budget gaming build

[das müffin mann]

doing a complete rebuild on a budget. I'm looking to spend around $700 but the less i can spend the better. i was thinking about going with an i5-9600k build the asrock z370 mother board. but im wondering are there better options out there? will my current PSU be adequate? I also could use a little help picking a GPU and the ram. its been awhile since I've built a gaming pc and could use a little help, thanks.

 

[27MaD]

Under budget ? go for a Ryzen.

 

[kurosagi01]

This is what I'd get:
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/C6zMdX

 

[Gorstak]

This is what I'd get:
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/gNtJHh

 

[xtreemchaos]

mate you need to go for a ryzen, the best bang for your buck, go for a 2700x if you can its less half the price of the top intel =, I got one about 3 months ago and have never looked back, with a modest overclock 1907 in cb. goodluck. charl. ps I got the 2700x, b450 mobo, 16gb hyperx predator for just over £550.

 

[jboydgolfer]

I would suggest only getting 8 GB of RAM, I play games and my PC never uses the full 8 GB, assuming AMD is no different, I see no reason to buy the " obligatory" 16gb that has been unofficially deemed the norm.

 

[xtreemchaos]

Jboydgolfer, I agree most games run well with 8gb, but there are some what take more and if your into VR you need every bit of ram you can get. 16 would be future proof in my view. charl.

 

[das müffin mann]

Thanks for the suggestions guys, I've decided to go with a ryzen build. My question is will I notice a significant difference between the 2700 vs the 2600? I'm also going with 16gb of gskill. Could you also recommend a cpu cooler? Cheers guys

 

[xtreemchaos]

the 2700x has has 2 more cores and 4 more threads than the 2600x and a higher boost clock, heres AMDs main page for the 2600x if you would like a read https://www.amd.com/en/products/cpu/amd-ryzen-5-2600x there will be a difference but ive never owned a 2600-x so how much I don't know. charl.

 

[das müffin mann]

I'm also leaning towards the rx590, feelings about the card? How does it compare to a comparable Nvidia card?

 

[xtreemchaos]

the 590 is quite new so I don't know a lot about it, there are some reviews on youtube, but I can vouch for the rx 570 and 80 which are good cards which play 1080p very nicely and I play at 1440p with my 580 without any fuss 60fps ave

 

[jboydgolfer]

Jboydgolfer, I agree most games run well with 8gb, but there are some what take more and if your into VR you need every bit of ram you can get. 16 would be future proof in my view. charl.

Budget pc & "VR capable" dont belong in the same sentence.

I've been running 8GB of DDR4 in my system ,with a GTX 1070 ,& a 970, and also a 980, & I have yet to run into an issue where 8 Gb's is not enough. I'm not advocating that there is no situation where 8 GB is not enough, I'm simply advocating that for someone asking for advice regarding a "budget PC" 16 GB is needed like another hole in the head is "needed".

If OP is actually trying to save money, that's somewhere he can save it very easily , and outside of the virtual reality and a handful of situations, he won't have a problem ( unless of course "budget PC" means "PC able to drive 2K-4K monitor & Run VR titles")

a Game like HitMan2 with maximum settings, @ above FHD (1200p), i didnt even break 3Gb's RAM usage,

Simply put, @das müffin mann , unless you intend to run a monitor that's 2K or above resolution, or intend to drive a virtual reality system with this PC, 8GB will suffice perfectly fine. Not to mention you can always add 8 GB down the road when you save up more money. of course 8 GB of RAM is only around $40 or less (at least where I live), but when you're talking a few hundred bucks total budget,that's 10% of your budget.

Additionally, this isnt the first time I've heard that 8 GB of RAM isn't sufficient, and since I don't know for a fact, I'll agree it's not for everything, but I'd sure like to see the situation where it isn't, because all I hear is people say it isn't , but I've never seen proof of it (& when isay proof, i mean in relation to this topic, a standard game, running non modded, @ the overall dominant 60Hz @ 1080p)

 

[eidairaman1]

Budget pc & "VR capable" dont belong in the same sentence.

