Build for a friend

[Oberon.Smite]

So my friend wants to build a PC. I've already got him covered with the OS, what's the best part combo for 500 dollars?

[Tedster]

So my friend wants to build a PC. I've already got him covered with the OS, what's the best part combo for 500 dollars?

What is your friend going to do with this build?

[Oberon.Smite]

What is your friend going to do with this build?

Strictly gaming.

[olback]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/kYmvyc

[olback]

8GB would be ideal for gaming, if you could fit that in, that would be awesome

[casteliano]

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117374&cm_re=intel_pentium_anniversary_edition_g3258-_-19-117-374-_-Product

GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487091&cm_re=gtx_960-_-14-487-091-_-Product

[Tedster]

I'd suggest this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($103.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($41.40 @ SuperBiiz) 

Memory: Patriot Viper 3 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($44.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($49.49 @ OutletPC) 

Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 380 2GB Video Card  ($184.98 @ SuperBiiz) 

Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($34.20 @ SuperBiiz) 

Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($35.99 @ Newegg) 

Total: $495.04

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-03 13:12 EDT-0400

[BigDay]

would the i3-4170 bottleneck the 380?

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4170 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($112.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($41.40 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Team Dark 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($43.20 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 380 2GB Video Card  ($189.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($39.60 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($43.20 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $505.36
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-03 13:11 EDT-0400

[OAcesync]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($102.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85-HD3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($66.98 @ OutletPC) 

Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($41.85 @ SuperBiiz) 

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($49.49 @ OutletPC) 

Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 380 2GB Video Card  ($184.98 @ SuperBiiz) 

Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case  ($49.99 @ Micro Center) 

Power Supply: SeaSonic 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($59.40 @ SuperBiiz) 

Total: $555.68

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-03 13:12 EDT-0400

[Jack.EXE]

Step aside boys, let a real Budget builder work his magic.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($166.95 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Biostar B85MG Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($43.20 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Team Dark 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($37.80 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 380 2GB Video Card  ($174.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Azza Cosmas ATX Mid Tower Case  ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Thermaltake TR2 600W ATX Power Supply  ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $502.90
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-03 13:15 EDT-0400

 

An i5 AND an R9-380 in a $500 budget build?

Without skimping on other things?

 

I need to save this link...

[BigDay]

Step aside boys, let a real Budget builder work his magic.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($166.95 @ SuperBiiz)

Motherboard: Biostar B85MG Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($43.20 @ SuperBiiz)

Memory: Team Dark 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($34.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($37.80 @ SuperBiiz)

Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 380 2GB Video Card  ($174.98 @ SuperBiiz)

Case: Azza Cosmas ATX Mid Tower Case  ($19.99 @ Newegg)

Power Supply: Thermaltake TR2 600W ATX Power Supply  ($24.99 @ Newegg)

Total: $502.90

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-03 13:15 EDT-0400

 

An i5 AND an R9-380 in a $500 budget build?

Without skimping on other things?

 

I need to save this link...

 

not bad, but the psu and motherboard are questionable. that being said, it should work.

[Prysin]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor  ($90.00 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock 970M PRO3 Micro ATX AM3+/AM3 Motherboard  ($57.60 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Team Dark 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Hitachi Deskstar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($42.95 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 380 2GB Video Card  ($189.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($39.60 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($43.20 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $498.32
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-03 14:43 EDT-0400

 

 

This would be smoother then an i3 in newer AAA games. But would give equal, or slightly lower FPS in older games.

No "upgrade path". This setup, at 1080p. should run with max settings for the most part.

[Hman1250]

Step aside boys, let a real Budget builder work his magic.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($166.95 @ SuperBiiz)

Motherboard: Biostar B85MG Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($43.20 @ SuperBiiz)

Memory: Team Dark 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($34.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($37.80 @ SuperBiiz)

Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 380 2GB Video Card  ($174.98 @ SuperBiiz)

Case: Azza Cosmas ATX Mid Tower Case  ($19.99 @ Newegg)

Power Supply: Thermaltake TR2 600W ATX Power Supply  ($24.99 @ Newegg)

Total: $502.90

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-03 13:15 EDT-0400

 

An i5 AND an R9-380 in a $500 budget build?

