Help with first build

[bradleyburgess]

Hi everyone,

I am about to build my first PC. Yay! I could use a little help with the build though. My needs:

• 
  - Office-type use (word-processing, web browsing)
  - Web-browsing, YouTube, etc.
  - Managing my iTunes library
  - Light-medium gaming

I plan on dual-booting Windows 7 and a flavor of Linux, probably Ubuntu. I have a budget of +/- $500, not including the OS, monitor, mouse and kb. What spec do you think would give the best bang for my buck?

So far my thoughts are either an i3 4150 with a dGPU or an i5 4670k if Intel, or AMD FX-4300 with dGPU. I haven't decided AMD or Intel yet, but am leaning towards Intel. Which route would give me the most upgrade potential? I would think Intel, but they seem to change their sockets so often, so seeing I would have to get a different mobo anyway, does it matter?

Thanks,
B

 

[ingtar33]

don't build with a thought of "upgrading" or "future proofing" in my experience no one bothers to upgrade till their parts no longer are sufficient, usually years down the road... then they're forced to chose between minor upgrade possibilities that will work with their stuff or a whole system rebuild.

For your uses since you used the word "gaming" i'd suggest a dGPU, and at least a AMD 6 core or intel quad core. Anything less will likely gimp you in less then a calendar year.