Budget PC build under $450

I’m looking for some help and suggestions on a solid gaming build with a budget of up to $1000.
I don't need a monitor, mouse, or speakers—just the internal components for the tower itself...
There's no huge rush on this; I just want to gather a few different ideas and see what everyone thinks.

A bit tight, but it would work:

1 x Gigabyte motherboard, ASUS ROG Motherboard, 2 x 1.5V DDR3 DIMM
1 x Intel Core i3 3.10GHz
1 x DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Kingston, 1.35V, 1600MHz, CL11, Value, KVR16LN1
1 x TOSHIBA 1TB, 7200rpm, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB, DT01ACA100
1 x Power Supply FORTRON 400W, Intel Core i7, 12cm fan
1 x MS KNIGHT midi tower case without power supply
1 x XFX R7-265A-CNF4, NVIDIA GeForce GT 2GB DDR5

$1012Reddit

You still need another 4 GB of RAM and an aftermarket cooler. The processor will run on this, but it’s pretty loud, so you might want something like a Cooler Master Hyper 212. A buddy of mine has a very similar setup but with an Intel Pentium; he ran it on the stock cooler just fine, but man, was it noisy. Otherwise, you won't find better gaming performance for this kind of cash. 🙂

If possible, via $1000 (excluding the burner), starting with 8GB of RAM

1 x Intel Core i3 Processor 3.10GHz
1 x Gigabyte Motherboard, ASUS ROG Motherboard, 2 x 1.5V DDR3 DIMM
1 x DDR3 8GB (1x8GB) Kingston, Corsair Vengeance, 1866MHz, CL10
1 x Seagate 1TB HDD, Serial ATA III, 7200 rpm, ST1000DM003
1 x FORTRON 400W Power Supply, Intel Core i7, 12cm fan
1 x MS VOYAGER midi tower case without power supply
1 x MSI NVIDIA GeForce GT 360 2GD5 OC, GDDR5 128 bit, (R7 360 2GD5 OC)

$1031 admin

Feel free to suggest builds without the case or any specific chassis like that... honestly, maybe even the HDD is overkill, but go ahead and include it if you want.

I realize a 3-core setup isn't going to break any speed records, but it’s exactly what I need right now. It just feels silly to sink more money into this than absolutely necessary.

Here’s my suggestion: if you aren't exactly scraping the bottom of the barrel for cash, go for the Intel Core i5. It’s basically the best CPU you can get for that motherboard. It’ll cost you maybe $50 more, but you probably won't feel the need to upgrade again anytime soon... Plus, it overclocks beautifully to 4GHz and slightly past
...
Maybe also think about grabbing a better graphics card for just a few extra bucks if you have
...

Well, for $200, an Intel Core i3 would be the way to go—mostly because all this talk about the FM2+ socket dying is basically a lost cause. Also, if you don't mind stretching the budget to maybe $1167, I’d honestly suggest doing that—it just makes sense so you can build everything out properly without having to cut corners or force things together.

Go ahead and bump that up to 3500, then just put everything together however you see fit! :P

Matthew Alvarez said:If you're looking at the $200, an Intel Core i3 makes more sense since the FM2+ platform is basically a dead end anyway. Also, if you can stretch your budget to about $1167, I’d highly recommend doing that. It lets you build everything out right the first time without having to cut corners or struggle with cheap components...

But why bother with an Intel Core i3 when the Intel Core i3 is better?

http://pcmag.com/cpus/AMD-FX-4300-...Intel-Core-i3

There you go again with those PCMag rankings 🤣 giving the Intel Core i5 the exact same score as the Intel Core i3 🤦

If you're just looking to upgrade an LGA 1151 setup, the Intel Core i3 might make sense. The Intel Core i3 is arguably better by a tiny margin since it has about 10% better IPC, though it does lack the L3 cache.

It’s definitely a better move because you actually have a viable upgrade path, unlike that dead-end FM2+ socket.

For $3,500...

1 x NVIDIA GeForce GT 360 2GD5 OC, GDDR5 128 bit, (R7 360 2GD5 OC)
1 x DDR3 8GB (1x8GB) Kingmax, 1600MHz, non-ECC, CL9.0, FLGG
1 x Power Supply Fortron 400W, Intel Core i7, 12cm fan
1 x TOSHIBA 1TB, 7200rpm, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB, DT01ACA100
1 x Processor Intel Core i3 3.8GHz, 4MB/8MB, 95W, LGA 1151
1 x Gigabyte 970A-DS3P v2.0, LGA 1151, AMD 970 SB950, 4x DDR3 2000(O.C.)
1 x ARCTIC-COOLING Alpine 64 Pro Rev2, socket FM1/LGA 1151/AM3/AM2+/AM2
1 x MS KNIGHT midi tower case without power supply
1 x MS COOL 12cm BLUE, 12 cm diameter, 1800 o/min, airflow

$1172
craigslist.com

crimsonstag84 said:You and that PCMag site again... 🤣 the Intel Core i5 has the same score as the Intel Core i3 🤦

If you're upgrading an LGA 1151 socket, the Intel Core i3 makes sense. The Intel Core i3 is slightly better since it has about 10% better IPC, but it lacks the L3 cache...

Yeah, I see it too. The people over at PCMag just post nonsense. They prioritize price per CPU or energy efficiency, or sometimes they focus on the GPU inside the chip when that doesn't even matter. It's hard to find decent comparisons though. For instance, CPU World is missing the charts, and on http://www.anandtech.com/ they don't even have the 860K listed...

The real question is whether someone plans to drop serious cash on an 8300 one day, or if they'll just jump to something completely new...

crimsonstag84 said:http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1200?vs=700

thanks... 🙂the Intel Core i3 is slightly better

Bryan Taylor6 said:I mean, why bother with an FX-4300 when the Intel Core i3-4130 beats it anyway?

http://cpuboss.com/cpus/AMD-FX-4300-...Intel Core i3-4130

Even if it performs better—which is debatable—it’s just smarter to pick a platform with a clear upgrade path... otherwise, you're basically stuck in a dead end where you'll eventually have to swap everything out.

EDIT:
That CPU BOSS site is absolute garbage, honestly.