[PC] PC Gaming Builds and Gear

[jms493]

Awesome Mini ITX Build

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2WgVD
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2WgVD/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2WgVD/benchmarks/

• CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ Newegg)
• Motherboard: EVGA Z87 Stinger Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($196.97 @ Newegg)
• Memory: Kingston Blu Red Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($79.99 @ Best Buy)
• Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 500GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($299.00 @ Amazon)
• Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card ($359.99 @ Amazon)
• Case: EVGA Hadron Mini ITX Tower Case w/500W Power Supply ($139.99 @ Newegg)
• Total: $1295.93

Sample Picture of the case

 

[jms493]

Mid Range/Upgrade-able Build

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2WivS
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2WivS/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2WivS/benchmarks/

• CPU: Intel Core i5-4570 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.998 @ Microcenter) - Bundle
• Motherboard: MSI Z87-G43 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($55.99 @ Microcenter) - Bundle
• Memory: Kingston Blu Red Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($79.99 @ Amazon)
• Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($89.99 @ Newegg)
• Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card ($249.99 @ Microcenter)
• Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Microcenter)
• Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($32.98 @ Newegg)
• Total: $748.00

Sample Case Picture

UPDATED - Better Price - 2/21/2014

 

[jms493]

The Budget Build

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2WiMu
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2WiMu/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2WiMu/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i3-3220 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor ($114.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI B75A-G43 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($78.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($47.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($51.98 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card ($154.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($19.99 @ Microcenter)
Total: $518.91

sample picture

 

[jms493]

My first Attempt for an AMD Build.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2WKdx
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2WKdx/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2WKdx/benchmarks/

• CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor ($199.97 @ OutletPC)
• Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($124.99 @ Newegg)
• Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($84.99 @ Amazon)
• Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($66.98 @ Newegg)
• Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 270X 2GB Video Card ($248.98 @ SuperBiiz)
• Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Microcenter)
• Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($32.98 @ Newegg)
• Total: $803.88

The AMD 270x video card falls behind the GTX 760. If you splurge for the 280x that will cost you another $100+ but you will surpass the 760 in performance.

 

[jms493]

Titan Black Baller Build - Single GPU and reasonable CPU. Designed for High Res gaming and overclocking.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2WKU5
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2WKU5/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2WKU5/benchmarks/

• CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($279.99 @ TigerDirect)
• CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($97.16 @ Amazon)
• Motherboard: Gigabyte G1.SNIPER 5 EATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($339.99 @ SuperBiiz)
• Memory: G.Skill Trident X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($189.99 @ Newegg)
• Storage: Samsung EVO 1TB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($499.00 @ Amazon)
• Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX Titan Black 6GB Video Card ($999.99 @ Amazon)
• Case: Fractal Design ARC XL ATX Mid Tower Case ($141.97 @ TigerDirect)
• Power Supply: Corsair 860W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($208.98 @ Newegg)
• Total: $2757.07

 

[jms493]

Super Budget Build without sacrificing Grafx. I could not get the price down any further.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2WLcD
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2WLcD/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2WLcD/benchmarks/

• CPU: Intel Core i3-3250 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($92.25 @ TigerDirect)
• Motherboard: MSI B75A-G43 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($78.98 @ SuperBiiz)
• Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.99 @ Microcenter)
• Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($50.98 @ Amazon)
• Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card ($149.99 @ Amazon)
• Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Microcenter)
• Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($19.99 @ Microcenter)
• Total: $462.17

 

[jms493]

Nvidia is Ready to Rumble with GeForce GTX Titan Black Graphics Card

Nvidia GeForce GTX Titan BlackNew graphics card from Nvidia wields a full GK110 GPU
What do you get if you take a GeForce GTX 780 Ti graphics card and give it a shot of adrenaline? You end up with Nvidia's GeForce GTX Titan Black, a new graphics card with full CUDA support and double precision floating-point compute performance. In other words, it comes out swinging with a fully equipped 28nm GK110 GPU without any arbitrary restrictions. Intrigued? Let's have a look at some other specs.

