New PC Gamer seeking advice on a budget build

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Kuabara43

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Jan 30, 2015
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Hello everyone,
So over the last year or so I've binged on humble bundles and various online sales to build up a pc game library without ever actually owning a pc capable of playing these games. Since my ancient mac recently died on me I am finally able to justify building a pc capable of playing the games in my library. I am only looking to spend 500-550 dollars or so since I already have a playstation 4 and still intend to game on the console. Basically I'm looking to run GW2, games like the Arkham series, saints row, dark siders, etc. at the highest settings possible. I already have a 1000 GB hard drive and an OS so those don't need to be included in the build. Any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you all.
 
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iLiftFood
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($44.88 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($68.49 @ Newegg)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 280 3GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($152.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($57.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: Rosewill Stallion 500W ATX Power Supply ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $534.33
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-30...
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socialassassin

socialassassin

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Feb 23, 2013
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Add your hard drive to this and its a decent gaming machine.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/K6YnCJ
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/K6YnCJ/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($64.98 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($30.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($71.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($64.97 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960 2GB Video Card ($199.95 @ Directron)
Case: NZXT Source 220 ATX Mid Tower Case ($41.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: Antec 450W ATX Power Supply ($33.98 @ Directron)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $523.83
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-30 15:54 EST-0500
 
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Kuabara43

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Jan 30, 2015
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Thank you! I've heard a lot about fx 6300 and 8320 builds being more future proof. Is there any truth to that or is the whole movement towards four core gaming something of an unfounded fear?
 
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iLiftFood

iLiftFood

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Dec 5, 2014
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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($44.88 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($68.49 @ Newegg)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 280 3GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($152.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($57.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: Rosewill Stallion 500W ATX Power Supply ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $534.33
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-30 16:19 EST-0500
My approach on this budget.
Advantages of my build
Quad-core is almost a must. The R9 280>GTX 960. Case is much better. High quality for a low price, fairly easy cable management.
Disadvantages of my build
Locked processor, no cooler and a slightly worse motherboard.

However, an OC'd G3258 still isn't as good as the i5-4440.
 
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Jeff Baffalo

Jeff Baffalo

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Apr 10, 2014
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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($174.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Asus H81M-D PLUS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($40.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston Fury Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($62.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960 2GB Video Card ($199.95 @ Directron)
Case: Enermax Thorex ATX Mid Tower Case ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ Micro Center)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $548.86
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-30 16:24 EST-0500
 
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Nextg_Rival

Nextg_Rival

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Far Cry 4, a brand new game, ran utterly horrible on dual cores and it only performed well on 4+ cores until it was patched, or so I've heard. The AMD processors could eventually be more future proof, but it really depends on... how the future turns out. Rumours are that since AMD produces console APUs, the similar architecture (x86) and the multi-core structure will give AMD processors a very slight edge in the future, while games are also being optimised for more and more threads (and therefore cores). However, we can't really tell if these things will actually happen and if they will, how long it'd take them to happen. Either way, if you can spare money for upgrades definitely go for Intel. An i5 4460 or a 4690K if you overclock is an unstoppable force. I was going to try to create you a good build, but it seems that two of the guys before me already created really good ones. The only thing I can advise in addition is to check if the 4460 is very similar in price to the 4440. If it's just like 10 dollars difference you can get the 4460 instead for a slightly better performance.
 
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iLiftFood

iLiftFood

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Infact, the 4460 is only $5 more than the 4440. Surprised I didn't realize that. You're best of with the 4460 then.
 
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Nextg_Rival

Nextg_Rival

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I am very glad you didn't notice that. If you had, my contribution to this discussion would be pretty much non-existent :(
 
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K

Kuabara43

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Jan 30, 2015
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Yesa just looked it up and think I might go with the 4460. Thank you all, these builds really surpassed my expectations since they seem to be capable of playing games that a bit more modern than I anticipated. One last question, purely for aesthetics- would these builds manage to fit into a fenix case...I know I want function over form but the case is just so good looking haha
 
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logainofhades

logainofhades

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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($174.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($44.88 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($60.30 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 280 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($189.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Rosewill FBM-02 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($26.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($36.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($13.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $548.13
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-30 16:51 EST-0500
 
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Nextg_Rival

Nextg_Rival

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To be honest I am also kind of shocked at how good these 500 buillds actually are. Some of the best I've seen, really. Anyway, I am not your guy on cases, but do you have the model of a specific case you want to ask about?
 
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iLiftFood

iLiftFood

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There are a lot of un-known glories in the case... world... yeah, I guess you could call it that. The reason I chose the 200R is because it has features that only high-end cases offer for a low price. The cable management is fairly simple due to cut-outs and a decent amount of space at the back of the case. Airflow is pretty good, with plenty of space for fan mounts. And in my opinion it isnt actually bad looking either.
 
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