1080p Gaming Build on a budget. Getting the most bang without breaking the bank

[GhostRyder]

Well here is my build log for a machine I will be building for a client/friend on a budget. The idea with this build is to maximize the performance, allow for some future upgrading, and build a machine that is fun to look at and work with.

Throughout the years I have noticed a lot of people get the wrong idea on how to utilize certain aspects of their budget to get the best gaming experience at a great graphical setting. Sometimes people overpower their rig with random components that end up wasting the budget and can actually offer the same performance as other parts in the same length of time they keep their machine. I want to try and see what can be done on a low budget to create a great 1080p 60FPS High+ settings gaming rig.

For this build, I want to deliver on a couple of points:

1: $700 budget (Not the highest, not the cheapest, but a good budget for the build I have been given)
2: The machine has to look decent/cool and clean.
3: Should be able to game on a 1080p screen and offer 60FPS at high settings
4: Should be fun to play with and able to be boosted in performance (Unlocked CPU, GPU, etc)
5: Good quality components from good brands
6: Allow for upgrading in multiple areas (GPU, CPU, RAM, ETC)
7: Budget has to at least account for OS (so subtract 100 bucks)
8: Cannot be too heavy

I will be revealing all this week the components being used in the build but I will start off with a few of the basics and being posting pictures with the build log for this machine and a total cost. I will try and optimize the machine/overclock the machine to a reasonable point to gain the most performance from this build.

First order of components:

Case: Apevia Cruiser2 (Odd choice but was the best according to client, it may lack a few modern amenities other cases have but it does look good and give you a couple cool features)

Processor: Intel Pentium G3258 (Anniversary) Component was picked because of its great single threaded performance, low price, and unlocked multiplier. It shows to be a great contender for a 1080p gamer and shows great scaling in multi-GPU setups (Should you run one).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117374

CPU Cooler: Antec Kuhler 650 LC (Got on sale for 45 bucks, not bad)

Motherboard: MSI Z97-G55 SLI (Picked for future proofing, quality, and sale mixed with bundle deal. Essentially got 35 bucks off with purchase of Pentiums G3258)

PSU: EVGA 500Watt Bronze PSU (A great value and offers great price to performance including a rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438012

Ram: Gskill Ripjaws 8gb 2x4gb 1600 (Picked for the great quality from gskill, also picked because of a sale on newegg which allows for a better budget on other components)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428

HDD: 1tb Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM drive (Caught on sale for 54 bucks)

GPU: PowerColor Radeon HD 7870Ghz Edition (Great 1080p gaming card, caught on sale for $125, helped budget significantly)

OS: Windows 7 Home (No reason for 8, client prefers 7 for his/her gaming rig so this was the choice)

Disk Drive: LG Blu-Ray Drive for 29.99 (Requested by client as necessity)

I will be adding pics, benchmarks, among other things about the rig when all the components arrive. Along with revealing the choices of components and my reasoning for this along the way.

Please enjoy and feel free to post opinions/questions or whatever in regards to the build or choices in components. I build a lot of machines but I never thought about posting on one I am building, thought it would be fun and hopefully at least help one person with building a nice rig for themselves.

GSR

 

[newconroer]

Cut out points 2, 4, 8 and buy used products. That should save you half the money.

 

[GhostRyder]

Cut out points 2, 4, 8 and buy used products. That should save you half the money.

It's for a client/friend so I cannot use used parts. It needs to have full warranties and such it else I would have done that.

 

[yogurt_21]

what are we talking here? Tower only or whole shebang (tower, keyboard, mouse, speakers, wireless, monitor, etc)

For tower only I'd go z97 with a R9 270X
Asrock Z97 Pro
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=13-157-507


MSI R9 270X Gaming 2GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127761
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/R9_270X_Gaming/24.html

Then fill in the peripherals


If you have to include a monitor I'd likely get the same board but drop down to a 750 (no ti) or a 650 ti

 

[GhostRyder]

what are we talking here? Tower only or whole shebang (tower, keyboard, mouse, speakers, wireless, monitor, etc)

For tower only I'd go z97 with a R9 270X
Asrock Z97 Pro
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=13-157-507


MSI R9 270X Gaming 2GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127761
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/R9_270X_Gaming/24.html
Then fill in the peripherals


If you have to include a monitor I'd likely get the same board but drop down to a 750 (no ti) or a 650 ti

700 had to include just the tower and OS, so I adjusted things accordingly as with an OS there was only 600 bucks remaining for the machine. I used sales on newegg to help fill in some of the components.

