Budget Gaming Build under $500

They might as well just overclock it for him while he's at the shop.😬

He can easily handle that himself.

What’s your take on this build—not that I have any intention of overclocking, anyway.
http://postimg.org/image/vxjwj7hbr/

James Gomez2 said:What do you guys think of this build? (I'm definitely not planning on overclocking)
http://postimg.org/image/vxjwj7hbr/

Nah, doesn't make sense. At least not for gaming. What's the point of pairing an AMD FX-6300 with an AMD Radeon R7 250? If you're going with the AMD FX-6300, you really need at least a 260/260X. You'd be better off just sticking with an Athlon and a 260X, or grabbing an Intel Pentium G3258 if you're thinking about future upgrades. And using a Microsoft Office-grade power supply for a six-core processor? Good luck with that. 😛I actually think that PSU is decent; it has solid amperage and efficiency. It powered my 6850 and a quad-core Phenom for two weeks before my original unit came back from repair. But still, no, it's not worth gambling. Besides, you already have a balanced setup put together—why start experimenting unnecessarily now?

At Extreme Digital they’ve got the AMD FX-8320 listed $333, but over at Best Buy, the AMD FX-6300 is priced almost as high.

Link:

Best Buy is a total rip-off.

graniteharbor85 said:James Gomez2

So, here is the plan:

AMD FX-6300
LC-CC-97
GIGABYTE GA-970A
KINGSTON 2+4 GB 1600 MHZ
MSI AMD Radeon R7 260 1GB DDR5 OC
Hyper 600 w 80+
ZALMAN Z1 MIDI ATX USB 3.0

= $1090 including shipping and assembly.

This build looks best to me—but there’s a catch—my budget might end up being slightly under $1167, and for certain reasons, I have to buy the PC from Best Buy. Would it be possible to put together a configuration at Best Buy using a GIGABYTE GA-970A and an AMD FX-6300 that actually looks decent? (meaning, something remotely close to yours)

James Gomez2 said:This setup is definitely my favorite, but I've got a bit of a snag. My budget might end up slightly under $1167, and for some reasons, I'm stuck buying the PC at Best Buy. Is it actually possible to put together a build there using a GIGABYTE GA-970A and an AMD FX-6300 that doesn't suck? (meaning, something even remotely close to how good your config is)

Hah, you're never going to get anywhere near McLovin's build for that price at Best Buy... like I already told you, Best Buy is just way too overpriced

It’s a bit of a rip-off if you're paying cash, but if you really want to stick to that $3,500 budget, I can build you something similar to my setup using an overclockable Pentium paired with a much stronger graphics card. You have to accept that fitting an AMD FX-6300 into a budget that small at that specific retailer isn't realistic if you actually want a decent GPU for gaming.

EDIT

The only issue is that they don't offer much variety in power supplies there—you're basically stuck with an Enermax NAXN
and you'll need to pick a different case.

And they don't even have an AMD Radeon R7 260, just some random X model for like a hundred bucks. What a joke of a store...

graniteharbor85 said:James Gomez2

Then there's this:

AMD FX-6300
LC-CC-97
GIGABYTE GA-970A
KINGSTON 2+4 GB 1600 MHZ
MSI AMD Radeon R7 260 1GB DDR5 OC
Hyper 600 w 80+
ZALMAN Z1 MIDI ATX USB 3.0

= $1090 including shipping and assembly.

I'm ordering it anyway—I gave up on the local shop. I was wondering if these $1090 are available through Admin.com... and maybe—just maybe—it's possible to shave a little more off the price by at least $33? I suppose I could save about $50 if I went with 4 gigs of RAM instead of 6, assuming the performance hit isn't too devastating.

James Gomez2 said:I'm pulling the trigger regardless! I skipped out on the Amazon deal and want to know if these $1090 through Admin.com are available, and if there's any way to shave off at least $33 from the price? I could save about $50 by dropping down to 4GB of RAM instead of 6, assuming the performance hit isn't massive.

The stuff he linked is from Future IT and if you just grab 4GB of RAM, you're looking at roughly $1043. (That includes swapping the cooler to the LC-CC-97 since the LC-CC-95 is out of stock).

