$500 total gaming pc budget build LF advice.

PatrickCr · Apr 18, 2013

Hello there, My name is Patrick and I am looking for advice on my $500 build for games such as WoW,LoL,BF3,(possibly)Crysis, as well as use for Word,Powerpoint, etc.. for school. I'm curious as to the CPU I've selected and if it's any good. Looking to also have space to expand in the future when income is a little less tight. So without further adu, here's my build so far:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/RsbX

Any and all advice for my system is welcome, Not to mention i will be buying the parts we select separately, when(if) they have sales within the next 2-4months time.
Thank you for any and all help
--Patrick
P.S. I am just turning 18 so i have almost no extra income to squeeze in.

AMD Radeon · Apr 18, 2013

honestly, for that budget including OS and peripheral, you pick a very good build

allanitomwesh · Apr 18, 2013

Not bad.
XFX 450W or OCZ ModX 500W
Antec One case for more room
FX 4300 is a better processor...

PatrickCr · Apr 18, 2013

AMD Radeon :

Thank you for the feedback, Is there anything else you could spot that might be a tad better for around the same price? I'm sure if i wait for the deals as of now it'll be closer to $450 than $500.
Thanks again to anyone for feedback or tips.

AMD Radeon · Apr 18, 2013

i think swapping ram with standard freq 1600MHz ram will save you 20 bucks

PatrickCr · Apr 18, 2013

AMD Radeon :

Ok changed the ram, Knocked off $25 so thank you, 2 more questions, will it run slower at 1600?- or will there be no noticable change
And 2nd, With this present build will i be able to add a Graphics card down the road when i get the money?, or will this build not support that or...? Sorry new to all this.
And if the 2nd's answer is yes, could you maybe use an example of what Graphics card i will be able to install down the road?
Heres the update:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Rt8H

allanitomwesh · Apr 18, 2013

That particular board supports one graphics card,which will fit is a factor of your case. Hence my recommendation.

PatrickCr · Apr 18, 2013

allanitomwesh :

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Rtyd
Noticed the pictures for the antec one, and wow the cable management looks promising. Thanks for the suggestion, slightly over budget but than again those deals haven't kicked in. Any more recommendations? Notice i changed the mobo for no particular reason, don't know if it matters, changed ram to 1866 for "better performance with the a-10" as i read online. If theres anything else, or if you think i should change anything back around let me know. Thanks again for the feedback, Appreciate it.

allanitomwesh · Apr 18, 2013

Ares 1600 is cheaper, the gain is synthetic, you won't notice it.
Same board different brand. The MSI was actually better,had USB 3.0 and Sata 6. Neither has crossfire.

PatrickCr · Apr 18, 2013

allanitomwesh :

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/RtKP

I think this is it right here, Thanks to both of you for the support. Any more info you can lend me would be swell but i think we got it down maybe as good as it'll get for this price range.. Any more suggestions or tips/advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks again to everybody and i can't wait for some of these to go on sale and snag them up

.

ksham · Apr 18, 2013

CPU Cooler: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-cpu-cooler-rr212e20pkr2

PatrickCr · Apr 18, 2013

ksham :

Interesting, now i've been hearing a lot of "Overclocking" talk while researching the a-10, is that something i should look into for this build? and would this item help me to do so? (Completely new to computers with bare min. knowledge)

allanitomwesh · Apr 18, 2013

Yes it's for overclocking,and a good deal too. On AMD it's easy too as the CPU is unlocked. Intel is more of a hassle. Use the PC first, if its fast enough don't get the cooler.
For graphics I find 7770 and 7870 XT are the best value,but 7970 ghz and 7850 are the best performers,mad OC and great drivers. On the Nvidia side just go all out and get a Gtx 670,it's not cheap but it's beastly. Stay away from Nvidia's budget cards 650 anything.
Get ram that is 1.5 Volts for warranty purposes.

PatrickCr · Apr 18, 2013

allanitomwesh :

I thought i heard somewhere you could not use anything higher than 6***? But not sure(For the graphics btw) 2ndly, how is this brand patriot? Because this is some pretty cheap stuff compared to the rest of them on pcpartpicker
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/patriot-memory-psd38g1600k

ksham · Apr 18, 2013

I like the Gamer 2 and Viper Xtreme. Have not had issues with them. I don't have experience with the others.

allanitomwesh · Apr 18, 2013

Good,nothing wrong with them. Also crucial and gskill,good stuff. It depends how fancy you like your ram casing. Bare 'ordinary' ram works fine.
Haha,all those 7XXX's are AMD Radeon cards, and you are correct, latest Nvidia cards are 6XX series.AMD in thousands,Nvidia in hundreds.

PatrickCr · Apr 18, 2013

Alright thank you for the info again, sitting around $510 for the whole thing:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/RyIE

Follow up question i probably should have asked at the beginning, but, would i be able to play the games i've listed at medium settings at 720p? Maybe more? Maybe less? Any info. would be fantastic, Thanks again to everyone for the help with this budget build

PatrickCr · Apr 18, 2013

Final tweaks added:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/RAZh

I thought that i'd go with the 2133 for better results with the a10, chose the mobo for the 3.0 slots along with the case, planning on getting a heatsink down the road for OCing along with adding a 6670 or something along the lines for the hybrid-crossfire.

Anymore notible changes that could be more benificial before i start my purchases? Going to be buying the items whenever they get discounts throughout the next few months or if none do i will buy in bulk at the end of that timeframe. Thanks in advance and for all past help.
Much appreciated,
Patrick.

ksham · Apr 18, 2013

The 2133 RAM is pointless. You probably only gain a few fps for a big cost increase. So not worth it.

allanitomwesh · Apr 19, 2013

I agree,the expensive ram is throwing you off budget unnecessary.Also,hybrid crossfire I don't recommend,you will not see a boost in your gaming. Get a proper card like the Radeon HD 7850 and game at 1080p not just 720.

PatrickCr · Apr 19, 2013

allanitomwesh :

ah, okay does sound like a better idea, and will save me money in the long run once you think about it. Thanks again for all advice, final... For now.-
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/RDJ4
(cheapest ram 1600 only $6.09 or something right around there)
Swapped back to the $5 cheaper mobo since i'm only not needing the xfire or SLI but i do want the usb3.0.
Shaved off 4 dollars getting mouse/keyboard seperately--follow up question- does optical mouse and laser differ? is one better? i saw a couple 3 dollar mice and if laser is the same quality i will shave off another 5 dollars.
Thanks again

ksham · Apr 19, 2013

Laser mouse is obviously better.

allanitomwesh · Apr 19, 2013

laser is better,and the build looks good.

If ever your looking to expand,you should know...
Your board supports 16GB RAM Max,as does Home Premium,no loss there.
Your power supply supports one graphics card requiring one PCI connection,meaning super cards are out.That should take you up to 7870 XT easily,which is very capable anyway. Don't pay attention to "official " psu requirements, they compensate for shoddy chinese cheap psu's.Your board also has one card slot,so no loss here too.
You can always overclock your processor and graphics,even your RAM I think,not sure about the board supporting that though.Get a cooler first though,maybe some more fans for the case too.

$500 total gaming pc budget build LF advice.

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