I want to make a gaming desktop under $500

kunthakenthe · May 20, 2014

Hi im new and new to building desktops. I'm wondering if i have the best setup you can get or if theres any other better setups for under $500. Ordering from amazon

Memory: Kingston Value RAM 4GB 1333MHz PC3-10600 DDR3 Non-ECC CL9 DIMM SR x8 Desktop Memory (KVR13N9S8/4) $35.99

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda ES 1 TB 7200RPM SATA 3Gb/s 32 MB Cache 3.5 Inch Internal Hard Drive ST31000340NS-Bare Drive $51.01

Processor: AMD FX -4130 3.8Ghz Processor FD4130FRGUBOX, Black Edition $89.99

Motherboard: ASUS Micro ATX DDR3 2000 AMD AM3+ Motherboard M5A78L-M/USB3 $60.79

Monitor: Hannspree 16" LED Widescreen Monitor | HL163ABB $69.98

Case: Rosewill ATX Computer Case with 500-Watt Power Supply, Black R519-BK $64.99

Speakers: Logitech S120 2.0 Multimedia Speakers $7.99

GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 650 1024MB GDDR5 DVI mHDMI Graphics Card 01G-P4-2650-KR $109.99

Total: $490.73

Can i make it better or is this good enough. I have windows vista iso so i can make a O.S.

Also how far can i overclock my CPU and is it high end/med/ or low cpu. Sorry i'm new.

AgentTran · May 21, 2014

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($109.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2 Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($47.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Team Vulcan 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($65.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 750 1GB Video Card ($109.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Gigabyte GZ-P5HB5C (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($36.69 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($61.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $482.62
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-21 00:05 EDT-0400)

You should shop at more places then just Amazon, you will get a way better build.
I've included a pretty decent CPU, and a power-efficient GPU which can be upgraded due to the good PSU and decent CPU.

Danbuscus25 · May 21, 2014

thats a good build, except for the cpu. for $10 more you can get a 6300 which is much better. here is my take on it, it has a better cpu, better gpu, you forgot a psu lol, and a better monitor, aswell as 8gb faster ram.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 760K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor ($84.73 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI A88XM-E45 Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($64.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($72.00 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($56.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R7 250X 1GB Video Card ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 430 ATX Mid Tower Case ($27.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec Basiq 430W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ NCIX US)
Monitor: HP W2072a (A3M50AA#ABA) 60Hz 20.0" Monitor ($89.99 @ Micro Center)
Total: $516.66
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-21 00:11 EDT-0400)

EDIT the monitor above is from micro center, this monitor is pretty much the same

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/aoc-monitor-e2050swd

Danbuscus25 · May 21, 2014

AgentTran, he needs a monitor aswell

kunthakenthe · May 21, 2014

Thanks for all the help and fast responses let me check them out

kunthakenthe · May 21, 2014

Danbuscus25 :

thats a good build, except for the cpu. for $10 more you can get a 6300 which is much better. here is my take on it, it has a better cpu, better gpu, you forgot a psu lol, and a better monitor, aswell as 8gb faster ram.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 760K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor ($84.73 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI A88XM-E45 Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($64.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($72.00 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($56.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R7 250X 1GB Video Card ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 430 ATX Mid Tower Case ($27.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec Basiq 430W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ NCIX US)
Monitor: HP W2072a (A3M50AA#ABA) 60Hz 20.0" Monitor ($89.99 @ Micro Center)
Total: $516.66
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-21 00:11 EDT-0400)

EDIT the monitor above is from micro center, this monitor is pretty much the same

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/aoc-monitor-e2050swd

whats a psu

kunthakenthe · May 21, 2014

AgentTran :

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($109.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2 Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($47.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Team Vulcan 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($65.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 750 1GB Video Card ($109.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Gigabyte GZ-P5HB5C (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($36.69 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($61.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $482.62
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-21 00:05 EDT-0400)

