Thanks for stopping in for another great PC Builds of the Month article. This month is a very exciting month in the graphics cards market as AMD has released a good chunk of their new line of R7 and R9 graphics cards. This has influenced every build this month in one way or another with the inclusion of two of these new cards being represented in the $600 and $1000 builds and the influence of a major price drop in the $1500 builds card.
Also, November is always an exciting month in the PC hardware world as the consumer market gets greedy over Black Friday sales. If you happen to be purchasing a build this month it may be worth shopping around that day as PC hardware tends to go on sale all over the place.
Monthly Gaming PC Build ( $601 ): November 2013
(Game at Smoothly with Medium – High settings at 1920X1080 resolutions)
This is the best $600 gaming pc build yet. Last month we saw a major bump in graphics power moving to the Radeon 780 graphics card. The reason I was able to fit this card into the smallest budgeted build is that the prices for a allot of the Radeon cards started to go down. Why you may ask – well AMD was getting ready to release its complete new line of graphics cards. So this month we have the very new Radeon R9 270x graphics card snugged nicely into this budget $600 gaming pc build.
One can expect to get some pretty damn good performance out of the smallest budget build I do here at Newb Computer Build. Since Battlefield 4 has been the iminent game lately, I’ll use a Battlefield 3 benchmark as an example and state that you can easily get 50FPS on ultra quality at 1920×1080 resolutions with this MSI Radeon R9 270X graphics card (as seen in this guro3d.com article). Keep in mind that their test setup was using an i7 processor, however you should expect relative gaming performance.
Other then the major graphics card change here most of this build stays the same as last month and comes in at a total of $601.
Upgrades / Alternatives for the $600 Gaming PC Build:
Here you will find some hardware alternatives to the hardware already included in the build above. Keep in mind that these are alternatives and are all compatible with the current build. If you want some more suggestions for alternatives or additions to the current build, you just leave a comment below and I will respond back as soon as I can. These upgrades are some alternatives to the above. If it were me and I had a little extra to spend, I would start with either the AMD FX 8320 processor or the Radeon HD 7950 graphics card. Although, for about $20 more you can get a much more spiffy case or for about only $10 more you could get double the hard drive space in a 1TB western digital blue hard drive.
*NOTE: If you decide to upgrade the Graphics card, please consider also upgrading your power supply as the Antec recommendation above is pushing the limits as we increase our hardware capacity.
*none – as it pushes this build over budget, however I would recommend the Hyper 212 EVO CPU Cooler – especially before you start overclocking the Intel 4670K processor.
Comparing the exact same $1000 builds prices to this month you will find that overall the same same hardware prices out at $1080. No fear though – as this month we are switching the older hardware with a fresh set. As with all the builds this month we are refreshing the graphics cards with AMD’s new line of R9 cards that have proven to be…awesome.
First, I am bringing back the much loved MSI Gaming Series G45 motherboard. The price is back to an affordable $139, so we can replace the Asus motherboard from last month with the G45 Gaming series board.
And second, we I have included the new cheaper Radeon R9 280x graphics card – the “re-branded” faster version of the previous Radeon 7970. If you can find a Ghz version of the Radeon 7970 for a similar price though, you may be better off going that route – however, this may be tough.
The final major change for the $1000 build this month is the inclusion of the new Corsair Carbide Series 230T pc case. They come in three colors (black, grey and red) so you do get some choices here and the case is only $78.
$1000 Gaming PC Build Additions / Alternatives
The following are additions and or alternatives to pair with the $1000 PC build above; each of the hardware are compatible with the $1000 build. If you have any questions for further additions / hardware alternatives, please feel free to leave a comment below and I will get back to you as soon as I can. If you have an extra $30 or so, I would highly recommend the purchase of the Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO CPU cooler, which will give you the adequate cooling needed to efficiently overclock your Intel 4670K processor.
I so wanted to include the new Radeon R9 290 into this build, but has to hold back due to the high heat and high noise complaints of the new cards. I stuck with the GTX 770, which does perform better then the Radeon R9 280x and has dropped significantly in price to $339 from $399!
Quite honestly, if you were ever hesitating on purchasing the hardware for the $1500 build, it should be this one. The prices for almost everything have dropped by so much. Aside from the GTX 770, the ASUS Maximus motherboard has even dropped to $197 from about $210 – not a super huge savings, but a savings nonetheless.
For the case I went with the NZXT Switch 810 case Black, which also comes in Gunmetal, White and Matte Black colors. This isn’t a brand new case, however it is a fantastic case that boasts all the newest features of most cases (ie USB 3.0 etc). However if you would like to read the full depth of this cases features please read them at the NZXT website.
As a side note, if you do wish to make this build even more affordable, you may have noticed that I spiced thing up a bit this month by adding in the Cooler Master H110 liquid cpu cooler. I did this because it is a fantastic cooler, however you nay find the usual recommendation of the Cooler Master Evo CPU cooler for around only $33 suites you just fine.
