Date Updated: March 4, 2013

The Rules Change a little bit when you only have $500:

Normally I like to spend just about the same amount on my CPU as my GPU – which is about 25% of my overall budget. In the under $500 this simply isn’t possible without skimping on other important components so I’m focusing on a good CPU with a decent video card.

Best PC Gaming Build Under $500 Late 2012 to 2013?

CPU

AMD Build: AMD FX-3300 4.2GHz Quad-Core Socket AM3+ CPU with AMD Virtualization Technology – FD4170FRGUBOX – I wasn’t super fond of the first GEN FX models, but the FX-3300 Piledriver seems to fix a lot of those issues.

Intel Build: If you can splurge and go with the Ivy Bridge i3-3225, then go ahead and go for it. If you’re on a budget, then the Sandy bridge Intel Core i3-2100 Dual-Core Processor (3.1 GHz 3 MB Cache LGA 1155 – BX80623I32100) should give you just about the same performance since you’ll be purchasing a dedicated GPU.

Video Card

As I’ve been sent this question multiple times I wanted to point out that either one of these cards would be compatible with either an Intel or AMD build.

AMD Radeon Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7770 GHZ 1GB DDR5 HDMI / DVI-I / Dual Mini DP PCI-Express Graphics Card

nVidia GeForce: EVGA GeForce GTX 650 1024MB GDDR5 DVI mHDMI Graphics Card 01G-P4-2650-KR – 109.99 after rebate

Ram

For Both Builds: Corsair XMS3 8 GB (2 x 4GB) 1333 MHz PC3-10666 240-Pin DDR3 Memory Kit CMX8GX3M2A1333C9 or Corsair Vengeance 8 GB ( 2 x 4 GB ) DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3 12800) 240-Pin DDR3 Memory Kit for Intel Core i3, i5, i7 and AMD Platforms SDRAM CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9.

Motherboard:

AMD Gaming Build: GIGABYTE GA-970A-D3 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

Intel Gaming Build: Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard for Sandy Bridge and ASUS P8Z77-V LX for Ivy.

Hard Drive:

For Both Builds: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500 GB SATA III 7200 RPM 16 MB Cache Bulk/OEM Desktop Hard Drive – WD5000AAKX

DVD±RW:

Try to get a DVDRW for under $25. Good ones are out there from Lite-On, Asus, and even Samsung.

Case:

Here you should go with something like the GAMMA Classic Series ATX Mid Tower Interior Steel Chassis, or the previous GEN Cooler Master Elite 430 which can generally be found under $40.

PSU / Power supply:

Cooler Master eXtreme Power Plus Series 500W ATX12V V2.3 Power Supply (RS500-PCARD3-US)

One thing I want to mention is that I prefer to normally have an 80+ certified power supply. This one is 70>, but it should still be plenty for this particular build. If you end up going with the AMD build route and picking the HD6770, then you might want to go with something like the Corsair Builder Series CX V2 500-Watt 80 Plus Certified CMPSU-500CXV2. I also recommend that you take a look at the OCZ ModXStream series which often has rebates that make it the best overall value.

Summary:

Depending on what path you choose with the video card it’s interesting to note that the Intel build can be up to $500; however, if you stick with the AMD HD 7770, then this should get you right under $500. As you look at the table below you can see how we’ve crunched the numbers. Depending on what date you look at this particular build the totals may vary slightly based upon rebates and manufacturer pricing levels.

Gaming PC Build Under $500 – Table Review

Building a Custom Gaming PC on a Budget:

While you may decide to lean even more heavily towards your CPU and GPU combination, this is the basic layout that I like to use for my $1,000 builds in order to give me the right mix of functionality and performance:

CPU: Up to 25%
Graphics Card: Up to 25%
Case: 5%
Motherboard: Up to 15%
Ram: 10%
HDD: 10%
DVD RW: 2%
Power Supply: Up to 8%

Updated March 4, 2013

Best Processor for Gaming Under $250:

When I’m building a PC I always look at the processor first. That’s because I’d rather not have to upgrade my processor in the future if I don’t have to. Knowing beforehand what processor and motherboard I want makes everything a lot easier. Probably the best Gaming CPU for the money this month is the Ivy Bridge i5-3570k which has high enough benchmarks to warrant the slight premium in price you pay between it and my favorite gaming CPU last year, the i5-2500k. AMD Builders should go with the FX-8350 Piledriver which makes a lot of sense at just under $200.

