$500 gaming rig?

[Scionyde]

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2S0rr

Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2S0rr/by_merchant/

Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2S0rr/benchmarks/

CPU: AMD A10-7850K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($139.99)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A88XN-WIFI Mini ITX FM2+ Motherboard ($107.13 @ SuperBiiz)

Memory: A-Data XPG™ Gaming v2.0 Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($85.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.93 @ OutletPC)

Video Card: Asus Radeon R7 260X 2GB Video Card ($139.99 @ NCIX US)

Case: Cooler Master Elite 110 Mini ITX Tower Case ($39.99 @ Mwave)

Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)

Total: $596.01

I can give you the OS from my unlimited license, but you'll have to cram the other stuff in there.

 

There's no point in pairing an APU with a GPU, hence why a lot of ppl are suggesting the Athlon CPU. Until we see otherwise, I think it's being assumed that trying to crossfire them with AMD's Dual Graphics is still a bit of a mess.

 

EDIT: Here's a minor tweak on what @kuzimins and @Deddie are suggesting.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 760K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor ($81.99 @ Newegg)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A75M-HD2 Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($54.99 @ Newegg)

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($39.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.99 @ Newegg)

Video Card: Asus Radeon HD 7790 2GB Video Card ($144.98 @ SuperBiiz)

Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)

Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($84.98 @ OutletPC)

Keyboard: Microsoft Keyboard 200 Wired Standard Keyboard ($10.48 @ Amazon)

Mouse: Microsoft Optical Mouse 200 for Business Wired Optical Mouse ($6.82 @ B&H)

Total: $539.20 (Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.) (Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-02-12 14:05 EST-0500)

 

Probably not mandatory, but 2 GB of VRAM might be nice, especially if you're trying to game at 1080p. Also, keep in mind that this build is close $600 before rebate, but there's like $60 in rebate. Also, @AlamoStar , any idea if you'll need an optical drive for that OS install? That'll be like $15 if you need it.

[spwath]

Need help finding parts for a 500$ gaming rig, It's for a friend of mine that is only going to be playing games

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

 

CPU:  AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor  ($114.47 @ OutletPC) 

Motherboard:  MSI 760GM-P34(FX) Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard  ($53.66 @ Newegg) 

Memory:  Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($84.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage:  Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($59.98 @ OutletPC) 

Video Card:  XFX Radeon R7 260X 1GB Video Card  ($119.99 @ NCIX US) 

Case:  Corsair 350D Window MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($79.99 @ Microcenter) 

Power Supply:  EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($39.99 @ Microcenter) 

Total: $553.07

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-02-12 14:56 EST-0500)

[slasher0161]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Pentium G3420 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($71.99 @ Mwave)

Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($42.98 @ Newegg)

Memory: Corsair XMS 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($64.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.00 @ Amazon)

Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7790 2GB Video Card ($151.98 @ SuperBiiz)

Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)

Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($84.98 @ OutletPC)

Total: $505.90

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-02-12 18:03 EST-0500)

As close as I could get to the budget if you are looking for an intel option. Personally I would drop a bit more coin and up the gpu.

The chipset itself is rather limiting and if they decide they like pc's they will want to try offload this rig and do a whole new build (I wouldn't be upgrading on this chipset due to the limitations intel has politely put in place).

[applebook]

Gotta go with some used parts at this price (new PSU and HDD though). 7770 isn't going to cut it with some of the more demanding shooters at 1080p.

[christ_himself]

if he can put just a little more i'd go with that.

memory choise was for price

 

if he dont need hdd space he can go for a 120gb ssd

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU:  Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($116.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard:  Gigabyte GA-H81M-HD3 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($67.49 @ Newegg)
Memory:  Kingston XMP Blu Red Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Storage:  Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card:  Asus Radeon R7 260X 2GB Video Card  ($144.99 @ NCIX US)
Case:  Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply:  EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply  ($39.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $529.42
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-02-13 16:04 EST-0500)