Building a Gaming PC for $500?

Kistang

Honorable
Jan 18, 2014
1
0
10,510
First off, I am an amateur when it comes to PCs. I am looking to cross over from the Xbox 360 to a PC. My budget is at a pretty strict $500. I am also looking to BUILD my own computer, not a pre-built.

However, I would like some advice from some more experienced builders. I know that the computer hardware marketplace is an ever building and evolving place.

(P.S., I already have a small 1080 HDMI TV that should work fine for a monitor - just about 24")

If anyone could lay out a good PC build for around $500, that would be great. I am looking to start getting parts in the next few days.
 
Solution

maxiim

Distinguished
Oct 28, 2009
957
0
19,360


You forgot to add an OS to that, which would tip it over 600$. Its extremely hard to build a PC around the price of the new consoles to be able to get the same fluid game play as well as the graphics performance.
 
Solution

allocco91

Distinguished
Nov 4, 2013
499
0
18,960
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU Cooler: Arctic Cooling ACALP64-GT 25.6 CFM CPU Cooler ($8.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A75M PRO4+ Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($72.25 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Silverstone PS08B (Black) MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($19.99 @ Microcenter)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer ($15.99 @ TigerDirect)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.00 @ Amazon)
Other: AMD A8 7600 ($119.99)
Total: $481.18
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-18 19:48 EST-0500)

CPU should be out next week and pushes the 6800K in most games. Socket FM2+ for future APU upgrades. RAM is on sale, runs stable at 1.5 volts and a speed of 1866 MHz. Power supply is a little overkill, but can't beat the price and can add a dedicated GPU later. Components are all relatively premium.
 

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