of Legends, and Skyrim. She's only just now playing Grand Theft Auto V, and only occasionally, and online, where performance is better than singleplayer. I'm not justifying a 270x, but I am saying that a 970 is definite overkill. 

[Sam Z Man]

But in order to start saving, huge compromises are made. Like a $34 motherboard. Yikes. No thank you. I don't plan to do a 270x, but I don't think the build quite needs a 970 if the bulk of her gaming is on titles of Portal 2, League of Legends, and Skyrim. She's only just now playing Grand Theft Auto V, and only occasionally, and online, where performance is better than singleplayer. I'm not justifying a 270x, but I am saying that a 970 is definite overkill.

At least get a 280X

[AliveGhost13]

280/280X or 960 are not much more than a 270X, but considerably faster than a 270X. Skyrim likes VRAM, so I'd take a 280 over a 960, or even better, R9 290 which are cheap atm

[c0d0ps]

It's less than 3% over budget so not a big deal, and op said nothing about a os.

Actually it's around 3.3 % over budget, however that it is not really as important as I seemed to make it out to be.

I said I think because some other person in this thread said it.

 

Edit: It's around 2.6% over budget so I suppose you're right.

[Sam Z Man]

Actually it's around 3.3 % over budget, however that it is not really as important as I seemed to make it out to be.

I said I think because some other person in this thread said it.

You can't do math and it was never said in op about a os.

[c0d0ps]

You can't do math and OP never mentioned needing an OS.*

I said "I think", I didn't say "it is" or "this is the truth".

So I am not sure why you bring it up..

 

Apparently I looked at Momkai's build instead of yours.

However, saying that I can't do math because one comments just shows how ignorant you are ..