PC Build for Gaming Advice

[Crooked Hauser 258]

Hello elitist PC master race nerds and/or console trolls! I'm currently playing DayZ on a MacBook Pro Retina but would like to build a PC for fun and gaming.

I've configured what I think to be a useful and tasteful looking rig on PCpartspicker - i5 3570, Radeon R7 260x, 8gig DDR3 1600 in a BitFenix Prodigy M (white) case. Comes in just over $700 with a 120gig SSD.

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/CrookedHauser/saved/3LY0

Am I way off the mark here?

[Confused Zombie 9]

Did you actually read some reviews of that card? It's basically a rebadged 7790. An older 7850 is a much better card.

 

You cannot buy a cheap 'gaming pc' and expect it to run intensive games well.

 

That card would of been high end....5 years ago.....

Edited February 16, 2014 by Confused Zombie

[Crooked Hauser 258]

Toms Hardware said it was a good card for 1080p at mid level settings. That's where I got my info. I considered a 650 TI Boost...

And is this a cheap gaming PC at $700? It seems like the i5 3570 is one of the better CPUs for gaming because most games don't support HT on i7s yet.

[OfficerRaymond 2064]

#1. Get a set of DDR3-1600 RAM.

#2. Get a GTX 660 for around 30-40 bucks more.

#3. Get an i5-3570K for 10 bucks more.

#4. Spend far less money on your case.

 

There is no sense in paying 100 dollars for your case, when you could use that money to get a better GPU and CPU. A case is pure aesthetics, and you may get compliments on your case, but there is no sense in that if when you boot the PC you're getting shittier frames than what you could have. At your budget you have no business caring about aesthetics, you should be caring about price to performance.

[Crooked Hauser 258]

But I do care about aesthetics! I won't have an 8 cu ft neon green and black monstrosity in my house. ;)

Also, I updated the ram to 1600 right after I posted. Didn't notice it was 1300 at first.

Wouldn't I only need the 3570k if I planned on overclocking? That's not something I plan on partaking in.

Will check out that GPU.

Thanks!

Edited February 16, 2014 by Crooked Hauser

[Confused Zombie 9]

Toms Hardware said it was a good card for 1080p at mid level settings. That's where I got my info. I considered a 650 TI Boost...

And is this a cheap gaming PC at $700? It seems like the i5 3570 is one of the better CPUs for gaming because most games don't support HT on i7s yet.

 

 

Good for mid settings for some games already out. As time goes on you will have to lower settings more and more. Would you be happy in a years time playing games on low settings? No of course not. That CPU is ok for now, but it cannot be overclocked easily (or at all) meaning a K version of the i5 (as officer Raymond mentions) is a much better bet for not alot more. Don't know how to overclock? It's easy to learn, especially if you want the best out of your hardware.

Edited February 16, 2014 by Confused Zombie

[OrLoK 16185]

Hello there

 

Watch out for scrimping on any part, small cheap cases can cause heating airflow issues, cheap Power supplies can blow and damage components cheap = poo. Although you can get lucky.

 

Eg my case is 20pounds. it works but its flimsyt and bits fall off it and getting cards in etc is a pain and nothing sits very well. I wish id saved up even another 20 quid.

 

Your best be is to get the best Mobo and chip, then upgrade the other bits when you get the pennies.

 

Theres no one true cheap solution.

 

You dont have to buy an uber expensive rig but avoid the super cheap.

 

Rgds

 

LoK

[JRAtk94 0]

As the above posters said, I'd definitely go for at least a GTX 660, if not a GTX 760.

 

You might also want to get a HDD instead of an SSD - that 120gb will be gone in no time, unless you've already got a spare HDD that you're using.

 

Also remember that you'll need to pay for your OS, unless you're naughty.

 

Like OfficerRaymond said, you're better off investing your money on the actual performance of your PC rather than the aesthetics. It's understandable that you want it to look badass, but it should really be of secondary concern.

