Gaming Build Under $500

[rearendhat]

I want to put together a build for under $500, not including display. I prefer Intel/Nvidia, but don't mind it being AMD based. Any suggestions?

 

[milkshakez7z]

I included the OS because I didn't know if you needed it or not.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Pentium G850 2.9GHz Dual-Core Processor ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock B75M-DGS Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($61.97 @ Newegg)
Memory: Pareema 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($31.89 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung Spinpoint F3 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.86 @ Compuvest)
Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7770 1GB Video Card ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 431 Plus (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($91.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $480.67
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

 

[ckholt83]

Hm. More details would be helpful, but $500 is a pretty restrictive budget, so here's a generic Intel/Nvidia based entry level gaming rig:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-3220 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor ($119.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Biostar H77MU3 Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($85.86 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 650 Ti 1GB Video Card ($134.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Zalman Z9 ATX Mid Tower Case ($36.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts Green 650W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($15.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $488.80
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)


Buy the motherboard from newegg and get 8GB of RAM for free thanks to a promotion they are currently running.

 

[dudewitbow]

kinda lazy to build something, butw i would approach the budget is to utilize a pentium g series cpu(pentium g2120 preferably) with a budget b75 motherboard. get the rest of the necessities and pump it all into a gpu afterwords.

would look sometng like

p g2120 95$
b75 mobo ~75$
ram ~35$
case + psu ~100$
hdd ~70$

rest would be allocated into gpu. which pricing wise, will probably be a 7770 for that relative price range

 

[socialfox]

Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition- 89.99 with coupon (on link) and free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727

Asus M5a78l-M Lx Plus (125 watt CPU support) $54 dollars with coupon, free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131795

Sapphire Vapor-X HD 7770 114.99 after $15 rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102993

Antec VP-450 35.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371045

Hitachi Deskstar 1tb 7200 RPM Hard Drive 69.99 with free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145304

Crucial Ballistix Sport 2x 4gb DDR3 Pc3 12800 39.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148544

Asus DVD Drive - 18.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135224

Cooler Master Hyper 212 plus 29.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

I know this is not the best build but it is fairly good for that budget if you consider going AMD on this one. This comes to a subtotal of $460 dollars not including taxes. I have not included a computer case since I will leave that to you since there are many cases that can be used but only some will suit your likings.

 

[rearendhat]

Dont need OS. It will be Windows 7 Home Premium 64. Main purpose is for gaming. Want to be able to run everything but I don't need to run the highest FPS or all other options. No parts to use. I'm in Pennsylvania.

 

[rearendhat]

Already have.

 

[rearendhat]

I do have a system that Im not using that includes the following I could use for parts:

Biostar G3ID-M7
Intel Dual Core E5400 @ 2.7 GHz
8 GB Gskill DDR2 800 (2x4)
1 TB WD Black HDD (WD1001FALS)
300 W LiteOn PSU

 

[rearendhat]

Current display is 1280x1024. May upgrade that later. Thought as much on the older system.

 

[milkshakez7z]

Maybe you could get a core 2 quad, cooler and decent psu and good gpu?

 

[rearendhat]

Might possibly hook it up to my tv using HDMI.

 

[rearendhat]

Thanks everyone. I'm going to spend some time going over things. I definitely like the i3 builds over the Pentiums, but I like the prices on the Pentiums.

 

[rdc85]

the Pentium is on par with i3 at apps/game that not use HT so they both are good build...

 

[ckholt83]

Can definitely put that WD Black to use, and I'm assuming you have a SATA DVD drive in that machine as well we can re-use. In that light, here's a revised build with a better GPU if you don't mind using an AMD. If you want to stick to your nvidia preference, we can probably work a 660 in there instead.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-3220 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor ($119.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Biostar H77MU3 Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($85.86 @ Amazon)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7870 2GB Video Card ($209.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Zalman Z9 ATX Mid Tower Case ($36.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts Green 650W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $492.82
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)