Ameer's ~$400 Gaming PC Build [Modified]

[Joel]

And take pictures while you build it!

 

[Ameer67]

And take pictures while you build it!

Okie-dokie.

What else? Show you the screw driver I used?

 

[ProjectWHaT]

Do you know how to build one? There's a guy called CaryHolzman (or something like that, there might be an E in there somewhere) who makes really good tutorials.

 

[Ameer67]

Do you know how to build one? There's a guy called CaryHolzman (or something like that, there might be an E in there somewhere) who makes really good tutorials.

Yeah I know how.

 

[Ameer67]

Parts came in today. Here's my progress so far:

Ze parts

Installing the CPU

Heatsink going on

RAM, piece of cake

The R7 260X sliding into its slot

And the big fat mess. Going to route all the wires tomorrow and do some other stuff.

Stay tuned.

 

[ImmalovemaGTR]

Not ready yet?

 

[Ameer67]

Not ready yet?

Yeah I built it and everything. Just need to find time to install Windows and everything else.

 

[Ameer67]

Just finished installing Windows. Installing some drivers now.

 

[ProjectWHaT]

I'm going to be extremely jealous.

 

[Ameer67]

I'm going to be extremely jealous.

Oh boy, here comes the kid with $1k build that he's going to make soon. Be prepared GTP.

Finals pics of the build:

 

[ImmalovemaGTR]

And is it good? Doeas it handle all the games you play?

 

[Ameer67]

And is it good? Doeas it handle all the games you play?

Haven't tested any out yet. I'll be downloading some games today or tomorrow.

 

[Ameer67]

So I've decided to change my HDD. I noticed that it's very slow sometimes. I tested it out in HD tune and found the speeds to be low. (Average was like 25 mb)

 

[Ameer67]

Downloaded NFS Rivals this morning - plays amazingly. No FPS drops. Mostly medium settings some high @ 1600x900.

 

[ProjectWHaT]

Downloaded NFS Rivals this morning - plays amazingly. No FPS drops. Mostly medium settings some high @ 1600x900.

Rivals is locked to 30 FPS. That's probably why there's no drops. Try playing Planetside 2. It's a free 2 play first person shooter. It's a great game to test your CPU.

 

[JerseyDriverSS]

I've got that same case.

 

[ImmalovemaGTR]

I would be interested in the performance at 1920x1080

 

[Ameer67]

Happy first (late) birthday my PC!

 

[Saidur_Ali]

OK so here's the final build before I purchase it. (Prices have changed a bit.)


AMD Athlon Multi Core Processor AD760KWOHLBOX, 760K Richland 3.8... $90.00
Corsair Builder Series CX 600 Watt ATX/EPS 80 PLUS (CX600) $57.99
Rosewill Black SECC Steel USB 3.0 Mid Tower Computer Case REDBON...$49.99
Gigabyte R7 260X GDDR5-1GB 2xDVI/HDMI/DP OC Graphics Card (GV-R7...$119.99
GIGABYTE GA-F2A88XM-HD3 FM2+ AMD A88X (Bolton D4) HDMI SATA 6Gb/...$72.99
Kingston Value RAM 4GB 1600MHz PC3-12800 DDR3 Non-ECC CL11 DIMM $39.74

Total: $430.70

You guys think it's all good?
---
I appreciate all the help. 👍

Shame I didn't see this thread earlier, would have recommended to go for at least the 860K for $10 less which should have given you a bit better performance and also more energy efficient CPU.

I would have gone for this instead personally and should perform better in games and also possibility to upgrade to Broadwell Quad Core CPUs in future (Can be made over $20 cheaper with Haswell only motherboard):

Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor $62.99
ECS Z97-PK (V1.0) Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard $66.98
Crucial 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory $25.99
Asus GeForce GTX 750 1GB Video Card $93.99
Cougar Spike MicroATX Mini Tower Case $29.99
Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply $29.99
Total: $309.93

 

[Ameer67]

Shame I didn't see this thread earlier, would have recommended to go for at least the 860K for $10 less which should have given you a bit better performance and also more energy efficient CPU.

I would have gone for this instead personally and should perform better in games and also possibility to upgrade to Broadwell Quad Core CPUs in future (Can be made over $20 cheaper with Haswell only motherboard):

Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor $62.99
ECS Z97-PK (V1.0) Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard $66.98
Crucial 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory $25.99
Asus GeForce GTX 750 1GB Video Card $93.99
Cougar Spike MicroATX Mini Tower Case $29.99
Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply $29.99
Total: $309.93

You're only a year late.

 

[Saidur_Ali]

You're only a year late.

That probably explains why I didn't see it (March got me confused there and being a recent post). Anyway if people see this thread, can see what a year on can get you now for less. Will be interesting to see how well your PC might run pCARS.

 

[Ameer67]

Added another 4 GB of RAM. It was about $30 on Amazon.

 

[Ameer67]

Still running strong after two years.

 

[TiZzla]

Still running strong after two years.

That 1gb GPU must be due for an upgrade

 

[Ameer67]

That 1gb GPU must be due for an upgrade

Eh, I'm not a real big graphics person anyway.

 

[Ameer67]

Old Mobo, GPU, and CPU are gone (well, at least I'm waiting for them to be sold!). New Gigabyte motherboard (which is pretty similar to the previous one) and an i5-4690k. Still holding off on the GPU though but I have the RX 480 and GTX 1060 in my mind.

 

[Smurfybug]

The Sapphire RX 480 (When it comes in stock ) is only $199. Much better than the $249 on the 1060's I've seen. The performance is on par or even better from what I've seen also!

 

[Ameer67]

The Sapphire RX 480 (When it comes in stock ) is only $199. Much better than the $249 on the 1060's I've seen. The performance is on par or even better from what I've seen also!

The card you linked is a reference card, meaning, it's plain stock with just the Sapphire sticker slapped on. From what I've read, the reference 480 is actually under the 1060 in most cases. You may be getting confused with the Sapphire Nitro+ RX 480 (which is a custom card and has two fans). Now that's where I've been seeing performance improvements over the reference 480. Dunno how much the Nitro+ is going to cost though.

 

[Smurfybug]

The card you linked is a reference card, meaning, it's plain stock with just the Sapphire sticker slapped on. From what I've read, the reference 480 is actually under the 1060 in most cases. You may be getting confused with the Sapphire Nitro+ RX 480 (which is a custom card and has two fans). Now that's where I've been seeing performance improvements over the reference 480. Dunno how much the Nitro+ is going to cost though.

Here it is.

 

[Ameer67]

So, here is what the build looks like now:

Intel Core i5 4690k
Corsair 600W PSU
Rosewill Case
Zotac GeForce GTX 1060
Gigabyte GA-B85M-D3H
2 x 4GB RAM