Looking to Build New Gaming PC under $1000 (Possibly $1200)

Dissentwa on 18/12/2014 - 11:09

Hi guys,

Pc is starting to struggle so i'm looking at building something for under $1000 to run most games well, if that's possible!

My current rig:
Antec 850w Quattro True Power
AMD PHENOM II X6 1090T Hex Core 3.2Ghz
Asus M4A87TD-USB3 Motherboard
GIGABYTE GTX470 1280mb GDDR5
Kingston 4x2gb 1333mhz ddr3 Ram (2 slots on my mboard have died so im running 4gb atm)
G.Skill 60GB PHOENIX SSD 2.5" SATA
HITACHI 1TB SATA

Build this pc around 4 years ago. Just wondering what my options are please as I have no idea about this stuff cheers!

Computing

Comments

  • daalinz on 18/12/2014 - 11:14
    +2

    Get new RAM and update your graphics card - that'll keep you going for a couple more years.

    Edit: Didn't read MOBO RAM slots dead. Maybe get a same chipset replacement MOBO to cut costs.

    • mrmarkau67 on 18/12/2014 - 12:33
      +2

      That CPU is a power hungry old monster. Its only plus point is lots of cores. But games love CPU cycles more than they love extra cores. It might even be outperformed by a Pentium Anniversary Edition for some games - let alone a current model i3 or i5.

      If he's getting a new motherboard, he should also get a new CPU.

  • mrmarkau67 on 18/12/2014 - 11:37
    +1

    Tackle things in order:

    1. Benchmark your PC and compare it to similar builds online. If your motherboard is already a little faulty there may be other issues.
    2. Reinstall Windows if it hasn't already been done.
    3. Buy a GTX 970 or R9 290

    If that works you should be OK for another couple of years.

    If your PC is still struggling to play the games you want, its time for a new build.
    a. Go to a local PC builder (I use MSY), buy Windows 8.1, a new CPU and motherboard
    b. Ask them to salvage your RAM, SSD, HDD, power supply and case and build your new PC

    By salvaging your old components, you'll be able to afford a nice new CPU and motherboard. I suggest you look at the Outstanding row on www.logicalincrements.com.

  • Settero on 18/12/2014 - 12:03
    +2

    1000$ is a pretty good budget for a new pc
    http://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/rmp_sg_whirlpoolpcs_gaming_conf…

    there are two 1k builds ( one quiet ) and a 1200 build.

  • Dissentwa on 18/12/2014 - 15:08

    wow thanks for the responses guys, really appreciate everyones input! Time to figure out the next step haha

  • srhardy on 19/12/2014 - 09:56
    +1

    I wouldnt do a new PC (yet) but i would get GFX card at a minimum… maybe replace mb with one that runs your current CPU. If you have 8gb (2x4gb) then i probably wouldnt bother adding new memory unless the new MB used faster memory (makes a bigger difference with AMD from my expereince)

    Maybe change the case if you want that new PC feeling, some like thermaltake come with pretty sweet 500W PSU for about $70-80

    Spend the rest on an XBOX1 or PS4 for gaming… and have a merry xmas - x6 cores, i would be hanging onto that….

    • ProjectZero on 19/12/2014 - 10:36

      Whilst the AMD is 6 cores, the architecture is less efficient when compared with a 4 core Intel.

      As seen here, the performance is slightly lower compared to Intel. If the OP is having issues with the mobo, it is probably wise to change it.

  • mattyman on 19/12/2014 - 10:36

    New motherboard, cpu, 16gb RAM and a couple of decent graphics cards in crossfire/sli.

    • ProjectZero on 19/12/2014 - 10:37

      16gb RAM

      hahahaha you forgot the /sarcasm

      • mattyman on 19/12/2014 - 10:39

        Not sure why you think sarcasm is appropriate.

        • ProjectZero on 19/12/2014 - 10:44
          +1

          I can vouch for the fact you don't need 16GB ram, reason being i have it and I've never seen anything use more then 5GB… actually i think the only way to use more then 5GB is to have more then 10 tabs P&O websites at a time.

          Anyway, the take home point is, 8GB is more then enough for the average user and gamer. Only graphics designers or other professionals will need more then 8GB.

          -EDIT- that and you are telling the OP to get SLI/Xfire and new CPU and mobo for under $1000… I don't think that is possible…

        • Settero on 19/12/2014 - 10:45
          +1

          16gb is overkill
          one 8gb stick would be ideal , can always buy a 2nd stick later.

        • mattyman on 19/12/2014 - 10:51

          @ProjectZero:
          He said up to $1200.

        • ProjectZero on 19/12/2014 - 11:15

          @mattyman:

          Roughly calculated the cost and it will go over by $25, so it is doable.

      • mattyman on 19/12/2014 - 10:49

        I mean … I have 16 GB in my NUC. That's got a 9 second boot time into Windows 8. It's also running a couple of Server 2008R2 VMs.

        My main gaming tig is an old Dell T3500. Added 24 GB RAM upgraded the XEON CPU and added a couple of 7950's in crossfire. 8 GB of the RAM is allocated to a RAM disk, the rest comes in handy in gaming and in music production. Also the more RAM you have the smaller swap file you'll have, which means less writes to hard drives/ssd's and a longer lifespan for your rig.

        • ProjectZero on 19/12/2014 - 11:14

          That's got a 9 second boot time into Windows 8

          Did you install an SSD in the NUC? If so, the quick boot is not from the RAM.

          Also the more RAM you have the smaller swap file you'll have, which means less writes to hard drives/ssd's and a longer lifespan for your rig.

          Again, average user will not even touch an 8GB RAM… that is plenty. -EDIT- by that i mean won't use up 8GB

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