Amount Spent: Between $199-229

Best Gaming Graphics Card Under $250:

A GPU in the $200 – $250 range seems to make a lot of sense for this build. If you’re able to get the GTX 660 superclocked at around $200-220 that’s almost just too tempting; however, if you need performance, then you might want to also consider the 660TI which you can usually get at around $300 after rebate. If you can get the Radeon HD7870 in this price range as well, then that’s another great option.
Amount Spent: Between $200-249

Best PC Gaming Motherboard Under $150:

If you don’t plan on doing a lot of overclocking, then I highly recommend an Asus or Gigabyte board here in the $120-$150 category. One downside to choosing the i5-3570k Ivy Bridge processor over the i5-2500k is that you’ll probably end up spending a bit more on a Z77 chipset motherboard vs. a Z68. While the Z68 is an option, it’s still not worth the money savings to not get the upgrades available to the Z77 chipset including native USB 3.0 and Virtu MVP. I’m recommending the Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H for those using an Ivy Bridge Processor and the Asus Socket AM3+ M5A97 for those looking for a motherboard for their AMD FX processor.

Amount Spent: $98-$149.99

Best Gaming Case Between $50-60

There’s no need to spend over $100 on your gaming case as there are many flexible mid tower options in the under $60. My favorites right now are the Haf 912 and Antec 300.

Amount Spent: $55-$59

Best Ram for Gaming Under $100

I feel like 16GB of DDR3 ram is a safe place to be for the next couple of years. Sure, you could probably get away with 8GB right now; however, it’s better to purchase all your Ram at once to take advantage of the speed  boosts of multi-channel kits. Go with something that’s around 9 CAS Latency. The extra price for lower CAS simply isn’t worth the boost you get while gaming. I personally like the Corsair Vengeance Ram at this price range, but it varies often so be sure to do some looking.

Amount Spent: $97

Best HDD for Gaming Under $100

Ok, so it’s been proven that while a fast hard drive might shorten your load-times it won’t significantly improve your computer’s in-game performance. That being said I still prefer at least having a 7200 RPM hard drive. For performance go with the 1TB Western Digital Black WD1002FAEX. For capacity go with the Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EARX.

Amount Spent: $100-120

 DVD RW

Go with something inexpensive but good quality like the Asus DRW-24B1ST.

Amount Spent: 19.99

Best Power Supply for Gaming

You need a quality power supply to power all of your components. That being said quality doesn’t have to mean expensive. I recommend you try to find one that is 80 PLUS certified and modular so you can easily remove the cables for better air flow. One I really like right now is the OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W which you can get around 40% off if you use the rebate.

Amount Spent: $49.99 with rebate ($79.99 without)

Total Spent: From 820.98 (Low) to $982.98 High

Your Feedback and Comments:

What would be your build right now under $1,000. I’d love to hear about it. Leave me a comment below.

The main problem that a lot of the flashier gaming mice on the market have is that they simply cost too much for what they are. $70 for 20k DPI mouse? Since when did DPI above 2,000 matter? For most games I switch between a low DPI of for accuracy to a higher DPI of 1500 once I’ve gotten the hang of things. I never go above that. I’ve heard of a few gamers out there that say that they can successfully be accurate at 2,000, but that’s the exception not the rule. So if you don’t need more DPI, and if you can get the same functionality out of a cheaper mouse, then why not go with a cheaper mouse? Here’s a few gaming mice between the $30 and $50 category that I highly recommend.

