Urgent: Best PC build for under $700?

Hey there! 🙂
I could use some help picking out a PC build. My budget is around $1500, maybe a little more if I have to, but I don't need a monitor included.

Mainly, I'll be using this for work with Adobe apps (Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Premiere) and coding in Visual Studio—that's the priority. I guess it wouldn't hurt to be able to play something like Assassin's Creed or League of Legends once in a while, too.

I'm pretty much a total newbie at this, so any advice from people who actually know their stuff would be great. 🙂 It's also kind of urgent, since I’m probably looking to pull the trigger on an order within the next few days.

1 x GIGABYTE GA-970A-DS3P, AM3+
1 x LC POWER LC-CC-97, socket 775/1155/1156/AMD
1 x AMD FX-Series X8 8320 AM3 Box
1 x Crucial 8GB DDR3 1600 Mhz (PC3-12800) CL11
1 x SSD Patriot Blaze R545/W430, 120GB, 7mm, 2.5"
1 x Zalman Z1, USB3.0 black, 2x120mm
1 x VC GAINWARD Nvidia GeForce GTX750, PCI-e, 1Gb GDDR5/128bit, 1085(1163)/2550MHz, mini-HDMI/dual-link-DVI-D/VGA
1 x Fortron Hexa+ 500W, 80+
1 x HDD SEAGATE Barracuda (3.5",1TB,64MB,SATA III)

Total: $1578 Best Buy (free assembly and shipping)

A 120GB SSD for Windows and your apps, an 8-core processor—which I guess is faster than those i5s in several areas you mentioned—8GB of RAM, and a graphics card that might help with CUDA tasks or just casual gaming.

1 x MSI R7 260 OC 1GD5, 1GB DDR5, DVI-I, DVI, DP, HDMI, R7 260 1GD5
1 x AMD FX-Series X8 8320 3.5GHz, 16MB, 125W, AM3+, FD8320FRHK
1 x Gigabyte 970A-DS3P, AM3+, AMD 970 SB950, 4x DDR3 2000(O.C.)/1866
1 x Spire Kepler Rev.2 cooler, 1156/775/FM1, 96.5×51×125 mm, 92mm
2 x DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Crucial, 1600MHz CL11
1 x Fortron 500W Power Supply, Hyper, PPA5005003, 12cm fan
1 x Intel 120GB SSD 520, 2.5", SATA III-600, R/W:550/520MB/s
1 x WD 1TB HDD, Caviar Blue 10EZEX, 1000 GB, SATA3, 64 MB, 3.5", 24mj
1 x LG GH24NS DVD burner, DVD±RW, 24x DVD±R, 8x DL, 40x CD-R
1 x Zalman Z1 mid tower case, 199(W)x432(H)x457(D)mm, ATX Standard

Total:$1575 Free assembly and shipping from Best Buy!

This setup is quite solid—really—because everything aside from the graphics card is top-tier. If you decide to swap in a more powerful GPU down the road, you’ll have exactly what you need to stay ahead of the curve for years. You've got an 8-core processor here, which remains a reliable choice for gaming and heavy software workloads alike, even when paired with high-end cards later on. Plus, there's the SSD for snappy performance in apps and quick Windows boot times, alongside 8GB of RAM, a 1TB drive, and a dependable power supply.

If you're looking to shave some money off the total, you could always ditch the optical drive ($43) and swap out the current graphics card for this slightly weaker model: . That would bring your cost down to $1507, though I wouldn't recommend downgrading the processor.

