Budget Build Gaming/Work PC ($600)

Matthew-san

Distinguished
Feb 25, 2014
886
0
19,110
I had intended on building a cheap but good quality PC for my parents since they break most of the laptops they get. I needed something capable of internet surfing, doing financial work and business work, storing large amounts of photos and videos, and watching movies with. I had a perfect build set-up for them until my brother decided he wanted to use the computer for gaming, along with his PS4, so now I need change direction here. I was hoping someone could modify the build I already had prepared and make that build suitable for the above written needs. Here was my original build:

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Bantantur/saved/Phjqqs

My parents don't need anything fancy but my brother would like to play games like Bioshock 2, Black Ops 2, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, and other Indie games on high/ultra settings with smooth framerates. I understand that that will drastically increase the price of the PC by adding a GPU, replacing the Pentium CPU with an i3 at least, and a PSU with higher wattage. Here is the modified version of the build I came up with:

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Bantantur/saved/p249TW

The catch here is that the budget is $600 and that includes the PC, monitor, keyboard, mouse, and speakers. I did find a 21.5-Inch, 1920x1080p, 60 Hz, 5ms response time monitor for $99.99 which is good. I found the perfect keyboard and mouse bundle for $14.99 and some awesome speakers for $9.99. So the the price for all the peripherals will be $124.97 and I have to subtract that money from the $600 budget leaving me with $475.03 to spend on the actual PC. If need be I may be able to throw in some cash for the budget, $50 or so but not much more. Can anyone suggest the perfect build? I could certainly could use the help lol. Thanks for reading and sorry for the long message!

 
Solution
Considering the Antec Eco Neo is only $5 more, I would get it for sure, but other than that, I don't think you could do any better.

CTurbo

Pizza Monster
Moderator
My biggest concern with your build is quality and reliability and I'm talking mostly about the motherboard and psu. Here are my recommended changes. I'm always quick to scrap the dvd drive in order to save money if necessary. You could always add one in later just like a 2nd 4GB RAM stick.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/9qcQhM
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/9qcQhM/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i3-4150 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($97.27 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($61.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($36.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($48.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 270X 2GB Video Card ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Azza SIRIUS ATX Mid Tower Case ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec Neo Eco 620W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($13.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($82.79 @ OutletPC)
Total: $526.49
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-24 22:31 EST-0500
 

Matthew-san

Distinguished
Feb 25, 2014
886
0
19,110
Thanks for the advice CTurbo. I don't usually go this cheap when it comes to building PC's but I'm on an extremely tight budget. I think I can do the switch with the PSU but I'm almost afraid I'll have to risk the motherboard because the ASRock MOBO is about twice as much. I'll talk it over with my family and see if they'd be willing to put out a little more money-wise. Until then, keep the suggestions coming.

The reason why I was willing to go with a Thermaltake PSU is because I own that exact 600 watt PSU I listed. It powers my personal PC which includes an i5-4690k, 770 4GB, and 8GB of RAM. I've had the PSU for about a year and a half and have not had any trouble with it.
 

CTurbo

Pizza Monster
Moderator
In order to keep the initial price down, you could drop the dvd drive and start with a smaller hdd. Adding dvd drives and hard drives are quick and easy and could be done at any time.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/YRLWyc
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/YRLWyc/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i3-4150 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($97.27 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($61.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($36.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 320GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($38.49 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 270X 2GB Video Card ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Azza SIRIUS ATX Mid Tower Case ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec Neo Eco 620W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($82.79 @ OutletPC)
Total: $502.50
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-24 22:45 EST-0500


If you feel comfortable with the Thermaltake, then by all means go with it. Don't let somebody talk you out of something you have first hand experience with. I personally wouldn't buy it, but it's not my money.


Trying to find other ways to cost cut for you, this motherboard would be a good compromise between the H81 and the H97

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128672&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

BIOS shouldn't be an issue by now since the Haswell refresh as been out for a while now.
 

Matthew-san

Distinguished
Feb 25, 2014
886
0
19,110
You know, I hadn't thought of that lol. This is exactly why I consult people on Tom's Hardware, they always have good suggestions. That build is about perfect I think. Do you think that the i3-4150 will bottleneck the R9 270X much?