Budget gaming build under $600?

I’m looking for some help putting together a solid gaming build. My budget is capped at $1.25, and I don't need any peripherals included.

I have my heart set on an Intel and Nvidia combo, and an SSD is a must-have. Since I'll be putting this on my Amex, it would be ideal if I could grab everything from a single retailer like Best Buy or Amazon to keep things simple.

Thanks in advance for the advice 🙂.

Mark Price said:Can someone recommend a gaming build for under $1.25? No peripherals needed.

I want Intel/Nvidia and an SSD. I'm paying with an Amex, so ideally everything comes from one retailer.

Thanks in advance 🙂.

With that much cash, you can forget about a gaming rig with those specs 😁.
Go with AMD or find more money.

Any suggestions on how we could tackle this based on your ideas, without having to ask for more budget?

Mark Price said:Any other ideas you have without blowing the budget?

Where are you based?

Vž, what does that even mean?

Mark Price said:Does this even mean anything?

Mind if I head over to NYC for a second?😁
Look, you really need to aim for $3,500-$3,600 for the base PC price. If you go up to 400-$167 you're just paying more than what it would cost cash.

It’s really no big deal to jump up there.

Mark Price said:It's not about jumping too high yesterday.

Look, at Rolling Stone, the prices are all the same regardless of how you play it.

And for $1333 you end up with this:

Here’s what you asked for:

1 x ASUS H81M-R, 1150, H81 express chipset, DDR3, 2 slots
1 x Intel Core i3-4150 (3.50GHz,512KB,3MB,54 W,1150) Box
1 x DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Kingston, 1600MHz, CL11, Value
1 x Gigabyte GTX750Ti OC 2048 GDDR5 128bit
1 x FORTRON 400W Power Supply, HEXA plus 400, 12cm fan
1 x MS PHOENIX case without PSU, Midi tower MBO: ATX, mATX
1 x Seagate 1TB HDD, Serial ATA III, 7200 rpm, DESKTOP SSHD,8GB SSD

$1372

www.newegg.com

The issue is the budget is pretty tight, so an SSD won't fit. I put in an SSHD instead; I guess you'll notice it's faster than a standard HDD and helps Windows boot quicker, so it's probably the next best thing.
Then there's the Nvidia situation where you get a 750 Ti for this price, but with AMD, you can grab a 265 for the same amount which is slightly better, or maybe spend 50 extra for a 270 which is even faster:$33
http://anandtech.com/bench/product/1130?vs=1080

Also, with AMD you get six cores, whereas with Intel you're looking at 2 + HT. Gaming performance is kind of similar, but personally, I'd probably lean toward AMD since more modern games seem to use multiple cores, so it might have the edge later on.

Thanks for all the input. I’m starting to realize it might be smarter not to get hung up on specific Intel or Nvidia components or a high-end SSD. If I drop those requirements, could we put together a better overall configuration? This setup is really just meant to carry me through the next two years, and after that, I'll have plenty of time to build something much more powerful. Any suggestions?

My advice? Try to scrape together another $1,500--$667 if you can swing it. You'll end up with a much beefier processor and an SSD, which makes all the difference.

What fadedorca66 put together looks like a solid Best Buy if you're looking at a $4k budget. You could maybe swap in a 1TB hard drive and go with a Western Digital Blue or a Seagate, since those Toshiba drives feel pretty sluggish. It’s a decent foundation; you can always grab an extra 4GB of RAM and an SSD later on, then just swap out the GPU in two years and you'll still have a pretty capable rig.