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

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Ilya__

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Jan 7, 2016
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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?
 
If you couple that R5 2400G with 16Gb of DDR4-3200, you end up with a system that's under 500 bucks, that does perform much better than single channel DDR4-2800 (the Raven Ridge REQUIRES bandwidth, as in "30% better performance") and where you can add a 1070Ti-grade graphics card down the line without changing anything else in the system - and suddenly end up with a good gaming machine, that you can overclock some. Add a small SSD for the OS, and here we go.
 

Gadhar

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Sep 26, 2016
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ScrewySqrl’s build has one major problem and that is a single stick of ram. Many tests show that the new Ryzen APU's performance suffers when not using dual channel. As I type this there may already have been ppl pointing this out, but I was at lunch and just got back to put my two cents in. Cheers
 

salgado18

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Feb 12, 2007
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A 2x4 kit costs the same as 1x8. I think that's the only problem with that build. Otherwise, can't go any cheaper than that without losing performance.

Second build is the same, but with overclocking in mind. Also a good one.

First one is good, will perform better than the rest, but the dead socket is a no-go for me. There's no other good CPU for that price, I know, but the (near) future sacrifice is not worth it. As much as I also like small, on a tight budget I think it would be better to go with a cheap mATX case and a Ryzen 1200/2200G, or an i3-8100/R1300X (although that could slightly break the $500 barrier).
 

artk2219

Distinguished
I'm not a fan of the big things come in small packages build, that pentium and more specifically that socket will age badly, where as the AM4 builds allow much more upgrade ability in the future. It is small but, meh, if you wanted that, you could build something like the one below. My biggest gripe is the 2400 memory, but you could try your hand at overclocking it.

[PCPartPicker part list](https://pcpartpicker.com/list/WVnGGG) / [Price breakdown by merchant](https://pcpartpicker.com/list/WVnGGG/by_merchant/)

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
**CPU** | [AMD - Ryzen 5 2400G 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/FGPKHx/amd-ryzen-5-2400g-36ghz-quad-core-processor-yd2400c5fbbox) | $162.79 @ OutletPC
**Motherboard** | [Gigabyte - GA-AB350N-Gaming WIFI (rev. 1.0) Mini ITX AM4 Motherboard](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/4YkwrH/gigabyte-ga-ab350n-gaming-wifi-rev-10-mini-itx-am4-motherboard-ga-ab350n-gaming-wifi-rev-10) | $99.99 @ Newegg
**Memory** | [ADATA - 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/FxgzK8/adata-8gb-2-x-4gb-ddr4-2400-memory-ax4u2400w4g16-drg) | $83.99 @ Newegg
**Storage** | [ADATA - Ultimate SU650 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/M3RzK8/adata-ultimate-su650-240gb-25-solid-state-drive-asu650ss-240gt-c) | $65.50 @ Newegg
**Case** | [Cooler Master - Elite 130 Mini ITX Tower Case](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/6wR48d/cooler-master-case-rc130kkn1) | $39.99 @ Amazon
**Power Supply** | [Corsair - CX (2017) 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/Q7L7YJ/corsair-cx-2017-450w-80-bronze-certified-atx-power-supply-cp-9020120-na) | $43.88 @ OutletPC
| *Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts* |
| **Total** | **$496.14**
| Generated by [PCPartPicker](http://pcpartpicker.com) 2018-03-28 14:12 EDT-0400 |
 

Dark Lord of Tech

Retired Moderator


I agree , look at my build far superior.

"Just RITE for FORTNITE"
Build Quality is first rate


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 3 2200G 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock - A320M Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($48.75 @ Newegg)
Memory: GeIL - EVO POTENZA 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($81.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital - BLACK SERIES 500GB 2.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($35.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1050 2GB Video Card ($144.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master - MasterBox Lite 5 ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($61.89 @ Newegg)
Total: $513.58
Minus Shipping: $15.97
Base Total: $497.61
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-03-07 20:06 EST-0500
 

artk2219

Distinguished


I also agree, but man oh man these graphics prices right now. On the plus I see there is a Vega 56 for under 700 for the first time since like november.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814137263
 

Barty1884

Retired Moderator


On a <$500 there's going to be sacrifices - and the SSD should be the one to go before much else IMO. They're nice & all, but for the strict task as hand best budget builds specifically for Fortnite. an SSD isn't bringing any performance to the table.



Yeah, a little perplexed by that one too.



And yet will come nowhere close to a G4560 +1050 in Fortnite.



Definitely a valid argument in almost every other scenario. Task at hand though, relates to Fortnite and <$500.



I do like this build, for what it is. I assume there was not B350 board that worked in budget at the time...... and the RAM could be faster.... budget limited though, and definitely more beneficial (IMO) than a single DIMM of faster memory.



Same deal as above though. For the task at hand, the lack of sleep state support isn't too relevant. Not going to stop the system posting, nor playing Fortnite.
 

Barty1884

Retired Moderator


Generally speaking, yes. It would be a preferred system overall.

For Fortnite directly though, they'd be near identical....... with the G4560 actually likely to have better 1% and .1%'s?