A Value Gaming Mouse Under $40

Perixx MX-2000

The Perix MX-2000 is a newer budget gaming mouse that has a lot of high-end features like braided cable, weight tuning, gold USB connector, omron switches, 500-5000 DPI switching, 11 programmable buttons, 5 profiles, and all of that for right around 30-$40 depending on where you buy it and live. If there’s something that this mouse is missing, it’s the feel of a free flowing scroll wheel, but if that’s not something you have to have, then it’s a great option. This particular mouse seems easy to use as a palm or claw grip  so it’s a great mouse if you switch back and forth between grips like I do.

A Budget Mouse Under $30

CM Storm Xornet

I use Cooler Master hardware in  many of my PC builds. They are reliable and reasonably priced. The Storm Xornet seems to fall along these same lines. When I used this mouse I was more than surprised at what you get $20. It has a really nice grip to it and the sweat proof rubber compound really helps after you’ve been gaming a while. Cooler Master used Omron Switches (5 million clicks) in its design and it has an anti-drift control for increased stability.

Best Gaming Mouse for the Money – Under $50

Logitech G500 vs. Razer Deathadder

In the Under or around $50 category I highly recommend you go with the G500 or the Deathadder. I love the feel of both. While I prefer the G500 for every day use, the Razer Deathadder is probably more popular overall.

What gaming mouse do you use? 

Recently I had this question come in through an e-mail:

“Hello Brandon, My name is Dave (changed). I have been searching the internet endlessly to find out one simple question. I ran into your “build A Gaming PC” article through Google and figured that you might be the guy to ask. I bought an EVGA-Nvidia GeForce GT 520 pcie 2.0 For Diablo 3. I Was wondering if you could tell me if that Graphics card could run that game on low settings maybe?”

As I feel it might help you with your build I thought I’d post my response:

Thanks for checking out my articles Chris. I’m planning on getting addicted to Diablo 3 here very shortly as well!

The minimum system requirements for Diablo 3 are:

NVIDIA® GeForce® 7800 GT or ATI Radeon™ X1950 Pro or better

and 1 GB RAM (XP), 1.5 GB (Vista/7)

and Intel Pentium® D 2.8 GHz or AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 4400+

Recommended system requirements are:

NVIDIA® GeForce® 260 or ATI Radeon™ HD 4870 or better with 2GB of ram.

http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gt-520/performance

This is a comparison of NVIDIA GPU that should help you. You’re not going to get as much performance out of the 520 as you would out of the 260 for the recommended system requirements so my guess it that on low settings you can probably play. Blizzard made the game so that MOST people could play.

Here’s a site to backup my statement as well:

http://diablo.incgamers.com/forums/showthread.php?809792-Diablo-3-Supported-Video-Cards

“Low Nvidia GeForce GT 520″

This reader’s question and my answer got me thinking that I should write something about this because the reader probably spent way too much on a GT 520 card that simply doesn’t give as much performance as other cards in it’s price range. If that’s true, then what would be the best Diablo III ready build that would play the game on high settings for the least amount of money and still have a PC that is up-to-date and worth building? I’m going to give you the build I came up with and then I’d love to hear what you came up with. Keep in mind that the parts need to be readily available, and semi up-to-date.

Graphics Card for Budget Diablo III Build

For my graphics card comparison I went straight to Video Card Benchmarks to establish which of the graphics cards on the list of high performance supported cards would give me the best bang for my buck. I decided that the Radeon HD 6770, GeForce GTX 260, or Radeon HD 4870 would be a good choice and that realistically most people would want to spend a little more for a lot better card and get something like the GTX 460 or Radeon HD 6850. That being said my ultimate decision for this particular build was the XFX ATI Radeon HD6770 which after rebate is around 89.99.

Budget Processor for Diablo III Build 

If you can find something like the Intel Pentium D 2.8 GHz or the AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 4400+ on sale for cheap and want to use it that’s great; however, you’d be a lot better off in the long-run with something readily available like the Sandy Bridge i3-2100 or the AMD Phenom II X4 965. Both of which you can get for around $100.

