Budget Gaming Build $500+

[jaged]

My buddy's 14 yr old son finally convinced him to get a gaming rig made up. He gave him a budget of $500 plus tax. It isn't much for sure but this is what I came up with.

No parts are required outside of this build(they have a monitor/keyboard/mouse etc) I understand an SSD would be faster but to get bang for the buck I went with more storage for less $ so he's getting a regular 1tb drive on this build.

There will be NO overclocking. There will be no SLI etc.

Let me know your thoughts and ways to improve while staying within the $500 before tax budget.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/zV7dnn

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor

MOBO: MSI H110M PRO-D Micro ATX LGA115

MEM: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory

Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid

PSU: Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX PSU

GPU: MSI GeForce GTX 950 2GB Video Card

HD: Toshiba 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive

OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit)

 

[rayzaldy]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/rn2Ycc
I know you think that the g3258 are slow but they're not if you overclock them. And also there is a lot of upgrade path and you can even overclock an 4690k on the motherboard.

 

[Icaraeus]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor ($110.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI H110M Pro-VD Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($47.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill NT Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($31.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Toshiba 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($42.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R7 360 2GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($108.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Core 2300 ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX TS 650W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($83.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $511.69
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-05-30 10:29 EDT-0400

This is the best I could come up with. Better power supply, cheaper RAM, different case, and equivalent GPU

 

[Icaraeus]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/rn2Ycc
I know you think that the g3258 are slow but they're not if you overclock them. And also there is a lot of upgrade path and you can even overclock an 4690k on the motherboard.

He needs an operating system..

 

[rayzaldy]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/rn2Ycc
I know you think that the g3258 are slow but they're not if you overclock them. And also there is a lot of upgrade path and you can even overclock an 4690k on the motherboard.

He needs an operating system..

Forgot about that 😀
But i think it's better that he bought a key from reddit for about 20$(?) and then upgrade it.

 

[Icaraeus]

I don't think it's easy to find a legit product key on something like reddit for that much.

 

[rayzaldy]

Yes they do cost that much. But i'm not sure if it's windows 7 or 8 though

 

[Hlsgsz]

I optimized your build. It came to alittle more than what you had, but believe me, it's ALOT better and totally worth it:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor ($110.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI H110M Pro-VD Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($47.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($27.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Toshiba 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($42.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 380 4GB PCS+ Video Card ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Rosewill SRM-01 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($21.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX TS 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($43.98 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($83.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $539.69
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-05-30 10:54 EDT-0400

 

[ScrewySqrl]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor ($110.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI H110M Pro-VD Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($47.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: GeIL EVO POTENZA 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($29.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($46.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: VisionTek Radeon R7 370 2GB Video Card ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Rosewill SRM-01 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($21.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec 450W ATX Power Supply ($33.69 @ Directron)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($85.95 @ Amazon)
Total: $497.46
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-05-30 11:26 EDT-0400

heres my suggestion