Help me build the $900 computer

That_Annoying_Kid · August 2013

So I'm going to be throwing $900 at a computer here soon and I wondered what you guys could come up with build wise

Only requirements are full size mobo. I already have a head / OS

I will post what I come up with soon, I'm sure it can be improved upon. I'm just looking to run modern games on high settings, it will basically be for gaming

ScardyBob · August 2013

Best just to go down Tom's Hardware Budget-Gaming PC thread until you find a setup that strikes your fancy.

|DFA| Havoc · August 2013

Not sure what you mean by already having a head...

Based on the very little information you've given:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Pro3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($94.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: OCZ Vector Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card ($279.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Zalman Z11 Plus ATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ Microcenter)
Power Supply: SeaSonic M12II 750W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/RSBS DVD/CD Writer ($16.50 @ Newegg)
Total: $876.41
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-08-29 20:47 EDT-0400)

Various refinements can be made, but that's what I came up with using current promotions to get the best bang/buck.

Edit to add: I realize the PSU is more powerful than necessary, but at the price it's a steal for a modular Seasonic unit and it could theoretically be used for an SLI setup in a future build. Could also spend the extra $25 on a motherboard that supports SLI if you want to have that upgrade path available in this machine.

That_Annoying_Kid · September 2013

I am checking that thread out thanks Bob

also Havoc the head is the monitor

In other news

One of my friends just got an AMD 4.1 ghz APU for $130 with a $50 mobo from MSI and one 8 gig stick for ~$65 total cost 341 he should be able to run medium to high games on medium to high settings

I'm interested in seeing how much that system can be flogged... Anyone got any good torture testers?

wopwop · September 2013

APUs are quite weak cpus coupled with low-mid end GPUs.
I wouldn't advice them for any decent gaming... for casual gaming they are very good though, you get to save some money and room in your case.
Also, you need fast RAM to squeeze the best performance out of APUs.

In a Tom's HW test, Metro:LL, an i3 3220 + 6670 (market price: 60€) was 20% faster than the best APU out there, the 6800K.

ScardyBob · September 2013

Quite simply, APU's are pretty poor for gaming. You'd get much better value going with something like an i5 + mid tier dedicated GPU.

Here's my suggestion:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1Bahn

If you want to keep it <$900 before MIR, then you could either go to the GTX 660 or drop the SSD.

WhiteWeasel · September 2013

ScardyBob wrote: »

Quite simply, APU's are pretty poor for gaming. You'd get much better value going with something like an i5 + mid tier dedicated GPU.

Here's my suggestion:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1Bahn

If you want to keep it <$900 before MIR, then you could either go to the GTX 660 or drop the SSD.

wopwop wrote: »

APUs are quite weak cpus coupled with low-mid end GPUs.
I wouldn't advice them for any decent gaming... for casual gaming they are very good though, you get to save some money and room in your case.
Also, you need fast RAM to squeeze the best performance out of APUs.

In a Tom's HW test, Metro:LL, an i3 3220 + 6670 (market price: 60€) was 20% faster than the best APU out there, the 6800K.

Austin begs to differ.

Until you start getting into the upper mids, a core i5 does not make much of a difference for twice the price of basically what I have. (A10 5800k)

ScardyBob · September 2013

WhiteWeasel wrote: »

ScardyBob wrote: »

Quite simply, APU's are pretty poor for gaming. You'd get much better value going with something like an i5 + mid tier dedicated GPU.

Here's my suggestion:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1Bahn

If you want to keep it <$900 before MIR, then you could either go to the GTX 660 or drop the SSD.

wopwop wrote: »

APUs are quite weak cpus coupled with low-mid end GPUs.
I wouldn't advice them for any decent gaming... for casual gaming they are very good though, you get to save some money and room in your case.
Also, you need fast RAM to squeeze the best performance out of APUs.

In a Tom's HW test, Metro:LL, an i3 3220 + 6670 (market price: 60€) was 20% faster than the best APU out there, the 6800K.

Austin begs to differ.

Until you start getting into the upper mids, a core i5 does not make much of a difference for twice the price of basically what I have. (A10 5800k)

Well sure, if you pair an APU with a dedicated GPU, it will compare favorably to an i5 because many games are limited by the GPU power. However, the point of an APU is that you don't have to purchase a separate GPU. In that case, it's gaming performance is fairly terrible.

For budget-level gaming, that AMD Athlon X4 750k is a pretty good deal, but it will suffer in games that are CPU intense. Unfortunately, NS2 is one of those games so I wouldn't expect much better than mediocre performance with it.

WhiteWeasel · September 2013

ScardyBob wrote: »

WhiteWeasel wrote: »

ScardyBob wrote: »

Quite simply, APU's are pretty poor for gaming. You'd get much better value going with something like an i5 + mid tier dedicated GPU.

Here's my suggestion:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1Bahn

If you want to keep it <$900 before MIR, then you could either go to the GTX 660 or drop the SSD.

wopwop wrote: »

APUs are quite weak cpus coupled with low-mid end GPUs.
I wouldn't advice them for any decent gaming... for casual gaming they are very good though, you get to save some money and room in your case.
Also, you need fast RAM to squeeze the best performance out of APUs.

