$800 Gaming PC (including Monitor) ?

Hey, guys.

My budget is $800 and I need to build a gaming PC out of it. I need your help.

You can propose the parts while keeping in mind that the prices are somewhat higher where I'm going. So it's better if you use these two websites to refer to the parts. HomeShopping and CZONE. The former has more variety whereas the latter is marginally cheaper. I recommend HomeShopping.

A decent 1080p monitor should also be included in the build.

Note: $800 is approximately equal to PKR80,000, so that's the budget I have.

I have proposed my own build but I want to see if you guys could come up with something better.

Also note that I'm going to either sell or upgrade this PC after 3 years or more (if it keeps going), whichever is better. So please also advise me which route to go.

@Coseniath@PredatorRules@GTR12@insane_metalist
Guys, I could really use your help.

I'd recommend something like this build which includes i5-6600K, Z170 mobo, 2X4GB kit, R9 380X 4GB.

If you need OS then something like this which includes i5-6500, H170 mobo, 2X4GB kit and GTX 960 2GB.

I included a decent 24" 1080P monitor in both builds.

@leeuwenhok: @insane_metalist: that first build is really good for the money.

I've seen the sites you've mentioned sadly didn't had time to use them to built you something, I could easy build you something out of pcpartpicker - best site ever.

I'll login during work and try to build you something out of those sites you've mentioned later.

@PredatorRules Thanks, buddy. It's just that the prices here are very much higher compared to the US and pcpartpicker prices would be way off the prices on those websites.

@insane_metalist Please use the websites I linked. The parts you selected are way more expensive here and the total build goes above $1100.

@leeuwenhok: Do you need OS, monitor, keyboard/mouse etc etc, or just the tower?

ps: Apart from Czone and Home Shopping, can we use also:

Galaxy Online

Kaymu

Symbios

IShopping

?

Sure, you can. Czone has the best prices but not so much variety. Galaxy is next in prices. Then comes homeshopping. These three are the main websites people buy components from. I'd recommend selecting the components in that order.

@Coseniath Since I'm moving to another place, currently I have nothing. I'm going to need a 1080p monitor, keyboard, mouse and speakers or headphones.

The mouse and keyboard do not necessarily need to be anything extraordinary. I believe low end ones would be good enough for me since I've been using laptop keyboards for the past five years and a basic Microsoft mini mouse.

Needing everything, that might change it up some, but I looked through the home shopping (not a well organized site) and you might be able to pull something off like this:

• i5-4460 (I think that's one, going off memory from last night when I looked)
• find a LGA 1150 micro motherboard for around 8,000 to 8,500, you don't need anything fancy since you can't OC the CPU anyway.
• GTX 960 for 26,000 (was the cheapest one if I remember correctly)
• Corsair VS500 (might be a VS550) for around 5,400

After picking out the above, it should leave you with about 24,000 (if I remember correctly) to put towards an OS, HDD, RAM, case, monitor, mouse/keyboard. I'd suggest skimping on the mouse/keyboard - basic should be well enough until you can buy better and don't spend too much on a case.

That's as far as I got looking through the site. Hopefully this gives you an idea of what you might be able to go with.

Corsair CS550M

Corsair 200R

Thermaltake Water 3

Hyper Fury 4Gb x2

Asus H81M-K

GTX750Ti

i5 4460

1Tb Seagate Barracuda

Total about 80K, sorry for no monitor included, for that I would've downgrade the 750Ti to regular 750 or replace the i5 to i3.

@leeuwenhok updated

@PredatorRules: Including the monitor and other peripherals?

I'm sorry but that won't do. My initial budget was 60,000 because I wanted to replace it after 3 years. I later asked my dad got it increased to 80,000.

Maybe get together a build that's much cheaper than that which would work great for 2 years, then stall for a year and finally make me feel less sad replacing it after 3 years.

Shouldn't the i5-4460 come with a stock heatsink? I hear that Skylake CPUs don't come with a heatsink, but I could have sworn the Haswell did.

If it has a stock heatsink, I see no need for the Thermaltake one you linked. He could take the 6,700 not going there and put towards something else like a monitor.

@leeuwenhok: OK then.

This is awesome. I haven't done any old school system build since pcpartpicker appeared...

