cheap gaming pc

[seaworthyPACMAN]

hey guys. so I have built a few high end pc's before, however i have never had to build one with a budget from 500 dollars and lower. i really need some help. I'm building this for my brother for Christmas. I prefer nvidia and intel although I know that amd has better price per performance when it comes to low end parts. I would greatly apreciat the help thanks!!!

[79wjd]

hey guys. so I have built a few high end pc's before, however i have never had to build one with a budget from 500 dollars and lower. i really need some help. I'm building this for my brother for Christmas. I prefer nvidia and intel although I know that amd has better price per performance when it comes to low end parts. I would greatly apreciat the help thanks!!!

Location? 

Do you need an OS? Peripherals? Monitor? 

Is it just gaming? 

[Semper]

It's not the most powerful system... but it's a starting point.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($67.99 @ NCIX US) 

Motherboard: Asus H81M-D PLUS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($44.49 @ Newegg) 

Memory: Patriot Viper 3 Low Profile Blue 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($84.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($53.98 @ OutletPC) 

Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 280 3GB TurboDuo Video Card  ($140.00 @ Newegg) 

Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($39.99 @ Newegg) 

Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($29.99 @ Micro Center) 

Total: $461.43

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-01 20:20 EDT-0400

[seaworthyPACMAN]

i guess i should have been more specific. i already have an os and a monitor, keyboard, and mouse. 

[<boss2939>]

 

It's not the most powerful system... but it's a starting point.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($67.99 @ NCIX US) 

Motherboard: Asus H81M-D PLUS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($44.49 @ Newegg) 

Memory: Patriot Viper 3 Low Profile Blue 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($84.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($53.98 @ OutletPC) 

Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 280 3GB TurboDuo Video Card  ($140.00 @ Newegg) 

Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($39.99 @ Newegg) 

Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($29.99 @ Micro Center) 

Total: $461.43

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-01 20:20 EDT-0400

 

that build is near perfect but for 60 more dollars i would add a 120 gb ssd

[MysteryManMax]

 

It's not the most powerful system... but it's a starting point.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($67.99 @ NCIX US) 

Motherboard: Asus H81M-D PLUS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($44.49 @ Newegg) 

Memory: Patriot Viper 3 Low Profile Blue 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($84.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($53.98 @ OutletPC) 

Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 280 3GB TurboDuo Video Card  ($140.00 @ Newegg) 

Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($39.99 @ Newegg) 

Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($29.99 @ Micro Center) 

Total: $461.43

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-01 20:20 EDT-0400

 

I hope there's enough power to feed that R9 280

[Semper]

I hope there's enough power to feed that R9 280

Without overclocking, it should. You don't have the overhead to overclock however, not that it'd be worth it on this system anyway.

[MysteryManMax]

Without overclocking, it should. You don't have the overhead to overclock however, not that it'd be worth it on this system anyway.

Wouldn't the pentium be bottlenecking the gpu anyway?

[Semper]

Wouldn't the pentium be bottlenecking the gpu anyway?

Somewhat, yes. It leaves options for an upgrade path down the road however, being an LGA1150 socket.

 

It's to be expected that a $500 system won't be bleeding edge, however, and as such, won't be running the latest games on ultra@1080p/60fps

[MysteryManMax]

Somewhat, yes. It leaves options for an upgrade path down the road however, being an LGA1150 socket.

 

It's to be expected that a $500 system won't be bleeding edge, however, and as such, won't be running the latest games on ultra@1080p/60fps

Very true! That's the problem with the fm2 socket, there is and never will be an actual gaming (or flagship-esque) cpu like the fx series and such I can upgrade from my 750k. I wish they had the g3258 when I built my pc..

[Speedyv]

I really wouldn't go under this 

 

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

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

 

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($67.99 @ NCIX US) 

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

Motherboard: Asus H81M-D PLUS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($44.49 @ Newegg) 

Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($78.99 @ Newegg) 

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

Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 280 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card  ($205.85 @ Amazon) 

Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case  ($35.00 @ Newegg) 

Power Supply: Corsair CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($34.99 @ Newegg) 

Total: $552.27

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-02 19:05 EST-0500