Time for an upgrade!! Budget ~$500-$550

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JunkyJeff

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Jan 8, 2014
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My old rig needs an upgrade and I thought it be great to ask for some advice on here.
I won't be doing TOO much gaming but I will want it to be able to run Fifa 14/ Nba 2k14 / Dirt 3 / Borderlands 2 on High/Ultra. For now I will be gaming at 1680x1050 with a possible upgrade down the road to 1080.

I will also be doing some slight Solidworks and don't think the GPU of choice here will be a real concern since my old 8600GT runs it just fine. But I'd think a stronger processor and ram could be beneficial. This won't be my first build but I've been out of the game for about 5 years so not too update on the best/newest toys. Just hoping to get the most out of my money in this price range.

So far I have only checked out the i5-4570 as a cpu, and maybe a 650 / GTX 750 Ti as the possible GPU. I see a lot of budget builds recommend AMD products as the best bang for their buck with the A8/A10 and 7770. I am open to AMD if it is indeed the better choice here, just not too familiar with AMD and if one of the other (Intel/AMD) has advantages in Solidworks? Other than that's all.


Won't need
- Keyboard
- Monitor
- Mouse
- OS

Need everything else.

(Case was looking towards the bitfenix prodigy, fractal mini (might be too much), and maybe the NZXT 220 Source. Would like something with a small form factor)

Thanks guys!
 
Solution
veladem
This was probably the most fun I've ever had sitting down building a PC on pcpartpicker lol

If you decide to build any of the PC I have linked, then please do post/PM me with pictures.

As you requested, here is a urhm, midget build.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H80i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($84.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87N-WIFI Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($141.97 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB...
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veladem

veladem

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Sep 6, 2012
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How bout this?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($117.12 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock 970 Extreme3 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 660 2GB Video Card ($179.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Microcenter)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($25.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $558.04
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-02-23 00:27 EST-0500)
 
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Icaraeus

Icaraeus

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Oct 9, 2013
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A budget of less than $600 is a bit low seeing as the only things you intend to keep aren't exactly essential. I'm presuming that you require storage, RAM, CPU, GPU, PSU and MOBO. For $600 that's pretty limiting.

A high-quality i5 will run you down $200-250, and a GPU the same. That's almost all your budget. You'd be better off going with AMD CPU which are cheaper than Intel and are still decent (around $100-140 in US), though Intel is a clear step up overall. If it's just for games though they are pretty much on-par with the exception of a few games which utilize multiple CPU cores.

You should never skip out on a PSU. Your minimum budget for one should be at least $60-70. Without a quality PSU your computer won't be at optimum performance, will die fairly quickly statistically (not guaranteed) and if it's pretty crappy you could wreck every part in your PC. Already assuming you have an AMD CPU that's $470-520+ gone depending on the GPU. Personally I'd recommend an AMD R9 270X which is $200 and will perform great for the next few years. That leaves you with a bit of money to buy a reasonable case and some RAM. 8GB of RAM would be optimal.
 
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J

JunkyJeff

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Jan 8, 2014
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Thanks for such a quick response. Are there any benefits here with the FX6300 compared to an i5? The FX6300 seems to be a better pick over the A10.

Any other recommendations on the mobo? I've had some bad experiences with ASRock.
 
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veladem

veladem

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I picked the 6300 over the i5 due to the price range, you should be able to run even a 770 and still have the 6300 keep up to it in my opinion.

