Need a good 500 dollar build

[Vexcity]

Budget (including currency): 500

Country: US

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: I’ll mainly be playing apex (FPS shooter game), and  streaming too.

Other details:  I’m looking for a consistent 90-100 fps, running at 1080p.  I don’t need peripherals as i already have some.  I have no list of parts so any recommendations would be appreciated.

 

[Needfuldoer]

Are you open to buying used parts? 

[Steve1978]

I think at the sub 500 budget you are best buying an old pc. Maybe a 1660 super

[PDifolco]

1 hour ago, Vexcity said:

Budget (including currency): 500

Country: US

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: I’ll mainly be playing apex (FPS shooter game), and  streaming too.

Other details:  I’m looking for a consistent 90-100 fps, running at 1080p.  I don’t need peripherals as i already have some.  I have no list of parts so any recommendations would be appreciated.

 

You need $72 more for the cheapest decent new PC I can build

Else you can find an used 1660S or such for less than $150 to be on budget

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5500 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($98.99 @ B&H) 
Motherboard: ASRock A520M Phantom Gaming 4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($81.98 @ Newegg) 
Memory: Silicon Power GAMING 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory  ($40.97 @ Amazon) 
Storage: TEAMGROUP MP33 512 GB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($28.99 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: ASRock Challenger D Radeon RX 6600 8 GB Video Card  ($219.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: Deepcool MATREXX 40 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($45.98 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: Thermaltake Smart BM2 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply  ($54.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $571.89
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-12-24 06:01 EST-0500

 

[Somerandomtechyboi]

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/dBWrBj

Yea entire things just a bunch of references cause over half the build will be used

 

Yes used board, midranger b3/450 like the pro 4, a pro, aorus elite, etc. Should go ~60$, you may be able to go cheaper by going for an a320 board like maybe you can snag one 30$ but you cant overclock till you flash the bios to a b350 board (should be possible judging by boards like the a320m hdv and b350m hdv having the exact same layout, just need a bios programmer and some dupont jumpers to connect to the spi header)

 

Used gpu, you can find some 6600 for 190-180$ on ebay

 

Used case, dont need to waste $ on crap that doesnt contribute to performance, do something similar to what linus did on his 500$ gaming pc and buy a used office case for like 5$ though prefferably find a nicer case with proper airflow if possible and not too expensive but thats just a nice to have since all you gotta do to fix temps on an office case is take off the sidepanel

 

Used psu, prices on new units are bleh and you can often times get 50% discounts over buying new or like 20-50$ discount, just buy a reputable one and if you arent faimilar with that particular unit look for reviews, and definitely check the wattage table to make sure 12v rail is not more than 100w below psu rating and only 1 12v rail cause multirail psus are trash and cut effective wattage that can be used in half or by how many rails there are cause trigger ocp on 1 rail and the psu still shuts off

 

 

For some optional or extra stuff

 

Cooler upgrade you can buy an intel 775 copper core for like 2-3$ and ziptie it onto your cpu, beefier than a wraith stealth so itll perform better

 

If you decide to use the igpu and wait for more money to get a better gpu then buy some bare pcb used micron/crucial 2666c19 8gb modules for 2x8 with micron rev e, prefferably with the ic c9bjz or d9wfr which can be seen by just looking at the black squares (ics) on the ram, should get you to 5000 with a capable board, fclk is not a concern youll hit ic or board limit first since cezanne does ~2500fclk aka 5000 ddr4

[Vexcity]

5 hours ago, Needfuldoer said:

Are you open to buying used parts? 

Sure

[Kilrah]

Threads merged, please keep it to one thread for your build so people have context.

[Vexcity]

Budget (including currency): 600

Country: US

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Playing Apex and some streaming 

Other details: Here is my build from pc part picker- https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Yk7Cnt, I’ll be playing at mid to low settings.  Running at a consistent 100 fps/hrz at 1080p

 

[Bombastinator]

No wifi and not a lot of hard drive.  Either one  could be fixed an stay under your $600 ceiling. Probably not both though.  I know nothing about the PSU.  The 5500 will have some odd limitations.  You probably stay under them though so I don’t anticipate a problem.

