500€ PC, help required

[Enf]

Hi Guys,

As my laptop died of age yesterday, I have decided to switch to a PC. Timing is quite unfortunate, so I have only 500€, to spend on it. Thus, I would really use your help.

When it comes to selecting parts, I'm not as good as I wish I was..

Budget and location: Currently I'm living in France. My budget is 500€.

Aim: The purpose of the PC is gaming(e. g. Skyrim, Warhammer 40k DoW2, Final Fantasy XIV) , and I recently got into programming in Python(not sure if it matters), so I'm going to use it for these two things.

Monitors : I can find a substitute, like connecting it to TV, so as long as money invested in the hardware, instead of the screen is worth the effort, then I would stick to hardware. I'd like to use 2 monitors in the future.

Peripherals: I need a network card for it, to connect to Wi-Fi. I already have OS, keyboard, and mouse. I'm using 3TB external hdd, so I don't need a huge storage (as far as I know).

Also, if possible and worth it with specs I can get with this budget, I'd look forward to expanding it in the future.

I would really appreciate your help.

Best regards,

Mark

Edit: I hope it looks clearer now.

[mikat]

Hi Guys,

As my laptop died of age yesterday, I have decided to switch to a PC. Timing is quite unfortunate, so I have only 500€, to spend on it. Thus, I would really use your help.

When it comes to selecting parts, I'm not as good as I wish I was..

Currently I'm living in France. The purpose of the PC is gaming(e. g. Skyrim, Warhammer 40k DoW2, Final Fantasy XIV) , and I recently got into programming in Python(not sure if it matters), so I'm going to use it for these two things.

I don't need OS, and about the monitor - I can find a substitute, like connecting it to TV, so as long as money invested in the hardware, instead of the screen is worth the effort, then I would stick to hardware. Also, if possible and worth it with specs I can get with this budget, I'd look forward to expanding it in the future.

I'd also need a network card for it, to connect to Wi-Fi. I already have keyboard, and mouse.

I would really appreciate your help.

Best regards,

Mark

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/3061-build-plan-thread-recommendations-please-read-before-posting/

[don_svetlio]

Since PCpartpicker doesn't have a "France" option I'll use Germany.

[Guest]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($102.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI H97 PC MATE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($80.10 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($42.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($49.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R7 370 2GB Video Card  ($133.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Corsair 100R ATX Mid Tower Case  ($37.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $482.54
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-06 09:50 EDT-0400

[Fictionvl]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchantCPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($102.99 @ SuperBiiz)Motherboard: MSI H97 PC MATE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($80.10 @ SuperBiiz)Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($42.99 @ Newegg)Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($49.49 @ OutletPC)Video Card: MSI Radeon R7 370 2GB Video Card  ($133.99 @ SuperBiiz)Case: Corsair 100R ATX Mid Tower Case  ($37.99 @ Micro Center)Power Supply: Corsair CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($34.99 @ Newegg)Total: $482.54Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when availableGenerated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-06 09:50 EDT-0400

Maybe a used i5 and that mobo

Not a CX PSU

[don_svetlio]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 860K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor  (€80.07 @ Mindfactory)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A78M-D3H Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard  (€53.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  (€48.68 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (€54.42 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 270 2GB Core Edition Video Card  (€153.75 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Case: Corsair SPEC-01 RED ATX Mid Tower Case  (€57.38 @ Mindfactory)
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  (€66.90 @ Caseking)
Total: €515.19
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-06 15:56 CEST+0200

[don_svetlio]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($102.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Motherboard: MSI H97 PC MATE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($80.10 @ SuperBiiz)

Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($42.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($49.49 @ OutletPC)

Video Card: MSI Radeon R7 370 2GB Video Card  ($133.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Case: Corsair 100R ATX Mid Tower Case  ($37.99 @ Micro Center)

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

Total: $482.54

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-06 09:50 EDT-0400

CX? Never, ever suggest them for a gaming build.

EDIT: Not USD - Euro - prices are different and currencies are not 1:1

[Enf]

Edited the main post. Forgot to mention the 3TB external hdd.

[don_svetlio]

Edited the main post. Forgot to mention the 3TB external hdd.

well - I could try to replace the HDD with an SSD but I'm not a fan of storing everything on an external HDD solely.

[jimakos234]

Since you have a HDD

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 860K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor  (€80.07 @ Mindfactory)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A78M-D3H Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard  (€53.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory  (€59.07 @ Mindfactory)
Storage: Kingston HyperX Fury 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (€55.93 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 950 2GB Dual WindForce Video Card  (€170.13 @ Mindfactory)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  (€49.90 @ Caseking)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  (€71.38 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Total: €540.47
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-06 16:07 CEST+0200

[don_svetlio]

Since you have a HDD

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 860K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor  (€80.07 @ Mindfactory)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A78M-D3H Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard  (€53.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory  (€59.07 @ Mindfactory)

Storage: Kingston HyperX Fury 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (€55.93 @ Amazon Deutschland)

Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 950 2GB Dual WindForce Video Card  (€170.13 @ Mindfactory)

Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  (€49.90 @ Caseking)

Power Supply: SeaSonic 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  (€71.38 @ Amazon Deutschland)

Total: €540.47

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-06 16:07 CEST+0200

Bit over budget tho - won't a 270X be cheaper and have the same performance? IIRC it ties with the 950 pretty much across the board.

