I need help building my first gaming pc

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pcgamer568

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Jan 8, 2015
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hey guys, I am looking into building my first gaming pc soon. I was thinking since this is my first pc, I will start off with the limit being $500, and once I get more money, I will upgrade my parts. Anyway, I am looking for a build that is $500 the most, and able to play some newer games, but some old titles too. If anyone gives me a list of parts, it would be very helpful if you could also say what settings it is able to play games on and how much fps. thank you to everyone that is able to help me out!
 
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Obnoxious
Hello pcgamer568,

Thank you for your follow up response and I do apologise for my late reply, it took me a while to put together solid performing components within your budget (plus I'm from the UK, hence within a different time zone). If you're willing to purchase a used processor (CPU) and graphics card (GPU) you can build yourself quite a nifty gaming computer for around $500 which will not need upgrading for quite some time/years. The build below which I have put together for you includes an Intel i5 processor and an AMD R9 270 graphics card (capable of running most games at medium/high graphics at 1080p) for $511.89 United States Dollar (USD):

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel...
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Xibyth

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Mar 22, 2014
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If you could get an additional $150 you would be able to do much better. But for this budget your looking at pretty much bare essential hardware components for gaming. No OS, keyboard, mouse, or display. For most current games your looking at a range of medium settings at 1080p.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/fFr9XL
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/fFr9XL/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD FX-6350 3.9GHz 6-Core Processor ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock 960GM/U3S3 FX Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($52.88 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Patriot 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($66.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($53.97 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 270 2GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($153.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Raidmax ATX-402WB ATX Mid Tower Case ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($38.50 @ Newegg)
Total: $511.30
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-08 16:30 EST-0500
 
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Fozzard123

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with the rig xibyth just gave is good especially with windows 8.1 can run bf4 in ultra on 60 fps avg 90 max, i would ask though is that motherboard good for overclocking? also i feel you would need to throw in a cooling fan for what 30 dollars and overclock the fx cpu it loves it.
 
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Xibyth

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Mar 22, 2014
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Normally I would recommend the cooling fan on any build, stock are terrible but will suffice until he has the cash for a Cooler Master Hyper 212. Part of why I recommend waiting for the extra 150 is he could get a better power supply, motherboard, and the cooler. 90FPS might be pushing it a bit, my tests came back with an minimum of 54FPS and a high of 63FPS at 1080p. That's with an i5 BTW, no overclocking so very similar performance in games to the FX 6350.
 
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Fozzard123

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cool mate he will enjoy himself on that build, reason i said 90 is coz im currently running fx 6300 standard with 270x and i upgraded to windows 8.1 and thats the fps im hitting honestly i didnt expect it to be that much also m8

 
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Obnoxious

Obnoxious

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If you're looking to upgrade in the future, Intel is your best choice without a doubt; for gaming alone I would recommend Intel too. AMD sockets are pretty much outdated these days whereas Intel provides a stronger single-core performance, hence you will notice a better game-play experience (i.e. higher fps) with Intel. Most games only utilise 4-cores at maximum, whereas Intel will provide 4 strong cores in comparison to AMD, where AMD will provide 6 or 8 cores which are weaker (out of these 6/8 weaker cores, only 4 of them will be utilised for gaming). Therefore it is ideal to have a stronger single-core rather than more cores; hence I would recommend Intel. In addition Intel will allow you to upgrade from a Pentium/i3 to an i5/i7 and receive a major increase in performance, whereas with AMD you don't receive that upgrade option.

Also your budget of $500 USD, does that include a monitor, keyboard, mouse, DVD drive, an operating system (e.g. Windows 7/8), WiFi card or any other peripherals? Please reply back and let us know and I will update the build accordingly; for now, let me know if this is adequate:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Celeron G1820 2.7GHz Dual-Core Processor ($47.98 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H81M-DGS R2.0 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($47.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill NS Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($66.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($31.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($41.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit) ($92.00 @ B&H)
Monitor: LG 22M35D 60Hz 22.0" Monitor ($99.99 @ NCIX US)
Keyboard: Microsoft Desktop 400 Wired Standard Keyboard w/Optical Mouse ($14.98 @ Amazon)
Total: $508.87
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-08 17:05 EST-0500

Unfortunately it's not a gaming computer at the moment. If you want to turn into a gaming system, you only need to upgrade the processor and install a graphics card; every other component is ready for gaming. I'd recommend upgrading to an Intel i5 processor for gaming and at a GTX 750 Ti or R9 270 graphics card; with those two, you should be able to run any game at 1080p with medium/high graphical setting (closer to high).

At the moment the build will easily handle all your essential needs and will also run old games (most games before 2011 with ease) such as GTA IV. With the i5 and a GPU upgrade as mentioned, you will be able to run any game. The system I have built for you includes the operating system (Windows 8), a 1080p LG monitor, and a keyboard and mouse. The build above also includes everything to build the system to get it working; I have also included quality parts which should last you years to come rather than include poor parts.