Monitor: ViewSonic VX2263SMHL 22" Full Eye Care AH-IPS 2ms Rs. 15,900

Motherboard: ASUS H81M-E LGA 1150 Rs. 5,500 (be sure to ask them if it has the bios updated to support Haswell refresh)

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 Rs. 11,800

RAM: Corsair Vengeance 8GB DDR3 Rs. 5,100 (this is only one 8GB, you can add later an other 8GB. I checked in to all 6 sites and I couldn't find 2x4GB setup in reasonable price :S)

GPU: Asus R7 260x 2048MB - 128BIT - GDDR 5 CLOCK 1075MHZ Rs. 13,000

HDD: Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Rs. 5,500

PSU: Corsair VS450 Rs. 4,300

Case: Corsair Carbide Series® 100R Rs. 6,000

DVDROM: Asus DRW-24D3ST DVD Burner Rs. 1,880

Keyboard/Mouse: Logitech MK120 Desktop Rs. 1,480

Speakers or Headphones: Logitech Multimedia Speakers Z150 Rs. 1,950 (or you can choose anything else I just placed a solid choice under Rs2K.)

OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Home 64-Bit DVD - OEM Rs. 11,000 (Feel free to find a cheaper version here like Windows 8 Single Langue (costs around Rs8000) if you want)

Total: Rs 83410.

This is the best I could do with this budget and based on what is available in each sites.

Thanks a lot, guys. This is like the most helpful, most responsive, most friendly community I've ever seen. You guys rock!

@PredatorRules How about downgrading the CPU to an i3 4160 instead of downgrading the GPU? That would save like PKR9100. I saw some benchmarks yesterday regarding 4160 vs 4460 and it seemed to me that the i3 does not bottleneck the GPU much. At max it decreased 2-4 fps and I guess that's negligible. It's shocking that an i3 half the price of an i5 can perform nearly equally in games.

And as @neatfeatguy mentioned, the 4460 (and the 4160) comes with a stock fan/heatsink. Since I won't be overclocking (it's a non-overclockable CPU anyway), the stock cooler will work just fine, I guess. That's another PKR6700 saved.

Savings from the CPU and cooler equal PKR15800. That should be good enough for the monitor and other peripherals.

I was thinking of getting something better than a 750Ti. I need the PC to last at least 3 years. Is there any other place where we can skimp to increase the budget for the GPU?

@Coseniath That's a great build. It's pretty close to what I had planned. You almost guessed what I had on my mind. I don't think I'll need an OS. My college will manage that. Can you please adjust the build accordingly?

For now I have a few questions:

1. I had chosen the ASUS H81M-K myself. What are the major differences b/w the H81M-K, H81M-E and H81M-C and which one's better?

2. What mainstream features does the H81M lack compared to a typical Z97 mobo?

3. Will the i3 4160 work fine for the next 3 years? In what aspects will I feel it's difference from an i5?

4. Which PSU is better: Corsair VS550 PKR5400, Thermaltake Smart SE SPS530M PKR5500 The latter is modular. That's a good thing, right? I just don't want my whole PC to fry.

5. Is ViewSonic a trusted company? I've never heard of it. I don't know what to look for when buying a monitor. Never had any experience with it. Totally trusting you guys with this. Some other monitors: Asus VS228NE 21.5" PKR13900, Asus VS228HR 21.5" PKR15800, HP W2371d 23" PKR16000. I'd love to get the ViewSonic one if you say it's better than the rest. Price difference of 1-3k doesn't matter because the monitor is what's going to display what the CPU/GPU has to offer so it's got to be decent.

6. How much different is 2x4GB RAM from 1x8GB RAM? Is it noticeable in-game?

Also, I really like the sleek look of the 100R. I love to have a windowed case but that might get into the way of the "sleekness". Should I avoid using LED lightning inside the case? I know it all comes to personal preference, but what do you say? The look of the monitor, speakers, keyboard and mouse should be in accordance with that of the case, right?

