T's Semi-Budget Gaming Rig (Updated (again) WITH INTEL!)

[tlowr4]

Thanks to patience, the intenternet, and the exceptionally appreciated help by nick09, I give you the final 1.1K list fully packed with an Intel 2500K and a Z77 motherboard. Geez it was hard work.

Hey all. Just thought I'd throw out there my budget gaming rig that I'm arranging to buy through a friend here in AU off PCCasegear. If anyone knows a site that is cheaper, give us a shout.

Parts (Updated):

Case: Bitfenix Shinobi Black Mid-Tower Case with Window
$30.50 x1
$30.50

PSU: FSP Aurum Series 750W Modular 80PLUS Gold PSU
$128.00 x1
$128.00

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-D3H Motherboard
$179.00 x1
$179.00

Processor (CPU): Intel i5 2500K @ 3.3GHz
$207.00 x1
$207.00

RAM: Kingston HyperX KHX1600C9D3K2/8GX (2x4GB) DDR3
$55.00 x1
$55.00

Video Card: 2 ONLY - Gigabyte ATI RADEON 5870 1GB
$145.00 x1
$145.00

Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB WD5000AAKX
$67.99 x1
$67.99

OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit with SP1 OEM
$88.00 x1
$88.00

Blu-Ray Drive: LG CH12LS28 Blu-Ray COMBO 12X BD-READ 16X DVDRW Blu-Ray Combo Drive
$53.00 x1
$53.00

+ Shipping

TOTAL: ~$1100

Soo yeah. Notes to make now.

1: I picked up a 16" monitor at a garage sale the other day, so I'll use that until I can get a cheap monitor locally (save $50 shipping).

2: Greenboxit.com.au is a genuine site (so $30 for the Bitfenix Shinobi isn't a typo), we did a background check.

3: Top tips to Nick for helping me with all this, I owe you one. All you guys out there better appreciate him a bit more, he finds things that I'd never find in a lifetime.

That's all. I'm purchasing the parts and having a friend install them for a packet of guitar strings (about $10 worth). Bargain for quite decent specs. With the motherboard of choice, an AM3+ board with the ability for dual GPU configs, there's LOTS of room for improvement and upgrades. Watercooling, CPU upgrade, RAM upgrade, dual video cards, the list goes on. I'm very pleased with this setup. Suggestions are very welcome.

 

[NissanSkylineN1]

Why not go cheaper on the mobo and get an i3 2100?

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

Yep, go Intel

 

[bergauk]

I'm curious how any of this budget to begin with though. 900$+ is NOT budget at all.

 

[Seismica]

Sounds very similar to my rig, except I went with an i5 2500k and the cheapest compatable motherboard atx there was going.

This does include the monitor and an inflated HDD, so it isn't that bad. I'd recommend against the Seagate 7200rpm drives (Some have problems, not entirely sure which models so I just avoid them completely)

I'd recommend going with an Intel CPU. Are you planning to overclock? If not, retail versions of Intel CPUs come with their own cooler, so the aftermarket one isn't necessary, which would save you a little.

The $98 shipping is extortionate though, most retailers in the UK give free shipping over a certain amount (£200 or so), I assume some retailers in the US do the same thing? I'd recommend going with a different retailer to get your costs down.

 

[bergauk]

He's from Australia.

I'd also recommend against a low spec Bulldozer.

 

[tlowr4]

Why not go cheaper on the mobo and get an i3 2100?

Since Intel CPU's are so much more expensive, and I want at least a quad core. Which means i5. The cheapest i5 is $195.00, for a 2320, which is locked and makes overclocking more difficult. I'm fairly sure I wouldn't be able to save $50 on the mobo to make up for it.

Yep, go Intel

Interesting comparison. However those games a hightly GPU intensive, not so much CPU. You'll proberbly find that they used a low end card, like a GT400 series or something, so the slightest drop in CPU power affects the entire system dramatically. Marketing scam, if you will. If something was added that would be more appropriate, e.g a GTX550ti or 560, things could have been quite differant.

I'm curious how any of this budget to begin with though. 900$+ is NOT budget at all.