In a Tom's HW test, Metro:LL, an i3 3220 + 6670 (market price: 60€) was 20% faster than the best APU out there, the 6800K.

Austin begs to differ.

Until you start getting into the upper mids, a core i5 does not make much of a difference for twice the price of basically what I have. (A10 5800k)

Well sure, if you pair an APU with a dedicated GPU, it will compare favorably to an i5 because many games are limited by the GPU power. However, the point of an APU is that you don't have to purchase a separate GPU. In that case, it's gaming performance is fairly terrible.

For budget-level gaming, that AMD Athlon X4 750k is a pretty good deal, but it will suffer in games that are CPU intense. Unfortunately, NS2 is one of those games so I wouldn't expect much better than mediocre performance with it.

Yeah, I'm sure a lot of the problems I have with NS2 would be fixed when I get an actual GPU. But to it's credit, it's capable of running games like TF2, Fallout NV, Endless Space, portal 2, And Guns Of Icarus online at ultra or at least high. SCII and Diablo 3 run ok at medium, the only game that really hurts from the APU is this one.

An AMD APU (by itself) not be as good as the i5 stat wise, but punches above it's weight in terms of price. That's why it's really good for starter and budget builds where an i5 may eat up too much of it. If you have the money get the i5.

It's $100 off, but even then it should be able to tackle any modern game.

SeeVee · September 2013

If you build it yourself and buy all the components from a place like newegg.com you'll save a huge chunk of cash.

That_Annoying_Kid · September 2013

yeah I plan on building it myself, I actually helped build both of my friends rigs recently. Frys had the proc for $10 cheaper than newegg

the a10 amd blk 4.1 ghz apu. He went back and swapped his 1 8gig chip for 2 4gb dual channel 1866 mhz sticks. He did 111+ in the cs:s stress test with everything on high, and can do LoL / Bioshock infinite / other games at very high framerates

and my other friends build was a little more than $900 but he got an i7 8 core with a huge graphics card etc etc

weighing the options! thanks to all that responded

wopwop · September 2013

That_Annoying_Kid wrote: »

the a10 amd blk 4.1 ghz apu. He went back and swapped his 1 8gig chip for 2 4gb dual channel 1866 mhz sticks. He did 111+ in the cs:s stress test with everything on high, and can do LoL / Bioshock infinite / other games at very high framerates

Very high framerates in Bioshock Infinite?
What resolution does he play at?

I've just checked reviews of 6800K (the apu I assume your friend has) and benchmarks.

In Bioshock Infinite it pulls 25 fps with medium preset @1080p. (Another benchmark reports 23 fps in the same conditions).

Similar situation in Just Cause 2 -- medium settings, 1080p, averages 30fps.
In BF3, 1080p, low details, no AA, AFx2, averages 26 fps.

Again, Tomb Raider 3 -- medium settings, 1080p, 27 fps.

Hitman Absolution, low quality 1080p 25 fps.
Metro:LL, low quality 1080p 20 fps.

In the OP you said "I'm just looking to run modern games on high settings".
Those results clearly show that you're not looking for an APU, which is by the way not that cheap... it's close to a FX 8320.
Also, if you later want to upgrade to a discrete GPU, you'd be wasting the real advantage of APUs: Integrated GPU.

You should also specify what resolution you're running at, and what kind of experience you're looking for --- some players find anything below 60fps unacceptable, others can be just fine above 40fps, others claim they don't notice differences 30fps and above...

Havoc posted a very nice rig there... if you want to save money, though, you can always opt for AMD CPUs (non APUs) like FX 6300 / FX 8320.

That_Annoying_Kid · September 2013

he was way above 1080 on the resolution. Like 1800 by something

he got it to look gorgeous on ultra, but it wasn't smooth enough for play. But on high it still looked purty and was smooth as glass 60+ FPS easy

I'm still iffy on the whole AMD thing, being an intel fanboy and such

ScardyBob · September 2013

That_Annoying_Kid wrote: »

I'm still iffy on the whole AMD thing, being an intel fanboy and such

High-end, Intel is king. But in the budget CPU area (<$150) AMD has some great value. If you wanted to make a decent $600 gaming PC, then AMD is your best bet. However, with a $900 budget, its worthwhile to go with a higher end Intel CPU.

wopwop · September 2013

That_Annoying_Kid wrote: »

he was way above 1080 on the resolution. Like 1800 by something

he got it to look gorgeous on ultra, but it wasn't smooth enough for play. But on high it still looked purty and was smooth as glass 60+ FPS easy

I'm still iffy on the whole AMD thing, being an intel fanboy and such

1800? the highest I know of, for a single monitor, is 2560x1600, which has about twice the pixels as 1920*1080.

Any APU would seriously struggle there... even high-end VGAs have serious troubles maintaining decent framerates in modern games, a multi-gpu setup is almost a must.
Go for Havoc's rig, that's quite awesome for the budget.

Help me build the $900 computer

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