This topic is about different kinds of gaming rigs because lately there has been a lot of discussion buying new PCs. If you're planning to buy a new gaming rig, this topic offers some ready-made configurations that can be modified and none of which include an operating system. Notice that I removed the optical drive because many users won't need it at all and if you do, it's easy to add one to the shopping cart. This means that you need to use an USB drive to install an operating system.
You can also discuss your own pc hardware related ideas here. I chose Azerty to be the example site because 99% of demobase speak dutch and Azerty happens to have their prices in euros. I'll update the original post every 1-2 weeks based on feedback, price shifts and when there's something new on the market.
First off I'll give you the glorious SOF2 Gamer 125 FPS rig!
SOF2 Gamer 125 FPS
PSU: Corsair Builder Series CX430
Case: BitFenix Merc Beta
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 120GB
Memory: Kingston ValueRAM DDR3 1600 MHz 1x4GB
Processor & graphics card: AMD A4-5300 3.4 GHz & AMD Radeon HD 7480D IGP
Motherboard: MSI FM2-A55M-E33
Winkelmandje (Shopping Cart)
Cost: ~280€
I picked up the cheapest sensible parts that would run SOF2 @ stable 125 fps and put them together. A case is of course a matter of taste but BitFenix Merc Beta offers great value for it's price thus it got picked. AMD A4-5300 and its' IGP are more than capable to run SOF2 with 125 fps. The most interesting part of this pc is that it only has an entry level SSD and no HDD at all which means it will be a pleasure to use this rig as it is very responsive. I wouldn't recommend choosing a cheaper PSU because most of them are utter crap and aren't protected well enough from causing damage to the rest of your computer if something goes wrong. Watch this video for example: Thortech Thunderbolt Worst PSU Ever? - YouTube. PSU is the most important part of your PC!
DB Budget Gamer
PSU: Corsair CX430
Case: BitFenix Merc Beta
Graphics card: Sapphire HD 7790 Dual-X OC
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 120GB
Memory: Team Elite DDR3 4GB 1333MHz
Processor: Intel Core i3 3220
Motherboard: Asrock B75 Pro3
Winkelmandje (Shopping Cart)
Cost: ~500€
DB Budget Gamer is for those who don't want to spend too much on a PC and still want reasonable gaming performance out of it. It only has an entry level SSD that will hold your operating system, programs and a couple of games which means you'd better add more storage when you need it. DB Budget Gamer has about half the performance of DB Serious Gamer but more than double the performance of SOF2 Gamer 125 FPS.
DB Serious Gamer
PSU: XFX Core Edition PRO550W
Case: Fractal Design R4
Graphics card: Gigabyte GeForce 660 2GB
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Green 1 TB & Kingston SSDNow V300 120GB
Memory: Kingston ValueRAM DDR3 2x4GB 1333MHz
Processor: Intel i5 3550 3.3GHz
Motherboard: Asrock ZH77 Pro3
Winkelmandje (Shopping Cart)
Cost: ~800€
This is a serious gaming rig for non-overclockers that runs any current game. To be realistic, you can't max out details in the heaviest games but still this one offers a very good performance for it's prize. It features NVidia GTX 660 2GB, quad-core processor and 8GB of RAM and a SSD for operating system and programs + 1 TB HDD for games etc. Fractal Design R4 is an excellent case with nice cooling performance and silent operation. I'd say this rig has a 3-4 year life span gaming-wise if you upgrade the graphics card after the second year.
DB Serious Gamer Overclocker
PSU: XFX Core Edition PRO550W
Case: Fractal Design R4
Graphics card: Gigabyte GeForce 660 2GB
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Green 1 TB & Kingston SSDNow V300 120GB
Memory: Kingston ValueRAM DDR3 2x4GB 1333MHz
Processor: Intel i5 3570K 3.4GHz
Motherboard: Asrock Z77 Pro4
CPU cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo
Winkelmandje (Shopping Cart)
Cost: ~900€
This is DB Serious Gamer Overclocker. Basically it's DB Serious Gamer with better overclocking features. Those overclocking features add 10% to the cost but they also extend the life span of this gaming rig for about 20% and also give you better performance compared to DB Serious Gamer. The Asrock motherboard provides basic overclocking functions for a casual overclocker. i5 3570K has a good overclocking headroom and the Geforce 660 overclocks generally really well. Thermalright Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo is a great mid-price cooler that satisfies the needs of a casual overclocker. I'd say the life span gaming-wise for this one is 4 to 5 years if you upgrade the graphics card later on.
DB Enthusiast
PSU: Super Flower Golden Green 750W
Case: Antec Performance One P193 V3
Graphics card: EVGA GTX 780 3GB
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB + Samsung 840 Pro 128GB
Memory: Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1600Mhz 4x4 GB
Processor: Intel Core i7 4770K 3.5GHz
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD3H
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14
Winkelmandje (Shopping Cart)
Cost: ~1800€
This is the DB Enthusiast. It costs but it also delivers. You can overclock it and it is CrossFire/SLI ready. If you need the price lower, just mix it up with Serious Gamer Overclocker. The main differences with DB SGO are better case, better cooling, better graphics card and processor, a modular gold efficiency rate PSU and double the RAM & storage. If the PC is mainly just for gaming, I'd recommend having 3570K instead of 3770K because the benefits of Hyper-Threading are debatable if they're worth the money. But that's what the DB Enthusiast is about: hardware enthusiasm.
Operating Systems (OS)
None of these builds include an OS so here are links for those. Ubuntu
Windows 8 64 bit 130e
Windows 7 64 bit 130e
Ubuntu 0e
Edited by Jesa-, 21 July 2013 - 08:37 AM.