Without skimping on other things?

 

I need to save this link...

This is shit. Motherboard and PSU will die. Biostar is not a reliable company

[Hman1250]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor  ($90.00 @ SuperBiiz)

Motherboard: ASRock 970M PRO3 Micro ATX AM3+/AM3 Motherboard  ($57.60 @ SuperBiiz)

Memory: Team Dark 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($34.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Hitachi Deskstar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($42.95 @ Amazon)

Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 380 2GB Video Card  ($189.98 @ SuperBiiz)

Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($39.60 @ SuperBiiz)

Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($43.20 @ SuperBiiz)

Total: $498.32

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-03 14:43 EDT-0400

 

 

This would be smoother then an i3 in newer AAA games. But would give equal, or slightly lower FPS in older games.

No "upgrade path". This setup, at 1080p. should run with max settings for the most part.

The i3 would still be a better future proof system. Benchmarks are everywhere, worst bang for the buck CPU. Oh and did I mention that that CPU has 3 core/6 thread not FULL 6 cores.

A decent system would be this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($102.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Motherboard: MSI H81M-E34 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($50.40 @ SuperBiiz) 

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($39.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($49.49 @ OutletPC) 

Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 380 2GB Video Card  ($174.98 @ SuperBiiz) 

Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($34.99 @ Newegg) 

Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($35.99 @ Newegg) 

Total: $488.83

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-03 14:52 EDT-0400

[jimakos234]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($102.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($54.00 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($42.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($43.20 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 280X 3GB Double Dissipation Video Card  ($184.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 100R ATX Mid Tower Case  ($37.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($35.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $502.15
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-03 15:06 EDT-0400

[Prysin]

 

The i3 would still be a better future proof system. Benchmarks are everywhere, worst bang for the buck CPU. Oh and did I mention that that CPU has 3 core/6 thread not FULL 6 cores.

A decent system would be this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($102.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Motherboard: MSI H81M-E34 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($50.40 @ SuperBiiz) 

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($39.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($49.49 @ OutletPC) 

Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 380 2GB Video Card  ($174.98 @ SuperBiiz) 

Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($34.99 @ Newegg) 

Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($35.99 @ Newegg) 

Total: $488.83

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-03 14:52 EDT-0400

 

If you knew a thing or two, you would know that in newer games, the 6300 is equal, pretty much, to the i3 4130/4160. It may not have AS HIGH FPS. but it DOES NOT FLUCTUATE AS MUCH.

You know what is worse then low FPS? FPS that bounces. You know why? Because it looks more choppy.... if you jump around between 30FPS and 60 FPS constantly, it is worse, visually, then just staying at 45-50 FPS without taking a dip...

 

 

 

 

Yes FX is OCd in second video... but OCing a FX to those levels or slightly below is not hard... you should easily be able to hit 4.2 to 4.3 GHz with the board i posted... you may want to add a CM Hyper TX3 or T4 heatsink, but those are like 20 bucks... not a huge increase in price if you wish to OC

 

watch this... While this is NOT true for all games, it is not FAR FROM.

 

Also mate, you used MAIL IN REBATES..... let me turn those on ON MY BUILD

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor  ($90.00 @ SuperBiiz)

Motherboard: ASRock 970M PRO3 Micro ATX AM3+/AM3 Motherboard  ($52.98 @ Newegg)

Memory: Team Dark 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($34.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Hitachi Deskstar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($42.95 @ Amazon)

Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 380 2GB Video Card  ($174.98 @ SuperBiiz)

Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($34.99 @ Newegg)

Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($35.99 @ Newegg)

Total: $466.88

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-03 15:04 EDT-0400

 

OOPPPS i am now 26 USD cheaper then you, with about THE SAME performance as you.... give or take a little...

