Build for $500-$600

[Overclocking.ca]

I'm pricing out a build for my cousin, who wants to build a PC to play Skyrim on. His budget is $500-$600 including tax. He will be gaming at 1080P. He doesn't need a monitor, keyboard or mouse or Windows.

He doesn't care if it's AMD or Intel or AMD or NVIDIA

He does not plan on overclocking

Here are the recommended specs for Skyrim.

Recommended Specs

Windows 7/Vista/XP PC (32 or 64 bit)
Processor: Quad-core Intel or AMD CPU
4GB System RAM
6GB free HDD space
DirectX 9.0c compatible NVIDIA or AMD ATI video card with 1GB of RAM (Nvidia GeForce GTX 260 or higher; ATI Radeon 4890 or higher).
DirectX compatible sound card
Internet access for Steam activation


Here is what I picked out so far at my local Canada Computers.

CPU AMD FX-4100 - $110.00
MOBO: Asus M5A78L-M LX PLUS - $55.00
GPU: MSI R6850-PMD1GD5 AMD Radeon HD 6850 - $150.00 (before MIR) $120.00 (After MIR)
HDD: Seagate Barracuda (ST500DM002) SATA3 6.0Gb/s 500GB 16MB Cache - $70.00
ODD: ASUS DRW-24B1ST Black SATA 24X DVD-Writer - $18.00
RAM: Mushkin Silverline 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1333MHz - $46.00
PSU: Corsair Builder Series CX600 V2 600 Watt - $60.00
CASE: BitFenix Merc Alpha Black - $35.00

Total before MIR: $514.00 + 13% HST = $580.82
Total after MIR: $484.00 + 13% HST = $546.92

Any suggestions are welcome.

[Bond007]

I would swap to an i3 2100/2120 and the 1155 motherboard of your choice. i3 give better gaming fps than the 4100 and lower power consumption.

[Funguseater]

+1 agree with Bond007

The 4100FX is great if you are going to overclock it a whole bunch, but if you are going to run at stock then the i3 is an excellent alternative. The i3 2120 is $15 off at new egg. Any H61 board will do for gaming or you can find a cheap z68/z77 board with SSD caching to use at a later date.

Fungi

[Overclocking.ca]

Thanks. Here is with the Core i3

CPU: Intel Core i3 2100 3.1GHz - $120.00
MOBO: MSI H61M-P20 (G3) Socket 1155 Intel H61 - $50.00
GPU: MSI R6850-PMD1GD5 AMD Radeon HD 6850 - $150.00 (before MIR) $120.00 (After MIR)
HDD: Seagate Barracuda (ST500DM002) SATA3 6.0Gb/s 500GB 16MB Cache - $70.00
ODD: ASUS DRW-24B1ST Black SATA 24X DVD-Writer - $18.00
RAM: Mushkin Silverline 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1333MHz - $46.00
PSU: Corsair Builder Series CX600 V2 600 Watt - $60.00
CASE: BitFenix Merc Alpha Black - $35.00

Total before tax: $549.00

[happycamper]

May i suggest switching the motherboard to Gigabyte B75M-D3H for $20 extra. You get USB3.0 and SATA3, the later helps if you plan to add a SSD later.

[Dzzope]

Originally Posted by Overclocking.ca

Total before tax: $549.00

How did you jump to 549 from 514... difference in board and chip should be $5

If you have wiggle room in the budget.. can I suggest you go for something like a z77 board... cos in a few years (possibly sooner) when your cousin wants an upgrade or gets more money he could then just drop in a i5 3570k and be ready to go.. IF you have the budget that is..


Though for performance now rather than later I would look to spend on GPU before anything else.. Or a SMALL SSD for a boot drive..

[atOnz]

Can I ask where the prices are being quoted from? My friend has similar needs and budget.

[le2key]

you guys should check this out: Build an Epic $650 PC - July 2012 | Tek Syndicate

It's a little over budget, about 25 bucks, but if you can do without the SSD it will be within the price range. I'm really liking the CPU and GPU picks for the build too.

[great_big_abyss]

Looks good the way it is. I do actually like that video card. It should play Skyrim on 'high' settings quite well.

If you want to potentially change the HDD to a 1TB you could do so for $30 more.

Seagate Barracuda 1TB - $99