Trying to build budget gaming computer w/o bottleneck. Need Insight

Waffe

Posts: 60   +4
As the title states I trying to find the perfect non-bottleneck formula. Currently starting from scratch and building a compuer( Minus throwing in my old old hard drive,RAM, and psu).
I cannot stress this enough, I need a cheap but very efficient mid-range computer. I am simply having trouble picking the right card/cpu combo. If I can less than what I am currently building that would be great!
This computer needs to be able to handle powerful games at a 1920x1080 resolution.

An Idea of what I want(around 400-550$ range).
http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/partlist/


Current pc:
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601) Service Pack 1 (7601.win7sp1_gdr.130318-1533)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Hewlett-Packard
System Model: p7-1254
BIOS: Ver: HOL_715.ROM vHOL7.15
Processor: AMD A8-3850 APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics (4 CPUs), ~2.9GHz
Memory: 8192MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 8178MB RAM
Page File: 3204MB used, 13151MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 11
GPU: Geforce Gtx 560
 
So what's the problem with your current PC? Your partlist isn't working by the way, take a screenshot.
 
The 560 is fine. I recommend saving up more money and waiting. The PC you have now is fine and in order to build a better PC, you will need >$500.
 
Sorry bout that grabbed the wrong link.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1doRh

There isn't actually anything wrong with my current pc, I just wish to completely upgrade(This was a Bestbuy floor model).
I am getting mixed messages on performance of intel and amd. I know amd is cheaper and intel is top notch but more expensive.
Also, at time it feels I am getting extensive fps drop in certain games. I would like a significant boost in power. I want to be able to run my games at high with my current 1920x1080 resolution without a performance hit.
Or is this just a pipe dream, and the only way for a significant boost is a SSD and a expensive cpu?
 
Sorry bout that grabbed the wrong link.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1doRh

There isn't actually anything wrong with my current pc, I just wish to completely upgrade(This was a Bestbuy floor model).
I am getting mixed messages on performance of intel and amd. I know amd is cheaper and intel is top notch but more expensive.
Also, at time it feels I am getting extensive fps drop in certain games. I would like a significant boost in power. I want to be able to run my games at high with my current 1920x1080 resolution without a performance hit.
Or is this just a pipe dream, and the only way for a significant boost is a SSD and a expensive cpu?

I think you should still wait a year.
 
I would like a significant boost in power.
Please refer to this.

$500 is barely anything to build a low-end gaming rig. Considering you have a low-medium rig now, there's absolutely no point to throw everything away and get another one. You will be throwing away $500 on probably 5-10fps.

You've got a GTX560? or a Ti model? This matters. You could spend some money on upgrading the GPU, but you'll be limited by the CPU and PSU. Unless of course you buy a new one..



Recommendation: either wait a bit (since you have a decent rig really), or raise budget to $1000.
 
Slightly disappointing because I wanted a shiny new computer. I would have liked to just upgrade because this computer is already at its max upgrade, there is no more room for improvements. I was thinking on the new moba and everything just to lay some epic groundwork ya know?
 
Well, it's not epic mobo or CPU. It's average. Also there is room for improvement, mainly in the GPU as I said.

I mean ultimately it's your money, but the end result isn't really an upgrade.
 
Ok so IF, and I mean IF I really want that performance. What would be a good start, besides GPU? Also, where do I draw the line for CPU standards? Would it really come down to something like an i5 processor with a 200+ gfx card?

I also Realized I picked a very basic mobo and cpu, Merely a skeleton build to show what I am looking for. I just need to be pointed in the right direction is all.
 
Well, what games are you playing? You say you need to be able to handle powerful games @ 1920x1080 and
at time it feels I am getting extensive fps drop in certain games

If you're referring to Tomb Raider, Hitman, BF3, etc.. you're gonna need:
- i5 $200
- mobo $100
- GPU (at least GTX760, or HD7950 I'd say) $300+
- PSU <$100

That's to play on High/Ultra settings.
 
If you really want to upgrade get a new GPU (7950 or 760 as suggested) and PSU. A decent PSU will last you years and will be a good investment for future builds.

Upgrading to an FX 6300 will see little to no improvement in gaming performance, games are generally GPU limited unless you're running an old dual core CPU. Save up for an i5+mobo otherwise you're wasting your money.
 
