$500 all purpose PC

[fluffyPC]

Hi im building a pc for school work and medium amounts of gaming (1080p on med settings). Besides gaming i would be doing web stuff mostly and android ROMing and modding.

 

Here's two options i came up with

 

Gigabyte GV-R725O5-2GI graphics 98.93 

Asus H81M-D PLUS motherboard 52.98
i3 4130 3.4 GHz  109.00
Crucial CT120M500SSD1 SSD 72.00
Seagate ST3320418AS HDD 38.99
EVGA 100-B1-0500-KR PSU 34.99
case 40.00
Kingston KHX16C9B1RK2/8 RAM 79.99

 

and

 

 

Asus GeForce GT 740 2GB Video Card 102.98

MSI 760GMA-P34(FX) Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard 59.79
AMD FX 8-Core Black Edition FX-8120   120.00
Crucial CT120M500SSD1 SSD 72.00
Seagate ST3320418AS  HDD 38.99
EVGA 100-B1-0500-KR PSU 34.99
case 40.00
Kingston KHX16C9B1RK2/8 RAM 79.99

 

both of wich are a little over $500. Compatibility issues? places im skimping out when i shouldn't? something i could spend less on? Thanks

[Chriz6097]

Replace the 740 with a 750 since its $99 and I'd say its good (#2) link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487027&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

[79wjd]

Hi im building a pc for school work and medium amounts of gaming (1080p on med settings). Besides gaming i would be doing web stuff mostly and android ROMing and modding.

 

 

both of wich are a little over $500. Compatibility issues? places im skimping out when i shouldn't? something i could spend less on? Thanks

second. 

 

But, I'd change the 740 for an r7 260x. I'd also get a Cooler Master Hyper 212 and oc the fx8120. 

 

Altneratively, I'd actually get a z97 mobo and a G3258 and overclock like a bandit. The g3258 once overclocked is ridiculously fast considering its cost. 

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($74.99 @ Newegg) 

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($29.98 @ OutletPC) 

Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($79.99 @ Newegg) 

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($74.70 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Crucial MX100 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($70.98 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($54.98 @ OutletPC) 

Video Card: Asus Radeon R7 260X 2GB DirectCU II Video Card  ($129.99 @ Micro Center) 

Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($37.98 @ OutletPC) 

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

Total: $583.58

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

[ForsakenLive]

Something like this is going to be much better.

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ML2XYJ

Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ML2XYJ/by_merchant/

 

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($109.98 @ SuperBiiz) 

Motherboard: ASRock H81M-DGS R2.0 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($44.99 @ Newegg) 

Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($69.99 @ Amazon) 

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($52.92 @ Amazon) 

Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 270 2GB Dual-X Video Card  ($159.99 @ Newegg) 

Case: Rosewill RANGER-M MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($24.99 @ Amazon) 

Power Supply: EVGA 430W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply  ($34.99 @ Micro Center) 

Total: $497.85

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

 

Are you building it yourself? Where are you located?

[fluffyPC]

@ForsakenLive the only big difference i see with your build is you spent a little more on the gpu instead of an SSD. i think in my case an SSD would be better because a little more than half of my time on this PC will not be gaming. Valid point? And would 2 sticks of RAM be faster than 1 of the same amount?

[79wjd]

@ForsakenLive the only big difference i see with your build is you spent a little more on the gpu instead of an SSD. i think in my case an SSD would be better because a little more than half of my time on this PC will not be gaming. Valid point? And would 2 sticks of RAM be faster than 1 of the same amount?

Yes, 2 4gb sticks > 1 8gb stick. And you definitely want a better gpu....at the very least a gtx 750ti or r7 260x.

[MattP123]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($74.99 @ Newegg) 

Motherboard: MSI B85I Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($83.89 @ Newegg) 

Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($72.99 @ Amazon) 

Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($64.98 @ OutletPC) 

Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB TWIN FROZR Video Card  ($119.99 @ Newegg) 

Case: Silverstone SG05BB-LITE Mini ITX Tower Case  ($39.99 @ Amazon) 

Power Supply: Silverstone 300W 80+ Bronze Certified SFX Power Supply  ($49.99 @ Amazon) 

Total: $506.82

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

[ForsakenLive]

@ForsakenLive the only big difference i see with your build is you spent a little more on the gpu instead of an SSD. i think in my case an SSD would be better because a little more than half of my time on this PC will not be gaming. Valid point? And would 2 sticks of RAM be faster than 1 of the same amount?

