Gaming PC Under $800 (US) – Our Build Of The Week

Today we’re introducing an all new weekly segment called Build Of The Week. In it, we’ll be providing custom PC build lists tailored for specific-uses and budgets, these builds are curated by our best and brightest to be guaranteed to meet your needs. – This week, we’re providing our readers with an $800 (USD) gaming PC build that is capable of playing all of the latest games at up to 1440p.

(Please note that prices will change frequently and we will do our best to update accordingly)

GAMING PC UNDER $800 – BUILD SPECIFICATIONS

CPU: Intel Core i5 4690K 3.5GHz – Quad-Core – $229

The Intel Core i5 4690K features four Intel Haswell based processing cores, a base clock frequency of 3.5GHz which boosts to 3.9GHz, with a fully unlocked multiplier and Intel’s new Devil’s Canyon Thermal Interface making this CPU capable of  heavy overclocking. As well as 6MB of Intel Smart Cache.

We chose this CPU for our build because it offers some of the best gaming performance for the money on the market. While it may lack Hyper-Threading when compared to it’s big brother the Core i7, the vast majority of games won’t be utilizing that anyhow. It’s also over $100 cheaper than the comparable Core i7 4790K and offers nearly identical performance, when it comes to gaming.

 

MOTHERBOARD: MSI Z97-G55 SLI – $132

MSI’s Z97-G55 SLI  offers support for to 2-Way SLI or 3-Way CrossFireX  for up to 3 graphics cards, 6x SATA 6Gbps ports, 6x  rear USB 3.0 ports as well as two more headers for an additional 4 in the front, and  M.2 and SATA Express support for extremely fast storage options. All while featuring MSI’s Military Class 4 quality and stability.

We chose to go with this board because of its broad-feature set including SLI and CrossFireX support, plethora of ports and connection options and fantastic overclocking features at price that is really appealing.

 

RAM: Kingston HyperX FURY – 8GB (2×4) DDR3 1600MHz -$71

 

Kingston’s HyperX Fury is their mid-ranged Gaming  RAM, providing acceptable overclocking, with ease as it runs at the standard 1.5V, with a 1600MHz clock speed and a CAS latency of 10-10-10 which is all about what you would expect for performance RAM at this price.

We selected this RAM for our build because of Kingston’s reputation for reliability and the relatively low pricing when you consider the performance and overall quality of this kit. Also, we chose to go with an 8GB kit as we feel that it provides a good balance of both gaming performance and general multitasking, while not breaking the bank. It’s worth noting that most games use a max of about 3.5GB of RAM. – So while gaming you’ll have plenty leftover for additional background tasks like Skype or TeamSpeak, or recording applications like OBS.

 

GPU: PowerColor AXR9 280 – 3GBD5-T2DHC/OC – $199

 

The PowerColor AXR9 280 features a Radeon R9 280 GPU core, with PowerColor’s non-reference PCB and cooling design. It offers 3GB of GDDR5 vRAM (which is more than other cards commonly offer at this price point.),while also  factory-overclocked with a Core Clock of 855MHz, Boost Clock of 960MHz and Memory Clock of 1250MHz. and provides HDMI, Dual-Link DVI-D and 2x DisplayPort connections.

The graphics card is easily the most important component in a gaming build as it what drives the game. We chose this card for our build because it provides fantastic gaming performance at resolutions up to 1440p, while running cool and overclocking exceptionally well thanks to PowerColor’s awesome non-reference design and at under $200 it is one of the best values on the market right now.

 

STORAGE: Western Digital Blue 1TB – $54

The Western Digital Blue features 1TB of capacity along with 64MB of cache, 7200 RPM disk speeds and SATA 6GBps interface. WD Blue sets the baseline for everyday storage by consistently delivering improved performance over previous generations while successfully maintaining WD’s quality and reliability for over six generations.

For storage we chose to go with the WD Blue 1TB because it offers consistent performance, outstanding reliability while providing sufficient  capacity for a large library of games. We’d considered going with an SSD but that would have raised the price and given us vastly decreased capacity. We think for the purpose of gaming, this drive will meet the users overall performance and capacity needs until they add-in an SSD later on.

 

PSU: EVGA 500B – 500 watt  – $48

EVGA has recently made quite the reputation for themselves when it comes to power supplies. Providing top-notch quality, performance and features for very affordable prices. The 500B features 80+ Bronze efficiency, a single 12v rail, and 2x 6+2 pin PCI-E connectors making it able to power virtually any single GPU on the market.

We chose this power supply because it offers great build quality, sufficient wattage for our system and fantastic reliability. EVGA also has great customer service and a 3-year warranty in case something ever does go wrong. However, users wanting to install multiple graphics cards may want to consider going with one of their higher wattage models.

 

CASE: Corsair Carbide Series SPEC-01 – $49

 

The Corsair Carbide Series SPEC-01 is one of the latest in Corsair’s budget-friendly lineup. It offers clean styling, a full windowed side panel, dust filters for front and PSU intake fans as well as front access USB 3.0 and space for up to four 2.5″ or 3.5″ drives.

For our build we chose this case because it offers Corsair’s superior build-quality, lots of features and beautiful styling for a very affordable price. There’s arguably no better case on the market at this price point currently.