The GeForce GTX Titan Black is a beast with 2,880 single precision CUDA cores, 960 double-precision CUDA cores, 240 texture units, and 48 ROP units. It has a base clockspeed of 889MHz and a boost clockspeed of 980MHz, along with 6GB of GDDR5 memory clocked at 7,000MHz (effective) on a 384-bit bus. This gives the Titan Black 336GB/s of total memory bandwidth and a texture filtering rate of 213.4GT/s.

Though the card is called Titan Black, it doesn't feature an all-black heatspreader as previously rumored. Instead, it looks similar to the standard Titan except that the alumimum fins and some accents around the fan have been painted black, as well as the Titan lettering. Here's a look at it with the heatsink shroud removed:

Look for the GeForce GTX Titan Black to sell for around $999, a familiar price for a flagship GPU.

 

[jms493]

GTX 760 SLI Machine, SSD and 1 TB, Overclockable

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2XlQq
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2XlQq/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2XlQq/benchmarks/

• CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ Newegg)
• CPU Cooler: Corsair H80i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($84.99 @ Amazon)
• Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VI GENE Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($203.79 @ Newegg)
• Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($86.99 @ Amazon)
• Storage: Corsair Force Series GT 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($119.99 @ Newegg)
• Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ OutletPC)
• Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($249.99 @ Microcenter)
• Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($249.99 @ Microcenter)
• Case: Fractal Design Arc Midi R2 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($99.99 @ Microcenter)
• Power Supply: Corsair Professional 750W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($109.99 @ Newegg)
• Total: $1485.69

A PC like this will take a game like Tomb Raider @1080p on Ultra setting and hit 100+ FPS. Battlefield 4 will hit 90+ FPS as well. It is said to be more powerful than a GTX Titan in most cases. Some issues to consider is that some new games don't have SLI Profiles but Nvidia is very good at putting out drivers on a timely basis. Heat produced by 2 cards can sometimes heat up a whole room. Power consumption will be more as well. Make sure you PSU is rated for it.

 

[jms493]

AMD APU/GPU Graphics - Cheapest Build yet but you can add a Grafx card whenever

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2Xpvt
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2Xpvt/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2Xpvt/benchmarks/

• CPU: AMD A10-7850K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($184.99 @ Newegg)
• Motherboard: MSI A88X-G43 ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($82.99 @ Amazon)
• Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($69.99 @ Newegg)
• Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.99 @ Newegg)
• Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Microcenter)
• Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($19.99 @ Microcenter)
• Total: $442.94

If you want to over clock then you would need to add an aftermarket cooler. This will play most games at 1080p on medium settings. You could drop down to 720p for higher settings. True entry level PC without an external grafx card. I would add a cooler and overclock to increase performance.

 

[KINGOFOOTBALL]

Very nice. Interesting site.
I'm in between wanting an upgrade or getting a NAS server. Have to think hard on my needs though.

 

[jms493]

Great Price for a super fast unlocked CPU. Lastest by Intel.

i5-4670K
$179
http://www.microcenter.com/product/413251/Core_i5_4670K_34GHz_Socket_LGA_1150_Boxed_Processor

This is currently $220 at newegg. Only bad thing is it is pickup only so you need to be near a MC.

 

[Garrett67]

Are you building the AMD one you noted above (First AMD build)? Or did I read that wrong?

I'm assuming that is your room.

 

[jms493]

Are you building the AMD one you noted above (First AMD build)? Or did I read that wrong?

I'm assuming that is your room.

I am not building anything...I just putting builds together for fun for people to see. Those photos are from google images.

 

[Garrett67]

Oh

 

[jms493]

Beast of a Card for $399. 4GB of GDDR5 RAM!

GTX 770 - PNY

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...witter-_-HotDeals-_-NA-_-NA&nm_mc=SNC-Twitter

 

[Swarley]

So here's what I'm thinking right now:

I want a rig that I can stream my console games from right away. Trying to keep the budget fairly low, but don't want to sacrifice everything. Then at some point this year I can upgrade it with a good graphics card so I can start really gaming on it.

What can you do for me, jms? Would the last build you posted work for this?

 

[jms493]

So here's what I'm thinking right now:

I want a rig that I can stream my console games from right away. Trying to keep the budget fairly low, but don't want to sacrifice everything. Then at some point this year I can upgrade it with a good graphics card so I can start really gaming on it.

