Approx $400 ATX Gaming Rig

Benjamin McLean

Reputable
Mar 29, 2014
1
0
4,510
CPU and RAM are some of the most important things for me. Having a nice GPU would be great as well but not the top priority because I'll probably end up actually playing most games on my laptop. Having alot of USB ports would be really good because I use external hard drives, external audio interface, MIDI input devices (I'm a musician) and just generally alot of different devices.

That the machine be upgradable in the future is really important to me. That's why I say "gaming rig" -- not because I expect to be playing that many games on it, but because specs matter and longevity matters.

Approximate Purchase Date: this week (the closer the better)

Budget Range: Something in the neighborhood of $400 preferably, although if it went to around $500 to get better specs I might get that. I might consider buying some parts now and some later. I don't want to be permanently stuck with less than 8 GB of RAM, although a motherboard with expansion slots to let me add the second 4 GB later would be awesome to have as an option.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, video editing, audio recording, file management (including acting as personal cloud server) assume any specs will be used to the limit of what I can afford

Are you buying a monitor: No, I have a 40 inch flatscreen TV that will be the monitor. I don't watch television anyway

Parts to Upgrade: The computer box. (I have all the peripherals -- I need the computer box itself and all that lies within it)

Do you need to buy OS: No, as a computer science student I should have a free Windows 7 license I can use, and may upgrade to Windows 8 at some point in the future.

Location: Kansas City, MO, but I'm a non-driver so physically getting to Micro Center (nearest serious computer store) is extremely difficult

Overclocking: Not super interested in overclocking

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: Windows XP support ending: need to replace ancient 2004 dinosaur.

Thanks!
 
Solution
Since you are going to be mostly gaming on your laptop, I would forgo the graphics card, and get one later. This will get you buy with everything else until then. You can then get a decent GPU later, when you have the $$$.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock B85 Pro4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: GeIL EVO POTENZA 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($62.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Toshiba 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Antec GX500 ATX Mid Tower Case ($44.99 @ Newegg)...

logainofhades

Titan
Moderator
Since you are going to be mostly gaming on your laptop, I would forgo the graphics card, and get one later. This will get you buy with everything else until then. You can then get a decent GPU later, when you have the $$$.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock B85 Pro4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: GeIL EVO POTENZA 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($62.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Toshiba 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Antec GX500 ATX Mid Tower Case ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($50.99 @ TigerDirect)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $498.93
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-29 13:23 EDT-0400)
 
Solution