Budget PC build under $450

1 x Asrock 970 Pro3 R2.0 Intel ICH10, ATX, FSB2400, 4xDDR3
1 x AMD FX-Series X6 6100 Processor 3.3GHz, 14MB, 95W, AM3+
1 x 4GB DDR3 Crucial, 1600MHz CL11
1 x Fortron 500W Hyper Power Supply, PPA5005003, 12cm fan
1 x Sapphire R7 260X 2GB GDDR5, 128bit, 28nm
1 x Spire Kepler Rev.2 Cooler, 1156/775/FM1, 96.5×51×125 mm, 92mm

$1026
craigslist.com

Anyone else got any suggestions? My PC is finally holding steady, but who knows how long that'll last. I’m definitely not touching a single component for at least another two or three years.

Take it or leave it... that’s pretty much what you get for that kind of cash.

I might eventually bump it up to 6 or 8GB of RAM and grab an 840 or 860k, or maybe even an FX 4300 from a local shop. I'm just typing this on my phone right now, but it's definitely on the table.

2x Crucial 4GB DDR3 1600 MT/s (PC3-12800) CL11
MSI AMD A68HM-E33 Motherboard
AMD Athlon II X4 840 Processor
Thermaltake TR2 450W Bronze PSU
LC Power CPU Cooler LC-CC-95 - 90mm
XFX AMD Radeon R9 270A 2GB DDR5 Graphics Card, XFX-R9-270A-CDFC

Total: $1017 (+$13 shipping)

If you aren't planning on any upgrades for another three years like you mentioned, this setup should give you pretty solid results. I guess this processor isn't actually much weaker than an FX 6100, though the FX might pull ahead slightly once all six cores are working hard. You could probably even get some easy overclocking out of this board; maybe bump it up to 3.6-3.7GHz without even touching the voltage if you feel like it.

crimsonstag84 said:2x Crucial 4GB DDR3 1600 MT/s (PC3-12800) CL11
MSI AMD A68HM-E33 Motherboard
AMD Athlon II X4 840 Processor
Thermaltake TR2 450W Bronze PSU
LC Power CPU Cooler LC-CC-95 - 90mm
XFX AMD Radeon R9 270A 2GB DDR5, XFX-R9-270A-CDFC Graphics Card

Total: $1017(+$13 shipping) center

If you aren't upgrading anything for another 3 years like you said, this setup will give you the best results. Honestly, this processor probably isn't much weaker than an FX 6100; the only real difference shows up when you're pushing all 6 cores on the FX 6100. You can even easily overclock it on this board—just bump it to 3.6-3.7GHz without needing to touch the voltage if you need to.

Wait a second, am I losing my mind or what? How on earth did you manage to snag an Athlon and a 270 for $3000? Did you copy the price down wrong? 😲

2x$80
$109
$175
$115
$30
$429

Something like that... 🙂

Target has had some really solid prices again over the last month, so I guess I've pretty much been doing all my 😬
there for the past week or two.

Fair point, the fact that there’s no HDD or case included definitely helps too, which I just realized 😬 But yeah, either way, you can put together a pretty solid build with them right now. Just gotta wait on delivery for tomorrow.

Just wanted to jump in regarding that cooler mentioned as part of the bundle. What exactly are we looking at here?
"Spire Kepler Rev.2, heatsink, 1156/775/FM1, 96.5×51×125 mm, 92mm"

Mainly, I'm wondering how loud this thing is. That’s my biggest concern since my current CPU cooler sounds like a jet engine taking off right on my motherboard. 🙂 Price-wise, it looks decent. It's definitely going to outperform a stock AMD cooler by a mile, but dropping extra cash $67 just for a better heatsink feels excessive to me. Sure, it probably helps with temps or noise levels, but honestly, half the appeal seems to be just for show.