If you do not need an OS (Windows 8), a monitor, keyboard and mouse, please reply back and let me know and I will build a better system for your budget.

All the best. :)
 
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Fozzard123

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i wouldnt go duel core now at all with next gen here i think ur looking at quad core minimum but hes correct intel are far the better cpu, im upgrading to the i5 4690k in few weeks, but your correct intel do give like twice the power single core to amd, but reason i mentioned amd is due to the fact next gen more cores needed, and money.
 
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Xibyth

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You forgot a GPU in there, without that he will not be able to play modern games. At least nothing more than LoL. Besides with Intel by the time he is ready to upgrade, his socket will be outdated and will either spend extra on a new CPU and motherboard because they are really for replacement only, or will have to get the current gen anyway. I reccomend the latter, we won't need a new power supply, RAM, storage, case, or graphics card for the next three years but a new CPU and motherboard by then will only be about $300-350 if he wants to go a little higher end.
 
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pcgamer568

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Hey guys, sorry for the late reply, thanks a lot for all the answers, and to answer your questions, the $500 are just for the CPU, motherboard, memory, storage, graphics card, case, and power supply. Everything else like the monitor, keyboard, mouse, OS, and ect. will all be separate. And I cant really go any higher than $500 because the monitor and everything else would be like $300 more, once I get more money to upgrade, I will definitely use an Intel CPU and a 3gb or more graphics card. Also, if you need to go a little higher than $500, that is fine, just please don't make it too high, like $550 because I still need to buy all the rest of the stuff, besides the pc, thanks guys!
 
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Obnoxious

Obnoxious

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Hello pcgamer568,

Thank you for your follow up response and I do apologise for my late reply, it took me a while to put together solid performing components within your budget (plus I'm from the UK, hence within a different time zone). If you're willing to purchase a used processor (CPU) and graphics card (GPU) you can build yourself quite a nifty gaming computer for around $500 which will not need upgrading for quite some time/years. The build below which I have put together for you includes an Intel i5 processor and an AMD R9 270 graphics card (capable of running most games at medium/high graphics at 1080p) for $511.89 United States Dollar (USD):

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4430S 2.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($139.95 @ eBay)
CPU Cooler: Arctic Cooling Alpine 11 Plus Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler ($9.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H81M-DGS R2.0 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($47.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Kingston Fury Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($66.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 270 2GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($110.00 @ eBay)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($31.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $511.89
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-09 16:50 EST-0500

The Intel i5 processor which I have included is capable of running most/all games, since games require a quad-core processor at maximum; the i5 is indeed quad-core with a solid single-core performance. However since the processor is used, it does not come with a stock Intel CPU cooler; therefore I have included a decent quality/budget CPU cooler. As a result of utilising a used CPU and GPU, I have been able to build you a great performing build for within your budget which should not require updating for some time; the other components are completely brand new. I have also included the now standard 8GB RAM (Kingston Fury) for gaming with a 1TB (1024GB) hard-drive.

Since you maybe looking to upgrade the system in the future, I have also included a great (the best) performing power supply, SeaSonic with enough watts to handle any upgrade you wish to do in the future (so when you upgrade in the future, you will NOT have to upgrade the power supply too). The MSI AMD R9 270 is also a great performing card, equivalent to the GTX 760 according to Tom's Hardware Graphics Card Hierarchy Chart.

I acknowledge that I have gone over your budget (apologies), however the build is an astonishing one for the price. Just to note I have not included an optical/disc drive, therefore when it comes to installing Windows you could always do so using a USB drive. If you need an optical drive, please feel free to reply and I will include one whilst also reducing the final cost further if possible (this may however require me to downgrade the GPU).

All the best. :)
 
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pcgamer568

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Sweet build! Thank you for sticking with me by the way! And the price is perfect, I am ok with going a bit over $500, especially since it will be good enough to last for a while without having to upgrade as soon, and all of the other parts, like the monitor, OS, optical drive, and ect. are not included with the $500, that is just for the 7 main parts. (including the cpu cooler you added) Thanks again!
 
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Obnoxious

Obnoxious

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Not a problem at all, it was my pleasure. If you need any more assistance, have a question or anything else, please feel free to reply. ;)

Happy building! With that of course, happy new year too! :D
 
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A_Used_Username

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best part about ''Obnoxious'' builds is that Motherboard is LGA1150 socket,which can fit haswell processors so you can upgrade later.,both are very nice builds.,I'd say get a cheap duel-core processor now with a 200$ video card and upgrade processor later.,gaming is more about video cards then processor imo.
 
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sora

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That build shall definitely last you a while.
 
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