Well the budget for the hardware was $500USD. All other shipping chargers were just to be incurred. Turns out, once all the shipping and crap is over with, I'd pay $700. I figured it'd be easier to get the computer done here and save a ton on shipping, and it'd be safer on the computer. So budget was $700 for the hardware (shipping included, hardware price is actually $630). Then I threw in a new monitor, +$120, a DVD burner (was goign to use one I already had laying around, but I think it's dead), +$25, and an OS, +$100. So really, I'm only paying $700 for the hardware, which is the same as if I was to get it from the US, for $500 on the hardware.

Sounds very similar to my rig, except I went with an i5 2500k and the cheapest compatable motherboard atx there was going.

This does include the monitor and an inflated HDD, so it isn't that bad. I'd recommend against the Seagate 7200rpm drives (Some have problems, not entirely sure which models so I just avoid them completely)

Well the Seagate drive is all I have at the moment, it has to cover boot and storage. I'm going to, later down the track, buy an SSD and transfer Windows to it for boot, save stress on the HDD. I'll just use it and at the first sign of trouble order a new one (hopefully prices will be down by then and I can get a WD Caviar or such)

I'd recommend going with an Intel CPU. Are you planning to overclock? If not, retail versions of Intel CPUs come with their own cooler, so the aftermarket one isn't necessary, which would save you a little.

Yes I'm going to overclock. I'd never use a stock heatsink on ANY computer I EVER personally own and use. The best stock heatsinks are good for is either the bin or one of my computers that I build out of scrap parts and sell in the local trader. This FX system comes with it's own heatsink too, I'll proberbly use it on my Server instead of the Phenom II sink that's on it.

The $98 shipping is extortionate though, most retailers in the UK give free shipping over a certain amount (£200 or so), I assume some retailers in the US do the same thing? I'd recommend going with a different retailer to get your costs down.

I've shopped around so much it's unbleiveable and PCCG is the only site that has the cheapest shipping and prices. Everywhere else you have to add all shipping costs. PCCG you can bulk shipping. It comes to about $60 to ship the hardware, and over $30 to ship the Monitor (fragile etc)





EDIT: Oh, and also, there's much more room for improvement with the AMD socket. I can go up to a six core, or one of the two 8 core processors. Also, further onto other processors that AMD might make on the AM3 and AM3+ socket. If they design an AM4 socket, as long as the pin arrangement is the same, and a Bios update is available, I could use that.

 

[Korza]

Have you considered an AMD Vision APU. I have one in my laptop and its quite good for gaming.

 

[tlowr4]

No APU's. The graphics chips in them just don't cut it. I mean, a 6550? Come on people! and that's on the top end one, let alone the smaller chips.

I actually did build the original system around an APU, then I added a GPU for better graphics performance, then I figured I should go with a more powerful processor.

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

Since Intel CPU's are so much more expensive, and I want at least a quad core. Which means i5. The cheapest i5 is $195.00, for a 2320, which is locked and makes overclocking more difficult. I'm fairly sure I wouldn't be able to save $50 on the mobo to make up for it.

AMD's 4100 doesn't exactly have 4 cores either. The Bulldozer processors pair two cores to form a module and they share almost everything except the integer execution unit.[source] They use more power and Intel's quad-cores beat the 8-core units and the same with 4 vs 2.

Though I do see the problem with the budget when factoring in the overclocking.

Interesting comparison. However those games a hightly GPU intensive, not so much CPU. You'll proberbly find that they used a low end card, like a GT400 series or something, so the slightest drop in CPU power affects the entire system dramatically. Marketing scam, if you will. If something was added that would be more appropriate, e.g a GTX550ti or 560, things could have been quite differant.

If you looked through the rest of the review you would find that the 2120 pretty much beat the 4100 in everything except winrar extraction. In the review they also do state that made the tests CPU-dependent. It might not be the best test, but it does show what happens when the CPU becomes the limiting factor. They used and HD6970 btw.

EDIT: Oh, and also, there's much more room for improvement with the AMD socket. I can go up to a six core, or one of the two 8 core processors. Also, further onto other processors that AMD might make on the AM3 and AM3+ socket. If they design an AM4 socket, as long as the pin arrangement is the same, and a Bios update is available, I could use that.

Or if you go with Intel you could upgrade to the 2500k, which is one of the best values out there. It can also beat all of AMD's processors at almost anything. I'm not seeing this room for improvement considering AMD is stumbling.

