Complete Rookie Building First Budget PC

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craigtheintern

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My search for an ideal PC has been fruitless, so I've caved and I'm trying to build one myself. My hope is to build an average gaming/work PC on an extreme budget. The tutorials here have been helpful in searching for parts, but I confess I'm still doing my research and homework. Could someone take a look at my shopping list and offer some advice? I'm trying to keep my cost under $500 USD.

- Rosewill Gaming ATX Mid Tower
- Intel Pentium Processor G3258
- EVGA GeForce GT 730 1GB GDDR5 64bit DVI/HDMI/VGA Low Profile Graphics Card
- AMD Athlon 5350 APU, 2.05Ghz
- AMD Radeon Memory Entertainment Series 16 GB KIT
- WD Blue 1 TB Desktop Hard Drive: 3.5 Inch, 7200 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64 MB Cache

Apologies in advance for my lack of technical understanding. I only know enough not to mess with PC's, most days. But since I'm moving and bringing my current PC isn't financially viable, I'd like to upgrade and learn about the process. Thanks in advance.
 
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Then stick with the 260X, you'll be perfectly fine at games playing on medium, you can upgrade later on
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Deleted member 1300495

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Probably the best at this price point:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3220 3.0GHz Dual-Core Processor ($52.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Asus H81M-D PLUS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($44.49 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($61.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($44.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 270X 2GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($154.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Rosewill FBM-02 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($29.66 @ Mwave)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($13.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($87.75 @ OutletPC)
Total: $540.83
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-26 23:17 EST-0500
 
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TofuLion

TofuLion

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that's for you to decide. it makes installing windows a lot easier, but you can install it through usb now, so it's not completely necessary. the list you start has both an APU and a GPU, which is a conflict and one or the other is not necessary, since they can't both work together at the same time.

at this low of a budget, i strongly suggest also learning how to overclock (it's so easy these days, the motherboard practically does it all for you). that way you can ensure you're getting the most for your money, and also learning quite a bit in the process.
 
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craigtheintern

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I can look into that afterward. I can swap out the unnecessary part for a power supply, since I missed that one. And you're right, I'll probably need the optical drive at some point, even if it's just a few installations.
 
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TofuLion

TofuLion

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well, for overclocking, you kinda need to build the system with overclocking in mind if that's what you're going to do. otherwise, you'd build the system differently. for instance, if you weren't planning to overclock, you would want to go with something like this (doesn't include cost of windows)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4150 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($104.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($60.97 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($61.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($44.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Club 3D Radeon R9 270 2GB '14Series Video Card ($139.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Thermaltake Versa H21 ATX Mid Tower Case ($30.59 @ Directron)
Power Supply: Antec Basiq 430W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($40.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($13.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $498.49
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-27 00:23 EST-0500

however if you DO plan to overclock, you would want an unlocked CPU with a motherboard that supports overclocking, along with a cpu cooler to handle the increased temps, as well as a bigger psu that can handle the increased power. like this

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper TX3 54.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($17.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($87.89 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($61.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($44.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Club 3D Radeon R9 270 2GB '14Series Video Card ($139.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Thermaltake Versa H21 ATX Mid Tower Case ($30.59 @ Directron)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($13.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $517.40
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-27 00:28 EST-0500

these are only drafts to show you what i mean
 
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craigtheintern

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I took some of what you showed me and tried for something a little more budget-minded.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($70.98 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($49.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($61.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 250GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($40.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R7 260X 2GB Video Card ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Thermaltake VL80001W2Z ATX Mid Tower Case ($19.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($13.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($87.75 @ OutletPC)
Total: $452.64
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-27 12:19 EST-0500

 
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Deleted member 1300495

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Overclocking is completely non-essential at this low a budget. It can completely ruin your components and it drastically decreases the life of your CPU. I would advise OCing only at high budgets where you have the ability to get the maximum power out of the CPU. If you use my build, you will have the 270X which can play most games at high settings at 1080p with 35-45 FPS. You can also upgrade the CPU later on to an i5 or i3. You can also upgrade the GPU to a 970 if you have the money.
 
