Budget gaming PC build: $500-$600 range

Hey everyone!

So, I'm looking to put together a build that's mainly focused on gaming and just general web surfing.
I'm really just hoping to get through most games on at least medium settings without any major stuttering, and I'd love for it to be something where I can
gradually upgrade parts as my budget allows down the road.

I was thinking about picking everything up over at http://www.bestbuy.com/ since they have a store right in my neighborhood, which would make things a lot easier if I ever run into any hardware issues.

If anyone could help me spec out a solid gaming rig, I would truly appreciate the help.

Thanks in advance!

Anthony Hall4 said:Hey everyone!

So, I need a rig mostly for gaming and surfing the web.
I just want to be able to run games on medium settings without stuttering and
have room to upgrade later when I have the cash.

I was thinking about picking up the parts at http://www.bestbuy.com/ since they have a store nearby, which makes things easier if I run into any issues.

If you guys could put together a gaming build for me, I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks in advance!

Doesn't matter where you buy from—if there's an issue, you're waiting a few days regardless of how close the shop is. You're better off building it at a reputable place with decent prices; honestly, Best Buy doesn't look like the best deal for this.

Robert Rodriguez2 said:Honestly, it doesn't really matter where you pick it up because if something goes wrong, you're going to be waiting a few days regardless of whether the shop is right down the street or halfway across the country. If I were you, I'd just stick to a reputable retailer with fair pricing, and frankly, that particular store doesn't look like they have the best deals on this diver.

It’s more about how I pay for it, really; I’m planning on financing the purchase through monthly installments, and since I haven't spent much time shopping online before, I'm honestly not quite sure how the whole process actually works.

But hey, if you think there's a way for me to snag a better deal for less money, I'm all ears and happy to learn.😉

I mean, even something like this could work, right?http://www.bestbuy.com for example.

Anthony Hall4 said:It’s mostly about the money for me. I'm looking at financing this, but I haven't really done much online shopping before, so I'm not sure how the whole process works.

Fine, if you think there's a better deal out there for less, go ahead and teach me. 😉

What kind of card are you planning to use? And how many monthly payments are we talking about?😁?

Robert Rodriguez2 said:Which card were you thinking of using, and how many monthly installments would you go with😁?

Well, I have a Visa through Chase, so I'd probably just spread the cost out over 12 months.

It seems like a waste if I can only use that card at their specific retail locations, especially since I live quite a bit outside of Chicago. Does anyone know how Links compares when it comes to their pricing?

Anthony Hall4 said:It’s useless. I can only use that card if I shop at their specific store, and I live way too far from the local Best Buy. How are the prices over at Micro Center?

They dropped some prices, but their stock selection is a total disaster.😬
Let me check if you can even get through to them.😁
Honestly, based on what I've seen, Micro Center is pretty much your only option left.😁

But their site is completely trashed right now; I can't even get the page to load.

And what about this ?

It looks like we've got some MUSHKIN Essentials 8 GB PC-14900 memory here, running at DDR3 1866Mhz. I guess that should be plenty for most basic setups.
It’s a 500GB Seagate hard drive—specifically the ST500DM002 model. It’s a standard 3.5" desktop drive with SATA3, a 16MB cache, and it spins at 7200 RPM. I guess that's pretty straightforward.
It’s an ANTEC VSK-4000B MIDI case in black, just the chassis without a power supply.
So, I'm looking at this PCI-E NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750, which comes with 2GB of DDR5 and has D-SUB, DVI, and HDMI ports. It seems okay, I guess.
It’s a 460W unit—an LC POWER Silent Giant GREEN POWER LC6460GP3 V2.3, featuring a 140mm fan. I guess that's about it.
It looks like we've got an Intel Core i3 4160 box here—it’s a dual Core setup running at 3.6GHz with 3MB of cache and integrated graphics on the 1150 socket. I guess it's a pretty straightforward little chip.
The ASROCK H81M-DG4 is an mATX board featuring the Intel H81 chipset and DDR3 support. It’s got all the basics like USB 3.0, SATA, and G-LAN, plus D-SUB and DVI outputs for video. I guess it should cover most standard needs for an LGA 1150 build.

=$1360 On installment plans - Links

Motherboard
GIGABYTE GA-970A-DS3P, AMD970/SB950, DDR3, audio, G-LAN, S-ATA, RAID, PCI-E, CrossFireX, USB 3.0, ATX, s. AM3 / AM3+
$209
Processor
AMD FX X6 6300 box, s. AM3+, 3.5GHz, 14MB cache, Six Core $285
Case
ANTEC VSK-4000B, MIDI, black, no PSU included
$79
Power Supply
500W, ANTEC VP500PC ES, ATX v2.3, 120mm fan
$111
Cooler
LC POWER LC-CC-95, socket 775/1155/1156/1150/AM2/AM3
$31
Memory
PC-12800, 8 GB, KINGSTON, KVR16N11/8, DDR3 1600MHz
$123
Hard Drive
500.0 GB SEAGATE ST500DM002, SATA3, 16MB cache, 7200 RPM, 3.5", desktop
$126
Graphics Card
PCI-E GAINWARD GeForce GTX 750 Ti GS, 2GB DDR5, D-SUB, DVI, miniHDMI
$348

