Build Critique: Budget Gaming PC $600-700

I

IceWeasel

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Aug 15, 2004
Messages
1,102
Hey all! It's been about 5-6 years since I last built a PC (s939 was my last time if that says anything)... Needless to say, things have changed a lot since then, and I'm starting to poke my head around at the new technology. I know we've already quite a few threads about builds, so I tried to do as much of the legwork as possible, but I still want the advice of the experts! So let's get started.

Here are the initial questions & responses:

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1) What will you be doing with this PC?
Gaming (WoW, CS 1.6, TF2) will be the primary use for this machine.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$600-700 including all taxes & shipping

3) Where do you live?
Morrisville, NC (Next to Raleigh)

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget?
I need everything. The last PC I built was a s939 rig about 4-5 years ago!
Actually, I do have a copy of x64 Windows XP, so I think I’ll probably use that to save $$$ to use on hardware.

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing?
Not applicable in my situation!

6) Will you be overclocking?
Heck yea, if it will save me $$$! I’m not afraid to OC for some savings

7) What size monitor do you have or plan to have?
Aiming for dual 22” or a single 24” for now. Would like to have a LVM-37w3se. Let's not include these in the budget for my build for now.

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
No particular timeframe… I’m not adverse to ordering parts as they go on sale.

9) What features do you need in a motherboard?
I’m so out of the loop hardware-wise that I don’t even know! Preferably the most feature-rich mobo I can get for the $$$. I’m not expecting to run dual-GPUs or anything like that.

OS Options:

I own x64 WinXP.
Vista Ultimate Student Upgrade 64bit from Microsoft - $65 w/o cd, $80 w/ cd
Click to expand...

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Followed by the list of parts that I've thrown together:

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MOBO - GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail - $115 ($99 AR)
CPU - Intel Pentium E5200 Wolfdale 2.5GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80571E5200 - Retail - $82.99
RAM - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ - Retail - $39.99
GPU - MSI N260GTX-T2D896 OC GeForce GTX 260 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail - $199.99
CASE - Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail - $59.95 (I could go with the CM 590 for the same price, not sure which is a better case)
HSF - ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail - $26.99
PSU - Antec earthwatts EA430 430W ATX12V v2.0 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail - $69.99
HDD - Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM -$64.99
DVD - LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black IDE Model DH-20A4P-04 - OEM - $19.99

Subtotal: $679.87 - $15 MIR = $664.87
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As you can see, I tried not to skimp anywhere too important. I especially loaded up on a nice MOBO and GPU. Please let me know if the PSU is too underpowered, or if there are other areas where I could cut some corners... If I add monitors into this price, I'm looking at closer to $1k, which really isn't a budget machine!

Mainly what I want this to be able to do is play TF2 reasonably well, and be able to run 3 simultaneous instances of WoW on a single or dual monitor setup. Is the 260 GPU overkill for these requirements? Perhaps I could look at possible downgrades to that.
 
I would change out the cooler to the Xigmatek HDT-S1283 w/ retention bracket since the UD3R isn't compatible with the Sunbeam Core Contact Freezer

I would also change the HDD to the WD6400AAKS or WD6401AALS fastest HDD's under the Velociraptors

Another suggestion with the PSU - Silverstone ST60F or Cooler Master eXtreme Power series, Corsair CX 400, or PC Power & Cooling 500w

How far do you want to overclock?
Yeah the GTX 260 is pretty darn overkill, my friend gets by with a 8800GT and it just flies on his comp (E7300 stock 2GB RAM) with the games you mentioned
 
If you don't need RAID, you could save some money by going with a cheaper motherboard. The GA-EP43-DS3L would work just as well for your needs as the GA-EP45-UD3R.

The Freezer 7 Pro is good enough for overclocking the E5200. But if you need to cut costs somewhere, omit the aftermarket CPU cooler. Most of today's games are largely GPU-driven, so you would benefit more from keeping the GTX 260 than you would by trying to overclock the E5200 to beyond 3GHz. (Personally, I'd recommend either the E7200/E7300 and the E8400 if overclocking's your primary goal.)

