3 Under-$500 PC Builds for Playing Games Like Fortnite

[Dark Lord of Tech]

At least G's build is decent , other 2 should have been eliminated , NO VIDEO...LOL.
Asrock AB350M pic below:

 

[artk2219]

At least G's build is decent , other 2 should have been eliminated , NO VIDEO...LOL.
Asrock AB350M pic below:

And with this, g-unit1111's build is the sole survivor, congrats @g-unit1111!

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Exactly only build that can actually run and have video output...Congrats!

 

[islandwalker]

We are aware of the video issue and working on fixing. The link just goes to the wrong board and there are four Asrock B350 boards with very similar names. Once fixed, those builds will link to this build:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157765&cm_re=asrock_ab350-_-13-157-765-_-Product

 

[Gadhar]

Now if we could solve world hunger this easily

 

[bananatiger]

When buiilding a pc that has matx motherboard with only 2 slots of ram, I thinks its pretty understandable that ScrewySqrl went for 1x8 instead of 2x4. With 1x8 gb as starting ram you can upgrade it to 16gb on dual channel a year from now. While 2x4, you're stuck on 8gb unless you sell the ram and buy another one, which is not economically friendly and not budget friendly as you'll be selling your ram less than what you paid for. Sacrifice the dual channel performance now for a better upgradability of the memory.

 

[alextheblue]

No SSDs? One even has single channel RAM for Ryzen 2400G? - which benefits greatly form Dual-Channel. Not really liking the picks to be honest, meh...

Update: Anyone care to explain the votedowns? Disagree?

My build had an SSD and room for upgrades. I wouldn't build anything with only a HDD, even for the purposes of a contest.

These all probably violate the contest rules - list price only. You especially see this on chassis and PSUs. I don't think any of the PSUs of the three chosen reflect list price. Prices DO fluctuate, but PSUs and cases are often on sale (and there's a good variety to choose from so it seems like one of your choices is always on sale somewhere). Anyway a dual core Pentium with a spinner, egads. For max FPS in Fortnite specifically it makes sense, I get it - but as an overall experience I couldn't do it in 2018. The pitter-patter of HDD platters was endearing to me in days of yore, but now I say no more, no more.

 

[alextheblue]

When buiilding a pc that has matx motherboard with only 2 slots of ram, I thinks its pretty understandable that ScrewySqrl went for 1x8 instead of 2x4. With 1x8 gb as starting ram you can upgrade it to 16gb on dual channel a year from now. While 2x4, you're stuck on 8gb unless you sell the ram and buy another one, which is not economically friendly and not budget friendly as you'll be selling your ram less than what you paid for. Sacrifice the dual channel performance now for a better upgradability of the memory.

I understand that struggle, but single channel 2800 will absolutely CRIPPLE performance. It is not a small difference, Vega 11 is hungry for bandwidth. The difference is something like 70-80% in benches I looked at a while back. It also kills the idea of overclocking the integrated graphics, it's pointless without the necessary bandwidth. So while I think it's a good idea in principle, the out-of-the-box performance will be less than ideal. So it's tough. I'd say 1x8 would be a better initial config in a rig that factors in a discrete GPU. Won't hinder performance as much, still nice to upgrade (as you said) to 2x8 later.

 

[ibjeepr]

We are aware of the video issue and working on fixing. The link just goes to the wrong board and there are four Asrock B350 boards with very similar names. Once fixed, those builds will link to this build:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157765&cm_re=asrock_ab350-_-13-157-765-_-Product

The link doesn't go to the wrong board. That's the board they picked and I even called it out back on the 14th before the contest ended. I specifically mentioned in my submission how my mobo had HDMI and an updated Bios because I saw so many others blew it with their mobo pick...I even tried to give you the heads up.

"ibjeepr March 14, 2018 9:47:47 AM
ibjeepr
Graphics veteran++ (Legacy)


FYI seeing a lot of builds out there with a mobo that doesn't have video outputs and no GPU."


I used the ASRock - A320M-HDV Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard in my build because it had the bios update already and HDMI out.
The others just tanked it on their build using the ASRock - A320M Micro but they get the credit anyway.

AND I STILL CAME IN AT ONLY $303!

 

[alextheblue]

The link doesn't go to the wrong board. That's the board they picked

Hey you're right. Good catch. The option would then be either the AB350M-HDV or the B350M PRO-VH, both of which LIST for $69.99 on Newegg.

AND I STILL CAME IN AT ONLY $303!

I think we're all guilty of varying mistakes. Your motherboard lists for $59.99. Your PSU lists for $34.99 at Amazon and higher on Newegg (though NE has a similar one for the same $34.99 list price). The chassis lists for $39.99. Prices fluctuate but that case I rejected because of the high list vs what you get. The HDD for example may have just gone up a bit, it's $19.99. The chassis I chose has skyrocketed in price on Amazon so I'd have to choose something else if I were picking today... though looking around today I have a little play here and there so I could still make that build work with a similar case and the HDMI-equipped mainboard.

