Budget Gaming Rig-Rate this build.
 

At 44 years old, I think I'm jumping off the cliff. I had expressed some interest into getting into a bit of gaming. A guy on my local forum has offered to build me a budget gaming rig. I told him I wanted to stay under $700. Here's what he came up with. This will still leave me a few bucks for headphones and a game or two on Steam. As I have crappy internet (wifi through my wife's phone) I will be doing strictly single player stuff and he will download the games and install for me.

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/Pu...umber=18062065

What do you think?

An I5 2500 with a H61 motherboard baffles me. What was his logic for that?

not bad for the price, just make sure you don't game over 1920x1080.

But I would invest in a better motherboard, keeps upgrade options open down the line. A good z68 board, with at least 2 pci-e slots would have real upgrade options, and imo worth the extra scrill.

I know absolutely dookey about computers so I just posted up the wishlist for feedback. What would you suggest?

He was trying to stay to my original $600 budget but if it needs another $50 I'll do it.

Better mobo, 460w P/S scares me.

I5-2500k (Note the K) with a z68-based motherboard.

Due to a clusterfuck of clusterfuckery on AMD's side, and Intel's...weird as shit lineup, the I5-2500k is really the best processor available price/performance.

z68 is all-but-required. x79 is awesome, but it's pricy as shit unfortunately. Seriously, a good x79 motherboard's price will make your outie turn into an innie. h61 isn't even worth the time of day. 2500k+z68 is a bit more cash as the previous poster noted, but it is well worth the extra cash. 2500 non-k...works I guess, but you save $10 for taking a massive chunk out of future proofing.

The video card is the top price/performance you can get, the 6850 is definitely a good choice.

I have that RAM in my gaming PC.

The PSU gives me some hesitation, I'd definitely recommend something beefier and a better manufacturer.

The rest is so generic that it doesn't matter.

How about this mobo?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813138319

for a budget, I'm looking at these

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128523

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813138319

I'm partial to the gigabyte one due to their reliability reputation. But if I were actually building another personal system right now. I'd probably go with this one.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131773

Reason being, I'm a bit of an Asus whore, and every asus board I've ever owned got outdated before it died.

Love gigabyte. But Asus is sex too.

I have that in my gaming rig, works perfect. It's the best board available in the sub-$160 range.

i5-2500k is a no-brainer for an an extra $10, right?

Yeah. A 2500k will give you 4ghz on a stock intel hsf guarenteed - $10 for 700mhz?

Yes, and wow the price jumped, I built a friend an i5 2500k system black friday, and it was $154 shipped then. The K, just means the cpu is unlocked, so you can overclock it if you upgrade the cooling, or use your PC to heat your home instead of the HVAC.

OK, so the Biostar Z68 and I5-2500k should cover it for changes, correct?

He's leaned on some other people going with 550w and 600w power supplies on similar builds saying they were overkill. Who knows.

It's not that it doesn't meet the required maximum, it's about longevity. Joe Perez could probably give you the *actual* explanation of why, but I've seen psus in the 400w range give up the ghost in a few months on similar systems with regularity. Considering that a 600w PSU is, after rebate, $10 more than a 460w PSU...Why cheap out?

http://cmstore.coolermaster-usa.com/...products_id=83

http://cmstore.coolermaster-usa.com/...roducts_id=536

there, saved you a lil gawp

I appreciate the feedback. I bumped to the Z68 that I linked above, i5-2500k and the 550W power supply.

Should be a good build.

Enjoy your ridiculously powerful system. As a bonus, if you find out you really like PC gaming, you'll be able to upgrade just the video card in 2 years for ~150, and be perfectly able to play new games then.