Budget Gaming Build Recommendations

• 

  nushydude on 05/01/2017 - 23:33

  +1

  4690K (there's no 4590K, so I assume this is what you have) + GTX1080 should be faster than a 6600K + GTX1070, so I would go with the first option.

  I would definitely try to get a Z97 board if possible, and overclock the crap out of it to relieve the GPU from any potential CPU bottleneck at 1080p resolution you are gaming at.

  • 

    FBCosta on 06/01/2017 - 00:41

    Apologies, you are right! Edited the post. Thanks! Do you think the 4690k would bottleneck too much if I go for the 1080? Would that be a big issue?

    • 

      nushydude on 07/01/2017 - 07:57

      Honestly, the biggest bottleneck will come from the display. The GTX 1070 and GTX 1080 are aimed at 1440p and higher resolutions.

• 

  scrimshaw on 06/01/2017 - 00:11

  +3

  If your only interests are in gaming, very likely the upgrade from a Haswell to a Skylake processor isn't going to get you any gains in gaming performance. Certainly, not something you will notice anyway.

  The IPC (instructions per clock) improvements are only a mere 10 percent from the previous generation. If want you want is the extra goodies that come with a new platform, like Gigabit USB 3.1, you would be better off waiting for the Kaby Lake platform which has already been announced a few days ago.

  Unless you enjoy getting a kick out of looking at benchmark scores and drooling at how smooth your computer runs a Physics benchmark in 3dMark, you would be better off outlaying the following:

  1. a new high-end case, maybe a Fractal Design Define R5 if you want something nice and quiet. Cases are mostly personal tastes though, but what you are after is that it should be easy to clean (has removable filters) and the usual conveniences, e.g tool-less bays, thumbscrews, HDD cages that can rotate or be removed entirely, water cooling and radiator mounts, cable management and so on.

  2. a replacement Haswell motherboard. Could be anything on the market, but you will need a high end one for overclocking.

  3. A GTX 1080 is absolutely overkill for a single monitor 1080p gaming. I game fine on a 144hz 1080p monitor with a GTX 1060, but since you have deep wallets the GTX 1070 might be a more future proof option.

  4. and put the rest of the money in the bank and enjoy your still up-to-date Haswell PC. OR, you could use the spare change and buy yourself a HTC Vive headset… but it will set you back a cool $1200

  • 

    fenric on 06/01/2017 - 00:54

    +1

    I agree with Scrimshaw. 1080 is complete overkill.
    I'd also make sure your 970 is completely dead, as the 1060 (which I would also recommend) is fairly similar, albeit lower power/heat and a few other minor improvements in speed.
    If you really want to get some shiny new stuff, you could go for a midrange skylake mobo and a i5 6500 to get you into the new generation. There seem to be some OK RAM specials floating about. I grabbed a 16GB single stick of DDR4 for about $75 last year for my new build.

• 

  Kangal on 06/01/2017 - 00:41

  +2

  When building a Gaming PC, you need to work things from a budget perspective.
  There's no point mating a $1,000 GPU to a $100 PC, as you'll get bottlenecks.
  So, you'll have to put things into budget-tiers.

  Firstly the "Not worth it" category:
  USFF/SFF PC's these have no GPU space and/or No power for GPU
  4GB RAM or DDR2 RAM… just not enough these days
  Windows7…. its really the time to dive wholeheartedly into Windows10 now
  5400rpm HDDs… use a 128GB Sata3 SSD to load Windows10 and store a couple of your favourite games (rest of data goes to spinner)
  G440 < FX 8350 ~ Core i3-6100… these CPU chips are slightly cheaper, but a lot weaker than recommendations
  GTX 660 < AMD HD7870 < GTX 780… these GPUs are outdated, no driver support, will only age bad after this point

  If you want Absolute Bang for Buck:
  [~$500][1080p, Medium Settings, 60fps]
  ~$200 - Just grab a very old PC (8GB RAM DDR3-1800) (or better)
  <$100 - Core i5-2500K < Core i5-4670 < Core i7-3770K (or better)
  <$170 - GTX 750Ti < RX 460 < HD7950 < AMD 290 < GTX 970 (or better)

  If you want a Great Bang-Buck PC:
  [~$800][1080p, Ultra Settings, 60fps]
  ~$300 - Just grab a old PC (16GB RAM DDR3-2100) (or better)
  <$200 - Core i5-4690K < Core i7-4790K (or better)
  <$260 - AMD RX 470 (4GB) < GTX 980 (or better)

  If you want a Good Value (future-proof) PC:
  [~$1200][4K, High Settings, 60fps]
  ~$400 - Just grab a new PC (16GB RAM DDR4-2600) (or better)
  <$300 - Core i5-6500 (or better)
  <$540 - RX 480 (8GB) < GTX 1070 (or better)

  That last build should be enough for a long while.
  If you need more performance than that;
  32GB RAM, GTX 1080, Core i7-6800K are your expensive (>$1,800) upgrade path.

  • 

    AlienC on 06/01/2017 - 02:06

    -1

    How about for 4k gaming?