Budget gaming PC build for $500

I could use some assistance here. I’m looking to put together a desktop build with significantly better performance—something where the graphics card is an absolute beast, paired with plenty of RAM and, naturally, a decent processor. This is strictly for gaming, aiming for a budget of around $1167
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What does a "beast" of a graphics card actually mean to you? 😛 Because to us, that means an NVIDIA GTX 970 that costs $767, which is basically your entire PC build 😬

1 x Asrock FM2A88M EXTREME4+, LGA 1155, Intel B85 (Bolton-D4), DDR3
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K Processor 3.80GHz 4cores
1 x TOSHIBA 500GB, 7200rpm, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB, DT01ACA050
1 x CORSAIR 430W, EVGA CX Series 80+ Bronze, EPS12V v2.3, 80+
1 x Cooler Master Hyper 212, socket 775/1155/1156/AM2/AM2/AM3
1 x Sapphire R7 260X 2GB GDDR5 OC, 2GB GDDR5 128bit, 28nm
1 x Seagate BarraCuda SATA Bulk Black, SATA
1 x DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Kingston, 1600MHz, CL9, HyperX, KHX1600C9D3B1/
1 x Zalman Z3 mid tower case. 192(W)x465(H)x430(D)mm. MB standard

$1189 ADM

1 x Asrock FM2A88M EXTREME4+, LGA 1155, Intel B85 (Bolton-D4), DDR3
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.40GHz 4cores
1 x DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Kingston, 1600MHz, CL9, HyperX, KHX1600C9D3B1/
1 x TOSHIBA 500GB, 7200rpm, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB, DT01ACA050
1 x CORSAIR 430W, EVGA CX Series 80+ Bronze, EPS12V v2.3, 80+
1 x Seagate BarraCuda SATA Bulk Black, SATA
1 x Cooler Master T4 micro tower case. 189(W) x 427,5(H) x 364(D)mm. MB
1 x Thermaltake Contac 21, 775,AM2,AM2+,AM3,AM3+,FM1,LGA 1155,1156
1 x Sapphire R7 260X 1GB GDDR5 OC, 1GB GDDR5 128bit, 28nm

$1135

Amy Vaughn12 said:http://www.newegg.com/gaming-pc-builds/

🙏

Grab it before someone else does!

crimsonstag84 said:What does a "beast" of a graphics card actually mean to you? 😛 Because to us, that means an NVIDIA GTX 970 that costs $767, which is basically your entire PC build 😬

1 x Asrock FM2A88M EXTREME4+, LGA 1155, Intel B85 (Bolton-D4), DDR3
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K Processor 3.80GHz 4cores
1 x TOSHIBA 500GB, 7200rpm, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB, DT01ACA050
1 x CORSAIR 430W, EVGA CX Series 80+ Bronze, EPS12V v2.3, 80+
1 x Cooler Master Hyper 212, socket 775/1155/1156/AM2/AM2/AM3
1 x Sapphire R7 260X 2GB GDDR5 OC, 2GB GDDR5 128bit, 28nm
1 x Seagate BarraCuda SATA Bulk Black, SATA
1 x DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Kingston, 1600MHz, CL9, HyperX, KHX1600C9D3B1/
1 x Zalman Z3 mid tower case. 192(W)x465(H)x430(D)mm. MB standard

$1189 ADM

Look, I'm putting together a PC for a business expense because I'm the godfather to this kid whose pregnancy test just came back positive in month five, and since he loves gaming, I want to make his wish come true. So yeah, having a beastly graphics card is important, but I don't mean some monster that costs two or three grand.
Thanks for the reply. I'll try to figure something out.

There isn't really much to overthink when it comes to $1167—just take a look at the link Amy Vaughn12 shared. Honestly, for that kind of budget, you aren't going to be able to put together anything better or more powerful than this new build.

Alright, fair enough. Thanks for all the input, everyone. I suppose I'll have to head down to Chicago to check things out in person, and I definitely need to pick up a monitor while I'm at it too.

I suppose I'll jump into this discussion if nobody minds my intrusion...

1 x Asrock FM2A88M EXTREME4+, FM2,FM2+, Intel B85, DDR3
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.40GHz 4cores
1 x DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Kingston, 1600MHz, CL9, HyperX, KHX1600C9D3B1/
1 x TOSHIBA 500GB, 7200rpm, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB, DT01ACA050
1 x Seagate WD10EZEX Corsair PSU, EPS12V v2.3, 80+
1 x Seagate BarraCuda SATA Bulk Black, SATA
1 x Cooler Master T4 micro tower case. 189(W) x 427,5(H) x 364(D)mm. MB
1 x Cooler Master Hyper 212, 775,AM2,AM2+,AM3,AM3+,FM1,LGA 1155,1156
1 x Sapphire R7 260X 1GB GDDR5 OC, 1GB GDDR5 128bit, 28nm

$1135

I am looking at ordering a configuration roughly like this... I'm running a 1920x1080 Full HD display and I need to know exactly what kind of performance to expect across the board. Furthermore, given that this thread is somewhat dated, I want to know if there have been any significant shifts in pricing or if there are any active sales I should be aware of before I pull the trigger. 🙂))

I'm missing a few parts, so this is what the build looks like right now:

1 x Asrock FM2A88M EXTREME4+, LGA 1155, Intel B85, DDR3
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K Processor 3.80GHz 4cores
1 x DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Kingston, 1600MHz, CL9, HyperX, KHX1600C9D3B1/
1 x TOSHIBA 500GB, 7200rpm, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB, DT01ACA050
1 x EVGA Core Edition 450W PSU - EasyRail technology
1 x Cooler Master T4 micro tower case. 189(W) x 427,5(H) x 364(D)mm. MB
1 x Seagate BarraCuda SATA Bulk Black, SATA
1 x Cooler Master Hyper 212
1 x Sapphire R7 260X 1GB GDDR5 OC, 1GB GDDR5 128bit, 28nm

$1144

Where can I actually order this? Is it available through Newegg?

