Reliable and cheap pc

[LittleMissLavender]

Hello i'm looking for recommendations as well as any tips for a new build that i am planning.

The build in question is a new rig that wont set me back anymore than $500 and is relatively powerful.

Some of the key features that i need are 

1.  The rig has to be extremely durable i want this rig to last many many years 
2. I would like it to be as silent as one can realistically expect for a pc under $500
3. It must be able to be cleaned out easily living in a dorm with three other girls we tend to get things dirty fast

As i mentioned in addition to hardware recommendations and tips for helping keep my rig cooler, preform better and overall just last longer are greatly appreciated. 

Edit

I completely forgot to mention that i don't expect this to run more than on monitor and that i already have all the peripherals that i need as for an operating system i already have that part taken care of so no need to add that into the cost.   

Edited February 1, 2016 by LittleMissLavender
forgot to add information

[Guest]

7 minutes ago, LittleMissLavender said:

-snip-

You didn't include the most important thing here - what will be the purpose of said rig? Work? Games? If you're set on a gaming machine, what games do you play? 

Because that kinda changes everything.

[Kalevro]

Well for 500 $ you can't really get creative about building a computer in a way that will benefit you, my sugesstion would be that you go to a big tech store and look for a prebuilt machine that will do you good. Ususally the parts used in those are very durable and if you understand even a little bit about computers you'd choose a computer that will serve your needs be that gaming or other things. Personally i look at about 5 local computer building companies's sites and they have good deals of ok pc's with monitors as a bonus so you could score a good deal if you do a little research 

[LittleMissLavender]

Just now, Rahnie said:

You didn't include the most important thing here - what will be the purpose of said rig? Work? Games? If you're set on a gaming machine, what games do you play? 

Because that kinda changes everything.

Oh your right i'm sorry about that. The rig will mostly be for gaming and i play mmos like wow, blade and soul, etc or open world rpgs like fallout or dragon age. 

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, Kalevro said:

my sugesstion would be that you go to a big tech store and look at a prebuilt machine that will do you good.

Yeah, and pay additional premium for building it in the very first place, while having no say when it comes to their PSU choice etc? Thanks a lot, I'd rather build it myself. 

4 minutes ago, LittleMissLavender said:

Oh your right i'm sorry about that. The rig will mostly be for gaming and i play mmos like wow, blade and soul, etc or open world rpgs like fallout or dragon age. 

About durability, well, apart from hard drive it's hard to make a PC die of old age. I mean, I still have 486 and Pentium-class systems in a running condition ;)

You're going to need something like that:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($174.89 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($45.89 @ OutletPC) 
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($29.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($49.89 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 380 2GB Double Dissipation Video Card  ($169.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: Corsair SPEC-01 RED ATX Mid Tower Case  ($34.99 @ Micro Center) 
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($34.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $540.63
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-31 18:02 EST-0500

With that budget you can't really play with fancy PWM coolers and silenced cases (Fractal Design Define R5 <3). You can get a better card if you buy used, actually. 

[LittleMissLavender]

9 minutes ago, Rahnie said:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($174.89 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($45.89 @ OutletPC) 
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($29.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($49.89 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 380 2GB Double Dissipation Video Card  ($169.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: Corsair SPEC-01 RED ATX Mid Tower Case  ($34.99 @ Micro Center) 
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($34.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $540.63
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-31 18:02 EST-0500

Thank you so much that's exactly the kind of list i needed to get started and an extra $40 isnt going to be a problem.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, LittleMissLavender said:

Thank you so much that's exactly the kind of list i needed to get started and an extra $40 isnt going to be a problem.

You're welcome.

Actually, you could easily grab other case if you want. I just selected Spec-01 because it's my usual go-to budget case. If you think that NZXT 210 Source will be better for you - go for it, for example. There's literally dozens of them :P

[Kalevro]

Wherever you live you sure don't trust your tech resellers, you cloud build it yourself or inspect every part and decide for yourself to buy it or not where I live in.

But if you realy want a build i guess you could check this out:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3w8Xxr

[Lotus]

This is NOT what I would do personally if it were me. I went for your preferences over mine, which were quiet and easy to clean. The case has removable dust filters and I included an aftermarket cooler for noise considerations, even though it would be better to ditch the cooler and get something like an i5-4460. The CPU should do well enough for the games you listed, and the GPU is great but only has 2GB of VRAM. The motherboard doesn't have the greatest VRMs, but the i3 is only a dual core so it doesn't need them. Basically, I cut corners to get exactly what you wanted and delivered, but it's not the best from a pure price to performance standpoint, so take it with a grain of salt. I also left room in the budget because you may not like the included rebates.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4170 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($115.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($24.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H81M-HD2 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($39.99 @ Micro Center)
Memory: Mushkin ECO2 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($41.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 380 2GB PCS+ Video Card  ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Core 2500 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($39.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $477.81
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-31 19:24 EST-0500

[LittleMissLavender]

hmm i really like that fractal design case maybe i could save up a little more money and pray that my old laptop doesn't die on me so i can get both the i5-4460 and the cpu cooler.