• Happy holidays, folks! Thanks to each and every one of you for being part of the Tom's Hardware community!

First Gaming Build, $500-$600 Budget, need help choosing cheap, reliable parts.

Aria_Bashiri

Reputable
Nov 24, 2014
25
0
4,530
Hi guys, I've finally decided to build my first system, I have a very tight budget and need to get the best parts I can buy for about $500, $600. Going above $500 is already pushing it to be honest, these are the parts I've picked so far, but please feel free to recommend a cheaper GPU if it compares relatively well to what I've listed, same goes with RAM and the cheapest 500-600W PSU I can get from a reputable manufacturer. This is what I've come up with so far:

http://www.microcenter.com/product/401797/FX_6300_Black_Edition_35GHz_Six-Core_Socket_AM3_Boxed_Processor $89.99

http://www.microcenter.com/product/418786/M5A78L-M-USB3_Socket_AM3_AMD_mATX_Motherboard $54.99, Free when bundled with FX 6300

For the GPU I was thinking either the GTX 750 because I'm on a very tight budget, basically what I'm looking for is a GPU that can handle BF4 on 1080p medium at like 40-50 fps, I doubt the GTX 750 could handle it but I'm sure I could just play on 900p. https://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-video-card-01gp42751kr $119.99(99.99 with rebate)

If I can raise my budget more, I think I'll go for the R9 270, heard decent things about it. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121823 $169.99(149.99 with rebate)

http://www.microcenter.com/product/400847/1TB_7,200_RPM_SATA_60Gb-s_35_Internal_Hard_Drive_DT01ACA100_-_Bare_Drive $49.99

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-memory-cmz8gx3m1a1866c10 $62.99

http://www.microcenter.com/product/426230/16x_Read,_4x_Write_SATA_DVD-RW_Optical_Drive_-_DX042D $10.79

http://www.microcenter.com/product/433904/LPC306_Black_ATX_Case_with_Rubberized_Coating $31.99, heard good reviews about this case, liking the removable mobo tray because I feel like it would make placing the mobo on much easier for someone as inept as myself.

https://pcpartpicker.com/part/apevia-power-supply-atxcb700w $39.99


http://www.microcenter.com/product/422489/Windows_81_64-bit_English_1_Pack_OEM $99.99

I'm gonna probably stick with the mATX motherboard because it'll be free with the FX 6300, I think that's a decent steal. Will I be fine with just the stock CPU fan and 1-2 case fans? I do not plan on overclocking anything at all. Thank you for your time.





 
Solution
Apevia power supplies are pure junk. Evga would be far better. For the motherboard, go with the Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3. It is a better board. The R7 265 is a good compromise if you can raise your budget a bit.
You might look at tom's budget gaming build.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/build-budget-gaming-pc,4021.html
It will have a stronger graphics card which is usually more important than the cpu.
That is particularly important for fast action shooters.
FWIW, I bought a EVGA GTX750 for my grandson and was very impressed. Quiet and a good performer.
If your games are more like sims mmo, and strategy games, then The G3258 will be particularly good.
Such games tend to be single threaded and cpu bound.

Whatever you do, do not buy a cheap psu.
Apevia is a tier 5 unit(not recommended, replace asap on this list:
https://community.newegg.com/eggxpert/computer_hardware/f/135081/t/45344.aspx?Redirected=true

 
Yeah, I figured the PSU was crap, but it was rated a 3.7 on PCPartPicker so I figured it would have at least done the job, I think a $90 FX 6300 is a better deal than the G3258, although I have heard decent things about the G3258. I think in the end my build comes to about $510(this is with tax and OS included). I personally think the FX 6300 is more of a bargain because of the free mobo that comes with the 6300, this saves me a lot of money. I could probably reach $580 with the R9 270, which I heard is a great GPU for under $200. I really don't know what I'm gonna do right now, I might just go with the FX 8320 and no GPU and save up for a $200 dollar GPU. I really don't plan on upgrading this build, I just want this build to last 5-6 years if possible.
 
this one

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 760K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor ($101.98 @ Amazon Canada)
Motherboard: MSI A78M-E35 Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($69.25 @ Vuugo)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($84.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($62.95 @ Vuugo)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R7 260X 2GB Video Card ($143.95 @ Vuugo)
Case: Rosewill Line-M MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($54.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($39.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($19.95 @ Vuugo)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) ($113.65 @ DirectCanada)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WDN4800 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($36.99 @ NCIX)
Total: $728.67
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-19 11:53 EST-0500
 


That's......Very expensive....The only thing I'd see as worth purchasing would be the Corsair PSU, otherwise I'm going with the FX 6300, and I'd rather find a 1 TB HDD for $50(or under)

Oh and yeah, I was really considering the R7 265, looks sweet. And Yeah I'll go for the Gigabyte mobo.