The board choice was the MSI Z97 SLI board for its price, bundle deal with the Pentium, and the fact is has great expandability for later should another GPU be added or for the fact its just a solid board that will handle next gen equipment. I had considered that board above but with a bundle this one came out to be cheaper.

The Graphics card chosen is an HD 7870(Fixed typo) Ghz edition from powercolor. They were on sale for very cheap and it is probably one of the best 1080p cards for the money on the market (Since its just a 270X essentially).

 

[yogurt_21]

700 had to include just the tower and OS, so I adjusted things accordingly as with an OS there was only 600 bucks remaining for the machine. I used sales on newegg to help fill in some of the components.

The board choice was the MSI Z97 SLI board for its price, bundle deal with the Pentium, and the fact is has great expandability for later should another GPU be added or for the fact its just a solid board that will handle next gen equipment. I had considered that board above but with a bundle this one came out to be cheaper.

The Graphics card chosen is an HD 7970 Ghz edition from powercolor. They were on sale for very cheap and it is probably one of the best 1080p cards for the money on the market (Since its just a 270X essentially).

actually the 7970GHZ edition is superior to the 270X which is a 7870 GHZ edition. He has essentially a R9 280X. So if he got that within the budget that's awesome.

and are you referring to this board?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130776

Because that's the same one I have. I like it.

 

[Hellfire]

Some great parts there. I personally am wary of EVGA PSU's but know people who use them fine. Same for the RAM.

As for the choice of the CPU I think thats an amazing choice. I think the P chip is a great cheap basic chip

 

[GhostRyder]

actually the 7970GHZ edition is superior to the 270X which is a 7870 GHZ edition. He has essentially a R9 280X. So if he got that within the budget that's awesome.

and are you referring to this board?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130776

Because that's the same one I have. I like it.

Typo my bad, I meant 7870GHZ edition I hit the wrong key.

Yes, that is the board I chose for this rig.

 

[Hellfire]

Still a good card. Shouldn't struggle too much at 60fps

 

[Vario]

Makes no sense to buy the pentium, instead buy an i5 and a basic motherboard with the cheapest 1150 chipset like H81 or B85.

 

[yogurt_21]

Makes no sense to buy the pentium, instead buy an i5 and a basic motherboard with the cheapest 1150 chipset like H81 or B85.

it does when you can clock the crap outta said pentium lol. This is a devils canyon dual core essentially half a 4690k. Gaming is still very much single or dual threaded for the most part and games that can take advantage of extra cores won't suddenly cripple themselves because you only have a dual core. Plus with only 2 cores to clock people have been reaching some really serious clocks. Though 5GHZ on air impossible for haswell? This chip can do it easy.

 

[newconroer]

it does when you can clock the crap outta said pentium lol. This is a devils canyon dual core essentially half a 4690k. Gaming is still very much single or dual threaded for the most part and games that can take advantage of extra cores won't suddenly cripple themselves because you only have a dual core. Plus with only 2 cores to clock people have been reaching some really serious clocks. Though 5GHZ on air impossible for haswell? This chip can do it easy.

I would counter that this statement is more accurate as of five years ago. He's going to run into plenty of programs /games that use at least four cores and the missing two can and will rear it's head as stuttering and inconsistent performance.

 

[acacar]

Well here is my build log for a machine I will be building for a client/friend on a budget. The idea with this build is to maximize the performance, allow for some future upgrading, and build a machine that is fun to look at and work with.

Throughout the years I have noticed a lot of people get the wrong idea on how to utilize certain aspects of their budget to get the best gaming experience at a great graphical setting. Sometimes people overpower their rig with random components that end up wasting the budget and can actually offer the same performance as other parts in the same length of time they keep their machine. I want to try and see what can be done on a low budget to create a great 1080p 60FPS High+ settings gaming rig.

