Budget gaming pc upgrade. Can I do better?

[SlitheryDee]

I'm looking to get my little bro some parts for his computer.

He's already got the case, HDD, optical drive, graphics card, and peripherals, so I'm looking at some motherboards, processors, and memory.

The case he has is this one -
SilverStone Sugo SG02B-F ABS/SECC Steel MicroATX Desktop Computer Case - Retail (Black)

That limits me to microATX motherboards.

He's coming from an old AMD budget prebuilt computer from 2010 that I helped him transfer into that case , so I think anything I get that is fairly recent will end up being a big upgrade. The graphics card he has is this AMD Radeon HD 7790. He plays games like Starcraft 2 and Saints Row 4 and other processing and graphics intensive games, so the system needs to have enough grunt to do that satisfactorily. Overclocking isn't on the table because I don't want to do anything that could cause system instabilities that I would then be called to deal with.


I'm trying to get him as futureproof as I can with a budget of $300-$350 and here's what I've come up with:

Processor: Intel Core i5-4430 Quad-Core Desktop Processor 3.0 GHz 6 MB Cache LGA 1150 - BX80646I54430 $184.99

Motherboard: ECS H87H3-M(1.0) LGA 1150 Intel H87 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard $78.99

Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL
$82.99

That comes to $346.97.

I feel like I could go cheaper on the RAM, but I've come to trust G.SKILL and that particular item seems highly reviewed. I also wanted to get him at least 8GB of memory and that one will do that and leave him two additional slots for future memory upgrades. I'm open to suggestions though. Also, any other pertinent observations about the component combinations that I might missed would be greatly appreciated. TIA.

 

[monstercameron]

just a thought http://pcpartpicker.com/p/m7t9 ~$50 less and is great for streaming and video encoding like fraps

 

[SlitheryDee]

just a thought http://pcpartpicker.com/p/m7t9 ~$50 less and is great for streaming and video encoding like fraps

Couple things about that suggestion:

I need the motherboard to be miniATX to fit in his case. I assume there are plenty of socket AM3+ motherboards out there in the miniATX form factor, so that isn't a big deal.

I did a lot of comparing between AMD and intel processors and I feel that the i5 haswell is strongest in the specific things he will be doing with his PC, namely gaming. I don't expect him to do any encoding or streaming that the intel processor can't handle sufficiently. I also chose this processor because I feel the 1150 socket has more life ahead of it than socket AM3+, which will give him more future upgrade options.

Any suggestions on cheaper memory that would work as reliably as the G.SKILL memory I chose?

 

[monkeydelmagico]

Crucial DDR3 1600 8GB $64

 

[Super56K]

If the extras in H87 aren't necessities you could save some money going with the MSI H81M-P33 motherboard - which as of this post is $28 after rebate/promo code from Newegg. I ordered it just this week paired with an i5-4430, but I knew going in I had no need for SLI, 4 memory slots, the extra SATA 6GB/s connectors, or additional USB 3.0 ports.

 

[RayTheKing]

Couple things about that suggestion:

I need the motherboard to be miniATX to fit in his case. I assume there are plenty of socket AM3+ motherboards out there in the miniATX form factor, so that isn't a big deal.

I did a lot of comparing between AMD and intel processors and I feel that the i5 haswell is strongest in the specific things he will be doing with his PC, namely gaming. I don't expect him to do any encoding or streaming that the intel processor can't handle sufficiently. I also chose this processor because I feel the 1150 socket has more life ahead of it than socket AM3+, which will give him more future upgrade options.

Any suggestions on cheaper memory that would work as reliably as the G.SKILL memory I chose?

Crucial Ballistix Tactical 1x8GB for $55.25. It's only one stick so no dual channel, but it's CL8 and 1.35v.

BTW: Good sales this week: i5 4430 (3.0 GHz-3.2 GHz TB) is $175, i5 3470 (3.2 GHz-3.6 GHz TB) is $180, and i5 4670 (3.4 GHz-3.8 GHz TB) is $210. I'd get the i5 3470 for +400 MHz. Also, if that GPU isn't old, sell it for around $110-100 since the HD 7870 MYST is $140 again!

 

[SlitheryDee]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I'm looking into all this now.

 

[Termie]

I would strongly recommend a 4570 over a 4430. The very low turbo on the 4430 really hampers it more than the base clock would suggest. The extra $10-20 is worth it, and you might be able to save that much going with a B85 or H81 motherboard.

 

[Aithos]

I would also suggest bumping to a slightly better Intel CPU. If you hit a good sale you can get the i5-4670 (non-K) for $200 and that CPU is as good as the flagship Haswell (4770) for gaming. I'm not very familiar with micro-atx MBs since I only use full tower cases personally, so I don't have any recommendation there but I'm a big fan of Asus and I've been hearing a lot of good things about ASRock but I don't know what they offer in that size.

The memory looks fine, it's always good to go with a brand you trust. I prefer Corsair myself but GSkill is a top brand also.

 

[mfenn]

Crucial DDR3 1600 8GB $64

Looks like that has gone up to $67. That's still a decent price, but my opinion is that RAM is RAM, so I'd pick up this Team DDR3 1600 9-9-9-24 1.5V kit for $62.