[vertigo220]

Don't have time to do a deep-dive, and you should really take that time to fully research all the parts and make sure they're quality, especially the PSU and motherboard. That said, I don't see any major issues that jump out. Biggest concerns would be micro-ATX case space limitations, so make sure there's enough room for your GPU and keep in mind that if, in the future, you ever want to upgrade, you might be limited by space. Not personally a big ASRock fan, but if those parts are well-reviewed hopefully you won't have any issues. Power supply has the power you need, but limits upgradeability in the future, both in power and connections, though you have to keep in mind getting something bigger now to help future-proof isn't a guarantee, as stuff changes. Depending on what you're doing, memory and drive space are both low. If you're just gaming and doing web browsing and basic usage, both should be mostly fine, but newer games are requiring much more of both. Good news is both can be added to in the future if needed. From what it sounds like you're intending to do, it should be more than fine. And make sure the RAM is compatible with the CPU and motherboard. Wi-Fi not important on a desktop, especially if using it for gaming, unless you foresee the need at some point, but even then, you could just use a USB Wi-Fi adapter which would probably be better than a module on the motherboard anyway. Finally, probably won't have much critical data on it since it's just going to be for gaming and streaming, but keep in mind a backup drive for anything you don't want to lose and follow proper backup procedures.

[Bombastinator]

1 hour ago, vertigo220 said:

Don't have time to do a deep-dive, and you should really take that time to fully research all the parts and make sure they're quality, especially the PSU and motherboard. That said, I don't see any major issues that jump out. Biggest concerns would be micro-ATX case space limitations, so make sure there's enough room for your GPU and keep in mind that if, in the future, you ever want to upgrade, you might be limited by space. Not personally a big ASRock fan, but if those parts are well-reviewed hopefully you won't have any issues. Power supply has the power you need, but limits upgradeability in the future, both in power and connections, though you have to keep in mind getting something bigger now to help future-proof isn't a guarantee, as stuff changes. Depending on what you're doing, memory and drive space are both low. If you're just gaming and doing web browsing and basic usage, both should be mostly fine, but newer games are requiring much more of both. Good news is both can be added to in the future if needed. From what it sounds like you're intending to do, it should be more than fine. And make sure the RAM is compatible with the CPU and motherboard. Wi-Fi not important on a desktop, especially if using it for gaming, unless you foresee the need at some point, but even then, you could just use a USB Wi-Fi adapter which would probably be better than a module on the motherboard anyway. Finally, probably won't have much critical data on it since it's just going to be for gaming and streaming, but keep in mind a backup drive for anything you don't want to lose and follow proper backup procedures.

The 5500 may also have that problem if it’s basically a 5600g with no g. The 5600g not only doesn’t have pcie4 but it also has an odd distribution system that effectively limits what GPUs can be used.  The 6600 falls within these limits so it doesn’t matter for the current build but it may matter for upgrades.  I get the impression 5500s and a series boards are well matched.  Weirdly the 6400 doesn’t.  The design of that one still perplexes me.

Edited December 24, 2022 by Bombastinator

[vertigo220]

4 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

The 5500 may also have that problem if it’s basically a 5600g with no g. The 5600g not only doesn’t have pcie4 but it also has an odd distribution system that effectively limits what GPUs can be used.  The 6600 falls within these limits so it doesn’t matter for the current build but it may matter for upgrades.  I get the impression 5500s and a series boards are well matched.  Weirdly the 6400 doesn’t.  The design of that one still perplexes me.

Interesting. Haven't heard of that issue before. If by distribution you mean PCIe lanes, it looks like it's limited to x8 on mobile but has the full x16 on desktop.

[Bombastinator]

2 hours ago, vertigo220 said:

Interesting. Haven't heard of that issue before. If by distribution you mean PCIe lanes, it looks like it's limited to x8 on mobile but has the full x16 on desktop.

It’s a big if.  It would need to be looked for.  As I said I don’t know much about the 5500.  I learned about the 5600g issue through GN.  Having them do something on the 5500 (if they haven’t already) could be interesting.  For all I know it’s totally different. Personally I think the 5600g is great for specific applications. As long as you don’t use too fast a video card on it or expect it to do pcie4 it’s more or less a 5600x with a backup gpu for less money.   The issue is that you CANT make it do pcie4 which is what causes problems for the 6400.  The 6400 does not work well if it’s limited to pcie3. A series stuff is also limited to pcie3 so everything is fine there, and the 6600 doesn’t have that stupid unattached lanes only thing going on so while it would have the problem if it did, it doesn’t. 