For this build, I want to deliver on a couple of points:

1: $700 budget (Not the highest, not the cheapest, but a good budget for the build I have been given)
2: The machine has to look decent/cool and clean.
3: Should be able to game on a 1080p screen and offer 60FPS at high settings
4: Should be fun to play with and able to be boosted in performance (Unlocked CPU, GPU, etc)
5: Good quality components from good brands
6: Allow for upgrading in multiple areas (GPU, CPU, RAM, ETC)
7: Budget has to at least account for OS (so subtract 100 bucks)
8: Cannot be too heavy

I will be revealing all this week the components being used in the build but I will start off with a few of the basics and being posting pictures with the build log for this machine and a total cost. I will try and optimize the machine/overclock the machine to a reasonable point to gain the most performance from this build.

First order of components:

Processor: Intel Pentium G3258 (Anniversary) Component was picked because of its great single threaded performance, low price, and unlocked multiplier. It shows to be a great contender for a 1080p gamer and shows great scaling in multi-GPU setups (Should you run one).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117374

PSU: EVGA 500Watt Bronze PSU (A great value and offers great price to performance including a rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438012

Ram: Gskill Ripjaws 8gb 2x4gb 1600 (Picked for the great quality from gskill, also picked because of a sale on newegg which allows for a better budget on other components)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428

OS: Windows 7 Home (No reason for 8, client prefers 7 for his/her gaming rig so this was the choice)

I will be adding pics, benchmarks, among other things about the rig when all the components arrive. Along with revealing the choices of components and my reasoning for this along the way.

Please enjoy and feel free to post opinions/questions or whatever in regards to the build or choices in components. I build a lot of machines but I never thought about posting on one I am building, thought it would be fun and hopefully at least help one person with building a nice rig for themselves.

GSR

fx 8350 & r9 280x

 

[GhostRyder]

fx 8350 & r9 280x

The FX platform (My personal rig atm) is a little dated and while cheap in certain respects lacks later expand-ability. Plus single threaded is still the king for games and including this chip kept cost down and performance up. An R9 280X was way out of budget without cutting alot of corners.

it does when you can clock the crap outta said pentium lol. This is a devils canyon dual core essentially half a 4690k. Gaming is still very much single or dual threaded for the most part and games that can take advantage of extra cores won't suddenly cripple themselves because you only have a dual core. Plus with only 2 cores to clock people have been reaching some really serious clocks. Though 5GHZ on air impossible for haswell? This chip can do it easy.

Exactly my thoughts, I have already played around with one for testing before I started building with one for clients (Its a side job/hobby) to make sure it did fine. You do have to overclock it to get good performance, but so far it has been such a pleasant breeze to play with that with a $70 price tag by itself its a steal.

I would counter that this statement is more accurate as of five years ago. He's going to run into plenty of programs /games that use at least four cores and the missing two can and will rear it's head as stuttering and inconsistent performance.

The client plays alot of games but is on a strict budget as he is a friend going to school. The dual core power will be enough for the time and should suffic for at least a year or 2 and then all that has to be done is a CPU swap for a broadwell/Haswell chip. Part of the point of this build is to last awhile and allow for great expand-ability in the future. A locked i5 was not completely out of the question, but the savings allowed for some better quality components in other areas that would benefit the user in the long term.

Makes no sense to buy the pentium, instead buy an i5 and a basic motherboard with the cheapest 1150 chipset like H81 or B85.

I looked into those boards, but decided for expansion options a Z97 was a better option. I wanted the main part of the machine to have a good central base that will help for the future and in the long run. I had considered the MSI gaming B85 board (Which had a great deal on sunday) but I felt the board lacked alot of expansion and overall felt cheap after reading the deep specs. With ~$600 to spend on components I wanted to make sure to maximize the machines performance and allow for expansion.

 

[Hellfire]

I agree. It'll last a few years then if he wants he can whack a i5 or i7 onto it when he needs,

Everything else will still be good (except maybe GPU but by then you'll get 280x on the cheap too

 

[acacar]

no way dual core would provide 60+ fps on high even with current games

 

[GhostRyder]

no way dual core would provide 60+ fps on high even with current games

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/pentium-g3258-overclocking-performance,3849-5.html

It holds up pretty darn well considering it costs now less than 70 bucks.

