Sub $1200 Gaming Build

[maldock]

Greetings all! 

 

Advise on my planned gaming build.

 

1. Budget & Location
Budget wise- USD$1500 

Location: Singapore. Prices are relatively higher as I don't get to enjoy the online discounts of Newegg or Amazon. :angry: (Doesnt ship to SG) 

2. Aim
Gaming on the latest game titles. (BF4, Assasin's Creed) GW2 on max settings would be awesome!
3. Monitors
24` inch monitor. Pref Dell/Samsung 
4. Peripherals
Win 8.1 

 

What I might be getting:

Mobo: MSI B85-G41 PC Mate $101

CPU: i5-4570 $222

GPU: MSI R9 280X $368

Ram: Corsair Vengeance Low Profile CML8GX3M2A1600C9R 8GB (2x 4GB) DDR3 1600MHz CL9 Dual Channel (Red) $95

 

Storage: A-Data Premier Pro SP800 64GB 2.5"SSD $68 + 2TB Toshiba 7200rpm HDD $93

Cooler: Xigmatek Praeton LD963 Low Profile CPU Cooler $22

 

Casing:Xigmatek Asgard 382 Mid Tower Case with Window Side Panel - BLACK with Orange Mesh $53

PSU:FSP Aurum 92+ PT-550 550W Modular 80+ Platinum  $100 

       ThermalTake Smart SE 530W 87% Bronze Modular PSU $56

 

 

 

Total cost on hardware: $1078 not incl of OS and Monitor 

If you compared the prices to Newegg, the components are pricier.

Is there anyway to tone down my items to fit the budget

[MbV93]

Yes! Get a cheaper motherboard, you're not buying a K series chip and it's Intel, you don't need the highest end motherboard, you certainly don't need an 80+ platinum PSU so cut down there as well, since you can't overclock that chip I don't know why you would want a liquid CPU cooler so you can cut that out too and cut down the SSD to a 60GB version since you're probably just using it as your boot drive and have plenty of storage on that 2TB hard drive. That should drive the price way down.

[helping]

A hyper 212 evo cools the same as that lamer H60.

[Sarcasm]

80+ Platinum isn't worth the price premium, especially not at this wattage level.

[Kiwiandapple]

Hello and welcome to the forum. 

 

You don't need such an expensive PSU. Unless the power prices are really that high. An 80+ bronze PSU will do fine. 550/600W is more then enough. Corsair, Seasonic are the 2 brands I personally prefer. 

I would suggest to save money to get the Coolermaster Hyper 212 EVO cpu cooler. Yes it's not as fancy as an AIO watercooler, but it does the job just as good as the H60. 

You can do a few things with your motherboard and cpu choice, first off all your cpu. You selected a non K version, this means basicly no overclocking. So I would suggest to get a K version, despite it being a little more expensive, that is certainly worth the money. 

For motherboard, to save money again. You could go with a simpler motherboard, without the super sound quality, then later add a sound card or dac. 

For GPU, well the 760 has a rough time for it's price compared to the AMD counter part. While still good I would look more towards the AMD side, indeed a 280x will be nice. There you don't have to pay extra money to get 3/4GB Vram. As you don't seem to later want to CF this is a perfect option.

For storage, there are cheaper SSDs out there. I don't know what the cheapest option there is out there and how much it compares to the samsung evo, but kingston, crucial, plextor or a-data make great SSDs for a good price.  

[maldock]

Thanks for the quick replies! I see I got this really wrong for my gaming build

@MbV93

@helping

@Sarcasm

@Kiwiandapple

I don't know how to OC. yet so definitely changing the Mobo, cooling and PSU!

Any recommendations would really be great!

 

SSD wise, Resellers here don't sell 60GB versions, so I guess I'm stuck with the 120gb

** Just found a 60GB version! Corsair FORCE LS 60GB *$76

[Kiwiandapple]

For OC'ing nowadays it's not that complicated anymore. There are alot off guides out there to help you out. 

 

The Hyper 212 is 76$? What a ripoff lol.. it's 30$ in the US. 

 

Here is a build I would suggest. I know this is USD. The case you want wasn't on PPP but this one was around your price so that's why I took it.

If you can fit it into the budget, then get the MSI-GD45 or a dedicated soundcard.

Could you give us the site where you are buying from? 

[maldock]

For OC'ing nowadays it's not that complicated anymore. There are alot off guides out there to help you out. 

 

The Hyper 212 is 76$? What a ripoff lol.. it's 30$ in the US. 

 

Here is a build I would suggest. I know this is USD. The case you want wasn't on PPP but this one was around your price so that's why I took it.

If you can fit it into the budget, then get the MSI-GD45 or a dedicated soundcard.

Could you give us the site where you are buying from? 

 

http://www.hardwarezone.com.sg/priceLists

We do it old school here, prices are jammed onto a sheet of A3 paper

It's a real pain to read those minuscule text.

All PC component sellers are jammed packed in one single shopping center, hence physical price lists for easy comparability 

 

*Hyper212 is $55. My mistake, mistook the price for SSD for it.

It's still expensive, the price disparity is heart breaking.

 

Gigabyte GA-Z87-HD3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard- I can't find this anywhere tho.

[maldock]

Updated the thread to reflect the changes! I'm almost set with the final build!

[Kiwiandapple]

I have to login to download those sheets haha. Have a look for the prices off the 7970. Maybe you can save some money on that part. 
Edit: my bad, read 1500$ USD and didn't see you are on only 1200$ price. For your current build, well it won't OC the CPU. But I guess you really don't care anyway. 

Could perhaps get an ever cheaper motherboard then. If still over budget, then you probably have to go down with the GPU. The AMD 7950, R9-270x or Nvidia GTX 760. are cards that will game well on 1080p for the time being.