Sorry mate... but honestly... learn to build, learn to educate yourself.

FX is not great. No, it is not. But it is adequate by all means.

 

The biggest bottleneck in any system will always, without any question, doubt or uncertainty, be THE MONITOR.

Aslong as your hardware can max out the refresh rate (Hz) of your monitor, then YOU WILL NOT BENEFIT FROM HIGHER FPS, EVER.

 

 

BONUS VIDEO. Here is difference between STOCK FX 6300 and OC 6300

 

 

 

and FX 6300 vs i5 4690k. Both 3.5 GHz

 

 

[Hman1250]

If you knew a thing or two, you would know that in newer games, the 6300 is equal, pretty much, to the i3 4130/4160. It may not have AS HIGH FPS. but it DOES NOT FLUCTUATE AS MUCH.

You know what is worse then low FPS? FPS that bounces. You know why? Because it looks more choppy.... if you jump around between 30FPS and 60 FPS constantly, it is worse, visually, then just staying at 45-50 FPS without taking a dip...

 

 

 

 

Yes FX is OCd in second video... but OCing a FX to those levels or slightly below is not hard... you should easily be able to hit 4.2 to 4.3 GHz with the board i posted... you may want to add a CM Hyper TX3 or T4 heatsink, but those are like 20 bucks... not a huge increase in price if you wish to OC

 

watch this... While this is NOT true for all games, it is not FAR FROM.

 

Also mate, you used MAIL IN REBATES..... let me turn those on ON MY BUILD

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor  ($90.00 @ SuperBiiz)

Motherboard: ASRock 970M PRO3 Micro ATX AM3+/AM3 Motherboard  ($52.98 @ Newegg)

Memory: Team Dark 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($34.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Hitachi Deskstar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($42.95 @ Amazon)

Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 380 2GB Video Card  ($174.98 @ SuperBiiz)

Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($34.99 @ Newegg)

Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($35.99 @ Newegg)

Total: $466.88

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-03 15:04 EDT-0400

 

OOPPPS i am now 26 USD cheaper then you, with about THE SAME performance as you.... give or take a little...

Sorry mate... but honestly... learn to build, learn to educate yourself.

FX is not great. No, it is not. But it is adequate by all means.

 

The biggest bottleneck in any system will always, without any question, doubt or uncertainty, be THE MONITOR.

Aslong as your hardware can max out the refresh rate (Hz) of your monitor, then YOU WILL NOT BENEFIT FROM HIGHER FPS, EVER.

 

 

BONUS VIDEO. Here is difference between STOCK FX 6300 and OC 6300

 

 

 

and FX 6300 vs i5 4690k. Both 3.5 GHz

 

 

You have to consider thermals as well. Putting an FX 6300 and an R9 280 is like over 300 watts itself. The 6300 needs 95W itself, overclocking it will bring it up to around 115W-120W. It isn't worth it

[Prysin]

You have to consider thermals as well. Putting an FX 6300 and an R9 280 is like over 300 watts itself. The 6300 needs 95W itself, overclocking it will bring it up to around 115W-120W. It isn't worth it

 

Do you build a desktop for thermals?

if so, go buy a laptop instead.

 

300W is like NOTHING... that is the output of ONE SINGLE R9 290X. ONE SINGLE HIGH END GPU

 

stop throwing around bullshit arguments. You were shown that the FX could beat your I3, that it could keep up with an i5 even.... and all you could come up with was THAT poor of an argument..

want to know the difference between an i3 and a FX system?

 

YOUR BUILD IS 333W

MY BUILD IS 374W

 

DIFFERENCE IS 41W

 

THAT IS ONE LIGHTBULB. ONE AVERAGE LIGHTBULB. INFACT, NORMAL LIGHTBULDS ARE OFTEN 50 to 60W....