I’d go with the LC-CC-95; it’s probably quieter than Kepler 😉 ...you can grab one for $33 at Lincoln if you aren't living in NYC.

crimsonstag84 said:2x Crucial 4GB DDR3 1600 MT/s (PC3-12800) CL11
MSI motherboard with an Intel Core i3-4130
Intel Core i3-4130
EVGA 450 W1
LC Power CPU Cooler LC-CC-95 - 90mm
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti

Total: $1017 (+$13 shipping) center

If you aren't planning on upgrading anything for three years like you said, this setup will give you the best results. Honestly, this processor isn't much weaker than an Intel Core i5-3570; the only real difference shows up when you're actually utilizing all those cores on the i5. You can even easily overclock this on the board. Just bump it to 3.6-3.7GHz without touching the voltage if you need more juice.

So it's not worth stretching my budget by about $67 to grab that 6100 instead?

It’s honestly worth making the jump. That AMD Athlon X4 just isn't going to cut it when you're trying to push an AMD Radeon R9 270 through modern titles. You really should grab an AMD FX-6100 instead.

Something like this would work perfectly:

CPU: AMD FX-Series CPU (3.3/3.9GHz, 14MB, 95W, AM3+) box
Cooler: LC-CC-95 CPU Cooler, Intel/AMD, 90mm
Motherboard: Gigabyte Motherboard (AM3+, DDR3, VGA, SATA II, LAN, USB 2.0) mATX
Memory: Crucial 8GB DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3-12800) CL11
GPU: XFX AMD Radeon R9 270A 2GB DDR5
PSU: SILVERSTONE Strider ST50F-ES230, 500W, 80+, Black Essential

= $1150 Free shipping / Free assembly / Cash on delivery

or

I need a PC build for $1167. No HDD or peripherals needed. The shop has to offer cash on delivery—is that a dealbreaker? If not, just drop a link to the cart ahead of time. Thanks!

What’s your primary use case for this PC?

gaming forgot to mention, my bad

Looks like there are a million different ways to go about this...

FX 6100 + R9 270 + 8GB RAM
FX 8300 + R9 270 + 4GB RAM (~$33 probably over budget)
i3 4170 (3.7GHz) + R9 270 + 8GB RAM
FX 8300 + R7 260X + 8GB RAM

Is this actually a solid choice
?

Sam Rodriguez51 said:I need a build for $1167. No hard drive or peripherals needed. The shop has to offer COD/cash on delivery. Just link me a cart beforehand, thanks.

1 x Gigabyte 970A-DS3P, AM3+, AMD 970 SB950, 4x DDR3 2000(O.C.)/1866
1 x DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Crucial, 1600MHz CL11
1 x Fortron 500W Power Supply, Hyper, PPA5005003, 12cm fan
1 x MS PHOENIX case without PSU, Midi tower MBO: ATX, mATX
1 x Spire Kepler Rev.2 cooler, 1156/775/FM1, 96.5×51×125 mm ,92mm
1 x AMD FX-Series X6 6100 Processor 3.3GHz,14MB,95W,AM3+
1 x Sapphire R7 265 2GB GDDR5 Dual-X, 2GB GDDR5 256bit, 28nm

$1185
Or with an Nvidia card:
1 x Gigabyte 970A-DS3P, AM3+, AMD 970 SB950, 4x DDR3 2000(O.C.)/1866
1 x DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Crucial, 1600MHz CL11
1 x Fortron 500W Power Supply, Hyper, PPA5005003, 12cm fan
1 x MS PHOENIX case without PSU, Midi tower MBO: ATX, mATX
1 x Spire Kepler Rev.2 cooler, 1156/775/FM1, 96.5×51×125 mm ,92mm
1 x AMD FX-Series X6 6100 Processor 3.3GHz,14MB,95W,AM3+
1 x ASUS GTX750TI-PH-2GD5, Nvidia GeForce, GTX750Ti,2GB D5

$1176
www.newegg.com

Sam Rodriguez51 said:is this a good pick

Don't you need a case?

And I don't think that power supply is even available

Sam Rodriguez51 said:is this a solid choice

- That motherboard isn't even in stock (and honestly, it’s a bad deal at that price point)
An ASUS ROG Maximus would be the ideal move, but you can't find that there either + adding a Cooler Master Hyper 212 would put you over budget. Check out Micro Center or Best Buy instead.