Budget PC build under $500

Hey there!
I'm looking for a decent "jack-of-all-trades" build—mostly for browsing, music, movies, and some gaming, in that order. I really want this thing to stay reliable for at least 4 years if possible. It’ll be sitting at my parents' place, and since they're the main users (and honestly, me too), I need something that just works without any headaches. Ideally, I'd love to find a shop that offers custom assembly and delivery services.
Thanks in advance!

1 x Asrock FM2A88M EXTREME4+, FM2,FM2+, AMD A88X (Bolton-D4), DDR3
1 x Procesor AMD Trinity Athlon II X4 750K 3.40GHz 4cores
1 x DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Crucial, 1600MHz CL11
1 x TOSHIBA 1TB, 7200rpm, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB, DT01ACA100
1 x Spire Kepler Rev.2 ,hladnjak, 1156/775/FM1, 96.5×51×125 mm ,92mm
1 x Napajanje FORTRON 400W, HEXA 400, 12cm ventilator, Active PFC
1 x DVD upisivač LG GH24NS, DVD±RW, 24x DVD±R ,8x DL , 40x CD-R
1 x Zalman ZM-T2 PLUS micro tower case. 189(W) x 427,5(H) x 364(D)mm
1 x XFX R7-260X-ZNF4, Core Radeon R7 260X 1075M Boost 1GB DDR5

$1085 Best Buy

Since a computer with the specs from $667 can handle those first three tasks without breaking a sweat, I focused everything else strictly on gaming. If you aren't a hardcore gamer or don't plan on playing anything too demanding, you could definitely go cheaper and save some cash. I actually could have squeezed a more powerful graphics card into your budget, but I didn't want to overdo it since it doesn't seem necessary for what you need. However, if you really want to boost those gaming frames, you could swap in THIS GPU instead and you'd still be right within your budget. 😉

You didn't mention if you're looking for a monitor too...

nah, don't really need a monitor

Adam Moore3 said:1 x Asrock FM2A88M EXTREME4+, FM2,FM2+, AMD A88X (Bolton-D4), DDR3
1 x AMD Trinity Athlon ii x4 750 3.40GHz 4cores
1 x DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Crucial, 1600MHz CL11
1 x TOSHIBA 1TB, 7200rpm, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB, DT01ACA100
1 x Spire Kepler Rev.2 ,hladnjak, 1156/775/FM1, 96.5×51×125 mm ,92mm
1 x Napajanje FORTRON 400W, HEXA 400, 12cm ventilator, Active PFC
1 x DVD upisivač LG GH24NS, DVD±RW, 24x DVD±R ,8x DL , 40x CD-R
1 x Zalman ZM-T2 PLUS micro tower case. 189(W) x 427,5(H) x 364(D)mm
1 x XFX R7-260X-ZNF4, Core Radeon R7 260X 1075M Boost 1GB GDDR5

$1085 US forums

Since an older rig from $667 could probably handle those first three tasks just fine, I basically focused everything else on gaming. If you aren't a hardcore gamer—or if you don't really plan on playing anything too demanding—you could probably go even cheaper and save some cash. I could have even fit a beefier card into your budget, but I didn't want to overdo it since it might be overkill for what you need. If you actually want more juice for gaming though, you could swap in THIS card and still stay within your budget. I guess... 😉

this should be totally fine, thanks for the help! 🙂

1 x Asrock FM2A88M EXTREME4+, FM2,FM2+, AMD A88X (Bolton-D4), DDR3
1 x Procesor AMD Trinity Athlon ii x4 750 3.40GHz 4cores
1 x DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Crucial, 1600MHz CL11
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 Napajanje CORSAIR 430W, CX Series 80+ Bronze, EPS12V v2.3, 80+
1 x DVD upisivač LG GH24NS, DVD±RW, 24x DVD±R ,8x DL , 40x CD-R
1 x Zalman ZM-T2 PLUS micro tower case. 189(W) x 427,5(H) x 364(D)mm
1 x Spire Kepler Rev.2 ,hladnjak, 1156/775/FM1, 96.5×51×125 mm ,92mm

$1190
It'll fit, and you could easily swap in a much beefier GPU.😁

Robert Rodriguez2 said:1 x Asrock FM2A88M EXTREME4+, FM2,FM2+, AMD A88X (Bolton-D4), DDR3
1 x AMD Trinity Athlon ii x4 750 3.40GHz 4cores
1 x DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Crucial, 1600MHz CL11
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 CORSAIR 430W Power Supply, CX Series 80+ Bronze, EPS12V v2.3, 80+
1 x LG GH24NS DVD burner, DVD±RW, 24x DVD±R ,8x DL , 40x CD-R
1 x Zalman ZM-T2 PLUS micro tower case. 189(W) x 427,5(H) x 364(D)mm
1 x Spire Kepler Rev.2 cooler, 1156/775/FM1, 96.5×51×125 mm ,92mm

$1190
It'll fit, and even a much stronger GPU 😁

LIKE I ALREADY SAID 😬, yeah, it fits, but I don't think there's any reason to bother given what he needs. If he really wants to, he could even throw in a 265😛

Honestly, I’d probably lean toward the i3 over the amd x4 1 here rather than going the other way.

