Build under $500 for video editing and gaming (no peripherals)

I just got a $5,000 offer from some guy who builds custom rigs, but since I can't find half these parts at Best Buy or anywhere else locally, I’m having a hard time figuring out if he's giving me a fair deal or just trying to rip me off.
Basically, I’d be using this machine mostly for video editing (Adobe Premiere Pro and stuff like that), Adobe Photoshop, and gaming.
The specs aren't set in stone yet—it would probably go with 16 gigs of RAM and a smaller SSD instead.

Even if you threw in a monitor, $1667 it still feels like overkill. You could probably build something entirely new from scratch for just a bit more.

EDIT: Honestly, I’m maybe $75 short of being able to grab a decent graphics card 😬 but regardless, this isn't exactly a steal. It really depends on the warranty, but I don't think it's worth it even $1500 when you consider it only has 16GB of RAM and a 120GB SSD.

I was actually a little nervous about that too. Honestly, does it even make sense to go with Intel when we're talking such tiny amounts of money? Do you have a better suggestion? Ideally something I can just grab from a local Best Buy or order on Amazon. Thanks in advance 🙂

This looks pretty spot on:

Seagate Barracuda 1 TB SATAIII
2x Crucial Ballistix Sport LT Red 8GB DDR4-2400 UDIMM
ADATA Ultimate SU800 128GB Serial ATA III SSD
Zalman Z1
AMD Ryzen 5 1400
ASRock AB350M Pro4
Gigabyte RX 460 WindForce OC 2GB
XFX 500W XT 80+ Bronze

Total: 5 $123 from Amazon (New York City, free assembly/shipping)

Now, you could always start with 8GB of RAM and just upgrade to 16GB later on—that’s $156 probably less of a hassle. I guess this R5 1400 is definitely faster than an i5 3350P and has those 8 threads, though the graphics card is noticeably weaker than an R9 380. Still, it should be perfectly playable. Maybe check YouTube to see if it’s powerful enough for 😉

I just added everything to my cart, but the shipping is hitting $5 $172, which honestly feels like too much. I really can't go over a total of $5,200. I might end up recording some gameplay on this rig too, so now I'm wondering if it’s smarter to grab a better GPU and just settle for a slightly weaker CPU instead.

I don't think you need a beefier GPU just for recording gameplay. With NVIDIA ShadowPlay, you can capture footage without tanking your performance much at all.

Just grab 8GB of RAM for now. It’s easy enough to slap in another stick later on, and that keeps you within your budget.

p.s.

Maybe crimsonstag84 activated that discount you get from registering on the PC Expert forum over at Amazon.

I didn't factor in the discount, so I think you might have entered something wrong here 😛 Maybe it’s the motherboard? That would probably explain the price gap...

https://www.amazon.com/amd-maticne-p...350m-pro4.html

AB350M-Pro4

crimsonstag84 said:Just like this.

Seagate Barracuda 1 TB SATAIII 2 x
2x Crucial Ballistix Sport LT Red 8GB DDR4-2400 UDIMM
The ADATA Ultimate SU800 128GB SATA III SSD. It’s basic, but it gets the job done.
The Zalman Z1.
The AMD Ryzen 5 1400. It gets the job done, but don't expect miracles.
The ASRock AB350M Pro4.
Gigabyte RX 460 WindForce OC 2GB
XFX 500W XT 80+ Bronze.

Total: 5 $123 Amazon (NYC, free assembly/shipping)

Look, you can just start with 8GB of RAM and then upgrade to 16GB later down the road. It’s that simple. $156 Not really. This Ryzen 5 1400 is a decent step up from an i5 3350P since you get those 8 threads. The GPU is definitely weaker than an R9 380, but it’ll still handle games just fine. Check it out on YouTube. YouTube Is it even powerful enough? 😉

I might just go with this setup. You get everything you need right out of the box. The GPU isn't exactly top-tier, but it'll handle 1080p gaming and recording gameplay just fine. 🙂
It all depends on what you're planning to play. 🙂

crimsonstag84 said:I didn't factor in the discount, you might have entered something wrong 😛 Maybe the motherboard? That would explain the price gap...

https://www.amazon.com/amd-maticne-p...350m-pro4.html

AB350M-Pro4

True, my bad.
I'm just stuck on this graphics card. Could I pick a different one from another shop and still have them build the whole rig for me? I was thinking about grabbing the 4GB version instead:
https://www.bestbuy.com/vga-sapphire-r...rce=nabava.net

The chip is essentially the same, so having 4GB doesn't really make a huge difference over the 2GB version. The next actual step up would be this one, which I guess is about 25-30% faster than an RX 460:

https://www.amazon.com/nvidia-gpu/10...tormx-4gb.html

crimsonstag84 said:Seagate Barracuda 1 TB SATAIII 2 x
2x Crucial Ballistix Sport LT Red 8GB DDR4-2400 UDIMM
ADATA Ultimate SU800 128GB Serial ATA III SSD
Zalman Z1
AMD Ryzen 5 1400
ASRock AB350M Pro4
XFX 500W XT 80+ Bronze

So, does this setup paired with an EVGA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti work well together? 😁

Grace Murphy92 said:So, this build paired with an EVGA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti—is that actually a solid combo? 😁

Solid combo, assuming it fits your budget.

wiredotter14 said:It's a solid combo, provided it fits your budget.

It doesn't, but honestly, who needs groceries? 😁 I'll just tighten my belt a little and make it work. Or I might just grab a single stick of RAM now and easily order another one later. My only question is how do I actually request a pre-built assembly? When I was browsing online, they offered free shipping, but there was nothing about them putting the PC together for me. Do I have to specifically ask them via email or something?

Just to be safe—yeah, maybe ask them to put that computer together for you.

Give them a call about half an hour after you place the order