Dennis Carter3 said:1 x MSI R7 260 OC 1GD5, 1GB DDR5, DVI-I, DVI, DP, HDMI, R7 260 1GD5
1 x AMD FX-Series X8 8320 Processor 3.5GHz, 16MB, 125W, AM3+, FD8320FRHK
1 x Gigabyte 970A-DS3P, AM3+, AMD 970 SB950, 4x DDR3 2000(O.C.)/1866
1 x Spire Kepler Rev.2 cooler, 1156/775/FM1, 96.5×51×125 mm, 92mm
2 x DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Crucial, 1600MHz CL11
1 x Fortron 500W Power Supply, Hyper, PPA5005003, 12cm fan
1 x Intel SSD 520 120GB, 2.5", SATA III-600, R/W:550/520MB/s
1 x WD 1TB HDD, Caviar Blue 10EZEX, 1000 GB, SATA3, 64 MB, 3.5", 24mo
1 x LG GH24NS DVD burner, DVD±RW, 24x DVD±R, 8x DL, 40x CD-R
1 x Zalman Z1 mid tower case. 199(W)x432(H)x457(D)mm. ATX standard

Total: Free assembly and shipping from the retailer!$1575

This is a killer build because everything except the GPU is top-tier. If you swap in a beefier graphics card later on, you'll have everything you need and be set for years. You've got an 8-core processor that's going to stay relevant for gaming and productivity for a long time, plus room to upgrade to high-end cards. You also get an SSD for snappy performance and fast Windows boot times, 8GB of RAM, a 1TB drive, and a solid power supply.

If you want to lower the price, you could ditch the monitor ($43) and swap the graphics card for a weaker one like this which brings the cost down to $1507. I wouldn't touch the processor though; don't downgrade that.

Between the R7 260 non-X being weaker than a GTX 750 and the lack of CUDA cores, it’s definitely going to underperform. It's clearly a worse choice than Nvidia. 🙂

1 x ASUS M5A97 R2
1 x AMD FX-Series X8 8320 3.5GHz Processor, 16MB, 125W, AM3+ FD8320FRHK
1 x 8GB DDR3 Crucial, 1600MHz CL11
1 x Fortron 500W Hyper Power Supply, PPA5005003, 12cm fan
1 x Zalman Z1 mid tower case. 199(W)x432(H)x457(D)mm. Standard ATX
1 x Sapphire R7 265 2GB GDDR5 Dual-X, 2GB GDDR5 256bit, 28nm
1 x TOSHIBA 1TB, 7200rpm, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB, DT01ACA100
1 x ZALMAN CNPS 5X Performa, compatible with 775/1155/1156/AM2/AM2+/AM3

$1563
It’s a decent rig for work or gaming. You can even handle newer titles at 1080p maxed out.
If you don't absolutely need an SSD, this setup works.

www.newegg.com

Thanks for the help, everyone 🙂 After doing some digging and asking around, I think I'm going with this setup from Newegg:

1 x GIGABYTE GA-970A-DS3P, AM3+
1 x LC POWER LC-CC-97, socket 775/1155/1156/AMD
1 x Kingston 8GB 1600MHz DDR3L Non-ECC CL11 DIMM 1.35V, EAN: 740617225914
1 x Zalman Z1, USB3.0 black, 2x120mm
1 x Fortron Hexa+ 500W, 80+
1 x Intel SSD 520 (120GB, 2.5in SATA 6Gb/s, 25nm, MLC)
1 x HDD TOSHIBA DT01ACA100 (3.5", 1TB, 32MB, SATA III)
1 x AMD FX-Series X8 8320 AM3 Box
1 x Gigabyte GTX 750 1GB DDR5 128bit dual DVI, 2xHDMI PCI-E 3.0

Total: $1595

What do you guys think? I was also thinking about maybe just getting a 500GB HDD since I already have a 1TB external drive, though I probably shouldn't skimp too much on that...

Looks like a solid build, but honestly? You should probably grab the Corsair RM550x instead—the price gap is pretty tiny $5.00, plus you get more juice from the PSU and an extra two years of warranty. Given what you're using this rig for and how little extra it costs, I’d stick with the 1TB drive to keep that extra breathing room—but hey, if you're totally fine with just a 500GB HDD alongside an external drive, go for it.