[Enf]

well - I could try to replace the HDD with an SSD but I'm not a fan of storing everything on an external HDD solely.

I mentioned it, so maybe I could use a smaller ssd inside the pc, and all thing that I don't need fast access to I can keep on the external drive, and cash saved on the storage put elsewhere. Anyway, you guys are the experts here

Also if possible, I'd avoid going over the budget.

[don_svetlio]

I mentioned it, so maybe I could use a smaller ssd inside the pc, and all thing that I don't need fast access to I can keep on the external drive, and cash saved on the storage put elsewhere. Anyway, you guys are the experts here

a 54 euro SSD might not be very good tho - I'd suggest adding that later + I have no idea about the health of the external drive - it might be close to dying.

[jimakos234]

Bit over budget tho - won't a 270X be cheaper and have the same performance? IIRC it ties with the 950 pretty much across the board.

The 950 is a little better, nothing more, and i suggested it because nvidia gpus tend to work better with lower budget cpu, due to nvidia lower cpu overhead

[don_svetlio]

The 950 is a little better, nothing more, and i suggested it because nvidia gpus tend to work better with lower budget cpu, due to nvidia lower cpu overhead

The recent drivers improved that quite a bit - CPU overhead went waaaay down from what I've read and the 950 doesn't support DX12 fully unlike GCN so it's a gamble.

[jimakos234]

The recent drivers improved that quite a bit - CPU overhead went waaaay down from what I've read and the 950 doesn't support DX12 fully unlike GCN so it's a gamble.

True, it is a gamble. Both cards will work fine.

[Enf]

a 54 euro SSD might not be very good tho - I'd suggest adding that later + I have no idea about the health of the external drive - it might be close to dying.

I bought it ~3 months ago, and not having any problems with it. The model is Seagate SRD00F2

[don_svetlio]

I bought it ~3 months ago, and not having any problems with it. The model is Seagate SRD00F2

You see - this is why. Seagate 3TB drives have the highest failure rates. Not to scare you but that's statistics.

 

True, it is a gamble. Both cards will work fine.

Yup - whichever he decides to go with will be fine. Though for multimonitor I wouldn't recommend either really.

[Enf]

Yup - whichever he decides to go with will be fine. Though for multimonitor I wouldn't recommend either really.

I'm not planning to go multimonitor anytime soon.

Those builds you guys posted - if I would want to upgrade this in the future, would it be worth the money, or should I simply build a new one with higher budget then?

[don_svetlio]

I'm not planning to go multimonitor anytime soon.

Those builds you guys posted - if I would want to upgrade this in the future, would it be worth the money, or should I simply build a new one with higher budget then?

Well - you should have no issue putting a R9 380 in any of those - both the Antec and the SeaSonic PSUs are more than capable of handling them. As for CPU upgrades - you'd need a new motherboard and an intel i5. You could also get a pentium now and only the i5 later but the dual core is flat out bad - it will stutter quite heavily.

[don_svetlio]

Also - adding an SSD is very easy. you probably won't need RAM upgrades really. A nice IPS display will be the best upgrade first and foremost.

[Guest]

CX? Never, ever suggest them for a gaming build.

EDIT: Not USD - Euro - prices are different and currencies are not 1:1

 

My CX500M is working fine...

[Enf]

I think I will stick to your build with 1TB storage. Better safe than sorry.

One more question - will I need to add network card to connect to Wi-Fi, or not? Been a while since I used a PC instead of laptop.

[don_svetlio]

I think I will stick to your build with 1TB storage. Better safe than sorry.

One more question - will I need to add network card to connect to Wi-Fi, or not? Been a while since I used a PC instead of laptop.

You can just get an ethernet cable and connect to the router.

My CX500M is working fine...

That doesn't make them good

[Enf]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchantCPU: AMD Athlon X4 860K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor  (€80.07 @ Mindfactory)Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A78M-D3H Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard  (€53.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  (€48.68 @ Amazon Deutschland)Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (€54.42 @ Amazon Deutschland)Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 270 2GB Core Edition Video Card  (€153.75 @ Amazon Deutschland)Case: Corsair SPEC-01 RED ATX Mid Tower Case  (€57.38 @ Mindfactory)Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  (€66.90 @ Caseking)Total: €515.19Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when availableGenerated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-06 15:56 CEST+0200

Am I going to need to buy a heatsink or something for CPU? Also, is there a possibility, to replace some parts for cheaper ones, as once I checked it for France, it highly exceeds 500€ budget (I end up around 578€).