What can you do for me, jms? Would the last build you posted work for this?

Tell me the max you want to spend right now and I can hit that number. I would suggest Intel over AMD. I would probably build you something without a grafx card for about $500. Then you can add a graphics card when you have the rest of the money saved up.

The thing is AMD integrated GPUs are better than Intel but Intel generally runs cooler and require less power. Once you get a grafx card the intergrated GPU is useless.

• Do you want a case with a window or without?
• Black Case?
• Will you ever consider overclocking?
• 1 TB enough?
• No SSD I presume??
• Do you have a copy of Windows 7?
• Do you have a wired XBOX 360 controller
• Wireless Keyboard and Mouse?
• You plan to plug into receiver or tv?
• Are you placing this right next to TV or somewhere else?

 

[JBregz]

So here's what I'm thinking right now:

I want a rig that I can stream my console games from right away. Trying to keep the budget fairly low, but don't want to sacrifice everything. Then at some point this year I can upgrade it with a good graphics card so I can start really gaming on it.

What can you do for me, jms? Would the last build you posted work for this?

Here's what I am thinking, built a similar build for a friend a couple weeks ago.

AMD FX 8320 8 core processor 3.5 GHz (4.0 overclocked) http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113285 $149
MSI 970A Motherboard http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130637 $89
Corsair CXM 600W power suppply http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139048 $89
G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8 GB (2x4gb) DDR3 RAM 1600Mhz http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428 $89
EVGA SuperClocked GeForce GTX 760 2GB GDDR5 http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130932 $289
Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Mid Tower Gaming Case http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147153 $54

Sub Total: ~$760

Then in a couple months time you could pick up a second 760 GTX video card and run dual. If you are willing to spend a little more coin initially, I would invest a bit more into the motherboard. But the CPU and Memory is solid. The case is really just preference but I threw that in there as well so you know a ballpark range of what to spend.

Also know that you will still need a keyboard/mouse and monitor if you do not already have them, and add that into your costs accordingly. Because once you get a beauty of a PC you will want to get a gaming keyboard and mouse to complete it all which is an easy $100+ dollars lol

 

[Swarley]

Tell me the max you want to spend right now and I can hit that number.

• Do you want a case with a window or without?
• Black Case?
• Will you ever consider overclocking?
• 1 TB enough?
• No SSD I presume??
• Do you have a copy of Windows 7?
• Do you have a wired XBOX 360 controller
• Wireless Keyboard and Mouse?
• You plan to plug into receiver or tv?
• Are you placing this right next to TV or somewhere else?

Between $400 and $500 would be great for the initial build.

- Window would be nice, but not necessary at all
- Black case
- No overclocking
- 1 TB is perfectly fine
- No SSD
- Do not have Windows, but I know someone who could probably get me a copy
- Keyboard/mouse/controller pretty much taken care of already
- Plug into TV
- Next to TV

 

[JBregz]

Tell me the max you want to spend right now and I can hit that number. I would suggest Intel over AMD. I would probably build you something without a grafx card for about $500. Then you can add a graphics card when you have the rest of the money saved up.

The thing is AMD integrated GPUs are better than Intel but Intel generally runs cooler and require less power. Once you get a grafx card the intergrated GPU is useless.

• Do you want a case with a window or without?
• Black Case?
• Will you ever consider overclocking?
• 1 TB enough?
• No SSD I presume??
• Do you have a copy of Windows 7?
• Do you have a wired XBOX 360 controller
• Wireless Keyboard and Mouse?
• You plan to plug into receiver or tv?
• Are you placing this right next to TV or somewhere else?

While I agree Intel is a bit better than AMD, AMD is alot better in terms of bang for your buck and if he is using it for gaming then AMD is the way to go as the bench marks between intel and AMD are identical, the difference where intel gets the slight edge is doing multi program processing. Such as if you are doing video and music editing where you have Photoshop, premiere or like an after effects opened up. If you get a proper case with good airflow and adjustable fans like most do today, your PC should run cool. I have an AMD build myself along with my brother, and 3 friends and they have had no problems playing BF4 on high settings.