 

[tlowr4]

Yeah I know, but I really can't stretch my budget anymore than I have.

 

[bergauk]

So in order to get the most value you went with the worst setup possible?

Is there any other site you can go to to purchase parts from? I just had a quick look on pccasegear and their selection on just about everything is abysmally low.

 

[tlowr4]

Worst setup possible? I do beg your pardon. At least it's better than what I've got now. There's nothing wrong with this build, it will do untill I have the money to upgrade further (looking into the 8 core in a year or so). This isn't JUST for gaming, it's a workstation too, for school and IT studies.

And no, PCCG is the cheapest and the only one that does bulk shipping, unfortunatly.

 

[bergauk]

I feel bad for you then. There are better builds for less out there. Ones that don't utilize an underpowered quad core.

 

[Seismica]

He's from Australia.

I'd also recommend against a low spec Bulldozer.

Ah, just when he said dollars, I assumed as I was reading his post more thoroughly in the reply screen (So I didn't see the flag below his avatar)

Yeah I know, but I really can't stretch my budget anymore than I have.

Going with cheap components can be a false economy. Going with AMD because of a potential upgrade path is silly when you could get a good z68 chipset that will likely be compatible with Ivy Bridge 22nm processors. If I were you i'd make room for Intel in your budget, the dual core i3s have excellent performance, don't knock them, they are more than a match for the equivalent Bulldozer processor. I'd advise getting a z68 (fairly certain these will be compatible with Ivy Bridge) and an i3 2100 and then upgrading to an Ivy Bridge processor (i5 3500k maybe? idk what they will be named) when you have the money in the future. Just a recommendation though, based on the fact this years AMD processors aren't as good nor are they cheap enough to make them a better option for decent rigs.

More tips:

Use an old monitor for the time being, or get a cheaper one. Better still, find/buy one locally to save on the extortionate shipping costs, if it's $125+$30 shipping for the monitor alone, i'm sure it would be better to find one in a shop for ~$140.

Case is good, no change needed there (Would've recommended an Antec 100 but it's more expensive than the one you chose)

PSU is good (That particular PSU is excellent, i've seen reviews of that and it is very highly rated. But it might be worth spending a bit more to future proof it for upgrades, incase you decide to go all out and get a 7970 or something)

CPU and motherboard discussed already

The RAM is good, the GPU seems good value and I can't see anything better for less (Converting $ to £ when deciding how good value something is can be difficult )

Monitor discussed.

As for the Operating system, if you have an old Vista or XP key lieing around, get an upgrade version as it will be cheaper. You can do a fresh install with an upgrade disc by following this guide:

It seems the guide I followed has been deleted. There is a way to do it, but it may have been patched, i'm not sure. Disregard this point, unless you do have an old disc and cd key lieing around and don't mind infecting your computer with vista (or installing XP) before upgrading.

 

[tlowr4]

I feel bad for you then. There are better builds for less out there. Ones that don't utilize an underpowered quad core.

Yes. In America maybe, but Australia is a different thing. Prices are astronomical here. If you're willing to donate some parts or a quid or two, I'd be heavily obliged. 👍 I am going to overclock, so I might be able to make the performace up with a few hundred Mhz, maybe bring it up to 4GHz, we'll see what I can pull out with that cooler (it's not a fancy shmacy cooler, so it's not going to be really great...I'll have to cross that bridge when I get to it)

...

Use an old monitor for the time being, or get a cheaper one. Better still, find/buy one locally to save on the extortionate shipping costs, if it's $125+$30 shipping for the monitor alone, i'm sure it would be better to find one in a shop for ~$140.

I don't have any decent monitors. They're all old 17" and 18" crappy monitors. I can't get one in a store for that price. A full HD 21" monitor is $200 minimum. Things are just too exy here, hence why I'm buying online.

Case is good, no change needed there (Would've recommended an Antec 100 but it's more expensive than the one you chose)

Yeah, I like the Antec 100. But due to the fact that I like a window, and budget restraints, it was a tossup between the CM 430 Elite black, or the Thermaltake Dokker somethingsomething I forget the name. I went with the CM due to the dual top 120's, excellent for extra exhaust fans so a watercooling setup (H80 or such) can be arranged.