TOTAL: $1312

Best Buy

The version with the 860k

CPU
AMD x4 860 k box, Black edition, socket FM2+, 3.7GHz, 4MB cache, quad Core
$218
Motherboard
ASUS A58M-K, AMD A58 FCH, DDR3, audio, S-ATA, G-LAN, PCI-E 3.0, D-Sub, DVI, mATX, socket FM2+
$117
Case
ANTEC VSK-4000B, MIDI, black, no PSU included
$79
Power Supply
500W, ANTEC VP500PC ES, ATX v2.3, 120mm fan
$111
Cooler
LC POWER LC-CC-95, socket 775/1155/1156/1150/AM2/AM3
$31
If that LC95 doesn't fit on the fn2, just grab this cooler instead
http://www.amazon.com/arctic-cooler-fm2-050903269
Memory
PC-12800, 8 GB, KINGSTON, KVR16N11/8, DDR3 1600MHz
$123
Hard Drive
500.0 GB SEAGATE ST500DM002, SATA3, 16MB cache, 7200 rpm, 3.5", desktop
$126
Graphics Card
PCI-E GAINWARD GeForce GTX 950, 2GB DDR5, DVI, HDMI, DP
$475

$1282 So maybe add a little more $67 if it isn't the online price, roughly $1333

The version with the G3258, where you can actually push it past 4GHz

Processor: Intel Pentium G3258 box, LGA 1150, 3.2GHz, 3MB cache, integrated GPU, dual Core
$202
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-H81M-S2V, Intel H81, DDR3, audio, SATA, Gigabit LAN, USB 3.0, D-SUB, DVI, mATX, LGA 1150
$120
Case: ANTEC VSK-4000B, MIDI tower, black, no PSU included
$79
Power Supply
500W, ANTEC VP500PC ES, ATX v2.3, 120mm fan
$111
Cooler
LC POWER LC-CC-95, compatible with socket 775/1155/1156/1150/AM2/AM3
$31
Memory
PC-12800, 8 GB, KINGSTON, KVR16N11/8, DDR3 1600MHz
$123
Hard Drive
500.0 GB SEAGATE ST500DM002, SATA3, 16MB cache, 7200 RPM, 3.5", desktop drive
$126
Graphics Card: PCI-E GAINWARD GeForce GTX 950, 2GB DDR5, DVI, HDMI, DP
$475

$1269 ,adding it back again $67 based on web prices, roughly $1333

I'd probably just grab a Celeron or maybe a Pentium Skylake / Broadwell with integrated graphics—something a bit better than an R7 250 x, I guess. I think the price is around $250.

Give me a break... that integrated graphics isn't nearly as powerful as you're claiming. You're talking pure nonsense here.

The HD 530 from Skylake isn't it, but the Iris Pro 6200 from Broadwell sits right around the R7 250 x level—maybe a bit weaker... basically somewhere between the 250 and the 250x.

As far as I know, you aren't going to find any Celeron or Pentium chips running that Iris Pro 6200; it’s really just an i5 or i7 thing.😬

image

heh 🙂 $767

Just a basic, cheap i5 +

actually beats an i5 5675

pairing a Celeron with a card like that 🙂 ????

Here's a quad Core and an R7 GPU for just a bit more $267

Or the top-tier one for $433

but you'll get way more out of it with the better GPU
Graphics Card
PCI-E GAINWARD GeForce GTX 950, 2GB DDR5, DVI, HDMI, DP
$475

And a processor in the 600 range $233... should I go with the AMD x4 860 k box or the Intel Pentium G3258 box?

There isn't much point in looking at the > when you have an > sitting right there. Having just two physical cores and two threads basically makes certain games unplayable. Sure, you can overclock the thing until it hits the ceiling, but let's be real: Dragon Age: Inquisition won't even launch on it. And that’s a game that came out a year ago—just the first one in the lineup.

@Bryan Taylor6/">@@Bryan Taylor6

Of course it’s a bad deal... I was just trying to point out that the Iris Pro 6200 isn't exactly some weak-ass integrated chip to begin with.😬

analogtiger19, that Iris isn't actually all that powerful; those benchmarks on that hardware site are basically an optical illusion. You can see they tested the dedicated GPUs on an Athlon, dropping the resolution to put maximum strain on the CPU—using a really demanding title where a discrete card just can't keep up. There’s also a real possibility they just messed up the testing process. Take a look ovdje; in GTA V, it actually performs worse than the R7 240 2GB DDR3 when running on that same processor. At the end of the day, no integrated GPU is even in the same league as an HD 7770 or a 250X
.
In almost any other game, it outperforms the R7 240 DDR3 by about 30-60%. It just goes to show how much of an outlier the GTA V scenario really is.

Timothy Kim60 said:analogtiger19, that Intel HD Graphics isn't actually that powerful; those TechPowerUp benchmarks are just an optical illusion. They tested the dedicated GPUs on an Athlon using a low resolution just to max out the CPU, and in a CPU-heavy game like that, the dedicated card can't even keep up. There's also a chance they just messed something up. Look here—in GTA V, the weaker card actually beats the GTX 750 when tested on the same processor. No integrated GPU is ever going to come close to an HD 7770 or a 250X.

In other games, it's 30-60% faster than a GTX 750 ddr3, which just shows how much of an outlier the GTA V scenario is.

Could be... there's always a chance someone screwed up on either side. Who knows what scenes they used for testing, or if the memory was overclocked or not...

Fine, maybe saying "in the same range" makes it sound like I'm claiming they're neck-and-neck in performance, and that's on me (damn, I should've picked a better phrase... I meant "roughly in the same ballpark," not "living next door to each other" 😵). Thinking about it now, it would've been more accurate to say it's in the range of a GTX 750 Ti, which is basically what I was getting at anyway 😬

My bad 🕺

P. S. I still stand by the fact that the Intel HD Graphics isn't a total weakling.😬