Motherboard

Yes, you could choose a micro ATX motherboard that would be cheaper in the $50 range, but assuming that you go with a full one, then you should go with something like this if you choose the Phenom II X4 965: Asus Socket AM3+ AMD 970 (M5A97) and something like this for your 1155 pin Sandy Bridge processor: Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 ($90 after rebate). Since Ivy Bridge motherboards are also backwards compatible you could also consider something like this Z77 chipset motherboard: Gigabyte Z77 GA-Z77-DS3H and then have forwards compatibility with Ivy Bridge and PCIe 3.0 if you ever wanted to upgrade.

Ram

Yes, 2GB of ram is the minimum to play this game; however, it’s cheap and if you don’t go with 4-8GB you’ll most likely regret it later on. I also recommend that you purchase all the Ram you plan to use for any particular build together so you can take advantage of the speed advantage that comes with multi-channel memory kits. Here’s a fantastic deal on 4GB of ram for around $20: Corsair XMS3 4 GB.

Hard Drive

Yes there are cheaper hard drives, but for reliability and functionality I’m recommending the Western Digital Caviar Blue 500 GB which is around $75. You can go double the space for around $20 more.

DVD Drive

This build doesn’t have the budget to get a Blu-ray drive and any more I question my own need for a DVD drive. If you get one, then go with something cheap and reliable like the Asus DRW-24B1ST.

Power Supply

This build isn’t going to use a ton of power. If you’re wondering how much you need, then use something like Thermaltake’s PSU calculator to help you out. I’m also going to assume that you’re not going to overclock. I went ahead and ran the calculation for this build and it was at around 266 watts. I generally go 100-150 watts higher than that just to be safe and always purchase an 80 PLUS certified PSU. I’ve had problems with cheap PSU in the past so, in my opinion, that’s the last place you want to skimp. You’ll be fine with something like the Antec EarthWatts EA-380D, but if it were me I’d want to make a little room for future upgrades and go with something super reliable and efficient like the Corsair Builder Series CX CMPSU-500CXV2.

Case

You aren’t going to need a lot of cooling with this particular build. Your stock CPU fan will work fine and again assuming you aren’t going to overclock, then go with a gaming case that’s under or around $40 like the Cooler Master Cooler Master Elite 430 which has plenty of room and comes with a Front 120mm blue LED fan and a Rear 120mm fan. Additional fans may be added to the top, side, and bottom.

Conclusion:

Ok, so there’s my Diablo III ready build that you should be able to get from $480-530 depending on what components you ultimately decide upon.

Graphics Card:

For our Graphics Card I suggest nVidia fanboys go with the GTX 570 and Radeon fanboys stick with the HD6950 as the performance improvement for the money at that level simply isn’t worth it (based on the G3D Mark). If you want an upgrade beyond that level, then consider the HD7950 or two HD6850′s. You can see the pros and cons of that particular CrossFire configuration here. Another viable option for Intel users that don’t upgrade their CPU beyond the i5-2500k is to upgrade to the GTX 580.

CPU

For CPU we’re going to recommend that you go with the i7-3820 which gives you a better overall bang for your buck than the i7-2700k. AMD builders should stick the the FX8150. With a less expensive CPU this should give them some additional flexibility on their GPU and other options.

Motherboard:

AMD Builders stick with the GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD3 and Intel Builders go with the GIGABYTE GA-X79-UD3 which is compatible with the i7-3820. If you’d rather stick with a GEN3 Z68 board and something like the i7-2700k for future standard Ivy bridge compatibility, then stay with our previous motherboard, the Asus P8Z68-V PRO/GEN or for slightly less the P8Z68-V/GEN3.

Ram:

Here we’ll stick with 16GB of Vengeance or XMS3 memory.

HDD:

For speed we’re going with the Western Digital Caviar Black 2 TB – model WD2002FAEX.