I've been running 8GB of DDR4 in my system ,with a GTX 1070 ,& a 970, and also a 980, & I have yet to run into an issue where 8 Gb's is not enough. I'm not advocating that there is no situation where 8 GB is not enough, I'm simply advocating that for someone asking for advice regarding a "budget PC" 16 GB is needed like another hole in the head is "needed".

If OP is actually trying to save money, that's somewhere he can save it very easily , and outside of the virtual reality and a handful of situations, he won't have a problem ( unless of course "budget PC" means "PC able to drive 2K-4K monitor & Run VR titles")

a Game like HitMan2 with maximum settings, @ above FHD (1200p), i didnt even break 3Gb's RAM usage,

This is the good part of pcs, modularity, he can start with 8, then move to 12-64. Personally i wish I could run 18Gigs in mine to compensate for the 2GB that Windows hogs to itself lol

 

[das müffin mann]

I wonder is a rx580 would be a better buy me? There is roughly an $80 difference between the two and really the most graphically intensive game I would be playing would probably be Deus ex, the witcher or assasins creed (at least until cyberpunk and the outerworlds drop). My son will probably play fortnight but will generally stick to the ps4.

 

[eidairaman1]

I wonder is a rx580 would be a better buy me? There is roughly an $80 difference between the two and really the most graphically intensive game I would be playing would probably be Deus ex, the witcher or assasins creed (at least until cyberpunk and the outerworlds drop). My son will probably play fortnight but will generally stick to the ps4.

If you could find a 290/290X or 390/X for way less than a 580 or 1060 6GB go for it, otherwise 580 is pretty good and has a longer life than a 1060 when it comes to resolution playability.

590 is a die shrink of 580 under Polaris 30 monicker, maybe a few minor reworks but pretty much the same

 

[jboydgolfer]

This is the good part of pcs, modularity, he can start with 8, then move to 12-64. Personally i wish I could run 18Gigs in mine to compensate for the 2GB that Windows hogs to itself lol

i had that mindset when i built this PC (which is above a "budget Pc" for sure). But ive yet to find a scenario where i hit the Ram "ceiling" so to speak Ive run the Memory heavy titles, & just havent hit it. I think its more a concern at higher Resolutions, & @ higher Refresh rates maybe....or speciality situations, with mod's etc. But games like Fallout , GTAV, Hitman2, etc, etc dont come close at 1200p.

If you could find a 290/290X or 390/X

i agree to this. Although the 580/570 are pretty cheap , iirc they are Sub $250, but you might find a older model that is nearly as capable for less

 

[eidairaman1]

i had that mindset when i built this PC (which is above a "budget Pc" for sure). But ive yet to find a scenario where i hit the Ram "ceiling" so to speak Ive run the Memory heavy titles, & just havent hit it. I think its more a concern at higher Resolutions, & @ higher Refresh rates maybe....or speciality situations, with mod's etc. But games like Fallout , GTAV, Hitman2, etc, etc dont come close at 1200p.


i agree to this. Although the 580/570 are pretty cheap , iirc they are Sub $250, but you might find a older model that is nearly as capable for less

As I said if he could find you know one of those old cards for say like 150 that helps on his budget. I wouldnt bother with snything under 4GB today on them

 

[xtreemchaos]

jboydgolfer, mines a budget pc "2700x in sig" I have another for doing my image processing which isn't but its not the best for playing games. why carnt you have a budget rig to play VR ? because if you carnt I must be a first so im happy to be at the cutting edge ;-) there nothing wrong with being future proof when we can and like it or not buddy VR is the future charl

 

[jboydgolfer]

I wonder is a rx580 would be a better buy me? There is roughly an $80 difference between the two and really the most graphically intensive game I would be playing would probably be Deus ex, the witcher or assasins creed (at least until cyberpunk and the outerworlds drop). My son will probably play fortnight but will generally stick to the ps4.

