Computers & Electronics

Help me build a Gaming PC

  • Last Updated:
  • Mar 18th, 2014 11:23 am
Tags:
None
Jr. Member
Dec 25, 2013
177 posts
32 upvotes
Toronto

Help me build a Gaming PC

Hey Guys,

This will be my first time building one (PC NEWB). My budget would be $500-$600 for a well budget gaming PC. There are too many parts to choose from and I just need your opinion about which part is compatible with which and is completely worth buying. I've done a few research and I've looked up parts using pcpartpicker but I just need a few more insights.

The games that I would most likely play would be: BF4, DayZ: SA, Arma 3, and other upcoming FPS games.

I also need your opinion on a 24" monitor that is "good enough" for gaming.

Thanks in advance guys!
15 replies
Jr. Member
User avatar
Aug 14, 2010
123 posts
41 upvotes
Using NCIX weakly sale:

Mobo+CPU: CrossFire Bundle Deal AMD Bulldozer FX-8320 Eight Core & MSI 970A-G46 DDR3 Motherboard 230$
http://products.ncix.com/detail/ncix-cr ... 0-1230.htm

RAM: ADATA Xpg 8GB DDR3-1600 CL9 80$
http://products.ncix.com/detail/adata-x ... 7-1230.htm

Video card: ASUS GeForce GTX 660 OC 210$ -20 Rebate
http://products.ncix.com/detail/asus-ge ... 7-1230.htm

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 66$
http://products.ncix.com/detail/seagate ... 1-1230.htm

PSU: Corsair CX Series CX430M 50$ - 20 Rebate
http://products.ncix.com/detail/corsair ... 5-1230.htm

DVD: 24X 18$
http://products.ncix.com/detail/asus-dr ... 3-1230.htm

Case: Antec P100 80$- 15 Rebate
http://products.ncix.com/detail/antec-p ... 7-1230.htm

Total 734$- 55 Rebate
Currently the price of RAM and Video cards is high, its not the best time to buy a new rig. But SSD are slowly dropping.
Jr. Member
Dec 25, 2013
177 posts
32 upvotes
Toronto
Arkeron wrote: Using NCIX weakly sale:

Mobo+CPU: CrossFire Bundle Deal AMD Bulldozer FX-8320 Eight Core & MSI 970A-G46 DDR3 Motherboard 230$
http://products.ncix.com/detail/ncix-cr ... 0-1230.htm

RAM: ADATA Xpg 8GB DDR3-1600 CL9 80$
http://products.ncix.com/detail/adata-x ... 7-1230.htm

Video card: ASUS GeForce GTX 660 OC 210$ -20 Rebate
http://products.ncix.com/detail/asus-ge ... 7-1230.htm

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 66$
http://products.ncix.com/detail/seagate ... 1-1230.htm

PSU: Corsair CX Series CX430M 50$ - 20 Rebate
http://products.ncix.com/detail/corsair ... 5-1230.htm

DVD: 24X 18$
http://products.ncix.com/detail/asus-dr ... 3-1230.htm

Case: Antec P100 80$- 15 Rebate
http://products.ncix.com/detail/antec-p ... 7-1230.htm

Total 734$- 55 Rebate
Currently the price of RAM and Video cards is high, its not the best time to buy a new rig. But SSD are slowly dropping.
Thanks maybe I should wait until a sale goes on :(
Deal Fanatic
User avatar
Sep 21, 2012
5065 posts
586 upvotes
Mississauga
MrSuave7 wrote: Thanks maybe I should wait until a sale goes on :(
You can find pretty good deals on SSDs. DVD drives are a waste of money; just buy a usb one.

PSUs and video cards are pretty expensive right now and RAM has been expensive for the last year or so, so that's up to you.


to summerize, build it part by part. Start with components you know you'll need like: SSDs or HDDs
Favourite Games: NieR (PS3), Catherine (PS3), Persona 3 FES/Portable (PS2/PSP), Final Fantasy IX (PSX), Persona 4 Golden (PSV), Witcher 1,2,3 (PC), Skyward Sword (Wii), Pokemon Colosseum (GC), Fire Emblem Awakening (3DS), Shin Megami Tensei IV (3DS), Majora's Mask (3DS), Bravely Default (3DS)
Deal Addict
User avatar
Feb 18, 2007
4114 posts
299 upvotes
New Westminster
Dinujan wrote: You can find pretty good deals on SSDs. DVD drives are a waste of money; just buy a usb one.

PSUs and video cards are pretty expensive right now and RAM has been expensive for the last year or so, so that's up to you.


to summerize, build it part by part. Start with components you know you'll need like: SSDs or HDDs
dvd drives are only a waste of money if you do not have games and such on dvd. I have so many that to not have a dvd drive would cost me more in buying digital downloads and stuff.