 

YOUR ARGUMENT IS STUPID, BEYOND BELIEF. IF YOU WANT EPICALLY LOW THERMAL OUTPUT, BUY A LAPTOP. IF YOU WANT PERFORMANCE. BUILD A REAL PC

[Hman1250]

Do you build a desktop for thermals?

if so, go buy a laptop instead.

 

300W is like NOTHING... that is the output of ONE SINGLE R9 290X. ONE SINGLE HIGH END GPU

 

stop throwing around bullshit arguments. You were shown that the FX could beat your I3, that it could keep up with an i5 even.... and all you could come up with was THAT poor of an argument..

want to know the difference between an i3 and a FX system?

 

YOUR BUILD IS 333W

MY BUILD IS 374W

 

DIFFERENCE IS 41W

 

THAT IS ONE LIGHTBULB. ONE AVERAGE LIGHTBULB. INFACT, NORMAL LIGHTBULDS ARE OFTEN 50 to 60W....

 

YOUR ARGUMENT IS STUPID, BEYOND BELIEF. IF YOU WANT EPICALLY LOW THERMAL OUTPUT, BUY A LAPTOP. IF YOU WANT PERFORMANCE. BUILD A REAL PC

Everyone cares about thermals. Oh and by the way. i3 is still better. Better architecture, it can't keep up. Your showing benchmarks with GPU's that aren't meant to be paired with those CPU's at all. Show some benchmarks with a higher in card. Like a 970, then we'll see where your FX 6300 will stack

[Serpius]

So my friend wants to build a PC. I've already got him covered with the OS, what's the best part combo for 500 dollars?

 

Oberon,

 

Here's my recommended computer build with a 4 GB graphics card that will be great for gaming.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($102.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Motherboard: ASRock Z97M Anniversary Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($80.10 @ SuperBiiz) 

Memory: Team Dark 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($34.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($49.49 @ OutletPC) 

Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 270X 4GB Dual-X Video Card  ($189.99 @ Newegg) 

Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($32.40 @ SuperBiiz) 

Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($50.40 @ SuperBiiz) 

Total: $540.36

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-03 17:10 EDT-0400

[Prysin]

Everyone cares about thermals. Oh and by the way. i3 is still better. Better architecture, it can't keep up. Your showing benchmarks with GPU's that aren't meant to be paired with those CPU's at all. Show some benchmarks with a higher in card. Like a 970, then we'll see where your FX 6300 will stack

The GTX 960 is almost as good as the R9 380....

 

here is your 970. NOW enough of your whining. Just accept that in NEWER GAMES, like, games made within the last 3 years, FX IS PRETTY OK... because those games usually use 4 or more cores.

 

 

https://youtu.be/tgjed8aylrg?t=620

 

 

Downside to the next video is that its the GPU (970) bottlenecking. The CPU is barely at 40% on average. The 970 is at 99% load constantly... settings are simply WAY too high for that setup. The one who recorded could have dropped one or two settings down and FPS would be in the high 50s or 60s easily

 

 

 

 

 

here have some more FPS glory

 

 

 

 

and here.... some i3 vs FX 6300 in GTA 5... clearly you can see the i3 bottleneck the 970. while the FX still has some headroom left. The superior IPC of haswell DOES let the i3 score really good and stable FPS, even when maxed out.

 

 

FX 6300 + GTX 970 in BF3

 

 

 

 

 

 

BONUS ROUND

 

FX 6300 + GTX 980 <- confirmed bottleneck from FX 6300

 

 

[Guest trucker2]

Your 30 minutes from a Microcenter in fairfax va. Check out there cpu/mb combos and open box gpu deals. Seriously I have built 2 gaming systems for under 5 bones with a few old HD's an an old case.

[Jack.EXE]

not bad, but the psu and motherboard are questionable. that being said, it should work.

 

I personally use the TR2-TR750