Rate this budget build

TheMightyMouser · October 22, 2015

So my friend wanted to build a PC for around $500 and asked me to come up with a build.The build I made was $508 without an OS. (He is going to use steam OS which is free).

Here is the link to the PC build

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/JdCJLk

One of the notes at the bottom says, "Some AMD 970 chipset motherboards may need a BIOS update prior to using Vishera CPUs." Can somebody tell me what this means and if it is going to be a big deal?

Also, I would like to know any recommendations for other parts and how well this build would run modern games such as GTA V.

Thanks!

zzenigmaxzz · October 22, 2015

it means you will most lkely need a new cpu to be able to flash the bios, not recommended unless you have an old cpu compatible with that socket laying around

but since this gonna be a gaming rig (going from using steam os) i would go with this build

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($64.89 @ OutletPC)

Motherboard: ASRock Z97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($84.98 @ OutletPC)

Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Blue 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($37.89 @ OutletPC)

Storage: Hitachi Deskstar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($43.50 @ Amazon)

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 4GB SuperSC ACX 2.0+ Video Card ($179.99 @ Amazon)

Case: Thermaltake Versa H22 ATX Mid Tower Case ($34.98 @ Directron)

Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($51.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Total: $498.22

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-10-22 19:56 EDT-0400

TheMightyMouser · October 23, 2015

it means you will most lkely need a new cpu to be able to flash the bios, not recommended unless you have an old cpu compatible with that socket laying around

but since this gonna be a gaming rig (going from using steam os) i would go with this build

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($64.89 @ OutletPC)

Motherboard: ASRock Z97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($84.98 @ OutletPC)

Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Blue 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($37.89 @ OutletPC)

Storage: Hitachi Deskstar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($43.50 @ Amazon)

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 4GB SuperSC ACX 2.0+ Video Card ($179.99 @ Amazon)

Case: Thermaltake Versa H22 ATX Mid Tower Case ($34.98 @ Directron)

Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($51.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Total: $498.22

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-10-22 19:56 EDT-0400

Thanks for the fast reply! I like everything about the build but I'm a little bit concerned about only 2 cores on the CPU. Will this be a problem when trying to run modern games?

zzenigmaxzz · October 23, 2015

Thanks for the fast reply! I like everything about the build but I'm a little bit concerned about only 2 cores on the CPU. Will this be a problem when trying to run modern games?

there are a few games that dont like anything less than 4 cores but these 2 cores will be much stronger than the 8320 which will benefit the vast majority of games.. plus going this route enables you to get a much better gpu which is far more important

far cry 4 being one of the games fyi

the other good thing about this build is if he gets more money in the future he can upgrade to a quad core without changing anything else