1 x Intel Core i3-4130 Processor, 3.40GHz
1 x Asrock s1150 H81M-HDS - Intel H81, M-ATX, dual Channel 2 xDDR3
1 x MSI R7 260x 2GB GDDR5 128bit, 28nm, 2xDVI + HDMI + DisplayPort
1 x DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Kingmax, 1600MHz, FLGF
1 x TOSHIBA 1TB, 7200rpm, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB, DT01ACA100
1 x FORTRON Hex 400W Power Supply, HEXA 400, 12cm fan, Active PFC
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. MB standard

$1160
craigslist.com

Hi everyone. I'm putting together a build for a friend. The budget is $900 strictly capped, and they're planning to use an HDTV (about a 32-inch model, I think) as a monitor via HDMI. For the most part, the machine will be used for technical drafting—something like SolidWorks. I was wondering what your thoughts are on this specific setup?

Intel Pentium G3258 (3.20GHz,512KB,3MB,54 W,1150) Box ---->$167
Asrock s1150 H81M-HDS - Intel H81, M-ATX, dual Channel 2 ---->$117
Kingston V300 SSD 120GB, 2.5" 7mm, SATA 3 6G, 7mm to 9.5mm ---->$163
DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Kingmax, 1600MHz, FLGF ---->$100
ASUS R7240-2GD3, AMD Radeon, R7240, PCIe 3.0, 2048 MB, GDDR5 ---->$158
Zalman ZM600-LX, 600W ---->$108
Akyga AKY919BB Case, midi tower, drive bays: 3.5" ---->$60

TOTAL: 2 $206
SOURCE: Best Buy

It’s a solid build, just stick it in a Zalman case and you can save about $10 on the power supply by swapping the Zalman for a Fortron Hex instead. The rig won't even pull 120W, probably less. Use those savings to grab a Samsung evo SSD—I think it's a step up regardless, and it still fits the budget. Also, if there's no plan to overclock without an aftermarket cooler, and we look at slightly better motherboards where possible, there's really no need for that CPU when $33 the cheaper Pentium G3220 🙂 is right there
...

The V300 SSD just isn't in the same league as what we used to see; if you're looking for a budget drive, it's okay, but don't expect miracles. Click here for a better option—it comes with a 5-year warranty. You could also save some cash by switching up your power supply (maybe go with a Fortron Hex or similar), and if you can swing it, grab an R7 250 GDDR5 graphics card instead, because honestly, that other card just isn't worth the money...

Timothy Kim60 said:The V300 SSD isn't even close to what it used to be. If you're looking at a budget SSD, click—it's got a 5-year warranty. You could save some cash on the power supply (maybe a Fortron Hex) and grab an R7250 2 GB GDDR3 if possible, though that card isn't really worth it...

You can't squeeze both in. If you want a better SSD and a better GPU, you won't find that specific SSD at Best Buy for that price. It makes more sense for him to prioritize a better SSD over a better graphics card, assuming he's not planning on gaming. Honestly, he could just ditch the dedicated GPU entirely and stick with integrated graphics. Whatever a 240 handles, Intel's integrated stuff can manage too.

Regarding an SSD—honestly, if he really needs one, his options are looking pretty slim right now anyway.

That ATI graphics card will definitely come in handy for running SolidWorks.

Thanks. I think I’m going to pull the trigger on that V300 SSD after all—and I might even look into a better graphics card. Instead of the R7240 2GB GDDR3, I'm considering the R7250 2GB GDDR3 if you guys think it's actually worth the extra cash, maybe something like this
The R7250 with GDDR5 would probably push me way past my budget, though.

Well, I guess the GDDR5 version is actually the cheaper option here. 🤣

Regarding the SSD, why wouldn't you just grab a HyperX Fury $20 instead?

This is just the 1GB R7250—I actually had my heart set on the 2GB version, which tends to be quite a bit more expensive.

There isn't actually a 2GB DDR5 version out there; if you see it listed anywhere, it’s probably just a typo. Besides, I guess why would you even need 2GB of VRAM on a card like this? The chip and the memory are both too slow to actually make good use of it—it feels like a total marketing gimmick. You'd probably get more bang for your buck with 1GB of faster memory.

Alright then... I suppose the R7250 2 GB GDDR3 should do the trick. Thanks.

Ditch that v300 and go with the HyperX instead.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7763/a...er-micron-nand
http://www.overclock.net/t/1457629/p...ay-by-kingston