As for the MoBo, I can suggest this one also, but I would go with this ASRock, keep in mind every company has a bad batch at some point.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

Motherboard: MSI 970A-G46 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($69.99 @ Microcenter)
Total: $69.99
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-02-23 00:40 EST-0500)

I just recently heard this board can catch fire... But I've never had any of my customers come back saying my OC on their MSi 970 caught fire lol
 
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JunkyJeff

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Jan 8, 2014
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I agree with everything you've said here and that's why I'm planning to grab the best I can with the budget I currently have. Before I use to just build strictly with the cheapest within my budget, I am trying to stretch that now and acquire the best hardware I can. I usually stick to Intel, but as my budget is a bit lower, I can see why many probably recommend AMD. As for the AMD R9 270x, I feel it may be a little overkill for my use? I may be wrong if you care to explain. I figured maybe a cheaper but capable GPU would be able to balance out the system more?



lol, well I am hoping that is not the cause, I'll look into both the of these recommendations then. However if I decide to go witih the prodigy, we would be needing to discuss a different mobo correct?
 
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veladem

veladem

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If you were to change the MoBo from the two I provided I would need to switch around some build specs altogether.
 
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JunkyJeff

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It might come to that, not sure if i wanna go with a mini atx build. Decisions decisions.

By the way Veladem, i noticed you posted this build on someones thread.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($117.12 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock 960GM/U3S3 FX Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($53.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: A-Data XPG V2 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($68.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card ($149.99 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($41.56 @ Mwave)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($25.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $457.64
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-02-23 11:54 EST-0500)


That's a more attractive price point, would I be giving up too much in performance compared to the build you described in this thread? I noticed the mobos probably would have it's limitation with future upgrades which probably isn't too concerning to me right now and I don't play on SLI. The 750ti should be good enough for my use? but probably at this price point its worth the investment in the 660 i suppose?

Appreciate your time and effort!!
 
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veladem

veladem

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Yeah, you could do that, plus you'd have left over for games, periphials, tax season... All that good stuff.

I usually try to build around a price point while future proofing as much as I can.

:D

PS: You should still grab the gskill RAM I suggested, RAM is a little pricey right now, and thats a pretty good deal.

All about price/performance.
 
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J

JunkyJeff

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Jan 8, 2014
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Awesome! Yeah I was gonna go that route anyway, have always used gskill and the performance has been great. I might have to bother you for a mini ATX build if you don't mind as well. Possibly going with a node 304 or the prodigy for my case. Thanks again you've been awesome.
 
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veladem

veladem

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Sep 6, 2012
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This was probably the most fun I've ever had sitting down building a PC on pcpartpicker lol

If you decide to build any of the PC I have linked, then please do post/PM me with pictures.

As you requested, here is a urhm, midget build.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H80i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($84.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87N-WIFI Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($141.97 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: PNY GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card ($240.99 @ Amazon)
Case: BitFenix Prodigy (White) Mini ITX Tower Case ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($59.67 @ OutletPC)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $990.56
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-02-25 01:24 EST-0500)
 
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Solution
J

JunkyJeff

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Jan 8, 2014
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Hey Vel, I definitely will hook let you know when I get this build going on, shooting for the next few weeks if not a month. Thanks again for your help! It should be fun putting this together.

 
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J

JunkyJeff

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Jan 8, 2014
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Hey Vel, if i was able to stretch it a bit to around 600, did I do a good job putting this together? I saw the 3350p was on sale and felt for 169 wasn't too bad. Am I wasting money anywhere or do you see any places I could improve. The HDD is the only thing I might not add, I do have 2 I have on my old build I don't mind transferring over if I need to.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3350P 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($169.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H77M-ITX Mini ITX LGA1155 Motherboard ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($79.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card ($149.99 @ Amazon)
Case: BitFenix Prodigy (Black) Mini ITX Tower Case ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $629.91
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-02-26 22:12 EST-0500)
 
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veladem

veladem

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Sep 6, 2012
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Your build has gone up to $647.93 here is a slightly modded other, only the RAM was changed.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3350P 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($169.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H77M-ITX Mini ITX LGA1155 Motherboard ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: A-Data XPG V2 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($68.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card ($149.99 @ Amazon)
Case: BitFenix Prodigy (Black) Mini ITX Tower Case ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $638.93
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-02-27 00:45 EST-0500)
 
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