Edited December 24, 2022 by Bombastinator

[vertigo220]

1 minute ago, Bombastinator said:

It’s a big if.  It would need to be looked for.  As I said I don’t know much about the 5500.  I learned about the 5600g issue through GN.  Having them do something on the 5500 (if they haven’t already) could be interesting.  For all I know it’s totally different. Personally I think the 5600g is great for specific applications. As long as you don’t use too fast a video card on it or expect it to do pcie4 it’s more or less a 5600x with a backup gpu for less money.   The issue is that you CANT make it do pcie4 which is what causes problems for the 6400.  The 6400 does not work well if it’s limited to pcie3

Do you mean 6600? All these similar numbers get confusing, hard to keep track...

[Bombastinator]

9 minutes ago, vertigo220 said:

Do you mean 6600? All these similar numbers get confusing, hard to keep track...

They do.  Monitors are even worse.  I have been talking about the 6600 and 6400 rdna2 video cards, and the 5500, 5600g, and 5600x CPUs.  My assumption has been that a 5500 is more or less a 5600g with the iGP removed.  I do not know if this is actually the case though.  I personally think doing nothing but attaching 4 more lanes on the 6400 x16comb would make it more useful on pcie3 systems and could produce a VERY interesting card.  Call it a 6450 or something. There WERE 5500 and 5600 rdna1 video cards as well which were a lot like the rdna2 6600 and 6400 video cards just to make it more fun.  I didn’t talk about them though.

 

I also thought the budget was $600 not $500 which can make a big difference.

[vertigo220]

12 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

They do.  Monitors are even worse.  I have been talking about the 6600 and 6400 rdna2 video cards, and the 5500, 5600g, and 5600x CPUs.  My assumption has been that a 5500 is more or less a 5600g with the iGP removed.  I do not know if this is actually the case though.  I personally think doing nothing but attaching 4 more lanes on the 6400 x16comb would make it more useful on pcie3 systems and could produce a VERY interesting card.  Call it a 6450 or something. 

Ok, I figured but was confused, mainly b/c OP has 6600 in proposed build. I don't know a lot about GPUs, but I'm surprised a 6600, and especially a 6400, would be that impacted by PCIe 3 vs 4, at least if it is indeed x16. If it were really limited to x8 that would make more sense, but I don't think it is. Would definitely require confirmation.

[Bombastinator]

26 minutes ago, vertigo220 said:

Ok, I figured but was confused, mainly b/c OP has 6600 in proposed build. I don't know a lot about GPUs, but I'm surprised a 6600, and especially a 6400, would be that impacted by PCIe 3 vs 4, at least if it is indeed x16. If it were really limited to x8 that would make more sense, but I don't think it is. Would definitely require confirmation.

My understanding is the 6400 was not well liked when it came out because it was slower than a 1650, which is sort of like a 4090 for people that have old office prebuilts because they often have no 6+2 cables on their PSUs so for a long time it was, and may still be, the fastest card with no power plugs.  My understanding is that may be the 3050 now but I don’t know. 
 

My understanding (which may be wrong, please someone tell me if I’m full of it on this) the issue with the 6400 is it’s got enough bandwidth through it’s only partially connected comb if it runs pcie4, but. NOT if it runs pcie3. So on an a series board or a b450 it bottlenecks Itself. So if one runs a 6400 on a pcie4 system it’s a good bit faster than a 1650.  This was the same problem the 5500 had so I am surprised it wasn’t fixed for the 6400.  To do a $500 build of there WAS a 6450 (which afaik there isn’t) would be to swap that with the 6600.  Swapping a 6400 with it though is a massive problem because a series boards run pcie3.  Makes me wonder what the cheapest b550 board is though, because that board does have pcie4 and the problem goes away (assuming the cpu doesn’t also limit to pcie3). It may be possible that this one got fixed by AMD quietly and there are cards labeled 6400 that have 8 working pcie connections instead of 4. This WOULD be enough for the 6400 to run at full bandwidth on pcie3.  It would also mean there are two 6400s though:  the ones without enough lanes for good pcie3 operation and ones with it. If so figuring out which one a given card is could matter a lot.

Edited December 25, 2022 by Bombastinator

[vertigo220]

19 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

My understanding is the 6400 was not well liked when it came out because it was slower than a 1650, which is sort of like a 4090 for people that have old office prebuilts because they often have no 6+2 cables on their PSUs so for a long time it was, and may still be, the fastest card with no power plugs.  My understanding is that may be the 3050 now but I don’t know. 
 

the issue with the 6400 is it’s got enough bandwidth through it’s only partially connected comb if it runs pcie4, but. NOT if it runs pcie3. So if one runs a 6400 on a pcie4 system it’s a good bit faster than a 1650.  This was the same problem the 5500 had so I am surprised it wasn’t fixed for the 6400.

