Maximum PC

My budget: $700-800

You can suggest a build/barebones/desktop.

Primary computer use: Gaming
Extras: Live Streaming, Recording

I've spent 2 months looking for the right gaming desktop. I'd search for hours at a time every couple days. It's safe to say that I've obsessed over this for a little too long. I learned a lot from all of my research, I enjoyed it, but now I'm eager to buy. I can't seem to decide for myself. So I give up! I need help guys. Alright let me list what I've come up with over the past few days...

CPU: i5 Intel
-Everyone rides the i5 bandwagon, makes me feel like its necessary. I really wanted an AMD for whatever reason, I know they're cheaper, but I don't want to sacrifice performance.

GPU: Radeon HD 6850-6870
-Something based around this, I've been attached to these from the start. I also know little to nothing about any other cards.

RAM: 8GB
-I can go lower.

PSU: Must be safe.

Case: Not looking to expand. I'd like a simple clean looking case.

Motherboard: I'm not too familiar with this. Don't need expansion room for up to 16GB RAM or something crazy like that.

Fans: I'm not going to mess with overclocking. I just need enough to cool the desktop appropriately.

Disc Drive: Not important to me. Needed for OS though.

Hard Drive: Still not important. I'd like enough room for a few games and extras. I'm only using 150GB of my current 450GB HD.


So there you have it. Honestly, you don't have to follow what I listed above. Please go at it for me, I'm too excited to buy and build my first desktop. If you make a post I will be sure to interact with you. I hope someone can make my dream build happen, I wouldn't be able to thank you enough.

I'm nervous about the fans and PSU. I don't want to overheat or have my PSU fail.


I will be playing games such as: RTS, MMORPG, MOBA ... maybe even a little FPS? Primarily the 3 I listed before.

Well I can suggest a build I did recently (or close enough to it), definitely doable in that budget- one question: Do you live near a Micro Center brick-and-mortar store? If so, they have a killer deal on the i5-2500k and any z68 mobo...

i5-2500k $180
Gigabyte GA-Z68AP-D3 $50 plus $15 MIR
add to cart, get this:

Subtotal $229.98
Tax $11.50
Grand Total $241.48

So, with the above i5-2500k / z68 from MC, this would be a good completion for your system:

Part list permalink / Part price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 76.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($22.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Wintec One 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Hard Drive: Samsung Spinpoint F3 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 6850 1GB Video Card ($124.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 370 ATX Mid Tower Case ($33.26 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Antec 650W ATX12V Power Supply ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $474.19
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated 2012-04-12 12:11 EDT-0400)

Total is ~$717 very high price-performance system under $800 Hope it can at least give you some ideas.

cheers

You can still go with AMD. The issue is what they offer is not as "future proof" as Intel's offerings.

Tom's Hardware (and probably other websites) have tested sub $200 processors and found out that the Core i3 and Phenom II X4 is about the highest you can go before you need a better GPU.