$600 budget pc

[dpbetter2000]

Hi toms hardware, i am building my own pc soon, and need your input. My budget is $600, and i would like to be able to run far cry 3 at 1080p high-ultra settings at at least 30fps. Other games that i require running at at least high settings 1080p are crysis 2, bioshock infinite, tomb raider, mw3, deus ex: Human Revolution, and skyrim. I need no extras, i have a monitor, mouse and keyboard, all i need is an os, and the tower. I have a hard drive and 6gb of ram, but i don't know if either of them work, so if you can include those in the budget, that would be great. Let's see what you guys come up with

 

[tiny voices]

What resolution is your monitor?

 

[dpbetter2000]

its 1080p

 

[tiny voices]

Let's be real here for a minute. For $600 with an OS, we should be shooting for medium/high settings not High/ultra. That is just not going to happen.


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($116.97 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($49.99 @ Microcenter)
Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($72.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda ES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($55.00 @ Amazon)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($42.98 @ Best Buy)
Power Supply: Antec 450W ATX Power Supply ($34.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - OEM (64-bit) ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $602.88
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-02-01 17:52 EST-0500)

This is perfect for you. Also, it is ALWAYS more enjoyable to play at medium at 60fps than at high at an unstable 30fps. You will soon find this out.

This will run all your games at mostly high settings with some games running at a mix of medium and high.

 

[ssddx]

just a few comments.

if you use windows 7 for $79 you can save $10
if you use a cheaper optical drive you can save $5
if you use the cougar solution you can save $13
wait for the cx500m to drop down to $30 and you can save $5

that saves up to $33

with that case you can upgrade to a 970 chipset motherboard (which supports overclocking better) for $15
you could then buy a cpu cooler with the remaining cash.

-----

i would however suggest running at a larger budget than $600. if you can approach the $675 you mentioned in the other thread you have for that prebuilt system you could do a bit better.

 

[tiny voices]

I would not get a Cx500. They are still shipped with the poor quality capacitors. I had a cx600 ruin my first computer.

 

[dpbetter2000]

ssddx, i assumed that the guy on craigslist would most likely be negotiable enough to come down $75. And tiny voices, thanks for that, but i really would like something more powerful than the 7850, i was thinking more along the lines of an r9 270 or 270x. Say i get a cheaper case, and reuse my hard drive (hopefully it works)

 

[tiny voices]

That is an option. If you do not care about appearance or cable management a cheaper case is an option. I would try to get a 7870 it is slightly better than the 270 and only a small bit worse than the 270x. The 7870 can usually be had for less than a 270.

You will also need a 500w+ PSU from Antec, XFX. Corsair, Seasonic.

 

[ssddx]

honestly the price he posted was almost spot on for where it should be. if i was him i wouldnt be selling it cheaper. not considering the new gtx770 and a ssd.

you failed to mention that you had any parts you could use in a new system. the only thing you mentioned was that you are selling a laptop.

if you re-used a hard drive that would knock $55 give or take off the build price. if you stuck with a crappy old 760g chipset motherboard then it might be just in budget for the cheapest model available (r9-270). the 270x is beyond reach.

tinyvoices i do agree that cx units arent the most ideal however a 450w psu however might be just a tad light (though after reading a bit about the vp450 it seems like its not terrible and can likely take the load). of course total load would be determined by if he overclocks or not (keeping in mind amd fx chips are complete power hogs when oc!) and what video card he ends up going with. a good seasonic/xfx unit would be preferable however its a very tight budget.

 

[ssddx]

the 7870 can be had for $170, the 270 for $195 and the 270x for $210. only the first two are really in budget though.

 

[tiny voices]

My girlfriend runs her i5 2400 + 7850 on an antec VP-450 and it barely pulls 230w under MAX load burn test.

 

[ssddx]

yes but if overclocked a fx-6300 is capable of drawing up to 150w just by itself. not under all conditions of course.
a 7870ghz can draw up to 175w. of course not at all times.
thats 325 max load not counting other components. while it looks like the vp450 can handle it (i've heard of it powering over its stated ratings) its likely a better choice to bump up to a 500w for some headroom if at all in budget.

of course if he doesnt plan on overclocking at all the vp450 looks fine.

 

[dpbetter2000]

i am definitely not overclocking, too new to pc stuff. and ssddx, i did mention that i had a hard drive and 6gb of ram, i just don't know whether or not they work, they came out of a broken computer that we didnt know what was wrong. I think i will go with the 7870, and the fx-6300, other parts remain to be seen. I am looking at how much it would save me if i also used the 6gb of ram, but i dont know if it is worth the risk...

 

[ssddx]

the ram might not be compatible. cant tell unless you list the make, model and all info.

the hard drive may work however we dont know if its sata or ide (look up sata and ide on google images). if its sata it would work, if its ide... well you might not want to use it. you might be able to salvage the optical drive out of the old computer if its sata. thats more money saved.

 

[dpbetter2000]

We have already gotten rid of the old computer, and I regret not taking out the optical drive. The ram is just a non name brand chinese thing, nothing is listed on the ram itself, so I don't know anything about it, And I am pretty sure that the hard drive is sata.

 

[ssddx]

well then i would say forget about the ram. you might be able to use the hdd though. what size?

 

[dpbetter2000]

It is a sata, and its a western digital green 1tb, not sure what size.

 

[tiny voices]

1tb is the size. 1 terabyte is the same as 1000 gigabytes.

 

[dpbetter2000]

Tiny voices lololol, I knew that. I meant like 2.5" or 3.5"

 

[ssddx]

doesnt matter if 2.5 or 3.5

anyways its easy to tell them apart

worst come to worst you can just buy a $5 adapter plate to use them though some cases come with mounting points for ssd (which is 2.5 factor)

 

[dpbetter2000]

Ok, so as long as it's working then we r good, because I know western digital is a good brand.

 

[ssddx]

well... western digital green drives are 5,400rpm (normal desktop drives are 7,200) so it will be a bit slow. but it will work. if you are on a strict budget what can you do?

 

[dpbetter2000]

yea, tell me about it. I might start another thread keeping in mind some of the details that we worked out so i can get some more finished builds.

 

[ssddx]

do not start another thread. it clogs the forums. this thread is good enough (sorry but we really dont appreciate clogging the forums with duplicate threads and need to report them)

in any case your options are extremely limited for such a small budget.

either you go for really old tech which is not upgradeable at all... and possibly have better fps for right now due to a better gpu in budget or you go with a build like we mentioned and be able to upgrade for at least a little while longer. i mentioned about going with 970 vs 760g motherboards and a few other features. unless you magically expand your budget there isnt much we can do.

 

[dpbetter2000]

So sorry, i started a new thread before i saw your response, i won't make any more. But i'm thinking with $600, i can go with fx 6300 (not bad) and an r9 270 (non x) A mobo around the $70 range, a regular old 500w psu, and a $30 case. That comes out to around $550, so plus an os, and i would still be at least close to my budget.