• There's nothing wrong downgrading i5 to i3 or even G series but when you want to future proof it's best to go i5.
• I don't count stock coolers as coolers at all, throw 30$ on the simple EVO 212 and have a better temps - OC or not Intel CPU cooler gets to 70-90C - something you don't want to have when you can throw a couple of bucks more to avoid that.
• You can't got beyond 750Ti with such budget to include monitor and other stuff
• Differences between H81M modules are minor, check out for the features, it's mostly connectors that differ from version to version.
• H MOBO lacks Z MOBOs OC ability and probably SLI / Crossfire feature.
• If games will start demand more physical cores, you're going to have a bad time - that's the difference between i3 with 2 cores and hyperthreading and i5 with 4 cores.
• The Thermaltake Smart is the better PSU IMO, Corsair is a brand and the VS is their lowest tier PSU so yeah.
• ViewSonic is not a company that I would recommend it's usually used in cheap workplaces, for quality brand you want to go with: Asus, BenQ, LG, Samsung, AOC.
• It's better to get dual channel 2x4Gb instead of single channel 8Gb, but H81 doesn't feature more than 2 DIMM slots so it's either you buy now 2x4Gb and if in the future games will require 16Gb you'll have to sell them and rebuy 2x8Gb kit, that's why @Coseniath recommended you 8Gb single channel in the first place to avoid this but in terms of gaming performance it's a bit worse.
• I had Sharkoon REX3 with a window and installed 2 LED strips inside - it looked really cool, if you didn't had it before go for it.
• Go for total look in pheriphals if you can but it's not a must, since sometimes it'll impact on comfort or in terms of price.

This is like the first time I've been summoned to a thread lol, and before I could add anything worthwhile, everyone already answered :p

I'm gonna sit here and watch lol, there's nothing to add lol.

@leeuwenhok: The way the PC is right now with the extra Rs10K you can just get an i5 (Intel Core i5 4460) or a GTX950 (GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 950 GV-N950OC-2GD (rev. 1.0) 2GB) or R9 370 (ASUS Radeon R7 370 STRIX-R7370-DC2OC-2GD5-GAMING 2GB) and maybe GTX960 or R9 380.

1. The K model has 2 less USB2.0 ports (It has 6) from C and E. All of them have also an other 2 USB3.0 ports (for a total of 8/10/10), so it shouldn't be necessary. The C model has also a PCI (yes that old, really old thing) slot which is unecessary too... So I would pick the K model cause it was cheaper, but E seems better.

2. The main difference between H81 and Z87 (Z97 supports from the begining haswell refresh) is the o/c ability and dual GPU features. There are other things too like it doesn't support PCIE3.0 aswell....

Here is the list:

*In addition to the 16 PCI-E 3.0 lanes from the CPU

3. i3 will might be fine, but it might be not. Having HT might help but still its not real 4cores. And with the DX12 games coming soon, 4 cores would be better. But we will see...

It might be better to choose an i5 now and pick later a GPU with the new architecures from Nvidia/AMD (Pascal or Polaris).

4. Modular means that you can remove the wires that you don't use from the PSU and have a better cable management. However that doesn't mean anything if the PSU is good or not.

Both of them are acceptable, I would pick Corsair VS550 cause they are made by CWT, while Thermaltake Smart SE SPS530M is made by HEC...

5. I choose ViewSonic VX2263smhl cause its a great model and its strangly cheap in this store. It costs $200+ in amazon(not to mention that its rated 4.5/5 stars from 87 customers and this is something you cannot see in every product)... It has IPS + low ms.

I never heard any problems with ViewSonic but if @PredatorRules heard something, feel free to choose an other one, just be sure to have low ms (5ms for IPS and 2ms for TN) and if its within price range choose IPS too.

6. There shouldn't be any difference in most games, but some of them might see a few more FPS. But the problem is that I couldn't find similar priced 2x4GB sticks in all 6 sites LOL. I even found 2,5 times more expensive for 2x4GB lmao! @PredatorRules: Thats why I picked 8GB... :P

As far as the look I really liked the black-red color in my PC but I would put performance/quality top in my priority list and looks in the bottom. :P

(Thats why with the red mobo leds I got a blue led from Gigabyte xD)

That's why I picked a single channel 1 DIMM and wrote x2 on it - the price is the same, you don't have to buy ready to go dual channel kit to make one.

True. But it was still more expensive. The similar Vengeance model (Corsair Vengeance 4GB DDR3) 2x4GB costs 2x Rs3400 = Rs6800 vs Corsair Vengeance 8GB DDR3 Rs. 5,100...

