Week Three In Grenada (Vacation almost over!) + Dream Gaming PC Build · 1:26pm Jan 6th, 2015
>mfw there's a week left of vacation and after returning to Canada to go back to cleaning offices and them. 
Last week was okay but for a few days, I had a pretty bad cough and somewhat of a cold. This week however will probably be the last week of relaxation before leaving to Canada again. On Saturday, me and my parents will be staying over the hotel near the airport so on the next day, we would catch our flight on time since the flight starts damn early in the morning (like 7:30am AST). So yeah, the month or 4 weeks in Grenada was decent I guess. Now if only I'll be able to earn more money to build myself a cheap gaming computer.
And speaking of that, here are the specifications of my potential dream budget gaming PC:
PCPartPicker part list: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/v7VM23
Price breakdown by merchant: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/v7VM23/by_merchant/
CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($158.95 @ Vuugo)
CPU Cooler: Zalman CNPS7000V(AL)-1-PWM CPU Cooler ($10.72 @ DirectCanada)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($59.99 @ NCIX)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($77.99 @ Memory Express)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($58.75 @ Vuugo)
Video Card: Club 3D Radeon R9 270 2GB '14Series Video Card ($154.99 @ NCIX)
Case: Cougar Spike MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($34.99 @ NCIX)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($41.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Total: $598.36
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-06 08:26 EST-0500
That's a good price for a powerful gaming PC.
2704750 It's even better. By buying the parts that you need and then building the PC yourself or getting a friend to help, you save lots of money and you get experience too. Much better than the overpriced and often crappy hardware pre-built gaming PCs like Dell's Alienware and ibuypower.
2704778 That's what everyone always tell me. When I get the money I'm definitely doin that
2705083 Same here. One thing though. I must try to save as much as I can weekly from the office work pay that I get every week.
2705089 Lol that's gonna be hard but I suppose some sacrifices are worth it.
2705099 Well, if I do have to cheapen out and build a gaming PC now, here are two affordable alternative builds for under $500
AMD Version - While it does have the best bang for a buck performance and is more affordable, there's not a lot of upgradeability on the FM2+ socket unless the cpu was upgraded from an AMD APU to an AMD Athlon x4 cpu. However paired up with a decent, cheap priced CPU cooler and light overclocking is possible to squeeze out a bit more performance for its price point.
CPU: AMD Athlon X4 860K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($79.99 @ NCIX)
CPU Cooler: Zalman CNPS7000V(AL)-1-PWM CPU Cooler ($10.72 @ DirectCanada)
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A88M PRO3+ Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($64.50 @ Vuugo)
Memory: Team Dark 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($77.48 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Toshiba 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($50.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R7 260X 2GB DirectCU II Video Card ($129.99 @ Memory Express)
Case: Deepcool TESSERACT SW ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Power Supply: EVGA 430W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ NCIX)
Total: $483.64
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-06 20:13 EST-0500
Intel Version - Believe it or not, the Intel Pentium G3258 cpu is cheap yet when even slightly overclocked (with either stock or aftermarket cpu cooler), its performance matches to an Intel Core i5 even on stock speed. Plus its 1150 socket leaves a lot of available upgrades to eventually replacing the cpu with an i5 later down the line. I've added a much more power efficient and more powerful power supply unit for future upgrades.
CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($73.99 @ DirectCanada)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($69.00 @ Vuugo)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($77.99 @ Memory Express)
Storage: Toshiba 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($50.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R7 260X 1GB Core Edition Video Card ($134.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Case: Thermaltake Versa H21 ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.95 @ Vuugo)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ NCIX)
Total: $496.88
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-06 20:37 EST-0500
2705594 Hmm I think I'd rather go for the Intel version mainly for the fact that it's has better adaptability being able to upgrade considering the AMD is not as upgradable.
2705607 To be honest as much as I like the per-core performance of the Pentium, I tend to do a lot of multitasking and I want to do some video editing just in case that I start recording gameplay videos. So I would very much go with the AMD Athlon x4 860k if I were on a tight budget, otherwise for 30-50 dollars more with an affordable AM3+ motherboard, I would mostly go for an AMD FX-6300 for 116 dollars. It a great sweet spot for multitasking and gaming that matches an i5 once overclocked to a degree and fits within' my budget for under $500-$520 depending on the parts and them. Buuuuuuut......if I do have the extra money, the cheapest possible i5 like the 4440 for roughly $196 in Canada is possible. For now gaming wise and some light multitasking, I too would go with the Intel build for future upgrades and much better performance for just 10-20 dollars more.