Building PC for the first time on a budget

someguy20

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Oct 19, 2014
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I'm planning on building a PC for the first time and I'm quite ignorant when it comes to tech stuff. I am also not really a gamer but would love to take it up in the future along with graphic design and coding. Right now, all I need is PC that is relatively powerful enough to handle the basic stuff (multiple tabs and programs, surfing the net, watching videos and listening to music), and I'm on a budget, somewhere around $500, I can go a little higher. But really prefer something less in terms of price

The problem is, again, I am pretty ignorant and it's confusing which parts "go together" and are considered compatible.

I'm also in Canada, so if anyone from here has experience ordering online at around that price, it would be greatly appreciated if you can lend your input.

Right now I have my eye on this kit:

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=9494638&Sku=B69-00338&SRCCODE=LSCAN&cm_mmc_o=-ddCjC1bELltzywCjC-d2CjCdwwp&utm_source=Linkshare&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=je6NUbpObpQ&AffiliateID=je6NUbpObpQ-jTriOSHiv.fQMDR4VR_n7Q

What do you guys think?

All I need is to buy a DVD writer to boot the OS and I'm set: http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=3_61&item_id=071866

Based on the specs, is the quality good, are there better options for me?

 
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For a $500 dollar build this is what I would get:

Intel Pentium G3258
MSI H81M-P33 LGA 1150
Crucial M500 120 GB SSD
NZXT Source 210
R7 240
CX 430M
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo
Seagate 1 TB Hard Drive
 

someguy20

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Oct 19, 2014
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Thanks! I'll definitely look into those.

I really want to go with a quad core cpu though. I came up with this list (it's a bit more costly and that's fine), but the problem is, I don't know if they're all compatible. I do know that the board and the cpu needs to fit together and do here (intel), but are the rest compatible?

- Computer Case: Antec NSK4100 Black SGCC steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case ($49.99)

- CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 Haswell Quad-Core 3.3GHz LGA 1150 84W Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4600 BX80646I54590 ($209.99)

- Mother Board: ASUS Z97M-PLUS LGA 1150 Intel Z97 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard ($139.99)

- RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model F3-14900CL9D-8GBXL ($83.99)

- Hard drive: Western Digital WD Blue WD10EZEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive - OEM ($57.99)

- Video Card: ASUS GTX750TI-OC-2GD5 GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB 128-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 HDCP Ready Video Card ( $164.99)

- Power Supply: EVGA 600 B 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified 600W Active PFC ATX12V v2.31/EPS 12V v2.91 3 Year Warranty 100-B1-0600-KR Power Supply ($74.99)

- Optical Drive: LITE-ON DVD Burner SATA Model iHAS124-14 - OEM ($16.99)

Also, the choosing a power supply seems to be a bit tricky. Is it compatible with the other components?
 

frag06

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Mar 17, 2013
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All of that is compatiable, but it costs well over $500. If your budget has been revised, we will be better able to help you if we know what your max budget is now ;)

I would go with something like this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($214.95 @ Vuugo)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($154.79 @ DirectCanada)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($86.78 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($53.98 @ DirectCanada)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 270 2GB DirectCU II Video Card ($169.99 @ NCIX)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ NCIX)
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ Memory Express)
Total: $805.47
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-19 16:21 EDT-0400

I would add an SSD, but I don't know your budget.
 

someguy20

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Oct 19, 2014
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I thought originally I can save up to around $500 till Christmas, and I assumed I can get a good PC at around that price, but looks like I have to go higher. Well, I just spoke to my mom and she's willing to put down another $500. So now my budget is around $1000, but I would really like to stay under that.


 

someguy20

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Oct 19, 2014
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Could I skip buying the dedicated graphics card? If I decide to get into gaming later, then install it then?

 

frag06

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Mar 17, 2013
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You can use the iGPU if you want.
 
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