• 1500 dollar gaming computer
    29 replies, posted
I'm looking to build a gaming PC for myself for around 1500 dollars. I want the PC to be really flexible in the way that its built, meaning I want room to grow and to think forward to the future when making this machine. My last computer i got just before SATA and PCI-E came out so it uses IDE and AGP... I wish to avoid this kind of stuff happening. Also lots of overhead on the cooling and power systems to accommodate further upgrades even greater. my screens resolution is 1280x1024 but that might get bumped up to 1600x1200. I'm building this PC with gaming and forward compatibility in mind
I'm no expert but I'm gonna say two thing you're going to want are SSD, and a mobo with two PCI-e slots (that way you can buy one really high end card, when you need to upgrade youe high end card will have fallen in price adn you can just slap another one in there)
[QUOTE=Flarey;40205212][url=http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Pgji]PCPartPicker part list[/url] / [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Pgji/by_merchant/]Price breakdown by merchant[/url] / [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Pgji/benchmarks/]Benchmarks[/url] [b]CPU:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80637i53570k]Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor[/url] ($189.99 @ Microcenter) [b]Motherboard:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-z77extreme4]ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard[/url] ($134.49 @ Amazon) [b]Memory:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-memory-cmz8gx3m1a1600c10b]Corsair Vengeance 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory[/url] ($59.99 @ Newegg) [b]Storage:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st1000dm003]Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive[/url] ($69.98 @ SuperBiiz) [b]Video Card:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-video-card-gvr785oc2gd]Gigabyte Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card[/url] ($189.99 @ NCIX US) [b]Case:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/nzxt-case-s210e001]NZXT Source 210 Elite (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case[/url] ($49.99 @ Amazon) [b]Power Supply:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-power-supply-cx600m]Corsair CX 600W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply[/url] ($59.99 @ Newegg) [b]Optical Drive:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/lite-on-optical-drive-ihas124-04]Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer[/url] ($15.98 @ Outlet PC) [b]Total:[/b] $770.40 [i](Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)[/i] [i](Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-04-08 08:40 EDT-0400)[/i] the only things it doesnt have is a os and a keyboard n mouse[/QUOTE] This is the build Flarey picked for me, I would just build it up from there like getting 16GB ram and an SSD, or more gcards if your into that :v:
You really don't need a $1500 computer at your resolution. Hell, a $700 computer could probably max every game out at 1280x1024. Factor in a 1080p monitor for your budget or it's all a waste.
that's the thing is that at some point this screen is gonna go.
I have a nice 21 inch widescreen older LG that runs 1680x1050 and it still looks gorgeous, so you don't have to spend crazy money on a monitor but yeah def. up the resolution.
spoon that build looks nice. just the power supply might need a bit more wattage... unless things take up less power than they did 7 years ago. i might need to be schooled a bit in what an optimal amount of power output is. also you say invest in better vidcard, more memory or an SSD. SSD's for now are out of the question as i feel as though they're a technology that can be expanded upon and greatly reduced in price. until the time comes though i'm sticking with a good old fashioned hard drive as for more memory what advantages would 16 give me over 8? would it mean more multitasking? cause the one thing i forgot to mention is that i love fast instant multitasking, and i'm guessing ram would let me do that. also upgrading to 16 seems to cost another 60 bucks? so i'd do it just for the sake of it, because it's a substantial yet cheap upgrade. as for video card if i were to bump that one up a notch into my pricerange what would i shoot for? i'm kinda trying to avoid doing the two card thing cause as it stands it seems like overkill and much more expensive than just getting one killer card. [editline]11th April 2013[/editline] [QUOTE=ATribeCalledQ;40240768]I have a nice 21 inch widescreen older LG that runs 1680x1050 and it still looks gorgeous, so you don't have to spend crazy money on a monitor but yeah def. up the resolution.[/QUOTE] what are some good brands for monitors? i'm either going to be getting an HD tv or a new monitor. [editline]11th April 2013[/editline] one more question. i'd like a see-through case, are there any decent ones for a good price?