PSU is good (That particular PSU is excellent, i've seen reviews of that and it is very highly rated. But it might be worth spending a bit more to future proof it for upgrades, incase you decide to go all out and get a 7970 or something)

Yes, that's another thing. I don't think I'd go with something that extravigant, not for a long time anyway, so I could get a new PSU when I upgrade (I think there's an 800w variant of that PSU, that would run 2 6870's no sweat)

...
The RAM is good, the GPU seems good value and I can't see anything better for less (Converting $ to £ when deciding how good value something is can be difficult )

Yeah. That Video card is a limited stock, so I have to get in fast to get one before they sell out. I would have liked a 6790, but it's about a $40 jump.

...

As for the Operating system, if you have an old Vista or XP key lieing around, get an upgrade version as it will be cheaper. You can do a fresh install with an upgrade disc by following this guide:

It seems the guide I followed has been deleted. There is a way to do it, but it may have been patched, i'm not sure. Disregard this point, unless you do have an old disc and cd key lieing around and don't mind infecting your computer with vista (or installing XP) before upgrading.

Unfortunately I havn't got any Os's laying around, except Linux and a very old XP 32bit, which may or may not work. $99 is quite cheap for Home Premium, I was thinking more of $130 - $140 at the time, so I'm happy with that. If you do find that little upgrade trick thingy, I'd be happy to use it. I did consider cracking Win 7, but since mum's going to use this comp I figured I'd have to buy it.



EDIT: Look, I'll put a list together with the top end i3 dual core and mobo and see what we get.

 

[Saidur_Ali]

I thought I'd say, might be a good idea to get a higher wattage PSU if you plan to upgrade later on. If you want better cable management then get a modular PSU.

Also for ram, I would rather get this (http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=16437)
than the one you currently have picked.

If you go for the Intel route, remember you will be able to upgrade to an Ivy Bridge processor in about 4 months time. I would get a cheaper Sandy Bridge processor for now.

About graphics card, the new 7 series has been launched this month, so you might see some price drops. If not might be wise if you haven't bought your parts by then to get the newer 7 series card if it is competitive in pricing.

Finally have you checked if amazon.co.uk or amazon.com is cheaper and if they deliver to Australia for less cost. I think if you spend less than $1000 there is no import costs.

 

[DQuaN]

Do you have an LCD or Plasma TV Tlowr? If so, why not use that as your monitor and save the money?

 

[tlowr4]

I thought I'd say, might be a good idea to get a higher wattage PSU if you plan to upgrade later on. If you want better cable management then get a modular PSU.

Also for ram, I would rather get this (http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=16437)
than the one you currently have picked.

If you go for the Intel route, remember you will be able to upgrade to an Ivy Bridge processor in about 4 months time. I would get a cheaper Sandy Bridge processor for now.

About graphics card, the new 7 series has been launched this month, so you might see some price drops. If not might be wise if you haven't bought your parts by then to get the newer 7 series card if it is competitive in pricing.

Finally have you checked if amazon.co.uk or amazon.com is cheaper and if they deliver to Australia for less cost. I think if you spend less than $1000 there is no import costs.

Like I said, I haven't got the budget at the moment for a higher wattage PSU, I'll have to get that later on. Modular is too expensive, and the case I have has very good cable management, so I'll have to stick with a normal non modular PSU. Intel is out of the question unfortunatly, it's really just too expensive. I've already blown the budget by a lot, soooo yeah. No, I havn't checked those places, shipping is just too expensive, so I didn't consider it.

Do you have an LCD or Plasma TV Tlowr? If so, why not use that as your monitor and save the money?

Yes, but it's a 40" LDC TV. It's huge, and means we can't watch TV while I"m using the computer.

 

[Submerged]

What about going for the old Phenom II's?

It should be still providing you with some speed for a budget and keeps costs down.

 

[tlowr4]

I originally wanted a Phenom II, but PCCG dosn't stock them. Only APU's, Athlon's, and FX processors. Lame, I know...

 

[Submerged]

.... Why not buy direct from the manufacturer's store?

I know you said that you had search everywhere online for Australia's stores, but sometimes manufacturers can actually be more reasonable than retailers.

 

[tlowr4]

Hmm...I'll look into it. I never thought of that...

