I want to get a semi-gaming pc

[Lakshun]

Hi!
I want to get a new pc which I will use for gaming among other things.
I am not a real pc gamer, so I don't need need a real gaming pc, just one that is decent and can play games at decent settings.

I was thinking about a pc that comes with a AMD® A8-5600K (4x 3,6 GHz) CPU, is the ok (if I get a decent graphics card) or is that too weak?

I was planning on spending 150 euro € / 200$ or less on the graphics card and found these:

• Radeon Sapphire 7850 HD
• GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost (1024MB or 2048MB version?)

Are these ok (also to compensate for the possibly weak cpu?) and which of these would you recommend?
If it depends on the games, for the moment I can only think of Starcraft 2 Heart of the Swarm (and Legacy of the Void once it comes out) and Phantasy Star Online 2 which I want to play.
Also, some GCN / PS2 emulation, I hear that requires a good gpu.

Also, is 8gb ram enough or should I rather get 16?

 

[DownTheSky]

Get Radeon 7850 2048MB version.
Try to get another CPU like AMD 8320 or intel i5.
8Gb ram is enough.

 

[laputan machine]

Starcraft 2 doesn't play that well on AMD cpus (when there's a ton of units in play mind you), the same with emulation. It sounds to me like you'd be better off by increasing your budget a little and getting an Intel i3 or an i5.

 

[DigDog]

i played starcraft 2 on a E6600 @3.0 Ghz, the A8 will be just fine.
Also, +1 to the 7850. you can't get a better card for the money.

 

[Yuriman]

Part of the A8's value comes from having a "strong" integrated GPU, which it sounds like you don't plan to use. A Haswell i3 may be a better choice.

If you overclock, that opens up some other choices.

 

[DigDog]

i3's do have more oomph, but they cost exactly what they provide - there's no way to get a cheaper deal, unless you go with the unlocked CPUs.

Also, A8 should happily OC to 4.4 .. just a little more, but hey. (my mate has one, it OCd with 1.4v on stock cooler. just FYI)

 

[Lakshun]

So, is a Intel® Core™ i3-3220 (2 x 3,3 GHz) a better idea?
My choices are kinda limited since I will get a barebones pc from a reliable vendor and add some stuff because I already got a pc recently from a vendor I didn't know and it was total crap, freezing up all the time.

And the graphics card should be the Radeon Sapphire 7850?

 

[FalseChristian]

An AMD FX 8350 is very inexpensive and is 8-core and overlclocks at around 15-20% (not as good as Sandy Bridge CPUs) which isn't bad. A 2GB 7850 would do you very well. Does your mobo support XFire? If so, grab 2 of them and you're laughing.

 

[nwo]

8GB of RAM is plenty for gaming and multi tasking, you do not need 16GB.

Do you plan on overclocking the CPU?

My vote goes for Intel CPU and 7850, but you haven't mentioned any prices or CPU options.

 

[Yuriman]

So, is a Intel® Core™ i3-3220 (2 x 3,3 GHz) a better idea?
My choices are kinda limited since I will get a barebones pc from a reliable vendor and add some stuff because I already got a pc recently from a vendor I didn't know and it was total crap, freezing up all the time.

And the graphics card should be the Radeon Sapphire 7850?

The 3220 is one generation outdated, look for a 4xxx series Intel CPU - that's 4th gen (Pentiums and Celerons are an exception to this). If overclocking, the FX-6300 and 8320 start to look more attractive.

You might be best off taking this to the General Hardware section and asking for complete build suggestions. An entirely custom build differs from a barebones only in that you have to screw a motherboard and power supply to the case - about 12 screws - and you have complete freedom to pick quality parts.

 

[Gikaseixas]

Dual core - Core i3-4340 Haswell 3.6GHz
or
Quad core - Core i5-4430 Haswell 3.0GHz
and
AMD Radeon R9 270X

 

[FalseChristian]

The 3220 is one generation outdated, look for a 4xxx series Intel CPU - that's 4th gen (Pentiums and Celerons are an exception to this). If overclocking, the FX-6300 and 8320 start to look more attractive.