Don't get me wrong I thought yours was a decent build considering you tried to get pricing as low as possible but it's really tough when the rules prohibit sales pricing.

 

[drinkingcola86]

At least G's build is decent , other 2 should have been eliminated , NO VIDEO...LOL.
Asrock AB350M pic below:

Exactly only build that can actually run and have video output...Congrats!

Before you go and commenting on the builds, please take time to look up the boards, You would see both are the ASROCK AB350M Pro4 which has video outputs also comes with the updated bios for the Raven Ridge APU.

 

[bobalazs]

450-600 W power supply for a system that draws 150 watts?
That's bad!

 

[Olle P]

I've been pondering how to approach this task...

To really optimise for playing Fortnite, with no other tasks and no future upgrades in mind. If you try to do anything but play Fortnite on the computer you're using it wrong! (Not a computer I'd ever consider buying...)

* One could probably get by using a 60 GB SSD as the only storage available. (~100GB might be required though, what's the size of the game files?)
* A Kaby Lake Pentium CPU should do nicely!
* 8 GB 2400 MHz RAM is plenty.
* Excess money is spent on best possible graphics.

 

[bobalazs]

By the way, losing C7 states isn't that big of a deal. Rather have a trusty old model of a PSU than a new one that hasn't proved itself yet.
A 300W PSU would have been cheaper and better for these purposes.
The rest of the system i wouldn't comment on, i think that's fine.

 

[80-watt Hamster]

By the way, losing C7 states isn't that big of a deal. Rather have a trusty old model of a PSU than a new one that hasn't proved itself yet.
A 300W PSU would have been cheaper and better for these purposes.
The rest of the system i wouldn't comment on, i think that's fine.

If you can find a 300W PS2 form factor PSU that isn't a) awful, b) old, and c) more expensive than a 400+W model, I'd love to know about it. (Seriously. I can't find one.)

 

[ibjeepr]

The link doesn't go to the wrong board. That's the board they picked

Hey you're right. Good catch. The option would then be either the AB350M-HDV or the B350M PRO-VH, both of which LIST for $69.99 on Newegg.

AND I STILL CAME IN AT ONLY $303!

I think we're all guilty of varying mistakes. Your motherboard lists for $59.99. Your PSU lists for $34.99 at Amazon and higher on Newegg (though NE has a similar one for the same $34.99 list price). The chassis lists for $39.99. Prices fluctuate but that case I rejected because of the high list vs what you get. The HDD for example may have just gone up a bit, it's $19.99. The chassis I chose has skyrocketed in price on Amazon so I'd have to choose something else if I were picking today... though looking around today I have a little play here and there so I could still make that build work with a similar case and the HDMI-equipped mainboard.

Don't get me wrong I thought yours was a decent build considering you tried to get pricing as low as possible but it's really tough when the rules prohibit sales pricing.

The price at the time I built my system and posted was $303 no temporary offers and that's the price that counts. Doesn't matter what the price is now. PCPARTPICKER pulls the current price. If the part is on sale that's still valid. Rebates and such are not.
I did like the Hybrid drive pick on the one system. I didn't think of that.

 

[photonboy]

SR-71 Blackbird,
When you BOLDFACE and say "my build is superior" several times it takes something away from the friendly nature of this.

 

[g-unit1111]

I've been pondering how to approach this task...

To really optimise for playing Fortnite, with no other tasks and no future upgrades in mind. If you try to do anything but play Fortnite on the computer you're using it wrong! (Not a computer I'd ever consider buying...)

* One could probably get by using a 60 GB SSD as the only storage available. (~100GB might be required though, what's the size of the game files?)
* A Kaby Lake Pentium CPU should do nicely!
* 8 GB 2400 MHz RAM is plenty.
* Excess money is spent on best possible graphics.

That was pretty much the exact approach I took. Only I realize that 60 - 120GB doesn't get you very far these days, especially if you plan to use said PC for tasks other than just playing Fortnite.

 

[alextheblue]

The price at the time I built my system and posted was $303 no temporary offers and that's the price that counts. Doesn't matter what the price is now. PCPARTPICKER pulls the current price. If the part is on sale that's still valid. Rebates and such are not.
I did like the Hybrid drive pick on the one system. I didn't think of that.

PCPP doesn't differentiate between list price and sale price. It shows the cheapest price, sale price, temporary price, doesn't matter. The only thing it breaks down is rebates. But the rules specifically state that you must use list price, and NOT sale or temporary prices. But they didn't actually enforce said rule. Your build at the time you built it was not $303, if you look at the price that looks like [strike]this[/strike] (list price). The chassis wasn't list price, and I'm pretty sure the same for the PSU. Can't recall on the mainboard and HDD as I didn't look at those models, they may have just changed pricing.

Anyway none of the builds that won would have given a great overall user experience, since they all use clunker drives, IMHO. At least for your build it made sense, you vastly undercut them.

 

[drinkingcola86]

The link doesn't go to the wrong board. That's the board they picked

Hey you're right. Good catch. The option would then be either the AB350M-HDV or the B350M PRO-VH, both of which LIST for $69.99 on Newegg.

