Time for a new Rig - ~$1000 budget

[Capo]

Hey All,

 

My rig is getting fairly old and it's definitely time for an update! I wanted to get everyone's thoughts on what parts you would recommend and why. High level, assume I have approximately a $1,000.00 US budget. I don't need a monitor or peripherals, just the core components. I can honestly reuse my existing case too if that helps stretch the budget.

 

I primarily use this machine for gaming and typically only build a new rig every 5 years or so, so staying power is important.

 

Thanks for the help!

 

Edit: Economies of scale matter too. While I do want staying power, if I increase my budget by 25% for only a 5% performance increase, that may not be worth it. Simply put, if I can get 90% - 95% performance from a $750 dollar system instead of a $1,000.00 system, that would be helpful to know.

Edited August 11, 2013 by Capo

[SpikeSoprano]

What system do you have now ?

[Black64]

What are your preferences? AMD or intel? Nvidia or AMD? Would you reuse your PSU?

[Waco]

What if any parts do you have to carry over?

[IVIYTH0S]

^What they've said, I wanna know what monitor you're working with now (size and resolution in particular) as that will decide much of the new upgrades.

[Capo]

Thanks all for the reply. To answer your questions, I have a 27" inch monitor which supports 1920x1080. In the past, I have prefered Intel/Nvidia systems simply due to the maturity of their driversets but if that is no longer relevant, I am willing to look at AMD if there is a large savings to be had.

 

The parts I'll be able to bring over are:

 

- Monitor

- Keyboard

- Mouse

- DVD drive

- Speakers

- Internal storage drive

- Windows 7

 

The part's I'll be looking to buy are:

 

- Motherboard

- CPU (w/ aftermark heatsink if needed)

- Aftermarket thermal compound (unless stock has improved these days)

- Video Card

- RAM

- Primary OS drive

- PSU

- Soundcard (are these worth it these days? Or is onboard fine for most people still?)

 

The primary use of the machine will be gaming.

 

Thanks for any help.

[l1il]

This is the closest to 1000$ I can get

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1qWFt

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1qWFt
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1qWFt/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1qWFt/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($199.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Zalman CNPS10X Performa CPU Cooler  ($37.98 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87X-D3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($134.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($63.75 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  ($92.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card  ($298.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Corsair 500R Black ATX Mid Tower Case  ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts Green 650W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply  ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $968.66
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-08-1

 

Lower than that :

You'd loose the GTX 670  (still faster than a GTX 760) or the 4670K

Samsung 840 are well known thru reviews)

Good motherboard

 

That thing should scream for now, age well if you keep it clean

[ir_cow]

the question is still what do you have now? An upgrade might not seems like it's worth $1,000 if you already have a decent system and just need a new video card.

 

If you are building a new computer I think a few factors come into play. One example is screen resolution and the games you want to play. Some games like World of Warcraft you do not need a powerful video card. Other games like Metro Light Last or Crysis 3 will make expensive computers seem its not worth the cash if you crank up the settings an get 15fps.

[Capo]

Thanks for the suggestion of parts!

 

I believe I built my current system in 2007 or so. The only part that has been upgraded since then is the video card.

 

I have:

 

Q6600

MOBO = Nvidia 680i LT SLI

4 gigs of DDR2 RAM

Geforce GTX 460

OS is on 2x 10k RPM raptor drives in RAID 0

Larger 7200 RPM storage drive

Windows 7

[SpikeSoprano]

 

This is the closest to 1000$ I can get

 

+1, GOOD CHOICE OF PARTS !

[ir_cow]

well going from a Q6600 and a GTX 460 will be a huge upgrade. I alot of tech has changed and much more powerful. So here is my suggestion list and I assume you still have windows 7 and a 1080p monitor.

 

CPU:  i5 Haswell $200

Motherboard: MSI Z87-GD65 $190

Memory: Anything G.Skill or this G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 8gb should be enough but 16gb might be worth looking into.

Case: check out OCC reviews

Hard Drive: Use your current one

SSD: Optional

Video Card: GTX 770 or GTX 680 whatever is cheaper and under $400

 

 

[VaporX]

If you are using this for gaming and staying around 1080 I would save the money and go with an APU 6800K or an FX 6100. With the APU you can get a solid motherboard for around $100 put in 8 gig od DDR 2133 and then a nice video card.

 

On Newegg I put together the following..

 

Arc Mini Case

Seasonic 620 PSU

AMD A8 6600K

Asus F2A85-M Pro

Corsair Vengeance 8 Gig 2133

Sapphire HD 7950

 

Total cost $709 and rebates will get you around $100 back.

 

This leaves you money for adding the aftermarket cooler of your choice and/or an SSD if you like.

 

The 6600K will get to around 4.6 Ghz with a good cooler pretty easy and with the 7950 you will get a great gaming experience with any game you like up to 1080 resolutions.

 

True an Intel will benchmark better but the actual play experience will be no different.

 

The FX route will give you to more cores but you will need to move to a mid tower case and use a full ATX board. Personally I like compact :-)