SSD:

For solid state drive we’re going with the inexpensive, but effective, Crucial 128 GB m4 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive SATA 6Gb/s CT128M4SSD2

Case:

For case I’ll recommend the Cooler Master Storm Enforcer USB 3.0 Mid Tower ATX Case (SGC-1000-KWN), but there are a lot of really good options out there. Make sure to get one with USB 3.0 in the front I/O. You can also go here for a look at more of the best gaming cases.

PSU:

The OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W should still be fine here.

CPU Cooler:

Cooler Master Hyper 212, the Zalman CNPS9900LED on the higher end, and for water cooling the Corsair Cooling Hydro-Series All-in-One High-Performance CWCH60.

$1500 Gaming Computer Build Part Overview:

Here’s our $1100 build as it currently sits before we add any upgrades:

GPU -  GTX 560Ti or HD6950
CPU – i5-2500k or FX8150
Ram – 16 GB Vengeance or XMS3
Motherboard – Asus P8Z68-V/GEN3 or GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD3
HDD – 1TB Western Digital Black WD1002FAEX for speed and the Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EARX for capacity.
BRD – Asus BC-12B1ST, Samsung SH-B123L/BSBP, or LG WH12LS39K
SSD – Crucial 64GB CT064M4SSD2
Case – HAF Mid Tower RC-922M-KKN1-GP
PSU – OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W

$1200 Computer Build Options:

Graphics Card

For this build there are really quite a few things you could do with $100. You could upgrade your GPU to the GTX 570 or HD6970. Comparatively the 570 gives you a better performance increase over the 560 Ti so Radeon users will have to determine whether the upgrade to the HD6970 is worth it.

CPU and Motherboard

Currently we have the i5-2500k and the AMD FX8150 as our CPU. I’d leave the FX8150 where it sits for AMD builders, but Intel builders should consider several options. The i7-2600k, i7-2700k, and i7-3820 are all available at this price level. The i7-3820 will give you the best overall bang for your buck; however, you will then have to use a X79 chipset motherboard to go along with socket 2011 for Intel’s Sandy Bridge-e Series. X79 motherboards at this point in time are significantly more expensive than Z68; however, if you go with something like the GIGABYTE GA-X79-UD3, then you could probably make it work in this price range. While these upgrades, when compared to the i5-2500k, won’t add any additional in-game performance, they will give you great features like additional Cache and hyper-threading which could be well worth it if you use your computer for work. Another thing to think about with the i7-3820 is that you’ll have to purchase a separate CPU cooler, so be sure to keep that in your budget.

HDD and SSD

For hard drive I’ve given you several options, but if you want speed and capacity you could consider getting the 2TB WD2002FAEX for just around $60 more. Similarly for a solid state drive you could also upgrade to the 128GB Crucial option.

Case

As far as cases are concerned there are a lot of really great options in this price range. I’d choose between the current HAF Mid Tower RC-922M-KKN1-GP, Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced Full Tower Case with SuperSpeed USB 3.0 (RC-932-KKN5-GP), or the Cooler Master Storm Enforcer (SGC-1000-KWN1).

PSU

My PSU choice of the OCZ ModXStream Pro won’t change here.

CPU Cooler

CPU coolers are not necessary for as many gaming builds as many people think. If you plan on overclocking, then sure a CPU cooler is necessary, but otherwise, why not use the stock options that the manufacturers give you?  For cooler I’d choose between something like the Cooler Master Hyper 212, the Zalman CNPS9900LED on the higher end, and for water cooling the Corsair Cooling Hydro-Series All-in-One High-Performance CWCH60.

CPU

The i5-2500k is still my choice here and will be for a while along with the FX-8150 for AMD builders.

GPU

At this point we aren’t limited by what games we can play with the GTX 560Ti and the HD 6950, however there are games that require additional power in order to play at the highest settings. A GTX 570 would be our recommended upgrade from the 560Ti. This is a significant upgrade; however, it requires a significant amount of the additional $100 we want to put into this build and depending on which card you choose could be your entire budget. Similarly you could consider the Radeon HD6970; however, in looking at GPU benchmarks you may be better off waiting until you have the additional cash to upgrade to the 7950.