I would check the benchmarks of that card against bf4 - i am not sure it would run bf4 to your liking but it probably would but why waste money on a gpu that wont do what you need also if you plan on playing new games in the next year you might run into some issues and have to play at medium settings or lower res. i would almost suggest spending the ssd money on the video card and then upgrading to an ssd later on.

Otherwise you could do a case for around 50$ that is good with room and cooling - take a look at ncix and see the different case designs and find one you like at a decent price.

Last you need to add in the price of win 7 or 8 which i see on sale usually at ncix around $89.99
Poor Grammar and being long winded don't fit well together, Oh well.
Jr. Member
Dec 25, 2013
177 posts
32 upvotes
Toronto
Thanks to all. I was thinking of just getting windows 7 for free :P

But yes I'll just wait for parts to go on sale and build on from there.
Deal Addict
User avatar
Nov 12, 2011
3039 posts
1529 upvotes
Markham
For your budget it might be better to go for mATX or mITX build, unless you need to max out all the graphic features (which you can't do for $500-600 anyway)
Deal Fanatic
Aug 25, 2005
5485 posts
2762 upvotes
AlexJosh wrote: For your budget it might be better to go for mATX or mITX build, unless you need to max out all the graphic features (which you can't do for $500-600 anyway)
how does that make any sense... mitx mobo and cases always costs more than an atx.
Deal Expert
Feb 29, 2008
30106 posts
5547 upvotes
Montreal
MrSuave7 wrote: Hey Guys,

This will be my first time building one (PC NEWB). My budget would be $500-$600 for a well budget gaming PC. There are too many parts to choose from and I just need your opinion about which part is compatible with which and is completely worth buying. I've done a few research and I've looked up parts using pcpartpicker but I just need a few more insights.

The games that I would most likely play would be: BF4, DayZ: SA, Arma 3, and other upcoming FPS games.

I also need your opinion on a 24" monitor that is "good enough" for gaming.

Thanks in advance guys!
that's a tough price to hit for a gaming rig, unless you go with built in graphics. I owuld just buy a pre-built 500$ pC and throw a gtx 750 in it.

http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Graphics-C ... Gaming-PCs
Deal Expert
Feb 29, 2008
30106 posts
5547 upvotes
Montreal
Best I can do.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 760K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor ($100.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-D3H Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($76.99 @ Canada Computers)
Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($79.99 @ NCIX)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($62.99 @ Canada Computers)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card ($174.99 @ Memory Express)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ NCIX)
Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts 650W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($86.50 @ Vuugo)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($16.79 @ DirectCanada)
Total: $669.22
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-17 12:20 EDT-0400)


Price of RAM is insane!
Deal Addict
User avatar
Jun 28, 2012
1191 posts
46 upvotes
NORTH YORK
A good GPU will run you $200. Your budget is pretty low for a gaming machine especially when including a monitor too. For your price range you're gonna end up with a bottleneck whether it be your MoBo, CPU, RAM, drive, GPU.
Deal Fanatic
User avatar
Sep 21, 2012
5065 posts
586 upvotes
Mississauga
http://products.ncix.com/detail/club-3d ... 9-1230.htm
http://products.ncix.com/detail/powerco ... 6-1230.htm

PowerColor has a pretty good cooler, whereas the Royal Queen has a higher stock clock

219.99 isn't a sale price, but it's pretty close to msrp


Two of theses should beat a R9 290

Just make sure your power supply has an extra 340W of spare power. I'd suggest a XFX or Corsair PSU, as they tend to output more power through the 12V rail than most psus. ie. My CX500 can deliver more power than my 750W Ultra psu
Favourite Games: NieR (PS3), Catherine (PS3), Persona 3 FES/Portable (PS2/PSP), Final Fantasy IX (PSX), Persona 4 Golden (PSV), Witcher 1,2,3 (PC), Skyward Sword (Wii), Pokemon Colosseum (GC), Fire Emblem Awakening (3DS), Shin Megami Tensei IV (3DS), Majora's Mask (3DS), Bravely Default (3DS)
Deal Expert
Feb 29, 2008
30106 posts
5547 upvotes
Montreal
LEXX911 wrote: Around $630 without the monitor: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/3bA2i
Excellent alternative to my build. The i3 is a faster processor which would help gaming. The motherboard is fairly low end though, but should suffice. You could drop 4 gigs of RAM from my build above and replace the 200r for the 300r. I have a 200r and it's quite good for the price. Not as spacious as a CM 690 though.

Top