You might be best off taking this to the General Hardware section and asking for complete build suggestions. An entirely custom build differs from a barebones only in that you have to screw a motherboard and power supply to the case - about 12 screws - and you have complete freedom to pick quality parts.

This is what I said!

 

[nwo]

Dual core - Core i3-4340 Haswell 3.6GHz
or
Quad core - Core i5-4430 Haswell 3.0GHz
and
AMD Radeon R9 270X

definitely go with the quad core

 

[Lakshun]

How about this

• AMD® FX6300 (6x 3,5 GHz)
• NVIDIA® GeForce™ GTX650 2GB

OR

• AMD A10-5800K (4x 3,8 GHz)
• AMD Radeon HD7850

OR

• Intel Core i5-4570 (4x 3,2 GHz)
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX660 2GB

In a pre-configured pc?

 

[oddlyinsane]

Depends on how much it costs tbh

 

[Lakshun]

Option 1 is 600€ / 816 $
Option 2 and 3 are 700€ / 952€

Problem is that my only alternative is picking a cheap barebones and replacing both cpu and graphics card. Would still cost 550€ / 750$ at least.
Right now I am looking for one and checking if its mainboard can accomodate the cpu and graphics card.

Say, does a i3-4340(socket 1150) fit into mainboards only supporting socket 115? Or is it too different already?

 

[DigDog]

my advice (often ignored) is to build on a progressive budget.

buy a cheap mobo and cpu .. *really* cheap.
buy a good PSU, and a great graphics card.

add 1x4gb of ram.

play those games which are GPU-only, and save everything for later upgrades.

then when you have the money, buy a mobo/cpu, then a ssd + more ram.

sell/throw away the stuff you don't need.

 

[NTMBK]

Your best option? Buy a prebuilt machine, then add a GPU. My parents picked up a desktop with Windows 7, 4GB RAM and an i5-2400 at a seriously knock down price last year. It would only take the addition of a GPU like a HD7790 to turn it into a pretty respectable gaming machine. It might not be glamorous, but it can work out a lot cheaper. These big name OEMs can negotiate much lower prices than anything us individual machine builders could manage- especially when you take operating system cost into account.

 

[Yuriman]

Of those listed, option 3 is clearly the best, but what are the other parts included in the barebones?

A GTX650 is basically entry-level these days and will probably not provide a great experience in AAA titles.

 

[Attic]

Build yourself.

i3 4330 + 270x. Will provide great gaming. The gpu will be your limiter so put money there, the 270x will be noticeable improvement over stock 7850, though the 7850 2gb is great if you can find it for ~120bux.

Build around that. Get a quality, corsair, 500w PSU.

 

[Johnny4]

It's hard to find a good gaming pc for this low amount of money I have had the same problem but recently found on amazon gaming rigs by vibox which are inexpensive and have pretty impressive specs
Hopes this helps

 

[frozentundra123456]

Your best option? Buy a prebuilt machine, then add a GPU. My parents picked up a desktop with Windows 7, 4GB RAM and an i5-2400 at a seriously knock down price last year. It would only take the addition of a GPU like a HD7790 to turn it into a pretty respectable gaming machine. It might not be glamorous, but it can work out a lot cheaper. These big name OEMs can negotiate much lower prices than anything us individual machine builders could manage- especially when you take operating system cost into account.

This can be an attractive option, and is in fact what I did for my own PC. Just one caveat though is that for most OEM systems, any graphics card above a HD7750 will probably require a PSU upgrade as well, since most OEM systems have a weak power supply without a 6 pin power connector.

Personally, I picked up a Dell XPS on close out, which has a decent power supply, and added a HD7770. I am quite happy with this system. The 7790 was not out yet when I got it though, or I would have gotten that gpu instead of the 7770.