Many will disagree with me, but for me personally I’d rather give my machine additional functionality from a solid state drive and / or Blue-Ray drive than the additional performance gained from the HD6970. A GTX 570, when compared to a GTX 560Ti is highly desirable here; however, you still may be better off going with the less expensive card and upgrading in a few years.

RAM

16GB of ram is good enough for any build for a long time. Even with X79 motherboards capable of 128GB of ram max, most enthusiasts don’t even go beyond this amount.

Motherboard

Like our $1,000 build we’re going with the Asus P8Z68-V/GEN3 for Intel builders and the GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD3 for AMD gamers.

HDD

I’m satisfied with the options presented in the last build for hard drives – the 1TB Western Digital Black WD1002FAEX for speed and the Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EARX for capacity.

Blu-Ray Drive

I’m not sure why you’d need it; however, if you still want a DVD drive I’m still recommending the Asus 24xDVD±RW Drive. For Blu-Ray Drive I’m recommending the Samsung SH-B123L/BSBP or the Asus BC-12B1ST, which is probably a better budget option. If you want a Blu-Ray writer, then the LG WH12LS39K is a good option.

Solid State Drive

Incorporating a solid state drive into your rig can add some great outside functionality. Whether you decide to install your OS on it or use Intel Smart Response technology for caching I’d go with the Crucial 64GB CT064M4SSD2 in this price range or for an additional $50-75 go with Crucial’s 128GB option (model CT128M4SSD2).

Case

Like the $1,000 build I’m recommending the HAF Mid Tower RC-922M-KKN1-GP, Corsair Carbide Series 500R (CC-9011012-WW), or the Antec DF-85.

PSU

Owned it, used it, and love it. The 80 PLUS certified Modular and inexpensive OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W is my recommendation here.

Summary:

With a little tweaking we are able to either upgrade the GPU here, or add a Blu-ray drive and solid state drive. Definitely a worthwhile upgrade from our $1,000 build if you have the money. If you plan on overclocking, then you might want to look at a CPU cooler other than the stock that the i5-2500k comes with; however, it works perfectly fine with most builds.

$1100 Gaming PC Build Table

CPU

I’m happy with the FX-8120 and 2500k we used in our $900 build, but with the additional $100 you could consider upgrading to the i7-2600k or the FX-8150. Personally, I’d rather upgrade other areas.

GPU

There are a lot of people who would call for a GPU upgrade over the HD 6950 and GTX 560Ti we recommended in the last build. If you want additional GPU performance, then in this price range you could go with the GTX 570 or the HD 6970. My preference would be to pass this upgrade in favor of a larger hard drive, 64GB SSD for Intel Smart Response Technology, and/or more Ram.

Ram

For me, this is where half of the additional money we get for this build should go.  I recommend 16GB of Corsair XMS3 or Vengeance Ram with a quad channel kit.

Motherboard

At this price point I recommend the Asus P8Z68-V/GEN3 for Intel builders or the GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD3 for AMD enthusiasts.

HDD

Our 500GB hard drive is in dire need of upgrade, especially if you store as much crap on your computer as I do. For performance we’ll go with the 1TB Western Digital Black WD1002FAEX. For capacity go with the Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EARX.

DVD±RW

If you don’t plan on going with a Blu-ray drive, then I’d recommend sticking with an inexpensive DVD±RW like the Asus 24xDVD±RW Drive.

Case

If you want to upgrade your case, then I highly recommend the HAF Mid Tower RC-922M-KKN1-GP or the relatively new Corsair Carbide Series 500R (CC-9011012-WW) or for a full tower something like the Antec DF-85.

PSU

At this point you should still be fine with a 650+ watt PSU that is 80 PLUS certified. Because of the insane rebates available for the OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W I highly recommend it.

Summary:

In my opinion the best bet for your $1,000 gaming PC build is to improve the overall functionality of your machine by improving the capacity and speed of your hard drive and adding some ram.