At ADM, the exact same setup (4GB RAM paired with the Spira Kepler Rev.2 cooler) runs you about $1027, so the difference is basically nothing...

It’s becoming pretty clear that the LC-CC-97 is actually the higher-quality cooler here. Plus, it features a 4-pin connector, which gives you the ability to at least dial down the noise levels through the BIOS. The Spira Kepler Rev just isn't exactly known for being a silent performer, is it?

1 x AMD FX-Series X6 6300 Processor 3.5GHz, 14MB, 95W, AM3+, FD6300WMHK $266
1 x GIGABYTE GA-970A, AM3+, AMD 970 SB950, 4x DDR3 2000(O.C.)/1866 $176
1 x DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Kingston, 1600MHz, CL11, Value $100
1 x MSI AMD Radeon R7 260 OC 1GD5, 1GB DDR5, DVI-I, DVI, DP, HDMI, R7 260 1GD5 $233
1 x Hyper 600 w Power Supply, PPA6003302, 12cm fan $145
1 x Zalman Z1 mid tower case. 199(W)x432(H)x457(D)mm. MB standard $78
1 x Spira Kepler Rev.2 cooler, 1156/775/FM1, 96.5×51×125 mm, 92mm $28

Total amount due: $1027

I couldn't find the specific cooler—so I just threw this one in there... I guess it might work? Maybe.

James Gomez2 said:1 x AMD FX-Series X6 6300 Processor 3.5GHz, 14MB, 95W, AM3+, FD6300WMHK $266
1 x GIGABYTE GA-970A, AM3+, AMD 970 SB950, 4x DDR3 2000(O.C.)/1866 $176
1 x DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Kingston, 1600MHz, CL11, Value $100
1 x MSI AMD Radeon R7 260 OC 1GD5, 1GB DDR5, DVI-I, DVI, DP, HDMI, R7 260 1GD5 $233
1 x Hyper 600 w Power Supply, Fortron, PPA6003302, 12cm fan $145
1 x Zalman Z1 mid tower case. 199(W)x432(H)x457(D)mm. ATX standard $78
1 x Spira Kepler Rev.2 cooler, 1156/775/FM1, 96.5×51×125 mm ,92mm $28

Total amount due: $1027

I couldn't find the specific cooler, so I put this one in instead... would this setup be okay?

You don't need a power supply that beefy; you can easily run this on HEXU. 🙂

Rather than going with that Hyper 600 w, I’d suggest picking this up instead:

http://www.adm.com/product_info.php?c...ducts_id=15660

Just a heads-up—this kind of setup would likely pull up to 200W under a full load.

1 x Intel Core i7-2600K Processor 3.5GHz, 14MB, 95W, LGA 1156 $266
1 x Gigabyte Motherboard, LGA 1156 chipset, 4x DDR3 slots $176
1 x 4GB DDR3 Kingston RAM, 1600MHz, CL11 $100
1 x MSI R7 260 OC 1GD5, 1GB DDR5, DVI, DP, HDMI $233
1 x Zalman Z1 Mid Tower Case $78
1 x Spire Kepler Rev.2 CPU Cooler, 92mm fan $28
1 x Fortron 400W Power Supply, HEXA 400, Active PFC $100

There it is—I suppose this might be the best way to go for this budget, unless someone has better advice... maybe?

I’d honestly go with the EVGA model that Smartic suggested—it comes with a 5-year warranty and isn't much more expensive either.

Bump this up to $33.60 and you can actually make some decent upgrades to your CPU, PSU, and cooler:

AMD FX 8320
Liquid Cooling CC 97
GIGABYTE 970A-DS3P
CRUCIAL 4GB 1600 MHz
MSI R7 260 1GB DDR5 OC
AMD TS 430W 80+ Bronze
ZALMAN Z1 MIDI ATX USB 3.0

Yeah, those guys have a point. AMD is noticeably higher quality, and honestly, the price gap isn't even that big.

Alright, I need some input—a friend is putting together a rig with a budget of up to $1500. He’s buying everything from a single retailer, including the storage, so he needs it all in one shot. I put this list together myself—it’s probably total garbage, honestly—but please, just let me know what you think 😉
.

(The build is strictly for gaming)

http://postimg.org/image/yqi7hrgu1/

Thanks.