And this is a perfect example of why I hate GPUs.  CPUs and everything else are just so much simpler. My 770 (yup, I'm still on an almost 10-year-old card) is slightly faster than my friend's 1000-series (pretty sure it's a 1050) and another GPU I have that's a 1050 SC. A card three generations newer shouldn't be slower just because it's a step or two down. That's just insane.

[Bombastinator]

8 minutes ago, vertigo220 said:

And this is a perfect example of why I hate GPUs.  CPUs and everything else are just so much simpler. My 770 (yup, I'm still on an almost 10-year-old card) is slightly faster than my friend's 1000-series (pretty sure it's a 1050) and another GPU I have that's a 1050 SC. A card three generations newer shouldn't be slower just because it's a step or two down. That's just insane.

A 770 is a lot older design than a 1050. It will probably use a good deal more electricity to do what the 1050 does.  More electricity is also generally more faster.  So a hoped up 7 series has near the same power as a hopped down 10 series.

[vertigo220]

1 minute ago, Bombastinator said:

A 770 is a lot older design than a 1050. It will probably use a good deal more electricity to do what the 1050 does.  More electricity is also generally more faster.  So a hoped up 7 series has near the same power as a hopped down 10 series.

True, and it does, so I guess that's a fair point. Still bugs me a bit, but oh well. Right now I'm just waiting either for the midrange 7000-series cards to come out and be available, and at reasonable prices, or for a good sale on a 6000-series. I figure after 10 years I've earned an upgrade.

[IkeaGnome]

15 minutes ago, vertigo220 said:

And this is a perfect example of why I hate GPUs.  CPUs and everything else are just so much simpler. My 770 (yup, I'm still on an almost 10-year-old card) is slightly faster than my friend's 1000-series (pretty sure it's a 1050) and another GPU I have that's a 1050 SC. A card three generations newer shouldn't be slower just because it's a step or two down. That's just insane.

Typically performance goes down a step with each generation. A 2070 is similar in performance to a 1080. A 3060 is similar in performance to a 2070. There are outliers and exceptions.

42 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

My understanding is the 6400 was not well liked when it came out because it was slower than a 1650,

It got a lot of undeserved hate, and still does. 

https://www.techpowerup.com/review/amd-radeon-rx-6400-pci-express-30-scaling/28.html

Spoiler

 

The big issue with it isn't really the Pcie 4.0x4 interface, it's the lack of encoding, no hardware decoding and completely locked out from Overclocking.

There are cases where it makes sense to use though. Just look at the cost of a low profile 6400 compared to a low profile 1650. 

 

[Bombastinator]

11 minutes ago, vertigo220 said:

True, and it does, so I guess that's a fair point. Still bugs me a bit, but oh well. Right now I'm just waiting either for the midrange 7000-series cards to come out and be available, and at reasonable prices, or for a good sale on a 6000-series. I figure after 10 years I've earned an upgrade.

The good sale on the 6000 series seems to be happening in the used market.

[Bombastinator]

3 minutes ago, IkeaGnome said:

Typically performance goes down a step with each generation. A 2070 is similar in performance to a 1080. A 3060 is similar in performance to a 2070. There are outliers and exceptions.

It got a lot of undeserved hate, and still does. 

https://www.techpowerup.com/review/amd-radeon-rx-6400-pci-express-30-scaling/28.html

  Hide contents

 

The big issue with it isn't really the Pcie 4.0x4 interface, it's the lack of encoding, no hardware decoding and completely locked out from Overclocking.

There are cases where it makes sense to use though. Just look at the cost of a low profile 6400 compared to a low profile 1650. 

 

So there’s more.  I didn’t know that.

[vertigo220]

6 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

The good sale on the 6000 series seems to be happening in the used market.

Not really big on the idea of buying used components. I just know that with my luck it would die after a few months or a year.

[Bombastinator]

2 minutes ago, vertigo220 said:

Not really big on the idea of buying used components. I just know that with my luck it would die after a few months or a year.

There are issues.  Pga CPUs can have problems with bent and missing pins, cases with bent or missing parts, drives with amount of use, and video cards with general function.  Myself I only even do it with lga CPUs and video cards, I will only use PayPal, and I insist on returnablility because I need to do a function test.  I also bought a used HDD recently but I only want to use it as a cold storage backup (so more or less a gigantic usbkey) and it won’t be written to very much so any wear less than “it’s nearly dead Jim” isn’t really a factor, and can be easily checked with crystaldiskinfo.  Functionality tests are critical. DOA can happen with used.