 

[acacar]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/pentium-g3258-overclocking-performance,3849-5.html

It holds up pretty darn well considering it costs now less than 70 bucks.

wait next gen games in a couple of months or next years games. Imho fx 6300 oc'ed would be better for gaming, its 10 bucks more.

 

[yogurt_21]

Blasted cpu nazi's lol
http://www.anandtech.com/show/8232/...ary-edition-review-the-intel-pentium-g3258-ae
http://www.anandtech.com/show/8232/...y-edition-review-the-intel-pentium-g3258-ae/4

you all need to stop assuming and maybe take a look at a review, or 20 before posting nonsense. Strategy games maybe if you super boost the amount of units and apparently battlefield 4 really likes multithread. Most FPS, rpg's etc no worries 5-10% variance with 2 770's in sli? And you're beefing about it being too small paired with a 7870GHZ edition? Sure the hyperthreaded i3 4330 can offer more performance in hyperthreaded titles, but its nearly double the price. Considering we're talking a 75$ cpu and a 7870GHZ edition you're far more likely to run out of gpu power before cpu power. I mean that anandtech review should be showing an extreme view of bottlenecking and even in battlefield 4 with 2 770's in sli the 75$ cpu is still playable.

For all titles save for tomb raider the overclock makes a significant difference.

 

[GhostRyder]

wait next gen games in a couple of months or next years games. Imho fx 6300 oc'ed would be better for gaming, its 10 bucks more.

Problem there is the platform, AM3+ is getting very little attention and offers no place to go for upgrading anymore. Right now the platform is beyond dated and in all honesty does not offer enough performance except in multi-threaded tasks. Doing this build allows for great gaming in the now and near future while allowing for alot more expanded options down the line. That is important here because it allows the client a machine that games great now and will have the chance to accept many different CPU's in the future for a cheaper price should the Pentium run out of steam.

 

[Vario]

7870 is plenty of VGA, good choice there. My 7850 runs everything great. Medium high to high settings, runs smooth. Not as fast as my 770 but pretty good for 1080P.

 

[GhostRyder]

Next we have the cooler choice, now normally my choice was going to be a Hyper 212 EVO for the fact its price to performance is top notch. However due to a sale and bundle deal I managed to snag a Antec Kuhler 650 LC AIO for 45 bucks plus an extra rebate. Not bad if I do say so myself and should allow for some great clocking on this processor that already runs pretty cool.

For a disk drive, it came down to the users request, normally I would get an OEM DVD Drive but at the request I snagged a 29.99 dollar OEM blu-Ray Drive from LG.

 

[XSI]

well many users here, but from comments you can really separate after initial post my thoughts were: g3258 + hyper evo 212, msi h97 mate/ or z97. amd 270x or used 280x. because im planning to get something similar. but you got all that so yeah enjoy good choises for a budget build.

 

[GhostRyder]

well many users here, but from comments you can really separate after initial post my thoughts were: g3258 + hyper evo 212, msi h97 mate/ or z97. amd 270x or used 280x. because im planning to get something similar. but you got all that so yeah enjoy good choises for a budget build.

Yea its a client/friend on a very tight budget that has to include OS. $700 bucks is a hard sell for a gaming rig to do things at the higher settings and after a week of balancing and reading some reviews among other things I managed to bundle up some deals on newegg and put together a parts list. I was trying to maximize as much potential as possible without offering poor quality (I cannot stand off brand PSU's boards etc because of reliability). I was shocked at how much I was actually able to put into this machine as it is without blowing the budget.

I will have everything Friday and it will be completed for testing on friday.

 

[Fourstaff]

my 2c as a 1080p "budget" gamer: You can cut down on graphics, 270x eqv is probably more than good enough. No shame in getting a B81 board and not overclock either, that is what I used for my brother's build (along with i5 4570), handles everything you throw at it including crazy CPU bound games like Civ 5 (might be occasional lag at ultra endgame, but rare and far between). I suspect 1080 will pose no further challenge to graphics or processor in the foreseeable future given that the boundary has moved towards 1440 and above.