I would guess the biggest strain on a computer out of that list would be assassin's creed, simply based on there often being a high population of NPC characters in the world. All those people milling about, doing nothing at all, are a strain on the CPU ,as well as the ram (at least to some degree). I would guess as long as it's a current iteration of the game ,that it would be similar to what I posted above, Hitman 2 has high resolution & great detail, and a lot of stuff going on i.e NPC characters performing tasks, talking ,and milling about. Fortnight, and do sex are lesser strains and can be run by most semi capable PCs.

Just as a form of reference for you , maybe to alleviate any concerns you have, I'm going to post the specs of my nephews computer which he games on very regularly , as he's a 15-years old , for long sessions & has no "i just cant run it" situations.... at worst ,he gets lower than desired frame rates in higher strain titles, but that's it

i3 4170 2core 4 thread
16gb ddr3
Gtx780
NZXT 550w psu
Hyper evo212

why carnt you have a budget rig to play VR ?

because VR requires more CPU/GPU power than standard gaming, which in turn requires more money as you very well know. And if a person (who made no mention or expressed no interest in VR) wants to build a capable PC, at minimal cost, he is certainly not going to want to build it to run a niche tech, that is wholly unpopular, that he made no mention of, that he would need to spend an additional amount of money on to buy the Gear to run the VR...frankly im uncertain why were talking about VR.

no offense intended , its just reality. Im just helping OP with what he asked for, not suggesting he build a PC for what IM interested in.

 

[eidairaman1]

I would guess the biggest strain on a computer out of that list would be assassin's creed, simply based on there often being a high population of NPC characters in the world. All those people milling about, doing nothing at all, are a strain on the CPU ,as well as the ram (at least to some degree). I would guess as long as it's a current iteration of the game ,that it would be similar to what I posted above, Hitman 2 has high resolution & great detail, and a lot of stuff going on i.e NPC characters performing tasks, talking ,and milling about. Fortnight, and do sex are lesser strains and can be run by most semi capable PCs.

Just as a form of reference for you , maybe to alleviate any concerns you have, I'm going to post the specs of my nephews computer which he games on very regularly , as he's a 15-years old , for long sessions & has no "i just cant run it" situations.... at worst ,he gets lower than desired frame rates in higher strain titles, but that's it

i3 4170 2core 4 thread
16gb ddr3
Gtx780
NZXT 550w psu
Hyper evo212


because VR requires more CPU/GPU power than standard gaming, which in turn requires more money as you very well know. And if a person (who made no mention or expressed no interest in VR) wants to build a capable PC, at minimal cost, he is certainly not going to want to build it to run a niche tech, that is wholly unpopular, that he made no mention of, that he would need to spend an additional amount of money on to buy the Gear to run the VR...frankly im uncertain why were talking about VR.

no offense intended , its just reality. Im just helping OP with what he asked for, not suggesting he build a PC for what IM interested in.

Good starter on ryzen due to future upgrades at least till 5th gen Zen is out

 

[jboydgolfer]

Good starter on ryzen due to future upgrades at least till 5th gen Zen is out

Hell yeah, that's why I posted my nephews computer specs, because if his dinky little i3 can run modern games ,a Ryzen CPU will crush them NP.

One of my kids ran a Dell OptiPlex SFF for years as a gaming computer, and had zero complaints. anyone who knows what a small form factor OptiPlex is, knows it's about as budget as you're going to get

 

[eidairaman1]

Hell yeah, that's why I posted my nephews computer specs, because if his dinky little i3 can run modern games ,a Ryzen CPU will crush them NP.

Heck mine runs em lol

 

[xtreemchaos]

none taken, you view is well valid and respected. charl.

 

[jboydgolfer]

none taken, you view is well valid and respected. charl.

I may not be the biggest gamer in the world, although I've been doing it since intellivision was new, & burgertime was a "AAA" title i've been building/tinkering with computers as a hobby/enthusiast, or whatever you wanna call it ,for roughly 30 years.

I care for two of my nephews full-time, and I have children of my own, each of them has their own computer ,so I'm sure you can imagine ,I've gotten quite good at building computers on a budget

 

[xtreemchaos]

ive been at it since the stone age oh youth if we could only live it again I wouldn't of brought that Sinclair, id save for a apple 1 and id be rich now. charl