Noob Gaming on a Budget: Build or Buy

Kiramay

Beta member
Messages
3
Location
USA
Hey guys. I have spent some time trying to research different desktop computers and computer parts to try and figure out what I can get on a budget. I am quite frankly overwhelmed, there are just so many options and I have no idea where to begin. I am wary to build because I have no experience with that.

Right now I have a laptop but it really is not cutting it. It chokes up a lot playing Minecraft, Half Life, and a few other Steam games. I tried Skyrim on it once and it was having none of that. So I think it is time to get a desktop now that I am moving to a more permanent location. The Digital Storm Vanquish II was suggested to me. I have a friend who owns a Cyberpower and suggested that as well.

I am trying to stay close to the $700 range.
I would prefer to stick with Windows 7, but that is really only because I have no experience with Windows 8. I do not enjoy the idea of that tablet-like layout.
Other than that I am not sure where to go from there. Right now I am running the intel core i7 and have been enjoying that since upgrading from the awful intel celeron! However, I realize the i7 is pretty hefty in price and other options may be better.

Any suggestions, guys?
 
Do you need peripherals and a screen as well? If so, that 700 dollar budget just got dropped a metric **** ton. 700 bucks gives you a pretty decent PC if you build yourself.

As to WIndows 7 vs 8, if all you don't like is Metro UI there are several programs that will practically make it disappear. Windows 8.1 Update 2 brings the natural start menu back. Something to think about before laying down 100 for a license.
 
Do you need peripherals and a screen as well? If so, that 700 dollar budget just got dropped a metric **** ton. 700 bucks gives you a pretty decent PC if you build yourself.

As to WIndows 7 vs 8, if all you don't like is Metro UI there are several programs that will practically make it disappear. Windows 8.1 Update 2 brings the natural start menu back. Something to think about before laying down 100 for a license.

Good point, good point.. I have just heard only bad things about 8 and it interfering with program downloads, etc etc

$700 is just the tower. Monitor has a separate fund! I know it won't get me a whole heck of a lot, but I'm just trying to see how I can best optimize for that budget with my limited/nonexistant skillset.

I've never built a PC, so I really am not sure how that goes. I've broken open a few desktops enough to be weary of trying to connect parts together and not explode something..
 
Not to sound rude, but sounds like horse ****. I'm not exactly a huge lover of 8 and I've had my fair issues but basically only a few things are quirky. The only major issues I've had seem to be rather few and far but there have been cases even on the board that mimic my own. That aside, my only major complaint about 8 is this pastel UI looking ****. I was a classic theme lover.

Back to business, 700 dollars is actually enough to build a fairly nice rig and something good to start out with. No it isn't enough to warrant an i7, but lucky for you games don't utilize HT so it isn't necessary anyways.

Building a PC is fairly simple. Everything has it's own slot and it's pretty difficult to muck up. There are also a ton of video guides that walk you through the process. I would lookup Newegg build guides on Youtube as a good example.

CPU:
Newegg.com - Intel Core i3-4130 Haswell 3.4GHz LGA 1150 54W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4400 BX80646I34130

Motherboard:
Newegg.com - ASUS H81M-K LGA 1150 Intel H81 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

RAM:
PNY XLR8 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model MD8192KD3-1600-X9 - Newegg.com

GPU:
Newegg.com - ASUS GTX750TI-OC-2GD5 GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB 128-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 HDCP Ready Video Card

PSU:
SeaSonic S12II 520 Bronze 520W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS 12V V2.91 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Newegg.com

Case:
Corsair Carbide Series 200R Black Steel structure with molded ABS plastic accent pieces ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Newegg.com

HDD:
Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive - Newegg.com

OS:
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - Newegg.com

Optical:
ASUS Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS 24X DVD Burner - Bulk Black - Newegg.com

$699

This is a good solid start that is rather upgradeable in the future. You can go with an i5 4670k later on, and the PSU is good for up to a GTX 770 or R9 280x. I went with Windows 7 because that's what you want, but you're more than welcome to change it to 8 if you change your mind.

Before you ask, yes the i3 is more than capable of gaming. If anything the 750ti is a bit lacking in terms of raw performance but from the sounds of things this PC will blow what you currently have away.
 
For $700 you can build a pretty decent tower, As for the I7 the only big difference from the I5 is the hyper threading and games don't use it so I5 is the way to go, PP will put together a decent build. For putting it together it's not hard at all, I'm on my phone now but when I get home I'll post a ling on the basics of building as PC. You'll be surprised how easy it really is.

Dauntae
LOL guess we were post posting, I knew you'd be putting together a solid system.
 
Last edited:
I'll look into all of those things, try and educate myself more. I have never owned anything of ASUS brand, but I have heard really good things about them from friends.
Are there other suggested processor options near to that price? I heard some mixed input on brands from a couple friends, but I have only ever had Intel.
It was suggested to me to try and get the 8 gigs of memory in one stick instead, for room to expand apparently. Is that really needed, does it matter?
 
I'll look into all of those things, try and educate myself more. I have never owned anything of ASUS brand, but I have heard really good things about them from friends.
Are there other suggested processor options near to that price? I heard some mixed input on brands from a couple friends, but I have only ever had Intel.
It was suggested to me to try and get the 8 gigs of memory in one stick instead, for room to expand apparently. Is that really needed, does it matter?

-----------------------------------------
My board is an Asus, and I'm really happy with it.

What's the ballpark in pricing for your CPU?

8Gigs of RAM is a tad overkill unless you want to get top-notch graphics out of your games. My rig has 6, and I get really good framerates at mid-high settings. If you really want 8, One stick vs two sticks is kind of personal preference, although I hear that the two-stick approach allows you to take advantage of dual-channeling, which can speed your system up by increasing the amount of information that your computer can access in the same number of clock cycles.
 
Last edited:
I'll look into all of those things, try and educate myself more. I have never owned anything of ASUS brand, but I have heard really good things about them from friends.
Are there other suggested processor options near to that price? I heard some mixed input on brands from a couple friends, but I have only ever had Intel.
It was suggested to me to try and get the 8 gigs of memory in one stick instead, for room to expand apparently. Is that really needed, does it matter?
Normally my choice of motherboard is ASRock and choice of GPU is eVGA but in this case to go with your budget (and cutting it close) I stuck with the Asus H81 because it is a better board than ASRock's own H81, and the Asus 750ti was on sale. Asus is a reputable brand and one of the best (although I do not personally prefer to buy from them for reasons).

The AMD FX6300 is the competing processor at that price range. In 90% of gaming the i3 will demolish the FX due to single threaded performance. Overall the i3 is also a better buy because as I said you can upgrade to an i5 later on when you have more funds to work with. For AMD the upgrade options are limited to the 8320 or 8350 and that's it where an i5 will completely tromp them in gaming performance. Intel's platform is also better due to the options. The 990FX is the best setup you can get from AMD and it's very old in terms of "aging" tech. I have a friend running an i3 3220 and a GTX 680 and he's rather happy playing loads of games.

8GB is the sweet spot right now but I do not recommend straying from the 2x4GB setup. If you were to ever need more RAM due to running out from gaming then odds have it you would need a new setup anyways. The dual stick solution also enables dual-channel memory. Memory bandwidth isn't an issue, but might as well get the performance where you can for your money.
 
Back
Top Bottom