Budget Micro ATX Build for light gaming $600

[mansbro91]

Approximate Purchase Date: e.g.: this month (Feb. 2014)

Budget Range: $600 before shipping

System Usage from Most to Least Important: gaming, surfing the internet, watching movies

Are you buying a monitor: No

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com, amazon.com

Location: City, State/Region, Country -NYC

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire No

hey everyone i am need some advise for building a new rig. ive been out of the loop for quite a while, my last rig had an AMD 3700 and a Ati Radeon x800 xT. I want to build a new system that will be used mainly for surfing the web, watching/streaming movies and also for some light gaming. I would like to keep this rig small for LAN parties. We play mostly RTS games such as SC2, and company of heroes. so far this is what i have come up with but I am slightly over what i really want to spend and have no idea what GPU i need, any and all recommendations on where i can cut back to stay within budget are greatly appreciated!

Fractal Design Define Mini $100
ASUS B85M-G $80
CORSAIR CS550M 550W$100
i5 4670 $220
G.Skill Ripjaw X 8GB$85
Seagate 1TB HDD$65

Total = $650 w/o a GPU...

EDIT: forgot to mention that I am not loyal to any particluar brands so AMD/Intel or ATi/Nvidia doesn't matter, just which ever can give me the best bang for the buck, also I do not need any peripherals or an OS, the $600 budget is strictly for hardware so any extras like tax or shipping do not need to be factored in.

 

[shortstuff_mt]

With your budget you're probably going to have to go with an AMD based system. Even this one goes quite a ways over the $600 budget.

[PCPartPicker part list](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2KZvT) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2KZvT/by_merchant/) / [Benchmarks](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2KZvT/benchmarks/)

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
**CPU** | [AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/amd-cpu-fd8320frhkbox) | $139.99 @ TigerDirect
**Motherboard** | [Gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2 Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-ga78lmts2) | $47.99 @ Amazon
**Memory** | [G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f314900cl9d8gbsr) | $84.99 @ Newegg
**Storage** | [Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd5000aakx) | $49.99 @ Amazon
**Video Card** | [Asus GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-video-card-gtx760dc2oc2gd5) | $239.99 @ Newegg
**Case** | [Silverstone PS08B (Black) MicroATX Mid Tower Case](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/silverstone-case-ps08b) | $29.99 @ Newegg
**Power Supply** | [SeaSonic S12II 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seasonic-power-supply-s12ii520bronze) | $65.99 @ SuperBiiz
| | **Total**
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available. | $658.93
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-31 18:19 EST-0500 |

 

[Computer__GUY]

AN i5 4670 is a little too expensive for a $600 budget as well as a fairly low-end GPU. Also 8GB's won't be needed for web surfing and light gaming. If I were you I'd also save some money on the case so here is what I suggest instead:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($49.99 @ Microcenter)
Memory: Corsair 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($45.70 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.66 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus Radeon HD 7790 1GB Video Card ($132.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: NZXT Vulcan Black MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($53.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $592.29
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-31 18:21 EST-0500)

Should play most games on high settings some even on ultra and as for the web browsing side of things, it should be very fast around the same speed as an i5.

Edit: Should have included 1600MHz memory sorry about that.

 

[Outlander_04]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2KZQ3

I think you should discount the AMD builds . The processors run hotter and unless a small case is very well designed its not worth it . Its esp not worth it when you have to compromise and use one of the older motherboard chipsets like the 760G if you want an M-ATX board

Probably the killer punch though is thatthe older games you are playing like SC dont make the best use of multicore processors . A low wattage intel dual core with a better graphics card makes much more sense IMO

 

[geofelt]

My rule of thumb is to budget twice the cpu cost for the graphics card.
In this case, a i3-4330 could be paired with a GTX760.

I suggest a ITX format which lets you put your parts in a light and more portable case.
Here is one such motherboard for $65. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135374
Here is a SilverStone Sugo Series SG05W-LITE for $40: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163232

Unless you will be carrying many games or storing large files such as video's, consider using a ssd instead.
A 120gb ssd will hold the os and a handful of games. 240gb, and you may never need a hard drive at all.
In the process, you will have a drive more resistant to damage from transportation.
Everything you do will be quicker.

 

[Computer__GUY]

My rule of thumb is to budget twice the cpu cost for the graphics card.
In this case, a i3-4330 could be paired with a GTX760.

I suggest a ITX format which lets you put your parts in a light and more portable case.
Here is one such motherboard for $65. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135374
Here is a SilverStone Sugo Series SG05W-LITE for $40: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163232

Unless you will be carrying many games or storing large files such as video's, consider using a ssd instead.
A 120gb ssd will hold the os and a handful of games. 240gb, and you may never need a hard drive at all.
In the process, you will have a drive more resistant to damage from transportation.
Everything you do will be quicker.

Yes but for light gaming and a lot of internet browsing, surely that rule of thumb won't apply.