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craigtheintern

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Later upgrades are the goal. Is there a significant difference between the MSI Radeon R9 270X 2GB TWIN FROZR Video Card and the Sapphire Radeon R7 260X 2GB Video Card? 260/270 chipset, slightly higher core clock but no DVI-D Dual-Link on the Sapphire, and a $50 price difference.

A comparison.
 
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Definitely, here are some benchmarks on BF4:

BF4-FR.png

BF4.png
 
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craigtheintern

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That is significant. I'm still on the fence, though. I'm content with an average performance for now, given my budget, and I don't play a lot of demanding games. Right now I think the most graphics-intensive game I have on my Steam library is Far Cry 3.
 
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Then stick with the 260X, you'll be perfectly fine at games playing on medium, you can upgrade later on
 
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TofuLion

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what's with all the misinformation? overclocking doesn't drastically decrease the life of the CPU, technology itself does. long before the component actually fails, it will be rendered obsolete and no longer suitable to be used. overclocking is MOST essential to low-budget builds, as it offers a giant increase in performance, for a potentially much lower price.
an overclocked pentium rivals high-end cpus, especially when single core performance is emphasized

c3-fps.gif


the Z97 would not only allow overclocking and achieving increased performance, but it will also allow for much better upgrades in the future when broadwell comes out.
this isn't a contest of "pick my build, it's better than his" its about helping this person to make the most informed decisions in order to get the best experience possible.
 
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craigtheintern

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I don't anticipate playing games at their best settings; I'm not that kind of gamer. If it runs more modern games on middle-of-the-road settings, and older games flawlessly, then I'm perfectly content with it. Later down the line when I've got a stable job and more permanent housing, I can look into building a higher tier model. I know it probably sounds weird for someone to come in here and say "I want a dependable average" but that's my goal right now. Cheap, dependable. A PC Volkswagon Beetle. It might not be pretty but it'll run every time.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not picking favorites. I'm learning with each reply and tweaking my own build as I do.
 
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TofuLion

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sorry, buddy it just irritates me when people hand out personal opinion and treat it as fact.
you should ditch the B85 motherboard if you think you'll be upgrading your cpu within the next 1-2 years. the H97 and Z97 boards will continue to support the next generation of cpus. if you don't plan to upgrade single components like that, and will be upgrading your entire build, an AMD APU is a good "happy medium" (better at 720p) for much cheaper.
and btw, the hard drive you select is only 250GB. it's only like $4 more for a 1TB just fyi :)
 
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So suddenly it's a personal opinion? If you look at this post, it shows why overclocking decreases the life of a CPU. It is not just me, I, along with most of the IT world know that OCing can decrease the life of a CPU. And again, at this budget, you are really only trying to squeeze by in gaming. OCing could crash your game, break the CPU, or worse, break all of your electronic components.
 
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TofuLion

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you stated "it drastically decreases the life of your CPU" which is relative (opinion). even still, "drastic decrease" to a 20-30 year lifespan is still way more than the actual effective life of the cpu
 
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Even if the decrease is not notable, it can still cause equipment failure and cost way more than it's worth to the OP. Replacing the CPU as an upgrade is much less expensive then having to replace your entire system because of a failiure. Did I mention how OCing voids most products' warranties?
 
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TofuLion

TofuLion

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you obviously don't just jump right in without know what you're doing. someone who wishes to get the most for their money would be willing to take the necessary steps in learning the safest way to gain this increased performance. it's not like we have to manually configure and compile our own BIOS version (any more), they come with presets!
 
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OK, obviously, you are completely for overclocking and that's not a bad thing! But this is a budget build with a rookie builder so it is unnecessary to know about this at such an early stage.
 
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Again, OCing is more of a later stage in a computer builders life. It would be better if he overclocks later on as OCing will not show a major performance gain in gaming, that's what the GPU is for.
 
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