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Need Help for a $500 PC

Brian Park
By Brian Park
in New Builds and Planning
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Hi, I've been planning for a gaming PC for quite a bit, but I can't seem to decide. That's why I came to get help from the community. I will be using this computer mostly for gaming and web browsing. I'm only planning to hook the PC up to one monitor and my price range is to $500 (or just a little bit above). My goal is that this PC can run Mortal Kombat at decent settings. Thank You for your time.

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http://pcpartpicker.com/p/QhyXzy

 

Left a ton of upgrading headroom, should be a decent pc. Includes OS.

Jesus way over the budget lol

 

And a G3258 ? Ewww

NEVER GIVE UP. NEVER STOP LEARNING. DONT LET THE PAST HURT YOU. YOU CAN DOOOOO IT

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Hi, I've been planning for a gaming PC for quite a bit, but I can't seem to decide. That's why I came to get help from the community. I will be using this computer mostly for gaming and web browsing. I'm only planning to hook the PC up to one monitor and my price range is to $500 (or just a little bit above). My goal is that this PC can run Mortal Kombat at decent settings. Thank You for your time.

This seems reasonable

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($113.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($42.99 @ Directron)

Memory: Crucial 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($44.49 @ SuperBiiz)

Storage: Hitachi Deskstar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($42.90 @ Amazon)

Video Card: Club 3D Radeon R9 270 2GB Video Card  ($126.63 @ Amazon)

Case: Rosewill FBM-01 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($29.99 @ Amazon)

Power Supply: EVGA 430W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply  ($32.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Total: $433.98

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-03 01:50 EDT-0400

NEVER GIVE UP. NEVER STOP LEARNING. DONT LET THE PAST HURT YOU. YOU CAN DOOOOO IT

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This seems reasonable

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($113.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($42.99 @ Directron)

Memory: Crucial 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($44.49 @ SuperBiiz)

Storage: Hitachi Deskstar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($42.90 @ Amazon)

Video Card: Club 3D Radeon R9 270 2GB Video Card  ($126.63 @ Amazon)

Case: Rosewill FBM-01 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($29.99 @ Amazon)

Power Supply: EVGA 430W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply  ($32.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Total: $433.98

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-03 01:50 EDT-0400

yea, that build seems solid for what you are paying for, but there is always sales and stuff you can look around for

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This seems reasonable

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($113.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($42.99 @ Directron)

Memory: Crucial 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($44.49 @ SuperBiiz)

Storage: Hitachi Deskstar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($42.90 @ Amazon)

Video Card: Club 3D Radeon R9 270 2GB Video Card  ($126.63 @ Amazon)

Case: Rosewill FBM-01 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($29.99 @ Amazon)

Power Supply: EVGA 430W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply  ($32.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Total: $433.98

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-03 01:50 EDT-0400

Why would you suggest a Micro-ATX? What if he wants to upgrade, my build is more expensive because I am thinking about the future...

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http://pcpartpicker.com/p/RHBqMp It's a couple bucks over budget but I used to have pretty much this same system and it ran most games great a mid to high settings at 1080p.

Sergeant, United States Marine Corps

Network Administrator, Comptia A+, Security+, Cisco Certified Networking Associate

From a G3258 to dual Xeon E5-2670's

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Why would you suggest a Micro-ATX? What if he wants to upgrade, my build is more expensive because I am thinking about the future...

Its cheap and effective. Plus people don't usually upgrade their PC for quite some time.

NEVER GIVE UP. NEVER STOP LEARNING. DONT LET THE PAST HURT YOU. YOU CAN DOOOOO IT

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Its cheap and effective. Plus people don't usually upgrade their PC for quite some time.

Doesnt matter, if he wants to upgrade he will end up wanting a ATX and that will make him get a new mobo, case, and PSU. For $80 I recommend he gets all of this now instead later..

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Doesnt matter, if he wants to upgrade he will end up wanting a ATX and that will make him get a new mobo, case, and PSU.

I don't understand your logic here. If he wanted to upgrade to say an i5 4670 he could just drop it right into that micro atx board. It is LGA 1150 and H81. Who cares about the physical size of the board. It has what most people need in terms of features. As for the case and power supply I am assuming you are referring to a GPU upgrade in which case 430w or 500w usually is enough to power most cards. Especially if he is at such a small budget I doubt he goes for a Fury X. And a case is a case. Why would he need to change that if he has a micro atx board, and his gpu fits in there?

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Why would you suggest a Micro-ATX? What if he wants to upgrade, my build is more expensive because I am thinking about the future...

 

Doesnt matter, if he wants to upgrade he will end up wanting a ATX and that will make him get a new mobo, case, and PSU. For $80 I recommend he gets all of this now instead later..

M-atx is just a good as ATX now if not better. By the time he will upgrade there will be so much better on the market. The motherboard is the least of his worries right now. 

Computing enthusiast. 
I use to be able to input a cheat code now I've got to input a credit card - Total Biscuit
 

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Overclock the crap out of the g3258 right away.  Later, upgrade the cpu to an i5-4460 and you will be good to go.  After that upgrade to a 120/250gb SSD once you've got the spare cash and use the hard drive for storage.  I wouldn't waste your time on an i3.

 


 


Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($42.99 @ Directron) 



Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 280 3GB Dual-X Video Card  ($172.98 @ Newegg) 

Case: NZXT Source 210 Window ATX Mid Tower Case  ($30.98 @ Newegg) 

Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply  ($24.99 @ NCIX US) 

Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer  ($14.98 @ OutletPC) 

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 OEM (64-bit)  ($86.75 @ OutletPC) 

Total: $534.44

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-03 02:27 EDT-0400

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I don't understand your logic here. If he wanted to upgrade to say an i5 4670 he could just drop it right into that micro atx board. It is LGA 1150 and H81. Who cares about the physical size of the board. It has what most people need in terms of features. As for the case and power supply I am assuming you are referring to a GPU upgrade in which case 430w or 500w usually is enough to power most cards. Especially if he is at such a small budget I doubt he goes for a Fury X. And a case is a case. Why would he need to change that if he has a micro atx board, and his gpu fits in there?

 

M-atx is just a good as ATX now if not better. By the time he will upgrade there will be so much better on the market. The motherboard is the least of his worries right now. 

 

 

It is just preference I guess. I would always go for a ATX board and a Z97 chipset. I am giving him more headroom for upgrading for only $88 more (It is literally $500 without the OS which I included in the pricing) http://pcpartpicker.com/p/QhyXzy.

You do have a point though.

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If you have a microcenter nearby check them out. You can get:

fx6300 w/ MB 100 bucks

fx 8370e w/MB for 154

R9 270x for about 140 open box

gtx 770 for 240 open box

the open box deals are what at phili store

I would avoid g3258s after reading this:  http://www.pcworld.com/article/2851126/far-cry-4-woes-with-dual-core-processors-point-to-a-bleak-future-for-budget-pc-gamers.html

And I would try for 8 cores after reading this:  http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-future-proofing-your-pc-for-next-gen

hope this helps

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