Best performance for 400$

[Cantaloupeman]

I am looking to get into pc gaming however a lot of the games I play are very demanding. I like games such as ark survival evolved, dayz, arma, and other fps games. I need a really good cpu for arma and a good gpu if I want to play ark survival. I don't need to play the games at max settings 1080p, and will run at all low settings if needed. I only need 40+ fps. So I'm not sure how good a pc I need to run these games. I have a budget of 400$ and need the absolute best performance I can get for that price. My pc build is on my profile in case I can salvage any parts from it. I would really appreciate the feedback. Thanks!

[Cantaloupeman]

bump

[Herman Mcpootis]

Here's what i recommend(reuse everything else). Take the fan from your amd stock heatsink and use it as a case fan(if possible)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($178.88 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($42.88 @ OutletPC) reuse your ram
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 380X 4GB PCS+ Myst. Edition Video Card  ($149.99 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($29.98 @ Newegg) depending on how good/bad your psu is, you might need a replaxement
Total: $401.73
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-08-06 20:14 EDT-0400

[Cantaloupeman]

1 minute ago, herman mcpootis said:

Here's what i recommend(reuse everything else). Take the fan from your amd stock heatsink and use it as a case fan(if possible)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($178.88 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($42.88 @ OutletPC) reuse your ram
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 380X 4GB PCS+ Myst. Edition Video Card  ($149.99 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($29.98 @ Newegg) depending on how good/bad your psu is, you might need a replaxement
Total: $401.73
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-08-06 20:14 EDT-0400

is the radeon r9 one of their top cards?
 

[MoonlightSylv]

Just now, Cantaloupeman said:

is the radeon r9 one of their top cards?
 

It's a 380x so no, but It can play games high/ultra 1080p, I have one.

[Cantaloupeman]

Just now, ShadowTechXTS said:

It's a 380x so no, but It can play games high/ultra 1080p, I have one.

if I said 500$ how much better could I get with this setup?

[Herman Mcpootis]

Just now, Cantaloupeman said:

is the radeon r9 one of their top cards?
 

More of a mid-range gpu. Go with an rx 470/480 if you really wanna get the best performance for your money(and are willing to spend some extra).

[Cantaloupeman]

4 minutes ago, herman mcpootis said:

Here's what i recommend(reuse everything else). Take the fan from your amd stock heatsink and use it as a case fan(if possible)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($178.88 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($42.88 @ OutletPC) reuse your ram
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 380X 4GB PCS+ Myst. Edition Video Card  ($149.99 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($29.98 @ Newegg) depending on how good/bad your psu is, you might need a replaxement
Total: $401.73
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-08-06 20:14 EDT-0400

How do I tell what my psu is?
It doesn't say on the pc

[MoonlightSylv]

Just now, Cantaloupeman said:

if I said 500$ how much better could I get with this setup?

Maybe an SSD and an RX 480.

[Herman Mcpootis]

4 minutes ago, Cantaloupeman said:

How do I tell what my psu is?
It doesn't say on the pc

Open your pc side panel, there should be a sticker on the side telling you everything you need to know.

 

6 minutes ago, Cantaloupeman said:

if I said 500$ how much better could I get with this setup?

I'd do this for $500:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($178.88 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($42.88 @ OutletPC) 
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($53.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Other: Rx 470 gaming X ($199.99)
Total: $475.74
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-08-06 20:25 EDT-0400

[Cantaloupeman]

57 minutes ago, herman mcpootis said:

Open your pc side panel, there should be a sticker on the side telling you everything you need to know.

 

I'd do this for $500:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($178.88 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($42.88 @ OutletPC) 
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($53.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Other: Rx 470 gaming X ($199.99)
Total: $475.74
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-08-06 20:25 EDT-0400

Do you think i might be able to use my motherboard as well? 

[aisle9]

Frankenbox it. Find yourself a crappy old Dell or Gateway with a Sandy, Ivy or Haswell i5 in it (you'd be amazed how many pop up in thrift stores), drop in a $200 RX 480, add RAM if you have to and call it a day. I've been Frankenboxing old Dell Optiplex workstations lately, and it's amazing how much performance you can coax out of something on the shelf for $15 just by dropping $75 on RAM, GPU and HDD.

[Cantaloupeman]

8 minutes ago, aisle9 said:

Frankenbox it. Find yourself a crappy old Dell or Gateway with a Sandy, Ivy or Haswell i5 in it (you'd be amazed how many pop up in thrift stores), drop in a $200 RX 480, add RAM if you have to and call it a day. I've been Frankenboxing old Dell Optiplex workstations lately, and it's amazing how much performance you can coax out of something on the shelf for $15 just by dropping $75 on RAM, GPU and HDD.

My thrift store only gets windows xp computers. I Would be extremely lucky to find one with an i5, but I love this idea.