The GPU does make quite a difference, there is a big chunk of performance between a low end GTX 740 and a R9 270. Even if the SSD is an awesome boost, you will regret not picking a good GPU on the future, don't buy anything less than a R7 260X or GTX 750. A R9 270 can be included on this budget and it's worth it. You can always partition your HDD upfront and upgrade very easily a few weeks later.

 

Theoretically 2 memory sticks are better than one in single channel. But there is not even 1 fps in difference in games, and most applications are either bottlenecked by the storage or the CPU without being able to take advantage of the dual channel. If you find yourself using a lot of memory on the future there is still the possibility of going 2x8gb (16gb) if you only get 1 memory stick now.

 

Get a strong build now and drop something like a SSDNow V300, SP600 or MX100 in the future, the 120gb models are cheap.

[79wjd]

 

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($74.99 @ Newegg) 

Motherboard: MSI B85I Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($83.89 @ Newegg) 

There is no point in getting the g3258 if you're not going to over clock. Or a mITX build unless size is a critical issue. 

 

 

The GPU does make quite a difference, there is a big chunk of performance between a low end GTX 740 and a R9 270. Even if the SSD is an awesome boost, you will regret not picking a good GPU on the future, don't buy anything less than a R7 260X or GTX 750. A R9 270 can be included on this budget and it's worth it. You can always partition your HDD upfront and upgrade very easily a few weeks later.

 

Theoretically 2 memory sticks are better than one in single channel. But there is not even 1 fps in difference in games, and most applications are either bottlenecked by the storage or the CPU without being able to take advantage of the dual channel. If you find yourself using a lot of memory on the future there is still the possibility of going 2x8gb (16gb) if you only get 1 memory stick now.

 

Get a strong build now and drop something like a SSDNow V300, SP600 or MX100 in the future, the 120gb models are cheap.

GT*740

 

Don't...just don't get something less than an R7 260x or GTX750Ti 

 

Dual channel ram is better than single channel ram in pretty much anything other than gaming--and also games that are highly cpu intensive. He can also get two more 4gb sticks since you don't want to go mitx unless you absolutely need to. Not that he's likely to need more than 8gb of ram anytime soon. 

 

+1 for Forsaken's last point. If you have to you can get an ssd (or hdd) at anytime down the road. But do get yourself a good gpu now; optimally r9 270 tun gtx750ti then r7 265x then r7260x depending on what your budget allows. 

[fluffyPC]

@ForsakenLive so heres an edited version of my first choice

 

 

Asus H81M-D PLUS

i3

Crucial CT120M500SSD1 SSD

Seagate ST3320418AS HDD

R7 260X

Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory

EVGA 100-B1-0500-KR PSU

 

and that comes out to be 549. if i could ask another question, which of the 3 cpus mentioned would you recommend (pentium g, i3, or AMD fx)? im leaning toward the i3, but the pentium sounds nice for OCing, but then wouldn't the price equal an i3 because i would most likely need an after market cooler?

[79wjd]

@ForsakenLive so heres an edited version of my first choice

 

 

Asus H81M-D PLUS

i3

Crucial CT120M500SSD1 SSD

Seagate ST3320418AS HDD

R7 260X

Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory

EVGA 100-B1-0500-KR PSU

 

and that comes out to be 549. if i could ask another question, which of the 3 cpus mentioned would you recommend (pentium g, i3, or AMD fx)? im leaning toward the i3, but the pentium sounds nice for OCing, but then wouldn't the price equal an i3 because i would most likely need an after market cooler?

the overclocked pentium is better than an i3; and can actually compete quite well with an i5 in a lot of games. 

[fluffyPC]

@djdwosk97 yea i will get at least a r7 260x

[fluffyPC]

what would a decent cooler run me then, assuming i even need one?

[79wjd]

what would a decent cooler run me then, assuming i even need one?

If you overclock...Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo is like $30. 

 

 

second. 

 

But, I'd change the 740 for an r7 260x. I'd also get a Cooler Master Hyper 212 and oc the fx8120. 

 

Altneratively, I'd actually get a z97 mobo and a G3258 and overclock like a bandit. The g3258 once overclocked is ridiculously fast considering its cost. 