I just had my pc hooked up ti a 47 inch TV for a week and I noticed that it hurt my eyes SO FUCKING BADLY because of the larger pixels (I assume idrk). I would say widescreen for sure, samsung and LG make good monitors, I know my LG one was like $350 back in the day but that was 5 years ago and it's still going strong (2ms refresh rate). If you want a 3d monitor then actually I built a system for a guy and Alienware makes a stellar 3d monitor, I know I'll get a lot of hate for it but that was really the only thing they;ve ever done right is make a kickass 3d monitor. Honestly for that budget I'd fuck with the 3d, bf3 in 3d is so fucking sweet.
16gb over 8gb isn't a substantial upgrade, especially for a gaming computer
[QUOTE=HolyCrapAWalrus;40240817]16gb over 8gb isn't a substantial upgrade, especially for a gaming computer[/QUOTE] price for performance it's worth it?
Yes but it has diminishing returns
[QUOTE=ATribeCalledQ;40240816]I just had my pc hooked up ti a 47 inch TV for a week and I noticed that it hurt my eyes SO FUCKING BADLY because of the larger pixels (I assume idrk). I would say widescreen for sure, samsung and LG make good monitors, I know my LG one was like $350 back in the day but that was 5 years ago and it's still going strong (2ms refresh rate). If you want a 3d monitor then actually I built a system for a guy and Alienware makes a stellar 3d monitor, I know I'll get a lot of hate for it but that was really the only thing they;ve ever done right is make a kickass 3d monitor. Honestly for that budget I'd fuck with the 3d, bf3 in 3d is so fucking sweet.[/QUOTE] i trust in Samsung and LG myself so i guess my intrinsic prejudices aren't wrong. i think i need to make the leap to widescreen, it would def help in competitive gaming a lot. also no 3d for me. 2d for life until i can plug my brain directly into my desktop. [editline]11th April 2013[/editline] [QUOTE=ATribeCalledQ;40240838]Yes but it has diminishing returns[/QUOTE] bottlenecking? [editline]11th April 2013[/editline] ooo ddr3... yeah cause ddr5 or some shit is coming out soon isn't it?
Widescreen is a completely different world. For a while with my bigass widescreen (until my eyes adjusted) I'd have to literally like move my eyes around to read everything on the screen if you know what I mean. [editline]11th April 2013[/editline] No like, a game is only going to utilize so much RAM, a huge amount like 16gb won't really be used up regularly at all. I mean by all means go for it but what I'm saying is the extra $100 or w.e you pay for that extra 8gb isn't going to make a huge noticeable. difference.
[img]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/59389727/Computer%20Builds/301.PNG[/img] [img]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/59389727/Computer%20Builds/302.PNG[/img] $1323 w/ shipping, went under budget in case you need an operating system also. You don't need anything more than this to max a large majority games out right now. Some like Crysis 3 are of course going to not be a full 60fps on ultra. [editline]10th April 2013[/editline] oh fuck when I took the first screenshot I cut out the prices hold on [editline]10th April 2013[/editline] should be fixed now [editline]10th April 2013[/editline] oh and gddr5 is just a different form of ddr3 with faster clock speeds and different timings iirc, it's only used for graphics cards
One benefit to 16GB's of ram is you can use RamDisk and use some of your ram as an SSD basically :v:
[QUOTE=Spoongooner_Son;40240942]One benefit to 16GB's of ram is you can use RamDisk and use some of your ram as an SSD basically :v:[/QUOTE] 16 gb is only useful for video editing.
[QUOTE=Spoongooner_Son;40240942]One benefit to 16GB's of ram is you can use RamDisk and use some of your ram as an SSD basically :v:[/QUOTE] The only thing i thought ram would do would make multitasking easier. alt tabbing out of a game then going into chat for a while, then go back to playing the game while still in video chat. that sort of stuff, i want alt tabbing to be as fast as possible, i thought ram helped with that. [editline]11th April 2013[/editline] wait... in that build did you sneak in a sweet monitor as well? while keeping it underbudget? nice. props asus makes good monitors i'm guessing? basically what i have now is a dell LCD from early 04. i bet even if that screen is budget it'll look a world better. also i'd like to thank you guys for getting my cold feet (regarding buying a new comp) hot as hell. and thanks for the suggestions guys, this is really shaping up to be a neat machine.