You should shop at more places then just Amazon, you will get a way better build.
I've included a pretty decent CPU, and a power-efficient GPU which can be upgraded due to the good PSU and decent CPU.

i saw that Cpu but thought since it 6 cores but only 3.5 ghz it was weaker than a quad core at 3.8ghz?

zscorpion13 · May 21, 2014

Kunthkenthe, a 6 core processor at 3.5GHz isbeter than a quad core at 3.8, as it's 6*3.5 as compared too 4*3.8. The main concern is that the 6 core uses AM3 fittings so will be less futureproof and harder to upgrafey

kunthakenthe · May 21, 2014

zscorpion13 :

wait is am3+ almost outdated and is fm2+ futureproof for like 3yrs or so

Danbuscus25 · May 21, 2014

well, the whole 6*3.5>4*3.8 is not always true, but it is this time. a psu is a power supply unit, it is absolutely needed, and am3+ is being discontinued, so no new chips for it, but the current line of FX chips will play all of todays games on max settings, and in a few years start to go down to very high and high. an fm2+ build will give you less performance than a am3+ build now, but new chips will come out for it. I would suggest you get an am3+ build, because by the time a 6300 starts holding you back, there will be fm3, so i think its best to buy am3+ now, and in a few years either sell it or build a new computer on either fm3 or intel.

kunthakenthe · May 21, 2014

can i use a vga to vga cable as a substitute for a monitor

kunthakenthe · May 21, 2014

Danbuscus25 :

well, the whole 6*3.5>4*3.8 is not always true, but it is this time. a psu is a power supply unit, it is absolutely needed, and am3+ is being discontinued, so no new chips for it, but the current line of FX chips will play all of todays games on max settings, and in a few years start to go down to very high and high. an fm2+ build will give you less performance than a am3+ build now, but new chips will come out for it. I would suggest you get an am3+ build, because by the time a 6300 starts holding you back, there will be fm3, so i think its best to buy am3+ now, and in a few years either sell it or build a new computer on either fm3 or intel.

thanks for the info

Danbuscus25 · May 21, 2014

well, you can use a vga cable from your graphics card to the monitor, if thats what you were asking.

kunthakenthe · May 22, 2014

no what i meant was if i was to connect my desktop without a monitor into a laptop using vga could i do it.

kunthakenthe · May 22, 2014

is this build better.

MOBO: Gigabyte AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gbps USB 3.0 ATX DDR3 1600 Motherboards GA-970A-DS3P $63.27

Processor: AMD FD6300WMHKBOX FX-6300 6-Core Processor Black Edition $118.49

HDD: WD Blue 1 TB Desktop Hard Drive: 3.5 Inch, 7200 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64 MB Cache - WD10EZEX $59.24

GPU: PowerColor AMD Radeon R7 250X 1GB GDDR5 VGA/DVI/HDMI PCI-Express Video Card AXR7 250X 1GBD5-HE $99.99

PSU: Logisys Corp. 480W 240-Pin Dual Fan 20+4 ATX Power Supply PS480D2 $13.99

Ram: Kingston Value RAM 4GB 1333MHz PC3-10600 DDR3 Non-ECC CL9 DIMM SR x8 Desktop Memory (KVR13N9S8/4) $35.99

Case: Rosewill Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case CHALLENGER-U3 Black $49.99

Total: $493.70

also do i need a new MOBO to overclock or what

Danbuscus25 · May 23, 2014

no, you cant use your laptop screen, and no that build is not better.

kunthakenthe · May 23, 2014

so can you tell a better build for $500 dollars i thought was good or is the one you posted already the best one

Danbuscus25 · May 24, 2014

the one i posted is the best you can get without spending more money.

kunthakenthe · May 24, 2014

thanks

Danbuscus25 · May 24, 2014

kunthakenthe · May 25, 2014

Best answer chosen by kunthakenthe May 24, 2014 10:09:02 AM

I want to make a gaming desktop under $500

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