500 budget pc. better than broken laptop?

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idoleyez

Honorable
Oct 16, 2012
22
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10,510
My laptop broke last week and I'm looking into building a replacement desktop. I have a small budget and this is my frist time building a pc. I am ok wih upgrading in the future.

The specs of my laptop were:

GPU: 7690m XT
CPU: i5-2450m
RAM:6gb ddr5

the mobo had HDMI port, wireless, ethernet port, dvi, card reader , 3.0 usb and 2.0 usb and also a blue ray player (not as important right now).

I dabble in music prodction, photoediting, video editing and 3d rendering. Nothing too fancy, mostly basic/small projects (mostly just to learn/test the waters). I do wish to continue to do these projects and hopefully have a strong enough pc to explore these interests even further.

the games I play are nothing too demanding;

League of Legends
Counter strike Global Offensive
Vindictus
Drift 2/racing games
Whatever catches my eye on Steam/what I have time for.

I also would like to stream and I usually play these games with friends and we talk over raidcall/vent.

with my current budget of 500usd, could I have assistance with parts and thouughts behined the choices.

thanks in advance!

 
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Jerad Woody

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Apr 29, 2013
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1. Go with AMD cheaper than intel and better performance for your $$ (and i will argue it all day long). (Id suggest the FX4100)

2. Stick with 4GB of RAM or more (minimum) the more the better and RAM is cheap right now.

3. For graphics id go with ither Nvidia or ATI/AMD there both equally as good and both have there advantages. (Id Suggest something with a 128-Bit Bus minimum and at-least 1GB of Video RAM (Read this... http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107.html)

4. Make sure you use a NAME BRAND Power supply with at least 80+ bronze cert (a Minimum of 450 watts) and ACTIVE PFC (Power Factor Correction) NEVER EVER EVER skimp on your power supply!, i had to learn the hard way... for example, Corsiar, XFX, PC Power and Cooling, etc.

5. Any monitor will do that all boils down to preferance although id suggest using DVI or HDMI.

6. Make sure to get a case that has good ventelation you can never have too much cooling. (Maximum PC has some good recommendations in there budget build articles)

7. For Hard Drive id reccomend Western Digitals Black editions drives.

8. Windows 7, Windows 8, Steam OS or a combination of the three. its all up to you (mind-you steam OS is free but just starting to take off so there may be bugs)

I would not recommend on-board graphics even AMDs (im a firm believer that no matter how good on-board has gotten it will never quite compare to a discrete low/mid-range or better card.
 
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ScrewySqrl

ScrewySqrl

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Aug 2, 2010
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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD Athlon II X4 760K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A88M-HD+ Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($65.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport XT 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($67.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.00 @ Amazon)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB Video Card ($102.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Zalman ZM-T1 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($27.99 @ Mwave)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer ($15.99 @ Microcenter)
Keyboard: Logitech MK120 Wired Slim Keyboard w/Optical Mouse ($11.99 @ B&H)
Total: $471.90
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-02-08 09:46 EST-0500)

I am assuming you already have an OS you can re-use (MS has basically changed their policy, you can use the OS again, as long as only one PC uses it at a time), and can hoot the PC to a TV set for a monitor

the FM2+ motherboard wil allow update to steamroller chis as they come out.
 
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idoleyez

Honorable
Oct 16, 2012
22
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10,510
Sorry, I thought I stated I had a monitor, keyboard,mhouse and OS. No need fo optical drive. Also I'm hearing good things about Kaveri APU. As for my laptop is fell off a dresser. Gets 2-3 sec of power then dies. Completey busted open. Screen cracked. Mobo seems fine but not sure the reason it won't hold power.

Anyways. Thanks for the help everyone. As for upgrading what kind of build should I have.
 
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