$550 Gaming PC Build (With Monitor, Keyboard, and Mouse)

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danerieber

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Dec 25, 2014
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All I need is the parts for the best possible gaming pc I can get out of $550 or less INCLUDING the monitor, keyboard, and mouse.

The Parts I Need (1-7 is the norm and the rest I don't have):

1. CPU (or APU)
2. Motherboard
3. Memory
4. Storage
5. Video Card (If not APU)
6. Case
7. PSU (if not in case)
8. Monitor
9. WiFi Adapter
10. Keyboard
11. Mouse

I hope this isn't going to be a problem and thanks in advance!

Update: The size of the monitor doesn't matter as long as it's between 20-25 inches
 
Solution
IInuyasha74
No problem glad to be able to help :)
Yea i5s are awesome. I was surprised to be able to slide one in under the budget but it worked. I have an i7 in my build and don't see me upgrading for another 6 years and the only difference between it and that is having hyper-threading. Which helps a fair bit but I'd still say you are all set for at least the next 3 to 4 years.

Well APUs are great for budget builds, and this was more true in the past, but there are a lot of variables to consider. The performance tends to be competitive with an i3 for the CPU side with slightly better multi-threaded performance when all 4 threads are used, but worse single-threaded performance, dual-thread performance, triple-thread performance, power consumption...
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IInuyasha74

IInuyasha74

Splendid
May 1, 2013
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Was easier than I thought, but the PSU is really bad. Also some parts like the wifi key, mouse, keyboard are all cheapest possible. Only thing I really went up in price on was the RAM and the HDD by $10 which is still not a great HDD.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/8ZVfRB
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/8ZVfRB/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor ($111.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H81 Pro BTC ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($51.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Avexir Core series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 320GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($33.00 @ Amazon)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R7 250X 1GB Video Card ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Logisys CS305BK ATX Mid Tower Case w/480W Power Supply ($29.05 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($88.98 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: HP W2072a (A3M50AA#ABA) 60Hz 20.0" Monitor ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Wireless Network Adapter: Encore ENUWI-1XN4M 802.11b/g/n USB 2.0 Wi-Fi Adapter ($6.59 @ Directron)
Keyboard: Rosewill RK-101 Wired Standard Keyboard ($5.99 @ Amazon)
Mouse: Gear Head MP1600RU Wired Optical Mouse ($4.19 @ Mwave)
Total: $541.75
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-25 21:11 EST-0500
 
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danerieber

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Dec 25, 2014
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Oh I should have told you that I don't need an OS with it. Sorry. Maybe I can get some more power then, but this build looks nice. Do you think this build would work better with an APU or should I stick with an i3?
 
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IInuyasha74

IInuyasha74

Splendid
May 1, 2013
6,333
18
27,965
That helps, with the price of the OS put back into other parts you can get a real PSU that is better, up the HDD, toss an extra buck at the wifi key, and anything extra will help beef up the CPU or GPU more.

Yes this build already outperforms even the fastest APU in terms of CPU and GPU performance. AMD looks appealing to the novice buyer cause of having more cores, but really they are just dual-cores and not quad-cores, and are slower in almost all aspects compared to Intel.
 
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IInuyasha74

IInuyasha74

Splendid
May 1, 2013
6,333
18
27,965
PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ztMXdC
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ztMXdC/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($175.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H81 Pro BTC ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($51.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Avexir Core series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R7 250X 1GB Video Card ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Azza SIRIUS ATX Mid Tower Case ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($25.99 @ Newegg)
Monitor: HP W2072a (A3M50AA#ABA) 60Hz 20.0" Monitor ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Wireless Network Adapter: Asus PCE-N10 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($9.79 @ SuperBiiz)
Keyboard: Rosewill RK-101 Wired Standard Keyboard ($5.99 @ Amazon)
Mouse: Gear Head MP1600RU Wired Optical Mouse ($4.19 @ Mwave)
Total: $558.89
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-25 21:25 EST-0500

There, faster CPU, HDD, Wifi, and much safer PSU.

Scrap an extra $40 and can get a much better GPU too, or if not this one is good also and will play most games at medium, and games of last year sometimes on high. If not you can always upgrade the GPU later, the CPU will be good for several years to come and you won't ever need more RAM.
 
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danerieber

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Dec 25, 2014
6
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4,510


Thank you so much! I can't believe you got an i5 into a build like this! I may tweak this a bit, and I might already have a keyboard and mouse to save money (thankfully) so I think I'm pretty much set.

And also, thanks for the input on APU vs Intel core. I've always heard that APUs are great for budget builds but apparently not. I have an Intel in my laptop right now and it can play games well. It's 1.7 gHz with integrated graphics so this desktop will for sure outperform my current computer. I'll be happy even if it can't max out modern games on a 4K display.
 
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IInuyasha74

IInuyasha74

Splendid
May 1, 2013
6,333
18
27,965
No problem glad to be able to help :)
Yea i5s are awesome. I was surprised to be able to slide one in under the budget but it worked. I have an i7 in my build and don't see me upgrading for another 6 years and the only difference between it and that is having hyper-threading. Which helps a fair bit but I'd still say you are all set for at least the next 3 to 4 years.

Well APUs are great for budget builds, and this was more true in the past, but there are a lot of variables to consider. The performance tends to be competitive with an i3 for the CPU side with slightly better multi-threaded performance when all 4 threads are used, but worse single-threaded performance, dual-thread performance, triple-thread performance, power consumption, heat, etc.
On the GPU side its about as fast as an R7 240 in the best one. This didn't change really with the latest APUs (long story) So back when the A10-6800k was the best APU (the previous best APU), it worked and was a great budget build cause it was against Intel Ivy Bridge (Also the previous Intel CPU type) and those i3s had lower Ghz with the fastest i3 then having 3.4Ghz, compared to most of the i3s now are 3.5Ghz or faster. Also the Core i5s dropped a little in price. So the APU's main competitor got faster and cheaper, while its performance stayed the same and its price actually got higher.

So like I said at a time that was true, but thats kind of changed. Now sometimes on budgets of like $400 or less an APU is best but thats about the cut off for them.

Yea it will blow your laptop away haha. Not sure which Intel graphics are in it but chances are its one of the Sandy Bridge or Ivy Bridge types, so on a GPU level your laptop probably has at best 20% of the power the GPU I picked above has if not less. You won't have any problems. :)
 
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