Budget Build Recommendations

[Basilisk6]

Hello Everyone,

My home office computer finally died a few months ago (old Compaq bought at Best Buy in 2005), and I'm tired of using my work laptop all the time at home. I've been looking at possible builds for a while, and with the tax free weekend in GA this weekend (I have easy access to Microcenter and Fry's), I figured I'd take the plunge.

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.

- General use (word processing, web surfing)
- Streaming videos to PS3/Xbox 360
- Gaming - The games I'm most interested in are Bioshock: Infinite, Skyrim, and Fallout 3/New Vegas. There are others, but those probably are the most demanding games I'd want to play. I'm not especially interested in multiplayer FPS's, and playing games at their absolute highest settings is not that important.
- I have a 6 month old daughter, so we have an excessive number of photos and videos. There might be a little photo/video editing, but not a lot.


2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread

$700-800, though I'd rather keep it closer to $700 unless the increased price gives a great improvement in performance.


3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.

U.S.


4. IF you're buying parts OUTSIDE the US, please post a link to the vendor you'll be buying from.
We can't be expected to scour the internet on your behalf, chasing down deals in your specific country... Again, help us, help YOU.

N/A


5. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc.

No brand preferences.


6. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.

- 1 TB Hard Drive - I might want to add another data drive later, but this is good enough for now
- Asus 23" 1080p monitor
- Corsair 200R case/Lite-On DVD-R drive - I was originally planning on building this computer back in May, but I decided to wait for Haswell to come out in order to see what kind of price/performance improvements there were. Before deciding to wait, I purchased a Corsair 200R case and Lite-On DVDR drive (combo deal). I am including them in the budget of the build.


7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.

I've never overclocked before, and I might look into it eventually, but I'm not planning on doing it for now.


8. What resolution, not monitor size, will you be using?

1920x1080


9. WHEN do you plan to build it?
Note that it is usually not cost or time effective to choose your build more than a month before you actually plan to be using it.

I will be looking to buy the parts this weekend, and build it within the next week.


X. Do you need to purchase any software to go with the system, such as Windows or Blu Ray playback software?

I have a Windows 7 and Office 2007 license, so I do not need any software for now.


Here's the build I was thinking of, mostly based off mfenn's Midrange build (prices are all from Microcenter):

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/adtwiddy/saved/28f7

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core - $199.99
Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Pro3 ATX LGA1150 - $54.99 (after rebates and Microcenter $40 bundle savings)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB - $64.99 (after Microcenter bundle savings)
Storage: Samsung 840 120GB 2.5" SSD - $89.99 (after Microcenter bundle savings)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon HD 7850 2GB - $179.99
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower - $49.99 (already purchased)
Power Supply: Corsair 600W ATX12V - $57.99
Optical Drive: Lite-On 24x DVD/CD Writer - $0.00 (already purchased)

Total: $697.93

Any suggestions are welcome.

 

[mfenn]

What you've picked out looks pretty good to me to be honest. If you're willing to wait on rebates and order from Newegg, I'd probably make the following changes:

CX500M $50 AR
Sapphire 7870 $170 AR

 

[Basilisk6]

What you've picked out looks pretty good to me to be honest. If you're willing to wait on rebates and order from Newegg, I'd probably make the following changes:

CX500M $50 AR
Sapphire 7870 $170 AR

Is there a reason for that power supply over the CX600M, or is it just because it's less expensive and I have no need for 600 watts? It's such a small price difference overall that I think I'd rather get the power supply from Microcenter along with everything else, so I could go ahead and start the build, rather than waiting a week for the PSU. Also, the Microcenter site is showing that same PSU (CX500M) for $50 AR (newegg is actually showing $40).

So assuming I go with Microcenter, would you still recommend the 500 over the 600, in order to save $7? If I wanted to overclock in the future, or decided to upgrade the video card, do you think the CX500M would be adequate?

For the graphics card, I was actually considering leaving it out of the build for now (or at least ordering it from Newegg separately), since Microcenter's prices for graphics cards seem to be pretty terrible compared to Newegg, and I believe I can just use the onboard graphics to get the computer up and running, and add the graphics card later. If I did that, would you recommend the Sapphire 7870 for $170 over the MSI 660 for $175 from the midrange build thread?

 

[monkeydelmagico]

For the graphics card, I was actually considering leaving it out of the build for now (or at least ordering it from Newegg separately), since Microcenter's prices for graphics cards seem to be pretty terrible compared to Newegg, and I believe I can just use the onboard graphics to get the computer up and running, and add the graphics card later. If I did that, would you recommend the Sapphire 7870 for $170 over the MSI 660 for $175 from the midrange build thread?

Yeah, microcenter is a little on the high side for gpu. Decent 7850's for $140- shipped with free games. Also saw a 7850 over in the hot deals section for a cool $100.-

The cost spread to jump up to 7870 or 660 is not, imho, worth it.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

500 watts is enough for high end GPUs as well, but it will not be enough for crossfire or sli

 

[electronicmaji2]

$700 isn't a budget build
$300 is a budget build

 

[RayTheKing]

$700 isn't a budget build
$300 is a budget build

It depends on the person. I've met people that call $1000 a budget PC :L

 

[mfenn]

Is there a reason for that power supply over the CX600M, or is it just because it's less expensive and I have no need for 600 watts? It's such a small price difference overall that I think I'd rather get the power supply from Microcenter along with everything else, so I could go ahead and start the build, rather than waiting a week for the PSU. Also, the Microcenter site is showing that same PSU (CX500M) for $50 AR (newegg is actually showing $40).

So assuming I go with Microcenter, would you still recommend the 500 over the 600, in order to save $7? If I wanted to overclock in the future, or decided to upgrade the video card, do you think the CX500M would be adequate?

Dropping down to the CX500M was basically to get a more expensive GPU into the build without going over your budget. You can go with the CX600 if you don't mind going over. Either is more than enough power.

For the graphics card, I was actually considering leaving it out of the build for now (or at least ordering it from Newegg separately), since Microcenter's prices for graphics cards seem to be pretty terrible compared to Newegg, and I believe I can just use the onboard graphics to get the computer up and running, and add the graphics card later. If I did that, would you recommend the Sapphire 7870 for $170 over the MSI 660 for $175 from the midrange build thread?

I only do the midrange thread once per week on Sunday, so deals can and do change around during the week. I'd absolutely recommend the 7870 over the GTX 660 at current prices.