As with all of our builds, here’s a table which breaks down the build above:

CPU

The Intel i5-2500k which we chose for our last build should be more than adequate for any level of build. Upgrades beyond this level of CPU have more to do with additional performance you may need outside of gaming as this CPU is very similar in gaming benchmarks to the i7-2600k, i7-2700k, and even the i7-3930k. AMD builders should stick with the FX-8120.

GPU

For GPU I recommend you purchase a nVidia GeForce GTX 560Ti or Radeon HD 6950. There’s a large variety of manufacturers which make these cards so be sure to look around, find one that is well-rated, and get one that’s on rebate. I’ve seen the 560Ti on sale with rebate for around $220 and the HD6950 for as low as the mid to upper 230′s.

Ram

While I’d really like to get to 16GB of ram in order to future proof this build, we’ll stick with 8GB knowing that you can upgrade in the future.

Motherboard

For our $900 Gaming PC build we’re going to upgrade our motherboard with more up-to-date ones. For our Intel build we’ll go with the Z68 chipset P8Z68-V/GEN3. As a GEN3 motherboard it’s forwards compatible with Ivy Bridge processors. For our AM3+ motherboard I recommend the GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD3 at this time.

HDD

For our hard drive we’re sticking with the WD2500AAKX from Western Digital.

DVD±RW:

For our DVD drive I’m going with the Asus 24xDVD±RW Drive.

Case

For PC case I’m still recommending the HAF 912. It’s hard to pass up as it’s such a great case for the money.

PSU

For power supply I recommend that you strongly consider the modular OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W PSU. It’s 80 PLUS certified, up to 86% at typical load, and regularly priced under $60 after the rebate. I regularly use this PSU in builds up to $1500 and have had no issues.

Summary:

This $900 PC build will allow you to play all of today’s latest games and most of them at high to ultra-high settings. It’s future proof with our GEN3 motherboard, and has plenty of room to upgrade your RAM, or add additional drives. You could also CrossFireX two HD6850s or SLI two GTX 550 graphics cards, but most builders with a general level of experience in this price range prefer the simplicity and stability of a single GPU build.

CPU

The main upgrade we’re going to make for this build over our $700 build is in the CPU. For around $200, versus the $120 we were spending on the i3-2100, we’re going to pick up the i5-2500. The i5-2500k might be a better choice for many of you at just $20 more; however, it falls a bit over our price range. For AMD builders I’d suggest you go from the AMD Phenom II X4 960T to the AMD FX 8120. Although I might be a bit inclined to suggest you go for the Phenom II 1100T if you could find it at a decent price – unfortunately, it’s no longer readily available at a reasonable price. This way you get the die shrink, the Bulldozer architecture, and all 8 cores.

GPU

You might think it’s a good idea to upgrade your GPU here; however, I think upgrading your CPU is always a priority as changing that in the future is much more difficult. Here we’re sticking with the GTX 560 and the Radeon HD 6870.

Ram

You may want to upgrade your ram on this machine in the future, but we’ll stick with the 8GB of  Corsair XMS3 or Vengeance ram at this price point.

Motherboard

At this price point we’re sticking with the GIGABYTE GA-970A-UD3 AM3+ motherboard and the ASUS P8Z68-V LX, but be looking to upgrade those shortly.

HDD

Here we’re going with the Western Digital Caviar Blue 500 GB SATA III 7200 RPM 16 MB Cache Bulk/OEM Desktop Hard Drive, model WD5000AAKX.

DVD±RW:

Find one that’s cheap but has good quality like the Asus DRW-24B1ST.

Case:

Here we’re staying with the Cooler Master HAF 912 Mid Tower ATX Case (RC-912-KKN1).

PSU:

At this price point I still recommend the Corsair Enthusiast Series 650-Watt or the OCZ ModXStream Pro.

Summary:

That’s the end of the modifications for our $800 gaming PC build. Also be sure to see our $500, $600, and $700 gaming PC builds. If you can manage to get the OCZ ModXStream Pro on rebate here, then you might just be able to upgrade your motherboard as well. In our next post, we’ll make the motherboard a priority.

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