Need a cheap reliable mid-grade gaming box.

[TechJunky]

I currently am using an 7yr old laptop to give some insight. Only upgrade being a Vertex 4 SSD.

I plan on reusing this SSD on the new build.

I need a basic rig that doesnt break the bank and will be able to play Battlefield 3 from time to time... Maybe 3-4 times a month.

Any suggestions?

I found this build local for $600.

Built this a month ago before I decided I want to build something smaller. Here's the components:
Antec p180 case
Asus am3+ motherboard
Amd 8320 8-core cpu
Msi r7850 graphics card (plays pretty much everything on full)
64gb ssd.
8gb 1600mhz RAM
Corsair power supply

Components I already have:

Keyboard, mouse, Monitor, Intel 128GB Vertex4.

I am a server guy, so figured I would ask those on the latest gaming technology here.

Thanks in advance! $600 is my budget.

 

[LoganG]

You should probably get more information than that, like what specific MOBO that is.

 

[TechJunky]

Thanks, I asked what mobo and how many watt Corsair and model. Seems like a decent deal to me though. Cheapest I could build the same rig for was $688 shipped.

 

[TechJunky]

Motherboard is Asus M5a97 LE 2.0, powersupply is only a 430W Corsair.

 

[QuZee]

If its a budget build i would highly recomend going with APU's on the trinity base, i own one of the a10 5800k. Runs very cool under arctic freezer 13, and in battlefield 3 on the mid settings in 1080 runs very smoothly.

 

[Dlaw]

If you were planning on overclocking, I would not recommend the local build you have listed there. I would recommend a new APU build like QuZee recommended.

An example build pulled from Newegg:
A10-5800K $129.99
ASRock Extreme 6 $107.99
Corsair Professional Series 650w $109.99
Cougar Evolution black case $89.99
G.Skill Trident X 2400MHz RAM $139.99 (as I understand will work great with CPU)
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo $34.99

Total cost: $612.94

I'm sure there are better options out there, and if you wish I'm sure many who frequent these forums could give you many other build examples.

 

[QuZee]

Dlaw, thats a nice build but you can still save a bit of money on it... for example you wouldnt need 2400 MHz ram. I have a10 5800k myself and trust me once ram goes over 1866 there is very little improvement in fps. also from 1600 to 1866 there would be around 2-4 fps boost, might be higher depends on game. anyway ram does help integrated GPU a lot, its about bandwidth speed.
Since its a cheap mid gaming build you would end up using integrated GPU, which is actually very very good compare to intel series processors (if you had any experience with them). also it is possible to upgrade later on by adding HD6670 to the rig using on board crossfire (very easy)

 

[Mandrake4565]

If you are planning on overclocking do not use that motherboard. If you are not you may get away with using it but these 8 series FX processors require a lot of power from the VRM section of the motherboard. The Motherboard is Asus M5a97 LE 2.0 only has 3+1 power phases in the VRM section. I wouldn't suggest using it a board that has less then a 6+2 power phase count in the VRM section. Have a look through this motherboard VRM database for boards with high power phase counts if you really want to use that cpu.

 

[LoganG]

I believe the Asus M5a97 LE 2.0 has a 4+2, not saying that it should be used for overclocking, just thought that's what it was.

 

[Knufire]

4+2 and a 430W PSU? That build is definitely a good deal at $600 and better than anything you'll build new for that price...but I wouldn't overclock it.

 

[Mandrake4565]

I believe the Asus M5a97 LE 2.0 has a 4+2, not saying that it should be used for overclocking, just thought that's what it was.

You are correct Logan, the one I was looking at was the non R2 version, my bad.

 

[TechJunky]

Thanks for the info. So the A10, is that an older model CPU? I thought The FX series are the latest AMD processors. Again, im not up on AMD stuff, as I work on Intel based all day.

There are a couple decent deals local with some FX based processors.

 

[EarthDog]

How does an APU do for gaming though? BF3 loves CPU so I would be a bit concerned there... enough to post here to have someone check on it, if possible.

 

[QuZee]

Actually A10-5800k (trinity series) is pretty new, it was out at october last year ( 2012).
And to answer EarthDog's question, i can only say one thing, its very-very good if you dont mind playing in mid-high settings at 1920x1080 (depends on games).

 

[TechJunky]

Ok, the guy wants $650 for the computer....

I have another guy local selling this setup with a cheap Asrock. motherboard. He is asking $450 and throwing in a 23" Samsung monitor.

amd fx 6100 six core processor
8gb (2x4gb) ddr3 1600mhz ram
1gb nvidia gtx 460 superclocked pci express graphics card
crucial 128gb solid state drive
640gb samsung 7200rpm hard drive
600 watt nzxt power supply
DVD/RW drive

 

[TechJunky]

I really would like to stay around the $500 mark.

Using Amazon, I forgot I had gift cards from Xmas!

I have to cheap on the case, but I wont be adding anymore HD's or other drives in the box because I have a storage NAS device at home. So I dont really care about the case to be honest. Just something to house the parts.

Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3 Motherboard
AMD FX-6300 Processor
OCZ ModXstream Pro 600W Modular Power Supply
8GB Corsair Vengeance PC12800 Memory
AMD HD Radeon 7850 Video Card
Vertex 4 SSD
Cooler Master Elite 430 Case

Grand Total....

$541 Shipped.

I think this is where I am going to spend my money, unless someone has a better idea.

 

[fornoob]

You don't need 600W PSU to feed it, even if OCing ^^
A 500W would already be more than enough! (as you present it, your rig shouldn't require more than 300W under full load, so there is space to upgrade later with 500W! )

 

[EarthDog]

Corsair cx500 instead. Not sure that ocp Psu is good.

 

[Knufire]

ModXStream is good, but slightly overrated. Think of it as a very good 500W PSU more than a 600W PSU.

 

[TechJunky]

Will the cx500 give me room to grow if I want to add another 7850 video card down the road? If I piece meal it between amazon and newegg I have got the price down to $518 using the CX500 power supply.