I'd much rather go with the 1TB drive, $17 it's worth the extra cost just to get double the storage space.

Do you really want a slow burner? For just a little more, you could grab a 6-core processor and a 1TB drive:

1 x DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Kingston, 1600MHz, CL9, HyperX, KHX1600C9D3B1/
1 x Sapphire R7 260X 1GB GDDR5 OC, 1GB GDDR5 128bit, 28nm
1 x HDD Seagate BarraCuda 1TB, Caviar Blue 10EZEX, 1000 GB, SATA3,64 MB, 3,5", 24mj
1 x EVGA Core Edition 80+ 450W PSU - EasyRail technology
1 x Intel Core i7-2600K 3.5GHz,14MB,95W,LGA 1155, FD6300WMHK
1 x Gigabyte 970A-DS3P, AM3+, AMD 970 SB950, 4x DDR3 2000(O.C.)/1866
1 x EVC 6018 • ATX Case • Front Control Panel in Black color

$1162

If you want to stretch the budget just a little bit:

ASUS AMD A78-G41 Motherboard (LGA 1155, DDR3, SATA III, RAID, GLAN, USB2.0, USB3.0, VGA, HDMI, DVI) ATX Box
Intel Core i3-3220K Processor
Adata DDR3 4GB 1600MHz, AD3U1600C2G11-R
Seagate WD10EZEX 1TB SATA 3 Hard Drive
SILVERSTONE Strider ST50F-230 AC 180-264V, 50/60Hz, DC 3.3/5/±12V, 500W, Retail, Active
Cooler Master Hyper 212 120mm fan, Cooler Master Hyper 212
EVGA NVIDIA GTX 7850 Graphic Card 2GB 860m PciEx, EVGA GTX 7850
MS PLUTOS case without power supply

Total: $3.516,73+$27 plus shippingNewegg

You could probably save some cash $23 by going with a 500GB drive.

Maybe grab a slightly stronger GPU? You could also overclock things a bit, and that's a really solid cooler you can reuse in any future builds...

By the way, I have a feeling this motherboard might be the new king of the budget segment.🙂

I guess we're looking at the Intel Core i3-3220K now.
I was looking at the Zotac GTX 750 Ti, specifically that StormX OC 2GB model.
ASUS A88XM-E35 motherboard
I suppose we're looking at a single stick of 4GB Kingston DDR3 running at 1600MHz with CL11 latency, specifically the single-rank version. It’s a pretty standard spec for that era of hardware, though I guess whether it actually serves your purposes depends entirely on what kind of motherboard you're trying to pair it with.
I suppose we’re looking at the Seagate WD10EZEX 1TB SATA 3 hard drive. It's a standard piece of hardware, nothing too flashy, but it gets the job done if you just need some basic storage space.
EVGA CX Series, 430 Watt
I suppose I'm looking at the Zalman micro tower case in Black, specifically the Cooler Master T4.
I guess the Thermaltake Contac 16 CPU cooler is an option if you're looking at it, though I can't say much more without knowing what kind of setup you're actually trying to cool. It might work for some, but maybe not for everyone. You can probably find it over at Newegg if you decide to go that route.
Newegg LG DVDRW 24x GH24NS95

$1175
Newegg

Amy Vaughn12 said:I guess we're looking at the Intel Core i3-3220K now.
I was looking at the Zotac GTX 750 Ti, specifically that StormX OC 2GB model.
ASUS A88XM-E35 motherboard
I suppose we're looking at a single stick of 4GB Kingston DDR3 running at 1600MHz with CL11 latency, specifically the single-rank version. It’s a pretty standard spec for that era of hardware, though I guess whether it actually serves your purposes depends entirely on what kind of motherboard you're trying to pair it with.
I suppose we’re looking at the Seagate WD10EZEX 1TB SATA 3 hard drive. It's a standard piece of hardware, nothing too flashy, but it gets the job done if you just need some basic storage space.
EVGA CX Series, 430 Watt
I suppose I'm looking at the Zalman micro tower case in Black, specifically the Cooler Master T4.
I guess the Thermaltake Contac 16 CPU cooler is an option if you're looking at it, though I can't say much more without knowing what kind of setup you're actually trying to cool. It might work for some, but maybe not for everyone. You can probably find it over at Newegg if you decide to go that route.
Newegg LG DVDRW 24x GH24NS95

$1175
Newegg

I'm signing off on this one.🙂

AMD Radeon R9 270
Kingston DDR3 1600MHz, 4GB
Seagate Barracuda HDD 3.5", 500GB
MSI Motherboard with Cooler Master CPU Cooler
MSI Motherboard with Cooler Master CPU Cooler
AMD Athlon II x4 760k with Zalman ZM-T4
Zalman ZM-T4 micro tower case
Corsair CX430 PSU, 430 Watt

$1167
Walmart

MSI Motherboard with Cooler Master CPU Cooler
MSI Motherboard with Cooler Master CPU Cooler
AMD Athlon II x4 760k with Zalman ZM-T4
Zalman ZM-T4 micro tower case
Corsair CX430 PSU, 430 Watt
Seagate Barracuda HDD 1TB 3.5"
GAINWARD Nvidia GeForce GTX 750 Ti
Kingston DDR3 1600MHz, C11, 8GB

$1186
Walmart

The graphics card is slightly weaker than the div>