You could always build a decent $1500+ gaming rig the way I built mine - 1 or 2 parts at a time, that way you get what you really want instead of compromising on every component. Start with a solid foundation, a case with more airflow and a reputable 500-600 watt power supply (Corsair cases and PSUs are a good place to start, also Seasonic, NZXT, XFX, etc.). A couple hundred spent now will pay off later, and even though this first upgrade won't improve performance in any appreciable way, you'll have your old parts in a much cooler running case with a more efficient PSU (that ~70% efficient O.E.M. 300w is already borderline inadequate to run the 560). Wait a little while, read a lot of reviews, save your $, and when you're ready, get the video card you decided on (760, 7850, 770, or whatever). Now you'll see some improvement in frame rates, and even though it'll be bottle-necked by the CPU, at least it won't fry the power supply and possibly everything else (like it may have if you hadn't already done the first upgrade). So play some games, run some benchmarks, and save some more $ to make the big jump to an i5-3570K and a Z77 motherboard, or an FX-8350 and 990FX motherboard if you decide on AMD (I recommend Intel parts, they run cooler, quieter, and more efficient). The Intel parts will cost a little more, but long term you'll be happier with them. You can use your current RAM with either system, maybe upgrading to a faster speed later. So now you'll almost be done, and your games will run at the frame rates you want, and you've never had to lay out more than $300-$400 for any step. To squeeze the last bit of performance out of your new GPU, you need to overclock your CPU, so the final upgrade will be to throw away the crappy Intel or AMD stock cooler and get an aftermarket air cooler or an All-In-One liquid cooling kit. The Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo is the best budget air cooler ($35), the Corsair H100i is a good choice for water cooling ($110), either will let you get to 4.3 - 4.5 GHz (at lower temps of course with the H100i). By the way, an SSD won't matter once the game is loaded, it will only cut load times in half or better. It will, however, make Windows feel snappier because of it's much lower latency (time spent waiting to access data), and programs will start a lot faster.
Building a system this way is easier on your budget, but it also gives you more time to research each upgrade , and let's you appreciate each boost in performance and where it comes from. By the time you're done you'll have learned a lot, and overclocking will teach you the rest as you push your system to it's limits. You'll never again be compelled to call the HP tech line, to be told in broken English to make sure the power cord is plugged in, because you'll already know how to fix it. Good luck, and enjoy building.
 
I think you should just wait a year. Not because of next gen consoles, but because you will need a larger budget in order to gain real improvements.
 
I can spend your money for you if you really want to get rid of it.
I'll send over some glossy paint to make your computer shiny too.
 
You could always build a decent $1500+ gaming rig the way I built mine - 1 or 2 parts at a time, that way you get what you really want instead of compromising on every component. Start with a solid foundation, a case with more airflow and a reputable 500-600 watt power supply (Corsair cases and PSUs are a good place to start, also Seasonic, NZXT, XFX, etc.). A couple hundred spent now will pay off later, and even though this first upgrade won't improve performance in any appreciable way, you'll have your old parts in a much cooler running case with a more efficient PSU (that ~70% efficient O.E.M. 300w is already borderline inadequate to run the 560). Wait a little while, read a lot of reviews, save your $, and when you're ready, get the video card you decided on (760, 7850, 770, or whatever). Now you'll see some improvement in frame rates, and even though it'll be bottle-necked by the CPU, at least it won't fry the power supply and possibly everything else (like it may have if you hadn't already done the first upgrade). So play some games, run some benchmarks, and save some more $ to make the big jump to an i5-3570K and a Z77 motherboard, or an FX-8350 and 990FX motherboard if you decide on AMD (I recommend Intel parts, they run cooler, quieter, and more efficient). The Intel parts will cost a little more, but long term you'll be happier with them. You can use your current RAM with either system, maybe upgrading to a faster speed later. So now you'll almost be done, and your games will run at the frame rates you want, and you've never had to lay out more than $300-$400 for any step. To squeeze the last bit of performance out of your new GPU, you need to overclock your CPU, so the final upgrade will be to throw away the crappy Intel or AMD stock cooler and get an aftermarket air cooler or an All-In-One liquid cooling kit. The Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo is the best budget air cooler ($35), the Corsair H100i is a good choice for water cooling ($110), either will let you get to 4.3 - 4.5 GHz (at lower temps of course with the H100i). By the way, an SSD won't matter once the game is loaded, it will only cut load times in half or better. It will, however, make Windows feel snappier because of it's much lower latency (time spent waiting to access data), and programs will start a lot faster.
Building a system this way is easier on your budget, but it also gives you more time to research each upgrade , and let's you appreciate each boost in performance and where it comes from. By the time you're done you'll have learned a lot, and overclocking will teach you the rest as you push your system to it's limits. You'll never again be compelled to call the HP tech line, to be told in broken English to make sure the power cord is plugged in, because you'll already know how to fix it. Good luck, and enjoy building.



This sounds all fine and dandy, but you will never know if your parts are D.O.A or not without having them hooked up( Unless you are testing these 1 by 1 but that already sounds like a lot of work).
From all these posts I assume it would be best to wait, but the thing is, I can already pretty much afford the i5/mobo combo(around 350$). if I get those and just keep everything the same, will I then see improvements?
 
Well based off your current rig and parts, here's my suggestion;

Your Current machine has a lot of useable parts, what I would suggest, is focusing on working with what you have and building up from there.

I don't see your PSU listed, but im going to assume its fine since its enough for what you have currently.

Now basing this off what you have, you have an FM2 board with an A8 which will mean it has some decent DDR3 ram (At minimum 1333 MHz I would guess, probably 1600).

Strip out the Board and CPU and possibly sell them. Take the Ram, HDD, PSU, GPU, and DVD/other drives out for re-use into a new system.

Then look at something like this:
I5 4670k $239
MSI Z87-G45 Gaming Board $149
Total: ~390
Putting those two components together would give you a nice performance improvement in CPU intensive games and all around the board pushing the GTX 560 to its limits.