So it seemed a good move to pick 8GB now and maybe 8GB later.

But I would go with your solution if I wouldn't plan to buy an other 8GB soon.

Oh looks like the site you use got better prices than mine, on my site 4Gb costs 4K while the single 8Gb costs 8K.

Then yes go with the 8Gb straight single DIMM.

@Coseniath@PredatorRules Glad to hear back from you guys.

@GTR12 Look again and you might just fit into this conversation.

I'll recompile the parts list and see what the total becomes.

Edit: I'm still unable to decide between the 3 monitors: Asus VS228HR, ViewSonic VX2263SMHL, HP W2371d All 3 are 21.5-22" and similarly priced, 15,500-15,900. Which is the better pick?

@Coseniath@PredatorRules@GTR12@insane_metalist Here's what I have currently:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CPU: Intel Core i5 4590 = PKR 21500 (Galaxy)

Mobo: Asus H81M-E = PKR 5300 (Galaxy)

RAM: Kingston HyperX 8GB 1600MHz = PKR 5000 (Galaxy)

HDD: Seagate 1TB = PKR 5500 (Galaxy)

GPU: (Not yet decided) = PKR 9990-10390

Case = Corsair 100R Windowed = PKR 6000 (CZone)

PSU: Thermaltake Smart SE 530W = PKR 5500 (Galaxy)

ODD: Asus DVD RW 24X = PKR 1880 (CZone)

Monitor: (Not yet decided) = PKR 15500-15900

Speakers: Logitech Z150 = PKR 1950 (CZone)

Keyboard/Mouse: Logitech MK120 = PKR 1480 (CZone)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Haven't decided on the monitor and GPU yet. But the budget left for the GPU is around 10k. Wonder what I should cheapen out on...

I chose the 4590 over the 4460 because the difference was only PKR2000.

What do you say?

Now I have a dilemma: should I stay with this build for the next 5-6 years and only upgrade the GPU and add more RAM after 3 years? Or should I keep it for the next 3 years, then sell it, and buy a new PC altogether? Which one would be the better, cheaper route? I have another set of questions based on the answers to these questions.

@leeuwenhok: Do you really need a disk drive? I know its cheap, but you can install the OS from a USB drive if you have a spare 8GB one or can borrow it.

@leeuwenhok: First of all, there is a difference between i5 4460 and i5 4590 but I am not sure that 100MHz base frequency and 300MHz turbo is worth PKR2000...

As for GPU I would recommend you not to buy and use the CPU's GPU till you find an other PKR10K. By that time Pascal or Polaris should be out and you will get a far more performance for the same amount of money. With only PKR10K you can't something very good.

Oh and about the monitors. I would go with Asus if I would want quality or with Viwsonic if I would want an IPS monitor.

And for the PC... If you build it with i5, it might last for like 4-5 years but you need as you said to change the GPU and add an other 8GB RAM in the future...

I said it might, cause 2016 will be a year that AMD might be back again in the CPU department and they might force Intel again to release a revolutionary "Sandybridge like" architecture...

@Coseniath What'll happen if Intel does release such architecture?

And what's the difference between an IPS and other displays?

If I build it to last 5-6 years, would the 4460 be fine or should I go for the 4590?

If I keep the PC only for 3 years, the 4160 should do okay, right?

I'm thinking the upgrade route would be better. What's your opinion?

IPS panels have best colors (I own a couple IPS panels myself).

If you want your PC to last 3+ years then you should probably just grab a 4590.

This. ^

@leeuwenhok: If Intel and AMD release new architecture that threatens Intel's CPU dominance, then Intel will respond for sure. But we need also the game developers to take advantage of the extra CPU power. Believe me there are a lot of ifs in this scenario but it all begins from one point. How fast the new CPU architecture from AMD will be.

My opinion is that you will hardly need any new CPU with a Haswell i5 (like 4590) for at least 3 years. Even if they bring far better architectures.

@Coseniath Still don't understand. What are you suggesting? Which one should I get?

What I'm trying to do here is get a gaming PC which will last me while I'm in college, which btw is 6 years. Now, no PC lasts that long, since games keep becoming more demanding. So I'm thinking setting up a better base will help the PC last that time by a simple GPU upgrade a couple years from now. I was even thinking of getting an i5 6500 + H110 mobo at one point. Got rid of that idea because it was adding around 8000PKR more to the budget.