 

And yes, 8gb of 1600mhz RAM would be better, preferably 2x4gb rather than 1x8gb.

[Crooked Hauser 258]

Good for mid settings for some games already out. As time goes on you will have to lower settings more and more. Would you be happy in a years time playing games on low settings? No of course not. That CPU is ok for now, but it cannot be overclocked easily (or at all) meaning a K version of the i5 (as officer Raymond mentions) is a much better bet for not alot more. Don't know how to overclock? It's easy to learn, especially if you want the best out of your hardware.

And yes, don't bother with an expensive case untill you have decent parts. $700 isn't anywhere near true gaming pc specs. If you think it is you're better off buying a console....

I have an Xbox One. :(

[zhrike 264]

In addition to some of the other suggestions: You might want to up that PSU. 450W might not cut it.

I'd also look at an additional, traditional spindle hard-drive. 120GB will be gone fast. I'm all about redundancy, too, and still a little leery of having all of my eggs in one basket; particularly an SSD basket. You can backup to a cheaper, slower drive in case the SSD fails. I would install the OS on a SAS or SATA drive and games on the SSD, backing up to the other.

[Crooked Hauser 258]

As the above posters said, I'd definitely go for at least a GTX 660, if not a GTX 760.

You might also want to get a HDD instead of an SSD - that 120gb will be gone in no time, unless you've already got a spare HDD that you're using.

Also remember that you'll need to pay for your OS, unless you're naughty.

Like OfficerRaymond said, you're better off investing your money on the actual performance of your PC rather than the aesthetics. It's understandable that you want it to look badass, but it should really be of secondary concern.

And yes, 8gb of 1600mhz RAM would be better, preferably 2x4gb rather than 1x8gb.

I have a spare (legal) key for Win8. Went 1x8gb so I could go 32 eventually without having to throw away a stick.

I do have a spare HDD (1TB) and monitor. And I can't have an ugly case. That's important to me for many reasons.

[Guest]

are you goin to OC the CPU? If not get hold on a Xeon 1230v3.

Also there is no need for 1600mhz RAM, you won't c any difference compared to 1333mhz, except the money you save.

Edited February 16, 2014 by Guest

[OfficerRaymond 2064]

But I do care about aesthetics! I won't have an 8 cu ft neon green and black monstrosity in my house. ;)

Also, I updated the ram to 1600 right after I posted. Didn't notice it was 1300 at first.

Wouldn't I only need the 3570k if I planned on overclocking? That's not something I plan on partaking in.

Will check out that CPU.

Thanks!

Yes, the K means it's unlocked and thus can be overclocked. If you never ever plan on doing that, then skip over it and save ten bucks.

 

Another option would be for you to get an AMD FX-8350. They're pretty much equal to a 3570k in terms of gaming performance, and it also has the benefit of eight cores that give you i7-like performance in CPU intensive tasks if you ever need it. It also comes unlocked so there's no need to spend extra money (looking at you intel) to overclock it.

 

Make sure your RAM is 2 sticks, not just one.

 

I'd recommend this case http://pcpartpicker.com/part/nzxt-case-s210001 and buying some case fans with lighting of you choice.

[JRAtk94 0]

I've heard that AMD processors are having performance issues with DayZ, particularly Piledriver Bulldozer (FX-x1xx).

 

Take this with a pinch of salt though.

Edited February 16, 2014 by JRAtk94

[Crooked Hauser 258]

Yes, the K means it's unlocked and thus can be overclocked. If you never ever plan on doing that, then skip over it and save ten bucks.

Another option would be for you to get an AMD FX-8350. They're pretty much equal to a 3570k in terms of gaming performance, and it also has the benefit of eight cores that give you i7-like performance in CPU intensive tasks if you ever need it. It also comes unlocked so there's no need to spend extra money (looking at you intel) to overclock it.

Make sure your RAM is 2 sticks, not just one.

I'd recommend this case http://pcpartpicker.com/part/nzxt-case-s210001 and buying some case fans with lighting of you choice.