Ehh, you're misinterpreting RAM. It's still doing the multi-tasking / handling what's in the background, so it wouldn't make a difference in the world. The only time I max my ram is the second I open Adobe Premiere or After Effects. (And I have 8gb)
Well if you want a really nice monitor (for a decent price) you could try this [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236313[/url] It has 144Hz, which makes reading a lot easier on your eyes and game-play transition frame to frame better. Also it has 3D and on screen cross-hairs (something Asus came up with to correct cross-hair issues on 3D) This is the monitor I'm getting anyway :v: (x2) Just be sure to set your refresh rate to 144hz in windows or you wont notice a difference. [editline]11th April 2013[/editline] [QUOTE=Killervalon;40241432]16 gb is only useful for video editing.[/QUOTE] If you use RamDisk, you can video record much smoother at 1080p (if you set it up for that purpose) Or you could put all your steam games in there and have 5 seconds or less loading times I haven't heard of anyone using it for booting windows yet though. EDIT: [QUOTE=Steve]i once ran win98 off a ramdisk thu vmware[/QUOTE] But that was through vmware so I can't say :v:
[QUOTE=Spoongooner_Son;40247507]Well if you want a really nice monitor (for a decent price) you could try this [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236313[/url] It has 144Hz, which makes reading a lot easier on your eyes and game-play transition frame to frame better. Also it has 3D and on screen cross-hairs (something Asus came up with to correct cross-hair issues on 3D) This is the monitor I'm getting anyway :v: (x2) Just be sure to set your refresh rate to 144hz in windows or you wont notice a difference. [editline]11th April 2013[/editline] If you use RamDisk, you can video record much smoother at 1080p (if you set it up for that purpose) Or you could put all your steam games in there and have 5 seconds or less loading times I haven't heard of anyone using it for booting windows yet though.[/QUOTE] Why get a 144Hz 3d monitor, you'll need two thousand dollars worth of graphics cards to even hit near 140fps if you want to max any new games and 3d is a huge gimmick.
[QUOTE=HolyCrapAWalrus;40247611]3d is a huge gimmick.[/QUOTE] I wouldn't use 3D anyway, I was just mentioning its features :v: and I donno where you got the idea that you'd need 2k worth of gcards for 144hz And with 24 inch monitors, I doubt your going to notice that its not higher than 60 fps. Meh, it's your setup I was just giving you a possible option
Maybe because not even a single GTX 690 can average 60fps on Crysis 3 maxed out @ 1920x1080
[QUOTE=HolyCrapAWalrus;40247647]Maybe because not even a single GTX 690 can average 60fps on Crysis 3 maxed out @ 1920x1080[/QUOTE] That's Crysis 3 :v: I thought you were making a semi-budget computer
i'm sort of on board with 3d being a gimmick. but after chatting up a few other peeps about SSD it looks like that 120 gig SSD you included in the build would be a great addition considering the price. so now i'm on board with SSD, just 120 gigs seems to be enough, and would like to state i share views on 3d as it's gimmicky and i have to wear eyeglasses. and even if i get a pair of 3d glasses that fit over my extremely fragile glasses work it doesn't make me feel to good, and i doubt it being widescreen would make it any better (would probably make my vertigo even worse) so on board with SSD but don't think i need anymore gigs on the SSD drive as of now for the ram i'll just stick to 8 no 3D capability as i simply don't want it. but other than that the build you put together seems cherry. i just wanna go over it a few more times. it's best to get second opinions (not that i don't value yours, you guys have been extremely helpful and knowledgeable) and double check when you're spending this amount of money.