Raw CPU performance in the title, would be near identical and potentially a little in Ryzen's faovr *if* the 2200G could be overclocked. It it couldn't be on the A320 (XFR/Boost would probably be enough on the relevant cores to still keep them neck & neck though)
Fortnite.png

https://www.techspot.com/article/1579-overclocking-guide-ryzen-3-2200g/

Agreed on the community vote though.....
 

g-unit1111

Titan
Moderator


Did you read what I wrote? I said that I wanted to make this a Ryzen 3 1200 build but couldn't make it work due to the budget constraints. If I could I would have a Ryzen 3 1200, GTX 1050, and an SSD but having a budget that small prevents me from doing these things.
 

artk2219

Distinguished


I get that, and I'm not attacking you personally man (i'm sorry if it came through that way), just voicing my concerns with the choice, then again its been near a month since these builds were drawn up, and I have the benefit of calculating with probably slightly lower prices. Lol, we could have changed out the R3 1200 and R5 2400G for an Athlon x4 950 :D. But honestly that will probably be a little weak, although i am currently using one for my day to day rig (it's really not that bad) because I want to play with one, and I'm still deciding where I want to go from here (I love all of the options we have on AM4 and TR4).
 

g-unit1111

Titan
Moderator


Yeah true, we all have our opinions. I mean we could sit here and nit pick the nuances of one part choice over the other until dawn. I would personally pick an AM4 rig but after an hour or so playing around on PC Part Picker I just couldn't make it work without sacrificing build quality. In the end I'd rather go for a quality rig with lots of upgrade potential than one that doesn't have that. But that's just my build philosophy.
 

artk2219

Distinguished


Just for giggles I tried to build up something with a 4gb card, and I can just make it work with an Athlon x4 950 and a RX 560 (1024 shaders). You're right though, its not an ideal build, its still lacking in storage, the cpu will slightly hold you back from time to time (although not by much), the gpu could be better (for the current prices its the cheapest decent 4GB card i could find), and the case is meh (although i do like how simple it looks), but eh, it could be worse. Honestly with prices as they currently are, $500 is kind of limiting.

Update: I wish we could still do dual graphics with APU's, im sure it would have been glitchy as hell, but it would have been neat to test before you turned it off due to the frame rate spikes and frustrations.

[PCPartPicker part list](https://pcpartpicker.com/list/hsFXP3) / [Price breakdown by merchant](https://pcpartpicker.com/list/hsFXP3/by_merchant/)

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
**CPU** | [AMD - Athlon X4 950 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/ZXgPxr/amd-athlon-x4-950-35ghz-quad-core-processor-ad950xagabbox) | $61.64 @ OutletPC
**Motherboard** | [ASRock - AB350M Pro4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/dWL7YJ/asrock-ab350m-pro4-micro-atx-am4-motherboard-ab350m-pro4) | $59.99 @ Newegg
**Memory** | [ADATA - 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/FxgzK8/adata-8gb-2-x-4gb-ddr4-2400-memory-ax4u2400w4g16-drg) | $83.99 @ Newegg
**Storage** | [ADATA - Ultimate SU650 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/M3RzK8/adata-ultimate-su650-240gb-25-solid-state-drive-asu650ss-240gt-c) | $65.50 @ Newegg
**Video Card** | [MSI - Radeon RX 560 - 1024 4GB AERO ITX Video Card](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/ZKrcCJ/msi-radeon-rx-560-4gb-aero-itx-video-card-rx-560-aero-itx-4g-oc) | $168.88 @ OutletPC
**Case** | [Rosewill - SRM-01 MicroATX Mini Tower Case](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/wMZ2FT/rosewill-case-srm01) | $18.99 @ Amazon
**Power Supply** | [Rosewill - 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/2XCwrH/rosewill-power-supply-arc450) | $38.89 @ OutletPC
| *Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts* |
| **Total** | **$497.88**
| Generated by [PCPartPicker](http://pcpartpicker.com) 2018-03-28 17:31 EDT-0400 |
 

g-unit1111

Titan
Moderator


I've had mid towers, full towers, desktop cases, and just about everythign you can think of. I prefer smaller towers over just about everything else, even though they are a bit more difficult to work in. Though I do like the small form factor builds. I just kind of chose that case at random. I do like it and Thermaltake generally makes a lot of quality cases.

My thing is I've seen people all the time try to come up with ridiculous builds using $1400 GPUs, and then leave $300 left over for everything else. And that's where you get into trouble. You could go that route, but then like you said you'd be making sacrifices and I generally don't do that. I mean I would love to include a 4GB card and an SSD but in this day and age where everything is digital, you can't just have 240GB of SSD space, that won't get you very far.
 

Barty1884

Retired Moderator
I don't think anybody is necessarily disputing the "best overall" aspect BB -- I'm certainly not going back through all the prior entries to disagree.

That being said, my interpretation is the actual purpose of the rig is priority #1.
BUT on a performance "per dollar" basis... remember, strictly in the game of Fortnite:
Your build vs the winning build (G-Units) would perform near identically -- with the G4560 very likely to eek out tiny gains in the 1% and .1%.

Identical/very marginally "better" Fortnite performance for $483 vs your $498 ie about 3% less.
So on that basis G-Unit's gets the edge in performance/dollar in Fortnite alone (IMO anyway), which was the entire point of this..
 
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