Please suggest a build that would let me do what I just stated.

@leeuwenhok: Well I think I already post it.

Me and @insane_metalist are suggesting i5 4590 if you want to last longer.

Its the best you can do with the limitation of your budget.

Thanks, I get that now.

Will the 4590 be good enough for the next 5-6 years?

It should be, unless it'll die, make sure to install non reference cooling solution like the 212EVO I've suggested.

+1.

@leeuwenhok: You will be fine for the next 5 years.

Although I never heard in 20 years of PC experience a stock clock Intel CPU to die...

They must have alien knowledge on how to build them and they might use unknown meteorite metals... :P

@Coseniath @PredatorRules What if I increase the budget to 90000PKR? What changes to the build would you suggest?

Add a CPU cooler :P Netopn 140XL is what I recommend, sadly the options are limited.

@PredatorRules Umm... the build does not have a GPU currently.

Now I don't even know which build we were following, that's why I asked to propose a build again.

Also, in what order of preference would you place the three monitors I linked earlier?

@PredatorRules: Lol there is no need for a closed loop watercooler on a stock clock CPU... He can't o/c his CPU, so even an EVO is overkill. Even a CoolerMaster RR-UAS L9C2 GR will keep his CPU in acceptable temps.

@leeuwenhok: If you go for 90000 budget, then you can go for a better GPU aswell, like GTX960 or R9 380.

For a system that will have: i5 4590, 8GB RAM, GTX960 / R9 380.

The Asus one, the ViewSonic got better specs but then again it's not a quality brand IMO so I wouldn't pick it up.

Suggestion: go with @Coseniath build, except for the monitor or if you prefer specs on brand go with it as well, since you'll add 10K more and for i3 I wouldn't bother installing Netopn 140XL, I'd pick ASUS GTX 960 OC STRIX, if you cannot sqeeze it within budget then go with ASUS GTX 750Ti OC STRIX 4096MB

EDIT: Meh about the cooler you've mentioned @Coseniath - better to save the money and keep the stock Intel cooler.

I'm getting the i5 4590. That leaves us with around 20k for the GPU.

It's better to spend on a good GPU rather than a good CPU, trust me on this one.

i3 is fine for gaming, even the G series are fine for gaming, the balance should be about - GPU 50%, CPU 25% and the rest of the rig is another 25%.

Also take a not you can always upgrade the CPU as long as it fits the MOBO.

Yeah I agree with you. Its not the best cooler around, but I worked with coolers like this (mostly from Zalman) and they can keep an i7 4770K in 4GHz without a problem (OK the cooler was bigger and made with copper :P).

But Intel cooler sux a lot. And for like $7 (as @leeuwenhok said about currencies) getting like 10C better temps, is nice. (Yeah intel cooler sux so much that even this would give him 10C while an EVO could give him 25C...).

Maybe staying with Intel stock might be better afterall and he can order an EVO from amazon later. Cause all 6 shops don't have any air cooler apart from what I linked lol!.

This is great. It will make an almost double performance gaming machine (the graphics score difference between GTX950 and R7 260X in 3DMark is 6700 vs 3900).

So you can pick for GPU a:

ASUS Radeon R7 370 STRIX-R7370-DC2OC-2GD5-GAMING 2GB Rs18,900

GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 950 GV-N950OC-2GD (rev. 1.0) 2GB Rs20,300

How long will an i3 last?

Right now it keeping in par with FX8XX series from AMD, so I would say 3 years give or take.

@Coseniath again you find good prices? eh, I'd go with this one GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 950 GV-N950OC-2GD (rev. 1.0) 2GB Rs20,300 if you're keeping the i5, if not it's the 960.

Well this is a little even more complicated, cause i3 is already the minimum for gaming today, while i5 sits on the sweet spot.

I think around 3 years and thats cause of Kaby Lake that will bring 4 cores minimum to mainstream. That will make a 2 core HT CPU not even mainstream...

edit: @PredatorRules: Lol, I said 3 years too, without seeing you posted before. xD

I5 4590 + GTX 950 it is then.

=) enjoy

:D