[aisle9]

Just now, Cantaloupeman said:

My thrift store only gets windows xp computers. I Would be extremely lucky to find one with an i5, but I love this idea.

Mine only gets stuff with Core 2 Duos, ancient Celerons and Pentiums. No, not those Pentiums, Pentiums. Like, Pentiums Pentiums.

 

Fortunately, it's really easy to look up FSB speed, pick out the C2D boxes that can take a Q6600 and have a PCIe riser for a short GPU and have at it.

[Cantaloupeman]

1 minute ago, aisle9 said:

 

 

Fortunately, it's really easy to look up FSB speed, pick out the C2D boxes that can take a Q6600 and have a PCIe riser for a short GPU and have at it.

What does that mean?

[Cantaloupeman]

13 minutes ago, aisle9 said:

Mine only gets stuff with Core 2 Duos, ancient Celerons and Pentiums. No, not those Pentiums, Pentiums. Like, Pentiums Pentiums.

 

Fortunately, it's really easy to look up FSB speed, pick out the C2D boxes that can take a Q6600 and have a PCIe riser for a short GPU and have at it.

I'm sorry man I didn't understand you wording. Ive never really dealt with pcs before.

[aisle9]

3 minutes ago, Cantaloupeman said:

I'm sorry man I didn't understand you wording. Ive never really dealt with pcs before.

Nah, no worries. FSB is the front side bus. Back in the '90s and '00s, it was the main link between the CPU and the RAM and motherboard. The FSB on the CPU had to be compatible with the motherboard it was installed on. When Intel went ahead with their magical never-ending Socket 775, motherboards came out that only supported one FSB speed or another. This meant that certain CPUs could only be used on certain 775 boards, even though they were all the same socket. That's important for me because the Dell Optiplex, for example, can't handle anything later than the 6000 Core 2s. If I drop a Q9400 in there, nothing will happen. If I drop a Q6600 in there, #profit!

 

The downside is that I can't OC on Optiplex boards. Not in any meaningful way. Also, it's painfully obvious by looking at the system cooling and ventilation that nobody ever intended for a quad core to go in there with a desktop GPU

[Cantaloupeman]

1 minute ago, aisle9 said:

Nah, no worries. FSB is the front side bus. Back in the '90s and '00s, it was the main link between the CPU and the RAM and motherboard. The FSB on the CPU had to be compatible with the motherboard it was installed on. When Intel went ahead with their magical never-ending Socket 775, motherboards came out that only supported one FSB speed or another. This meant that certain CPUs could only be used on certain 775 boards, even though they were all the same socket. That's important for me because the Dell Optiplex, for example, can't handle anything later than the 6000 Core 2s. If I drop a Q9400 in there, nothing will happen. If I drop a Q6600 in there, #profit!

 

The downside is that I can't OC on Optiplex boards. Not in any meaningful way. Also, it's painfully obvious by looking at the system cooling and ventilation that nobody ever intended for a quad core to go in there with a desktop GPU

So if I cant get myself a OptiPlex with an i5 what I gotta do?
 

[aisle9]

23 minutes ago, Cantaloupeman said:

So if I cant get myself a OptiPlex with an i5 what I gotta do?
 

Optiplex 790

 

You're probably better off going with one of the PCPP builds this time around, though. I've found that salvage builds tend to be opportunistic rather than born from necessity.

[Cantaloupeman]

1 minute ago, aisle9 said:

Optiplex 790

 

You're probably better off going with one of the PCPP builds this time around, though. I've found that salvage builds tend to be opportunistic rather than born from necessity.

PCPP as in? Sorry again lol.

[aisle9]

Just now, Cantaloupeman said:

PCPP as in? Sorry again lol.

PCPartPicker

[Herman Mcpootis]

2 hours ago, Cantaloupeman said:

Do you think i might be able to use my motherboard as well? 

you wont be able to reuse your mobo; they're not the same slot.

[Cantaloupeman]

8 hours ago, herman mcpootis said:

you wont be able to reuse your mobo; they're not the same slot.

Okay

 

[Cantaloupeman]

10 hours ago, aisle9 said:

PCPartPicker

By the way I found this amazing deal on the Samsung 19" Monitor- 953BW. It is 1080p but has around 10 dead pixels the guy said. Is that really bad? It is 15 bucks which is an absolute steal to say the least. Is it worth it? Also is it fixable? I would friggin love this thing!

[Herman Mcpootis]

23 minutes ago, Cantaloupeman said:

By the way I found this amazing deal on the Samsung 19" Monitor- 953BW. It is 1080p but has around 10 dead pixels the guy said. Is that really bad? It is 15 bucks which is an absolute steal to say the least. Is it worth it? Also is it fixable? I would friggin love this thing!

10 dead pixels? Dont go for it. Cant be fixed. See if there's any junk stores/freegeek type of stores that sell used monitors for dirt cheap.