AND I STILL CAME IN AT ONLY $303!

I think we're all guilty of varying mistakes. Your motherboard lists for $59.99. Your PSU lists for $34.99 at Amazon and higher on Newegg (though NE has a similar one for the same $34.99 list price). The chassis lists for $39.99. Prices fluctuate but that case I rejected because of the high list vs what you get. The HDD for example may have just gone up a bit, it's $19.99. The chassis I chose has skyrocketed in price on Amazon so I'd have to choose something else if I were picking today... though looking around today I have a little play here and there so I could still make that build work with a similar case and the HDMI-equipped mainboard.

Don't get me wrong I thought yours was a decent build considering you tried to get pricing as low as possible but it's really tough when the rules prohibit sales pricing.

The price at the time I built my system and posted was $303 no temporary offers and that's the price that counts. Doesn't matter what the price is now. PCPARTPICKER pulls the current price. If the part is on sale that's still valid. Rebates and such are not.
I did like the Hybrid drive pick on the one system. I didn't think of that.

Almost any time I can't fit an SSD into a build, I look towards the SSHD from Seagate. It gives that little boost that people will notice the speed difference between a standard HDD. I really wish more companies would make more drives like this.

 

[alextheblue]

Almost any time I can't fit an SSD into a build, I look towards the SSHD from Seagate. It gives that little boost that people will notice the speed difference between a standard HDD. I really wish more companies would make more drives like this.

I looked at those, I've used hybrid drives in the past. They're not bad but their pricing is a bit inflated for my tastes. Even the older 2.5" models are nearly as much as a 240-250GB SSD. Meanwhile the latest 2.5" and 3.5" hybrids (such as Firecuda) are even more expensive (and I believe the 2.5" Firecudas are generally 5400RPM). Having used SSHDs, my experience with the older 2.5" models was boot time and "common apps" were faster to load but games... not so much. NONE of them have enough NAND. The second you have to fall back to the platters, you're a HDD... and the lower-capacity 2.5" drives are typically slower than their 3.5" brethren. I feel like in a desktop you might as well just get a 3.5" WD Black.

With that being said if you need a lot of capacity but you can't quite afford (or don't want to deal with) a SSD boot / HDD secondary, the 3.5" Firecudas are worth considering. I've used the 2TB models in a couple of rigs. They're decent, just kind of pricey for what is ultimately a spinner with a smidge of NAND.

 

[lunyone]

I think my G4560/GTX 1050 Ti build was the best performance for the $, but I'm biased. I was the first to come up with that build and there were several copies after that. I would like to see my build (or one like it) compared to the selections TH picked.

 

[mitch074]

With that being said if you need a lot of capacity but you can't quite afford (or don't want to deal with) a SSD boot / HDD secondary, the 3.5" Firecudas are worth considering. I've used the 2TB models in a couple of rigs. They're decent, just kind of pricey for what is ultimately a spinner with a smidge of NAND.

The 3.5" Firecuda are interesting spinners - they DO improve boot time a lot after a couple times loading Windows, especially when using a compact Windows 10 install (compact.exe /CompactOs:always) and provided you don't have too much crap installed on the PC. After that, a fast spinner with a 128 Gb SSD configured as cache is easier to manage. It's also much more costly.

To play Fortnite, a Pentium, 8Gb of RAM, a FireCuda and a 1050Ti are probably the best cost/performance ratio you can get. If you intend to use your PC for anything else, the cheapest spinner, a Ryzen 2400G and 16 Gb of dual channel 3000+ DDR4 are the best combo you can get: Fortnite is properly playable and your setup isn't a upgrade dead-end - you can add a SSD later on (and keep the spinner as storage), overclock (provided you got a B350) and add a proper graphics card, in whatever order you (or your wallet) prefer.

While using 8Gb sticks of DDR4 is a good idea (going from 2x4 to 2x8 means you have to sell your previous RAM sticks), the 2400G is VERY sensitive to throughput: https://www.pcper.com/reviews/Graphics-Cards/AMD-Ryzen-5-2400G-Memory-Speed-Performance-Analysis

The discussion on the PSU is a bit sterile: such setup will NEVER get past 500W - and most "generic" PSUs under 500W all use the same hardware, they're merely rated for this-or-that power. A 420W 80+ Bronze FSP PSU can be found for very cheap, actually last several years (I got a few ones for several setups I built - they worked, and work, wonders; they came with cheapo cases that do their job properly) and handle that setup and any card up to a 1070Ti with ease.

 

[Neuspeed]

Intel > AMD I learned the hardway..

 

[randomstar]

To the folks complaining about a " dead socket" - in the real world I find that 95% or better a board dies with the chip it started with - meaning upgrades very rarely happen other than RAM or Boot Drive. usually by the time we can afford to upgrade or the need becomes enough, there is a better package out there. Just build with the best package you can for the moment, make the best choice with that in mind.
Like the first build the best, and with a good solid build plan you can be happy longer, rather than going 80% there and then hoping to upgrade the same system later.
just my opinion.