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($74.99 @ Newegg) 

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($29.98 @ OutletPC) 

Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($79.99 @ Newegg) 

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($74.70 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Crucial MX100 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($70.98 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($54.98 @ OutletPC) 

Video Card: Asus Radeon R7 260X 2GB DirectCU II Video Card  ($129.99 @ Micro Center) 

Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($37.98 @ OutletPC) 

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

Total: $583.58

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

[ForsakenLive]

@ForsakenLive so heres an edited version of my first choice

 

 

Asus H81M-D PLUS

i3

Crucial CT120M500SSD1 SSD

Seagate ST3320418AS HDD

R7 260X

Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory

 

and that comes out to be 553. if i could ask another question, which of the 3 cpus mentioned would you recommend (pentium g, i3, or AMD fx)? im leaning toward the i3, but the pentium sounds nice for OCing, but then wouldn't the price equal an i3 because i would most likely need an after market cooler?

The Pentium is cheap and performs quite well if you OC it, but you need a Z97 board for that, which is expensive.

 

The FX you mentioned at first (FX 8120) is from the older Bulldozer architecture and it sucks. The Piledriver FX are good CPUs (example: FX 8320) However unless you OC them, the i3 still beats them in single threaded performance, which is what games take advantage of. You can check the Anandtech Gaming CPU roundup, that can inform you a bit more of how a CPU impacts on gaming performance: http://www.anandtech.com/show/7189/choosing-a-gaming-cpu-september-2013  they don't have the i3-4130 on the list, but it's going to perform a a bit better than the i3-3225 they have on the charts.

What basically the article says, is that on games where the multi-thread optimization is done and heavy CPU workloads are needed, a good CPU is worth it (example Civ V), for everything else (the majority of the games that exist), a good GPU is all you need.

On games like BF4, the Hyperthreading on the i3 becomes very useful and bumps the performance nicely, there are also other games where this happens.

 

Please, check this link, a review of the R9 270, where is compared to the R7 260X, you can see the difference is big. when future games launch, you wouldn't want to regret not having pick a beefier GPU on the first place. http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/amd_radeon_r9_270_review,21.html

You can partition the hard drive before you install the OS, and create C: with 120gb and D: as the rest of the drive. Use those 120gb as they were your SSD, and then when you buy it in the future you only need to use the Acronis software to migrate those 120gb to the SSD. I know you don't want to go over budget, but SSDs this size cost around $60, and you will probably be stuck with this system for at least 2 years, I think it's worth it.

[fluffyPC]

so it sounds like an i3 is the way to go for me, i dont really have the budget to spend on a OC board.

 

i am seriously considering the r9 270, but i also think an SSD would be a good investment now. is there anything between the r9 and the r7 that you would recommend?

[ForsakenLive]

so it sounds like an i3 is the way to go for me, i dont really have the budget to spend on a OC board.

 

i am seriously considering the r9 270, but i also think an SSD would be a good investment now. is there anything between the r9 and the r7 that you would recommend?

The R7 265 is a middle-ground, it's like the R9 270 little brother http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/amd_radeon_r7_265_review,13.html

I still believe you can live without the SSD for a month or so until you get a bit more money to do the upgrade.

[79wjd]

so it sounds like an i3 is the way to go for me, i dont really have the budget to spend on a OC board.

 

i am seriously considering the r9 270, but i also think an SSD would be a good investment now. is there anything between the r9 and the r7 that you would recommend?

You also have to keep in mind, an i3+h81 board will be $150 vs. a g3258+z87 board will be like $160~, so the difference is negligible.   r9 270 is much better than the r7 265x and you should definitely go for the 49 270 if you can. SSDs are constantly getting cheaper, and the performance gains from an ssd are "less important". With a better gpu you'll get better fps at higher settings; with an ssd you'll get faster OS load times--and frequently used apps (which will be installed on the ssd) will open a bit faster. 

 

So....which is more important...being able to play a game or having general use feel a bit snappier.

[fluffyPC]

@djdwosk97 @ForsakenLive you guys make some very good points, i think the fact that SSDs are getting cheaper is now making me agree with you forsaken, wait on the SSD and splurge on a better gpu. For me gaming performance is just as important as general use. so i will for sure wait on the SSD.