$1500 Gaming PC Build Additions / Alternatives
The following are additions and or alternatives to pair with the $1500 PC build above; each of the hardware are compatible with the $1500 build. If you have any questions for further additions / hardware alternatives, please feel free to leave a comment below and I will get back to you as soon as I can. Included is a new Haswell i7 4770K for anyone that wants that extra CPU boost. I also include the reccomendation of SLI with another GTX 770. If you feel you are not comfortable with the SLI option, you can always just purchase a single GTX 780 instead and still get great performance! Also, do you want more SSD space, then opt for a 512GB Samsung PRO series solid state drive.
A fantastic month for savings and some great news additions with the release of AMD’s new line of Graphics Cards. I was able to spruce up both the $600 and $1000 quite significantly. The $1500 had an overall huge price drop with the graphics card and motherboard dropping in prices.
And for those of you who are reading this before Black Friday, you might even be able to save even more if you shop around – November is always a fantastic month for purchasing computer hardware!
November 2013’s Gaming PC Hardware Overview Video:
I have been following your builds for months and finally decided to go with the Nov $1500 version. Have everything except the Graphics card and no HDD since I have 3TB external drives already. Went with the Hyper 212 EVO CPU Cooler. I have a new LG27EA33 analog monitor set at 1920 x 1080 60Hz. I don’t know how to OC but the Hero MB seemed a good choice since it had sonic radar and a SSD repair ability. I haven’t gotten any games yet but expect to go with FPS and flight games. I may even get brave enough to try OC .
So, what is the best Card for my needs? Leaning to your recommended N770 but since new cards are coming out, which is the better buy now?
I got a Corsair 230T case w 3 120mm fans (2 in, 1 out) plus 2 more Cougar 120mm PVM fans (in) plus the other fans on the suggested PS and CPU cooler. Is that the best cooling setup or should I reverse the Cougars to blow out ? I have a y splitter for the Cougars to connect to the MB but how do I wire the case fans? If to PS, I will need additional cables.
Thanks for all the work and getting me to select what should be a killer system.
That does sound like a killer system. To answer the fans question first – It sounds like you have it set up optimally. Such as I would have most of the fans pointing inwards (Ones on the side and top) and the fan(s)at the back pointing outward to act as the exhaust, that should be plenty of airflow.
As for the graphics card, the GTX 770 recommended for November would probably work perfectly, or if you can splurge a little more maybe even an AMD R9 290 (About $400), but that may be hard to pin down at the moment.
I already bought the CPU and Motherboard from the video, but I keep hearing how it can’t run AC4 in full HD smoothly , so I don’t know if I should use the mother board and CPU for another build for my mom. I’m so confused…
You should be ok in AC4 with those parts. The only difference is that he uses the 750K AMD processor instead of the 6300 that I have included here. The 6300 should perform better though then the 750K, and its no surprise in terms of the price per performance either. The biggest factor in determining your performance in AC4 would be the graphics card though, and since we both have used the R9 270X, there are no problems there.
So what I would do is simply try out AC4 with what you bought, if it isn’t up to your standards then try for a AMD 6300 overclock it, and give the 750k to your mom.
Long time reader first time poster. I just bought all the parts for the 1500 build but I wanted to SLI the graphics cards (I opted for 2) but I was unsure what size, brand, etc would work for this. Any suggestions or straight up amazon selections? Thanks.
So I see you went all out, very nice. In terms of size of graphics card size, are you referring to the memory? Any 2GB version in SLI should be way more then enough as it is. You should have no problem with most brands for any of the GTX 770s, but the MSI ones that I have linked are very nice and have benchmarked well ( http://www.anandtech.com/show/7392/the-geforce-gtx-770-roundup-evga-gigabyte-and-msi-compared/8 ). As well you could go with an Asus one to go with the motherboard included in the $1500 build ( ASUS GTX770-DC2OC-2GD5 ).
Hi I was wondering if you have a suggestion for a multi monitor (3) card. we (my son and I) are building your 1000 dollar build. And no I cannot talk him out of the 3 monitor set up.
You are correct that the 270 performs similarly and is cheaper. Keep in mind that I posted this article the very day of the 270’s release, so I would not have included it in this article. I would however have no problem recommending the 270 or the 270x to save that extra $40 – $50.