[QUOTE=Spoongooner_Son;40247665]That's Crysis 3 :v: I thought you were making a semi-budget computer[/QUOTE] I'm saying to take advantage of the higher refresh rate, you'll need extremely powerful graphics cards, otherwise you'll be stuck playing on medium just to change the refresh rate to 144Hz and actually notice a difference. It's a dumb feature for a budget monitor to have because no budget computer would push out enough power to even take advantage of it. Plus, when manufacturers throw high end features into low cost products, it usually means that there's a bunch of quality lacking elsewhere in the product.
also regarding the refresh rate. it doesn't have to be super duper special or anything if it really is that graphics intensive. remember i'm used to using tech from more than 7 years ago.
[QUOTE=HolyCrapAWalrus;40240878][img]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/59389727/Computer%20Builds/301.PNG[/img] [img]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/59389727/Computer%20Builds/302.PNG[/img] $1323 w/ shipping, went under budget in case you need an operating system also. You don't need anything more than this to max a large majority games out right now. Some like Crysis 3 are of course going to not be a full 60fps on ultra. [editline]10th April 2013[/editline] oh fuck when I took the first screenshot I cut out the prices hold on [editline]10th April 2013[/editline] should be fixed now [editline]10th April 2013[/editline] oh and gddr5 is just a different form of ddr3 with faster clock speeds and different timings iirc, it's only used for graphics cards[/QUOTE]I've got that case. It's pretty awesome.
[url]http://www.amazon.com/ViewSonic-VX2250WM-LED-21-5-Inch-Widescreen-Integrated/dp/B003HFCDLY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1364192305&sr=8-1&keywords=lcd+monitor[/url] Is a great monitor and on sale. I have three with my GTX Titan. (CHEAPER TOO) I would also go with [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130816[/url] as a graphics card because it is EVGA and I prefer their software/warranties. PhysX on the GPU! [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811517004[/url] Is also one of the best mid-level cases around. I've built many of my friends computer using this.
[QUOTE=Spoongooner_Son;40247507] If you use RamDisk, you can video record much smoother at 1080p (if you set it up for that purpose) Or you could put all your steam games in there and have 5 seconds or less loading times I haven't heard of anyone using it for booting windows yet though.[/QUOTE] Unless you have Supermicro X9QRi-F+ or X9QR7-TF+ You would eat it all up in an instant.
[QUOTE=Spoongooner_Son;40240598]This is the build Flarey picked for me, I would just build it up from there like getting 16GB ram and an SSD, or more gcards if your into that :v:[/QUOTE] i forget i had an other rig for my budget (1300chf or 1400$) [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/p/OGqw]PCPartPicker part list[/url] / [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/p/OGqw/by_merchant/]Price breakdown by merchant[/url] / [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/p/OGqw/benchmarks/]Benchmarks[/url] [b]CPU:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80637i53570k]Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor[/url] ($189.99 @ Microcenter) [b]CPU Cooler:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/noctua-cpu-cooler-nhd14]Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler[/url] ($81.99 @ Newegg) [b]Motherboard:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-z77extreme4]ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard[/url] ($134.98 @ SuperBiiz) [b]Memory:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-memory-cml16gx3m2a1600c10]Corsair Vengeance LP 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory[/url] ($116.99 @ Amazon) [b]Storage:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd10ezex]Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive[/url] ($69.99 @ NCIX US) [b]Video Card:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-video-card-gvr797to3gd]Gigabyte Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB Video Card[/url] ($449.99 @ Newegg) [b]Wireless Network Adapter:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/tp-link-wireless-network-card-tlwdn4800]TP-Link TL-WDN4800 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter[/url] ($39.99 @ Amazon) [b]Case:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/nzxt-case-h2001bk]NZXT H2 Classic Silent (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case[/url] ($88.00 @ NCIX US) [b]Power Supply:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-power-supply-cx600m]Corsair CX 600W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply[/url] ($59.99 @ Microcenter) [b]Optical Drive:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/lite-on-optical-drive-ihas124-04]Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer[/url] ($17.99 @ Newegg) [b]Total:[/b] $1249.90 [i](Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)[/i] [i](Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-04-12 11:03 EDT-0400)[/i]
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