Old-timer back and hoping to build gaming desktop for under $1000.

[DaveB]

Wow, thanks for all the help everyone! Sorry for delayed response. Never ended up building that rig four years ago but this time I'm definitely doing it.

I do have a MC near me--but the prices look to be about the same to the PC Part Picker aggregations, right?

Wrong, the MC deal is better. You need to look more closely at the individual items/prices and analyze what is included. Plus MC just dropped the i5 6600K to $199.99. In addition, it easy to return anything if you have a problem and get an immediate replacement - much better than having to mail something back and wait for a replacement item to show up a week or two later.

I have a 21" LCD monitor from about 8 years ago but should probably replace it since it's super bulky and I'm sure the technology has improved a lot since then.

Yes get a new 27" 1440p monitor. MC has them from $270.

Primarily play FPS like Overwatch and upcoming Battlefield 1. Also might try Legion. Budget can go up a bit if the 1070 is really that much of an improvement!
And I generally don't need a ton of storage so sticking with 500 SSD is definitely sufficient.

Yes I included a 500GB M.2 SSD drive and a GTX 1070 in the MC purchase recommendation. You can then run virtually any game at 1440p resolution (2560 x 1440).

Is 2x8GB memory a big performance upgrade over 2x4GB?

Yes you want 16GB for a system today.

 

[doc6886]

Thanks again DaveB!
So, right now I've got a Macbook Air (mid-2013) with an i7 4650U.

According to CPU Boss, the 4650U is a better CPU: http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i7-4650U-vs-Intel-Core-i5-6600K
That's not accurate, is it?

Right now my machine lags terribly in almost any game, though that's probably in large part because of the Intel HD 5000...

 

[EarthDog]

In multi threaded apps, sure... it's an it with more threads. BUT because you are building a budget gaming machines and the gpu matters a lot more in games than a cpu, this is focused on getting good a better gpu.

But clock for clock the 6600k is a few % faster. It's when it goes past 4 cores that your laptop will be better.

 

[deathman20]

Thanks again DaveB!
So, right now I've got a Macbook Air (mid-2013) with an i7 4650U.

According to CPU Boss, the 4650U is a better CPU: http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i7-4650U-vs-Intel-Core-i5-6600K
That's not accurate, is it?

Right now my machine lags terribly in almost any game, though that's probably in large part because of the Intel HD 5000...

That CPU comparison there is red flags all over the tests done on the i7 4650U. So defiantly not accurate at all. The i5 6600k will be faster overall due to its speed increase, but also faster per clock roughly 5%. Only thing the i7 4650U will crush the 6600k in... is its low power consumption. As well I've noticed while dual core does basic things, when you start taxing it now a days after having a quad core, you can notice the lag input you receive from a dual core system to a quad core when doing things. Quad Core just has more resources to throw around.

As for lag, yes the lag your seeing in games is the onboard Intel GPU most likely. It can play some things but don't expect grand things to come of it. That's where a dedicated GPU will really shine. Thinking about that a little more since the CPU needs cooler temps to perform turbo mode, and using the onboard GPU, it might not get to full speed. Might be throttling the CPU speed because of the extra heat the GPU is putting off.

 

[doc6886]

It sounds like my CPU can handle these games but it's the onboard graphics that can't... is there anything I can do to just upgrade the graphics in my Macbook Air?

Looks like here's my answer: http://lifehacker.com/hack-a-high-end-graphics-card-into-a-macbook-air-974587310

 

[wingman99]

If you really want to stick under $1k, I cut a few corners where I could and put this together on PCPARTPICKER.COM for just over $1k. With some smart shopping, I was able to find all these pieces together for about $975. (Gotta go beyond pcpartpicker's reach).

http://pcpartpicker.com/list/KdYzPs

Very good setup, that is what I basically have.

 

[deathman20]

It sounds like my CPU can handle these games but it's the onboard graphics that can't... is there anything I can do to just upgrade the graphics in my Macbook Air?

Looks like here's my answer: http://lifehacker.com/hack-a-high-end-graphics-card-into-a-macbook-air-974587310

That would be one way to do it. Still semi expensive but cheaper than a new system.