Building a new budget workstation PC

[kevin_allen]

Hi,

I'm an architecture student and I'm building a $500 budget workstation PC that also great for high-end gaming.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/6nHMTW
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/6nHMTW/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($112.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus M5A97 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($89.99 @ Micro Center)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7770 1GB Video Card ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($44.99 @ Mwave)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $507.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Is the parts listed above good enough for me and will all those parts work properly?
Please suggest when there is a better component with the lower/same price.

Any help is much appreciated.

 

[vagrancyx]

I think that's as good as you 're going to get it with your budget. Keep in mind you're not going to be doing high end gaming with that setup, but you'll be able to handle some games at high settings, others at medium. I'm not familiar with what architecture students use in terms of software but if its anything graphic intensive like CADD/3D rendering then you're going to be having a tough time.

 

[logainofhades]

I would go with this for like $2 more. Far better GPU and better CPU.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4150 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H81M-DGS R2.0 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($48.38 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston Fury Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.00 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 270 2GB Dual-X Video Card ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Gamma Classic (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $509.33
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

 

[kevin_allen]

I would go with this for like $2 more. Far better GPU and better CPU.

CPU: Intel Core i3-4150 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H81M-DGS R2.0 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($48.38 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston Fury Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.00 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 270 2GB Dual-X Video Card ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Gamma Classic (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $509.33
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Nice! I would go with that i3-4150 if its better than FX 8320 (at least in single core performance.
But if 8320 is better, I would go with this with about $15 more.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/mVw4Bm
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/mVw4Bm/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($149.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus M5A78L-M/USB3 Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($49.79 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($72.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 270 2GB Dual-X Video Card ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Gamma Classic (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $522.72
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

I need your suggestion
Thanks!

 

[logainofhades]

Single core performance, the i3 is definitely better. Also my build gives you a bit of an upgrade path. You can later drop in a Xeon 1231v3 for i7 4770 performance. 😀