Looking to build gaming pc <=$600

yuriyuki

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Nov 7, 2014
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So I've been console and pc gaming for awhile now and with having no interest in the current gen of consoles, i've decided to go strickly pc. With that being said, my current pc i bought in 09' was never meant to be a gaming pc and as such is very underpowered.
Emachines et1331g03w
- Nvidia GeForce 6150 SE
- AMD Athlon 235e cpu
- 6gb ddr2 ram
- 300w psu

My budget will allow me to build a new pc from the ground up for $600 or less. NVIDIA is a must because I plan on running windows 7/8 and linux (AMD drivers are terrible on linux). Also to note, my monitor is only capable of 720p and that is the resolution I play on. I'm not the type to worry about uber settings or anything maxed out, just looking to play games on medium and the occasional high if allowed. Although Konami hasn't announced the req specs I do want this build to able run MGSV: The Phantom Pain, hopefully. The components I can re-use from my old computer are monitor, keyboard, mouse, cd/dvd drive, hdd and ram (though i doubt the mobo that you guys will recommend will support ddr2). Thank you in advance, I could really use some help with this build.
 

nonpro

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Nov 7, 2014
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You can't add those RAM sticks as now-a-days DDR3 is very common. Here are the components that are available under your budget:

1. CPU: AMD FX-4300/AMD FX-6350
2. Motherboard: Asus M5A97 Rev 2.0
3. Graphics: Nvidia GTX 650Ti
4. Hard Disk: WD Blue 1TB 7200RPM
5. RAM: Corsair Vengeance/Kingston HyperX
6. Case: Cooler Master or NZXT
7. PSU: Corsair RM600
8. CPU Fan: Corsair H100 (Liquid Cooling)

After buying all these products you will left with some money. Go and get some cool LED fans, SSD keyboard and mouse with that money. If you have any further questions, reply to this thread.
 

smog0

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Jan 5, 2012
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You still need to pick a case and OS

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M Anniversary Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($69.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (4 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda ES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($46.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Superclocked Video Card ($114.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $411.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-07 11:19 EST-0500
 
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4150 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($114.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock H81M-HDS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($49.99 @ Micro Center)
Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Superclocked Video Card ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cougar Spike MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($26.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 380W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit) ($90.26 @ OutletPC)
Total: $567.18
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-07 11:22 EST-0500

Should be able to run about all CURRENT games on medium/high settings. You can see a comparable systems performance here: https://pcpartpicker.com/b/wxccCJ
 
Solution

yuriyuki

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Nov 7, 2014
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thanks for the recommendations, the above poster picked the fx- 6350 for the cpu, is the i3 a better choice for gaming?
 
Yes, the 6350 will be "better" in very specific games like Battlefield 4, but in all other applications the i3 will be better, you'd also have to overclock the 6350 quite a bit to get it to match the i3. Again, this doesn't mean the i3 can't run BF4, but BF4 will make use of the 6 cores of the 6350, but most other games and applications won't. The 6350 will also consume more power and generate more heat regardless.
 

yuriyuki

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Nov 7, 2014
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oh ok i think i understand now. i think i'll end up going with your build, i've heard great things about both the i3 and gtx 750ti and i think i'm ready to go ahead and purchase the parts. thanks a lot man