500$ Budget gaming pc build - amd or intel ?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4150 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($109.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($69.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($52.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.45 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 270X 2GB HAWK Video Card ($173.98 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($38.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($42.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $541.37
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-04 18:37 EDT-0400

or this

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4150 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($109.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($69.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($60.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($48.75 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 2GB SuperSC ACX 2.0+ Video Card ($199.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Thermaltake VL80001W2Z ATX Mid Tower Case ($36.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($36.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $563.69
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-04 19:10 EDT-0400

Here is my build. It has a better cpu, gpu, and it has a SSD as well as an HDD. http://pcpartpicker.com/p/c8QHZL

^ you forgot the power supply.

Wait here it is http://pcpartpicker.com/p/hFPpLk

Are you playing COD AW or Far Cry 4? If not the i3 will be better but if you do just note that those games will not run on a dual core CPU.

Be careful with getting a dual core option.

An excerpt from Toms CPU guide.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106.html

" Unfortunately, Dragon Age Inquisition will not run on a dual-core processor. Performance under Far Cry 4 was also problematic due to apparently poor PC port optimization (at least there’s a fix available for Far Cry). Dual-core CPUs aren’t inherently to blame for this. Still, you could become a victim of lazy development moving forward if companies like BioWare and Ubisoft Montreal aren’t held accountable by PC gamers for sloppy work."

Just be warned that if this is a trend in software developers. Your dual core could suddenly become a paper weight. Okay well not a paper weight, but it would play video nicely.

An option that wont break the bank could be the A10 series from AMD. The prices are dropping fast and for a budget PC with DX12 coming out that will allow the APU to SLI/Crossfire with any card you eventually drop in it. I find it hard to leave them out of the picture.

I will likely get a lot of hate responses for recommending this but you are on a budget and the good Intel chips are not really aligned with people on a budget.

I have 2 kids i had to build machines for and I am on a budget. All three of the machines in my house are the A10-7850k and so far i could not be happier. As soon as DX12 comes out i expect to be even happier when the kids birthdays come out and i can put a true gaming discrete card in and get extra performance than just the discrete card running solo.

With the A10-7870 out now prices are falling fast on the previous flagship and to be honest for the games i play i get good graphics as is. I play MechWarrior Online without issue, SWTOR, Smite, League of Legends, CS:GO and many others. I am not saying they are mind blowing graphics but all are playable. League maxed, Smite maxed, With AA and Shadows turned down almost all of the titles are at least medium settings.

Remember, budget gaming is the order of day here. Save up and then drop your discrete card in at a later date.

AMD A10-7850K Kaveri 12 Compute Cores (4 CPU + 8 GPU) 3.7GHz Socket FM2+ 95W $129.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113359

I also have used the ASUS A88XM-A Board (around $75.00) in one of my builds and it works fine over a year later. But you may have your own preference. You will need a FM2+ board.

Hmm, go with this if you want multi core

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($94.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($52.98 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($52.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.45 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 270X 2GB HAWK Video Card ($173.98 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($38.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($42.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $509.36
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-04 19:12 EDT-0400

My build has an ssd and a better gpu.

what's the point of a better GPU if the CPU starts bottlenecking it at heavy games. If you do not mind that, get the 280.

No it will not bottle neck it. An i3 is good for a 960/285/280x/280.

With an SSD Windows will load in 5-10 seconds. A HDD takes about 20 seconds.

I think the problem they are referring to about the i3 is that there is no guarantee about future games supporting dual core processors.

The i3 is hyperthreaded ,its seen as a quad core & always will be.
There are no issues with games not working on it - only the Pentium g suffers that problem.

Solid amd build as an option.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 860K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Zalman CNPS5X Performa CPU Cooler ($14.99 @ Micro Center)
Motherboard: Asus A68HM-Plus Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($53.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.45 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 280 3GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($12.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $479.37
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-04 19:25 EDT-0400

great build. i copy pasted mine from the internet. this is what i would go for, mr. OP

Use this build and an ssd.

The 860k is a very good CPU when paired with fast ram & on a budget a better buy than the 6300 IMO.
It won't struggle with anything at all.

My reccomendation is an i5 if you are willing to spend a bit more or a 760k or 860k if you want a worse gpu. A r9 280 is much better than the r9 270x as a r9 270x is a rebranded 7870 and a 280 is a rebranded 7950.

Accually an i3 cannot run FC4. Here is proof. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVl8Eupbr_E

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($94.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Zalman CNPS5X Performa CPU Cooler ($15.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Asus M5A97 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($53.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.45 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 270X 2GB Dual-X Video Card ($144.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Deepcool TESSERACT BF ATX Mid Tower Case ($37.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($42.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $513.37
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-04 19:57 EDT-0400

if you want a better CPU

Oh yeah im a sprinter. I can deselect and select best answers on any thread.

Well a FX 6300 is kinda crappy.