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Rate my $500 Gaming PC Build

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  • gaming pc
  • Build
  • Systems
Last response: in Systems
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September 5, 2014 4:01:47 PM

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 760K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor ($83.09 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI A78M-E35 Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($57.97 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($82.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($78.23 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R7 260X 2GB Video Card ($114.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Corsair SPEC-01 RED ATX Mid Tower Case ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ Micro Center)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($15.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $508.22
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-05 18:04 EDT-0400

What do you guys think?

More about : rate 500 gaming build

September 6, 2014 4:25:04 PM

7/10. You can save money on the HDD. RAM should be 2x4GB. Power supply you chose has a high failure rate. G3258 is a little more powerful and its about $10 cheaper. Other than that, its pretty good.
Edited Build:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($67.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($84.99 @ Micro Center)
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 ($56.99 @ Micro Center)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R7 260X 2GB Video Card ($114.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Corsair SPEC-01 RED ATX Mid Tower Case ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($44.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($15.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $502.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-06 19:24 EDT-0400

Saved you about 6 bucks and improved performance by a little ;) 
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September 6, 2014 4:29:00 PM

Scoutdrago3 said:
7/10. You can save money on the HDD. RAM should be 2x4GB. Power supply you chose has a high failure rate. G3258 is a little more powerful and its about $10 cheaper. Other than that, its pretty good.
Edited Build:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($67.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($84.99 @ Micro Center)
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 ($56.99 @ Micro Center)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R7 260X 2GB Video Card ($114.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Corsair SPEC-01 RED ATX Mid Tower Case ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($44.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($15.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $502.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-06 19:24 EDT-0400

Saved you about 6 bucks and improved performance by a little ;) 

I would say something like the i3-4150 as it:
Is Hyper-Threaded
Has more cores (? not sure)
Only needs an H97 board and no CPU cooler
Is generally more powerful than the G3258.
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September 6, 2014 4:44:06 PM

zeyuanfu said:
Scoutdrago3 said:
7/10. You can save money on the HDD. RAM should be 2x4GB. Power supply you chose has a high failure rate. G3258 is a little more powerful and its about $10 cheaper. Other than that, its pretty good.
Edited Build:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($67.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($84.99 @ Micro Center)
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 ($56.99 @ Micro Center)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R7 260X 2GB Video Card ($114.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Corsair SPEC-01 RED ATX Mid Tower Case ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($44.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($15.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $502.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-06 19:24 EDT-0400

Saved you about 6 bucks and improved performance by a little ;) 

I would say something like the i3-4150 as it:
Is Hyper-Threaded
Has more cores (? not sure)
Only needs an H97 board and no CPU cooler
Is generally more powerful than the G3258.


May be true but it is well out of his budget, and someones budget is the most important then when recommending parts. Those extra $40 will make a difference with some that has a tight budget. Really the best thing you can get in or around his price range is a G3258.
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September 6, 2014 5:06:27 PM

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4150 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($116.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($88.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($78.30 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($53.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R7 260X 1GB Core Edition Video Card ($109.95 @ Amazon)
Case: BitFenix Merc Beta (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($19.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $508.19
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-06 20:06 EDT-0400
Is 8$ over budget too much for OP?
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September 6, 2014 5:15:40 PM

zeyuanfu said:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4150 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($116.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($88.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($78.30 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($53.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R7 260X 1GB Core Edition Video Card ($109.95 @ Amazon)
Case: BitFenix Merc Beta (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($19.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $508.19
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-06 20:06 EDT-0400
Is 8$ over budget too much for OP?


That case is really not good... If you want to make room for more expensive parts, drop things that don't necessarily need to be expensive. It just wouldn't make too much sense to fit a i3 into a $500 build. I would just go with the G3258. Its good and the 2 cores wont make a HUGE difference.

Some G3258 benchmarks:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/pentium-g3258-overc...
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September 6, 2014 5:16:47 PM

It's Hyper-Threaded, but whatever OP decides goes.
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September 6, 2014 5:21:35 PM

zeyuanfu said:
It's Hyper-Threaded, but whatever OP decides goes.


Hyper-threading isn't worth how bad the case is. OP can just upgrade the CPU/GPU when he gets the money and still always have a good case, rather than always have a horrible case and have slightly better performance.
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September 6, 2014 5:34:14 PM

eh, it's 15 bucks for a better case, but in that case, you could drop something...
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September 6, 2014 5:40:32 PM

zeyuanfu said:
eh, it's 15 bucks for a better case, but in that case, you could drop something...


He doesn't absolutely need hyperthreading. Its not something that's necessary when gaming on budgets. 4 cores is a pretty good standard for most games but 2 cores is enough for the majority of games. Heres some benchmarks of the CPU:









This doesn't mean he will get these frame rates, but it just shows how capable the CPU is. Its more than enough for most games, and there is no need to change anything(for now, atleast).

Image source:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/pentium-g3258-overc...
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