Oh do you need two sticks for ram to work still? I forgot.

That case was my second choice! But I like the white and handles. Vain, I know. Honestly it'll just be in my bedroom sitting room where only I ever play games or watch golf but I would like it to be fairly discreet. Would ostensibly connect it to the 47" LCD there and use wireless peripherals.

[res 373]

Get a 7870, I'm using one, and it works like a charm. Skryim on Ultra and I get 60 FPS or more sometimes.

[OfficerRaymond 2064]

Oh do you need two sticks for ram to work still? I forgot.

That case was my second choice! But I like the white and handles. Vain, I know. Honestly it'll just be in my bedroom sitting room where only I ever play games or watch golf but I would like it to be fairly discreet. Would ostensibly connect it to the 47" LCD there and use wireless peripherals.

In the end it's up to you. I just suggested it because that gives you about 40-50 bucks more to work with for a much better GPU.

 

You should get 2 sticks, yes. One stick will theoretically work, but you may run into issues.

[Crooked Hauser 258]

Also, not to be a tool but I'm playing on a $3000 Apple laptop right now so my priorities tend to skew sometimes. This rig would be for the fun of the build and so I wouldn't have to use bootcamp and could free up my MacBook for porn... I mean, sportsing matches. Price isn't the biggest factor but I like to be efficient when I can.

[Alogos 24]

Oh do you need two sticks for ram to work still? I forgot.

That case was my second choice! But I like the white and handles. Vain, I know. Honestly it'll just be in my bedroom sitting room where only I ever play games or watch golf but I would like it to be fairly discreet. Would ostensibly connect it to the 47" LCD there and use wireless peripherals.

hey man, if it's not too much trouble would you mind PMing me your final build? I'm trying to get a buddy into PC gaming, specifically DayZ, but he thinks it's gonna cost him upwards of $1k to get a decent rig.

[AgainstArseholes 12]

Aside from what OfficerRaymond already suggested, I'd get a larger SSD in order to fit all of your current most played games (especially Dayz) on it. If you want to save money, just go with his suggestion alone.

[Crooked Hauser 258]

hey man, if it's not too much trouble would you mind PMing me your final build? I'm trying to get a buddy into PC gaming, specifically DayZ, but he thinks it's gonna cost him upwards of $1k to get a decent rig.

Might be a while, but this build seems to have what most of the other posters have recommended on my build: http://pcpartpicker.com/b/yp3

[leefriendfield 438]

Here are my parts

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/PZEASSTJC6JF/ref=topnav_lists_2

 

Runs the game perfectly at a solid 60 fps in most places on about normal textures with no AA, AO or PP. Amazon cranks those prices up on the 660 so heres a link to stores where I bought my cards the at the cheapest prce

 

660ti: http://www.frys.com/product/7281883?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

I5-3570k: http://www.frys.com/product/7028371?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

P8Z-77V Mother Board: http://www.frys.com/product/7994280?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

RAM: http://www.frys.com/product/7766668?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

 

The Frys store is much cheaper than amazon and provide free shipping for a lot of these parts, but that amazon list is just so you can have a list of my parts that run the game amazingly well. The total cost for this PC when I built it was about $900-$1000. Its runs DayZ amazingly well and Battlefield 4 in all high settings constant 60fps. Good luck in your quest for the PC and I hope this helps.

Edited February 16, 2014 by LeeFriendField

[Crooked Hauser 258]

Cool! Upped my build to a 660. $199 after $20 rebate.

[leefriendfield 438]

Cool! Upped my build to a 660. $199 after $20 rebate.

Dont just go through just one retailer, check others out. I would have spent an extra $300-$400 on my computer if I had gone through amazon. There are plenty of other stores that would be more than happy to sell you parts at a cheaper rate for your business.

Edited February 16, 2014 by LeeFriendField

[Crooked Hauser 258]

PCpartpicker.com does comparison shopping for you... And most important for me checks compatibility between components.