 

[Seismica]

I've done a little research with online retailers in Australia. I keep seeing good deals (Like an i5 2400 system for $700 without a graphics card), but then forget that you are after a monitor aswell which puts it over your current budget by quite a bit. There doesn't seem to be many good places that sell individual components from what I can see. You could try these sites:

http://www.umart.com.au/

From initial browsing it may reduce the overall cost, depending on shipping. They have a network of stores where you may be able to collect if you live close to one.

or this:

http://www.centrecom.com.au/catalog/default.php

or http://www.greenboxit.com.au/

and to search for the cheapest source of individual parts use: http://www.staticice.com.au/ (Which was what led me to the above sites)

I also found a phenom II deal but it only has a HD 6570 and the PSU is bound to be a cheap one as it doesn't specify.

The system you have suggested is probably the best you're going to get unless you're willing to downgrade (Or upgrade to Intel, which is strongly recommended if you can within your budget), but check the sites I listed for pricing. I'm convinced pccasegear is overcharging you, especially for shipping.

 

[PAPPACLART]

I will be doing a budget PC build too, so have been doing allot of research. Like others have said, AMD and BD is perhaps not the best route ATM. Maybe BD will mature in time as Win 7 is further optimised for it. And If you plan to use the machine with Win 8 then the FX chip could turn out to be an ok deal. Though personally I think AMD have dropped further behind and Intel is really the best choice for even the budget options when before AMD always held that fort.

Going the phenom route is still a potentially cost effective option, I know the 960T is pretty cheap and can be unlocked to 6 cores so may be worth a go, but the architecture is old, and you would be bascially investing in and old design that uses too much power and may limit your upgrade path.

You could perhaps consider a Pentium G840 G850 or G860 (G840 85$) and match it with a Z68 board so like some have said, you can slot an Ivy Bridge CPU inside. Not sure if that combo comes up cheaper then the fx and an AM3+ board? Don't knock the G series Pentiums, they are basically lower clocked i3's minus the HT and some instrution sets, and of course without turbo like the i5s. They are sandybridge and offer very good value and peformance.

I am either going i3 or i5 2500k, but not sure if i can justify the 2500k, I will post up my build specs in another thread shortly for some advice too.

What ever you decide to go with, good luck, I am sure you will be happy.

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

What ever you decide to go with, good luck, I am sure you will be happy.

Yep.

Just don't try to convince yourself that there is some magic upgrade path with AMD, because they have a lot of catching up to do.

 

[PAPPACLART]

Yep.

Just don't try to convince yourself that there is some magic upgrade path with AMD, because they have a lot of catching up to do.

I agree. Also the allure of cheap well spec'd (on paper) high frequency 4 and 6 core chips from AMD look great. Looking at an i3 just does not look as fancy, but it beats all AMD chips in single core tasks by a large margin and can match and beat many in multi threaded tasks. (except some of the mid to high end x4 AMD's)

Also the IPC of Buldozer is not far off a P4, its pretty poor, and behind the last gen AMD. Its a shame as I had high hopes.

 

[tlowr4]

Ok guys so I've run across something. As far as my memory is concerned, which one of these two kits would be better? They're both 8GB Kingston HyperX (2x4GB), but one is cheaper than the other, and they ahve different patterns on the heat spreaders? Would there be much performance difference between the $10?

HyperX: http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=186_774&products_id=16791

HyperX Blu: http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=186_774&products_id=19180

I'm ordering all my parts tomorrow (after ordering them already and then having to cancel due to a problem with my bank details) so I need an answer for this ASAP)

Apologies for the bump, but I was curious about this and didn't want to make a new thread.

 

[tlowr4]

Updated Still tweaking things but this is mostly how it's going to look now. I will buy a CPU cooler and Blu-ray drive later, and a few other odds and ends. I figured why not go all out instead of trying to budget it as much as possible.

And yes, i'm still heavily considering Intel. However I'm seeing the AMD as a better prospect at the moment...ugh, why does it have to be so hard

 

[tlowr4]

Well sorry for the triple post, and the third bump, but I think everyone would be more interested now I've (thanks to nick) worked in a 2500K and tons of awesome stuff.

Basically, everything has to come to $900 (excluding the Video Card). I'm then going to get together $200 to buy a prepaid visa card and buy the video card of another site, so everything will come to about $1100 once it's all done and dusted.