Processor Alternative: AMD FX-8320 Eight-Core Processor Black Edition AM3+ FD8320FRHKBOX ($159.99)
Alternative PC Case: Corsair Carbide Series 200R Compact ATX Case CC-9011023-WW($49.99)
Graphics Card Alternative: MSI Computer Corp. Video Graphics Cards R9 280X GAMING 3G ($308) – (Recommend this upgrade after PSU and CPU upgrade to prevent low power)
WD Blue 1 TB Desktop Hard Drive: 3.5 Inch, 7200 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64 MB Cache – WD10EZEX ($62.02)
Add a SSD Boot Drive: Crucial m4 128GB 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive SATA 6Gb/s CT128M4SSD2= (+ $105.24) –
Upgrade your graphics card: MSI Computer Corp. Video Graphics Card N770 TF 2GD5/OC ($399)
Crossfire with another Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 OC with Boost 3GB DDR5 DL-DVI-I/SL-DVI-D/HDMI/DP PCI-Express Graphics Card 11197-03-40G Price:+$309.99
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO CPU Cooler (RR-212E-20PK-R1) (Price: $33.24)
Intel Core i7-4770K Quad-Core Desktop Processor 3.5 GHZ 8 MB Cache BX80646I74770K ($338.98)
Get a better single Graphics Cards: Gigabyte GTX780 GDDR5-3GB 2xDVI/HDMI/DP OC Graphics Card GV-N780OC-3GD REV2.0 ($509.99) – HUGE savings on this card now
A Larger SSD: Samsung Electronics 840 Pro Series 2.5-Inch 512 SATA_6_0_gb Solid State Drive MZ-7PD512BW ($439.00)
Comments 11
Dear Corey.
I have been following your builds for months and finally decided to go with the Nov $1500 version. Have everything except the Graphics card and no HDD since I have 3TB external drives already. Went with the Hyper 212 EVO CPU Cooler. I have a new LG27EA33 analog monitor set at 1920 x 1080 60Hz. I don’t know how to OC but the Hero MB seemed a good choice since it had sonic radar and a SSD repair ability. I haven’t gotten any games yet but expect to go with FPS and flight games. I may even get brave enough to try OC .
So, what is the best Card for my needs? Leaning to your recommended N770 but since new cards are coming out, which is the better buy now?
I got a Corsair 230T case w 3 120mm fans (2 in, 1 out) plus 2 more Cougar 120mm PVM fans (in) plus the other fans on the suggested PS and CPU cooler. Is that the best cooling setup or should I reverse the Cougars to blow out ? I have a y splitter for the Cougars to connect to the MB but how do I wire the case fans? If to PS, I will need additional cables.
Thanks for all the work and getting me to select what should be a killer system.
Warren
Author
Hello Warren,
That does sound like a killer system. To answer the fans question first – It sounds like you have it set up optimally. Such as I would have most of the fans pointing inwards (Ones on the side and top) and the fan(s)at the back pointing outward to act as the exhaust, that should be plenty of airflow.
As for the graphics card, the GTX 770 recommended for November would probably work perfectly, or if you can splurge a little more maybe even an AMD R9 290 (About $400), but that may be hard to pin down at the moment.
Forgive me, I’m new to this. How would you compare your $600 build to this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfGE4i_A6E4
I already bought the CPU and Motherboard from the video, but I keep hearing how it can’t run AC4 in full HD smoothly , so I don’t know if I should use the mother board and CPU for another build for my mom. I’m so confused…
Author
Hello,
You should be ok in AC4 with those parts. The only difference is that he uses the 750K AMD processor instead of the 6300 that I have included here. The 6300 should perform better though then the 750K, and its no surprise in terms of the price per performance either. The biggest factor in determining your performance in AC4 would be the graphics card though, and since we both have used the R9 270X, there are no problems there.
So what I would do is simply try out AC4 with what you bought, if it isn’t up to your standards then try for a AMD 6300 overclock it, and give the 750k to your mom.
Long time reader first time poster. I just bought all the parts for the 1500 build but I wanted to SLI the graphics cards (I opted for 2) but I was unsure what size, brand, etc would work for this. Any suggestions or straight up amazon selections? Thanks.
Author
Hello Scott,
Nice to hear from a reoccurring reader 🙂
So I see you went all out, very nice. In terms of size of graphics card size, are you referring to the memory? Any 2GB version in SLI should be way more then enough as it is. You should have no problem with most brands for any of the GTX 770s, but the MSI ones that I have linked are very nice and have benchmarked well ( http://www.anandtech.com/show/7392/the-geforce-gtx-770-roundup-evga-gigabyte-and-msi-compared/8 ). As well you could go with an Asus one to go with the motherboard included in the $1500 build ( ASUS GTX770-DC2OC-2GD5 ).
Let me know if you have any further questions
Hi I was wondering if you have a suggestion for a multi monitor (3) card. we (my son and I) are building your 1000 dollar build. And no I cannot talk him out of the 3 monitor set up.
Not building but always fun to read your builds. Keep up the good work.
Author
Thanks Jay, I appreciate it.
The r9 270 performs similar to 270x but is quite a bit cheaper. Money better spent on something else.
Author
You are correct that the 270 performs similarly and is cheaper. Keep in mind that I posted this article the very day of the 270’s release, so I would not have included it in this article. I would however have no problem recommending the 270 or the 270x to save that extra $40 – $50.