For around the same price as the Earthwatts EA430, you could also get the BFG LS-550.

Cases are a matter of personal taste, so go with whichever one you like more. If it helps you any, the Cooler Master RC-590 (aka the Centurion 590) comes with free shipping (which normally costs around $15-$25, depending on the case) and can support up to seven 120mm case fans.

Stick with the GTX 260 -- especially if you're planning on using both monitors while gaming. If you could afford to, spend a little bit extra to get the model with 216 stream processors (or the HD4870 with 1GB of GDDR5 memory).

Regardless, you should spend the few dollars extra that it takes to buy the Western Digital Caviar Blue 640GB HDD. (Here's the NewEgg link.) You'll end up with a hard drive that has more storage capacity and Raptor-like performance.
 
Build #2
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MOBO - GIGABYTE GA-EP43-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail - $79.99
CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo E7300 Wolfdale 2.66GHz LGA 775 Dual-Core Processor Model BX80571E7300 - Retail - $119.99
RAM - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ - Retail - $39.99
GPU - MSI N260GTX-T2D896 OC GeForce GTX 260 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail - $199.99
CASE - COOLER MASTER Centurion 590 RC-590-KKN1-GP Black SECC / ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail - $49.99
PSU - BFG LS-550l - $66.49
HDD - Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM - $74.99
DVD - LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black IDE Model DH-20A4P-04 - OEM - $19.99

Subtotal: $651.42 - $20 MIR = $631.42
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I cut about $30 off my pre-MIR subtotal and changed the following:
  1. Mobo - GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3R to GIGABYTE GA-EP43-DS3L (downgrade)
  2. Cpu - E5200 to E7300 (upgrade)
  3. HDD - Seagate to WD6400AAKS (upgrade)
  4. PSU - Antec 380w to BFG 550W (upgrade)
  5. Case - Antec 300 to CM Centurion 590 (upgrade?)
  6. HSF - Aftermarket to stock (downgrade)

I left the GPU as it was, because I'm not sure it's worth $50-60 to upgrade it. I haven't gamed in a long time, and I'm not looking to play Crysis or anything. Would it be a good use of $$$ to upgrade to a 260 with 216 streams or a 4870 1GB version? Going up to a 4870 1GB was about $40 ($20 AR), while the 260 with 216 streams was about $60 ($40 AR).

Also, is it really ok to use the stock HSF these days to OC? I'm just wondering what the best price for performance is. What do you think of E5200 vs E7300? Is it worth the $30 upgrade to move to the 7300?
 
If you're a serious gamer, getting one of the newer model video cards should be worth the money. But that doesn't mean that you couldn't look around for a better deal.

For now, ignore the after-rebate price. (Though you did a great job cutting corners, for the most part.)

The LS-550 that I recommended earlier is more powerful than the PC P&C 500W that you chose. It also comes with free shipping, which saves you at least $10 more.

Nowadays, you need a good CPU cooler for overclocking -- a stock HSF can no longer get the job done. If you can afford it, keep the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro. If you're really serious about overclocking, though, go with the Xigmatek HDT-S1283 (and its ACK-I7751 retention bracket).
 
ok, i changed up the PSU to the BFG in the last post, but i'm still on the fence about upgrading the GPU. i may go ahead and upgrade the GPU but not add in an aftermarket HSF for now... not sure what to do yet. i really want to stay away from the $700 mark before monitors!

i feel like i may be getting into a little bit of overkill with the CPU/GPU combo. the most graphic intensive game i'll be playing will either be Diablo 3 or TF2. i'm pretty sure that this system will more than handle both of those. not real sure what to do, right now i have about $670, and I can probably increase that after the holidays are over.

another option is that my birthday is around the corner in February, so i could put this build off even longer until then. (but that is pretty far away!!!)
 
Stick with the GTX260. Any card worth upgrading over the $200 GTX260 will definitely be out of your budget.
 
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