That leaves you with around $100 for a case, I would suggest something nice with plenty of room and airflow like This One to hold all your components. Now with this setup, overall you should see some nice gains across the board, and you will have loads of room for future upgrading as it would be years before that Proc would be rendered inadequate.

If you want to stick to AMD Board and CPU, just swap out the components for the FX-8350 and a good 990fx board to complement it.
 
Well based off your current rig and parts, here's my suggestion;

Your Current machine has a lot of useable parts, what I would suggest, is focusing on working with what you have and building up from there.

I don't see your PSU listed, but im going to assume its fine since its enough for what you have currently.

Now basing this off what you have, you have an FM2 board with an A8 which will mean it has some decent DDR3 ram (At minimum 1333 MHz I would guess, probably 1600).

Strip out the Board and CPU and possibly sell them. Take the Ram, HDD, PSU, GPU, and DVD/other drives out for re-use into a new system.

Then look at something like this:
I5 4670k $239
MSI Z87-G45 Gaming Board $149
Total: ~390
Putting those two components together would give you a nice performance improvement in CPU intensive games and all around the board pushing the GTX 560 to its limits.

That leaves you with around $100 for a case, I would suggest something nice with plenty of room and airflow like This One to hold all your components. Now with this setup, overall you should see some nice gains across the board, and you will have loads of room for future upgrading as it would be years before that Proc would be rendered inadequate.

If you want to stick to AMD Board and CPU, just swap out the components for the FX-8350 and a good 990fx board to complement it.

Why do you like Haswell so much? They are not cost effective. You can get a 3570K for $30 less that gets basically the same performance. Also, Z77 boards are getting real cheap vs Z87s.
 
Well based off your current rig and parts, here's my suggestion;

Your Current machine has a lot of useable parts, what I would suggest, is focusing on working with what you have and building up from there.

I don't see your PSU listed, but im going to assume its fine since its enough for what you have currently.

Now basing this off what you have, you have an FM2 board with an A8 which will mean it has some decent DDR3 ram (At minimum 1333 MHz I would guess, probably 1600).

Strip out the Board and CPU and possibly sell them. Take the Ram, HDD, PSU, GPU, and DVD/other drives out for re-use into a new system.

Then look at something like this:
I5 4670k $239
MSI Z87-G45 Gaming Board $149
Total: ~390
Putting those two components together would give you a nice performance improvement in CPU intensive games and all around the board pushing the GTX 560 to its limits.

That leaves you with around $100 for a case, I would suggest something nice with plenty of room and airflow like This One to hold all your components. Now with this setup, overall you should see some nice gains across the board, and you will have loads of room for future upgrading as it would be years before that Proc would be rendered inadequate.

If you want to stick to AMD Board and CPU, just swap out the components for the FX-8350 and a good 990fx board to complement it.

This is almost exactly what I want to do, speaking my language here. PSU is 600w btw. The current motherboard I'm using is at its limits for upgrading and I just wanted something with a little more room for improvements. I don't know if it is just me but my two other friends have the same card and they aren't getting some of the bottlenecks I am( this friend has a weaker cpu too).

Factory site for computer I have been upgrading:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en&docname=c03135882#N412
 
This sounds all fine and dandy, but you will never know if your parts are D.O.A or not without having them hooked up( Unless you are testing these 1 by 1 but that already sounds like a lot of work).
From all these posts I assume it would be best to wait, but the thing is, I can already pretty much afford the i5/mobo combo(around 350$). if I get those and just keep everything the same, will I then see improvements?
You misunderstood me, I built my rig this way, and used every part as soon as I got it, and I had a working, upgraded computer at every step of the way. Sorry if the post was too long! And yes, you should see better frame rates with the i5 & mobo, I used mine with a 550 Ti when I first built it, and it worked out very well.
 
Why do you like Haswell so much? They are not cost effective. You can get a 3570K for $30 less that gets basically the same performance. Also, Z77 boards are getting real cheap vs Z87s.

No I agree with you, Haswell is pretty underwhelming to say the least, but its still a more powerful chip. My reason for picking the chip is that I try to pick the most recent generation part to give the most bang out of your system if the price allows for it. Now if we were going to swap out the same board for the 3570k chip, you would save ~60 dollars total. Now if you do that, I would grab a nice aftermarket cooler for the chip with lla the same style parts listed to give yourself some overclocking room and a nice silent gaming system all around.

But I still stand by getting the most Bang out of your system
 
No I agree with you, Haswell is pretty underwhelming to say the least, but its still a more powerful chip. My reason for picking the chip is that I try to pick the most recent generation part to give the most bang out of your system if the price allows for it. Now if we were going to swap out the same board for the 3570k chip, you would save ~60 dollars total. Now if you do that, I would grab a nice aftermarket cooler for the chip with lla the same style parts listed to give yourself some overclocking room and a nice silent gaming system all around.

But I still stand by getting the most Bang out of your system

I know man, but for a $600 system, you cannot get the best of the best (the 3570K is almost equivalent to the 4670K, so there is not much to lose). You need to compromise :).
 
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