How can I build a 1080p gaming pc for 600 dollars?

Jacob_1

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I have an HP pavilion p6-2378 PC, with 16 gbs of ram, and an r7 250... Should I upgrade, and if so what should I upgrade? The warranty expired in 2012, and I have no means of building an entire new PC - unless I get something really powerful for a small budget of around $600... I am also an AMD fan, and which I would LOVE to get hands on at least an r9 280 and FX 8320E...

Update: Found an old but new processor, somewhere in the 8000 range (some pins are bent) and a Caviar Blue 1TB hard drive (brand new, haven't used), and an old cougar case which is missing some screws and hard drive bays. Lol, I don't take care of anything when I don't use it haha. Also a ThermalTake 550W Bronze PSU.

Also taking under consideration just how much I have to spend, and what I already have which means I can go full on AMD, maybe get a better CPU and GPU, I can always trade in my PS4 to go full time pc gamer for an extra 200-350 dollars. Plus, I will be getting a job as well, so that will help towards the PC, and maybe even get it faster...

And I have a TON of steam games already (Metro Last Light Redux, Tomb Raider, and so much more - 100+ games.
 
Solution
well here it is. the fury x build which stays under $1000 easy. you can save about $100 on a fury (air cooled vs water cooled) and put that into a nice cooler for the cpu if you wish to overclock it. it will get to the 4.0 ghz 8350 speed on stock cooler but any more and you will want much better cooling for it. this all depends on what that case can support. do some figuring since the fury x is water cooled so it will need a spot for the 120 mm fan to go.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($136.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock 970 Pro3 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($56.98 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 Fury X 4GB Video...

Math Geek

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if you reuse the ram, hdd and os from the hp you have you can do pretty good. here is an 8320, 290, solid psu and a nice case to put it in for under your $600 (after rebates). you can easily drop to a 280 or 285 to save that bit of cash if you wish. would get it well under the $600 with a 285

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($136.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock 970 Pro3 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($56.98 @ Newegg)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 290 4GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($274.98 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($32.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: XFX Core Edition 650W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($50.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $552.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-23 12:01 EDT-0400
 

Math Geek

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same build with a 280 instead is a bunch cheaper as you can see. about $100 savings. again reusing the other parts from the hp. you'll want some better cooling for either build if you want to oc the cpu since it runs hot at stock.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($136.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock 970 Pro3 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($56.98 @ Newegg)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 280 3GB Black Edition Double Dissipation Video Card ($178.98 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($32.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: XFX Core Edition 650W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($50.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $456.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-23 12:03 EDT-0400
 

MasterMace

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If you were to upgrade, the first thing to upgrade would be the PSU. This is required to upgrade any parts that use power, as your current one will explode. For your graphics card, the max recommended length I saw was 9". If you're going to upgrade the CPU, you need to upgrade the motherboard.

I don't recommend using an FX cpu unless you're finding one for a deal. An FX 8320 is advertised by AMD as 8 cores, but it is not. It is a poorly done 4 core / 8 thread. With most games not threaded well, you'll find intel's options to be vastly superior. I had picked up an FX 8320 for $100, and had the option for a discounted motherboard at microcenter. I believe they are in-store pickup only.

www.microcenter.com/store/add_product.aspx?productIDs=0446572,0437624
A link for an FX 8320E and ASRock 970 Extreme3 motherboard for $145 total

The RAM you have can be reused in this motherboard. At that price, the CPU is worth it. If you're paying $120 for the CPU, it's not.

The tricky part is in fact your graphics card. An R9 280 is a generation behind. And I don't think any fit. Here's an R9 380 with 4gb of VRAM and under 9".

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/powercolor-video-card-axr93804gbd5ppdhe

The power supply you should use with this (although there was no teardown by Jonny, who actually did the review on that one, I refer to KitGuru's review for the teardown)

You may want to consider upgrading the case as well, as it will allow for a better CPU cooler and long graphics cards.

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-power-supply-p1550sxxb9
 

Math Geek

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playing around a bit with the budget yields an i5 build as well for you to compare with. same idea, reuse the hdd, ram, os

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($176.95 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Asus Z87-A (NFC Express Edition) ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($59.00 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 380 4GB Nitro Video Card ($223.98 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($41.99 @ Directron)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($55.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $557.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-23 12:33 EDT-0400

i5 is a bit better than the fx cpu but not like the 8320 is unusable. it will still provide solid performance if you wish to stick with amd. also upped to a 380 over the 280 just cause it was there.
 


YOU CAN NOT WITH THE HP WITH THAT BUDGET (note to all responders).

The OP has a HP PC, that makes the OS (Windows) OEM, which by definition NOT usable with ANY hardware changes suggested (Different CPU,. MOBO) and immediate makes the Windows detect the 'difference' and refuse to LOAD, INSTALL NOR REPAIR the computer. The separate cost of Windows is $129 for Home Ed and over $200 for Pro.

Which means ANY answer EXCEPT MATH GEEK would break OPS budget.

FYI OP: AMD walked away from competing head on with Intel a long while ago (FX series) for Gamers and focused instead on the APU for low cost, low power, low demand use. The HIGHEST END APU scores below a Intel i3, the highest FX score below a Intel i5. Gamers normally buy the i5 and Mobo, then go with whatever GPU they like best AND have to UPGRADE THE PSU (as noted by the responders) to power it.

It would be BEST PRACTICE if you waited a little more and look more at the $750 range, but more likely as you want 1080P probably 60FPS (like I saw on Youtube) on Fallout4, GTA V, etc. all put on MAX settings then you need to figure a BUDGET of HIGHER then $1000, due to the cost of HARDWARE to make that happen. There is no 'cheap way' to make it happen across ALL games, unless you go console (then your guaranteed best performance AS seen in the commercials).

I personally normally suggest the simpliest way would be to get a i5 prebuilt deal (usually around $400) off of www.slickdeals.net , then figure out the best GPU you can afford to meet your need / drop down your demands to the 'affordable' GPU you can actually pay for PLUS $90 for a MINIMUM Bronze (best if Tier 1 or 2) 600W PSU from www.pcpartpicker.com . This would include all the basics (RAM, CPU, Mobo, Windows) then upgrading the graphics and psu to 'game'.
 

Math Geek

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you will want to figure out EXACTLY what cpu you found and if it is usable still due to the bent pins. this way an appropriate mobo can be picked. the case and hdd is a nice find and will work no problem for the new parts. the case will offset some of the price of the OS if you need it (i am still very unsure about win 8 and ability to reuse the key but most folks seem to agree you can not move it to a new build so i will go with that)

it sounds like you want to stay with amd which is fine. now all you need is a mobo, gpu, psu and os which should not be that hard for the money. i already got it close. i still like the great sale on the asrock 970 mobo, the psu as well is great (i'd trash that thermaltake as they tend to make lousy psu's).

so are you saying your budget is now $800-$850 for the best amd stuff you can get for it? as already said an i5 is a bit better choice for the money but i am happy to stick with amd stuff if that is your wish.

a similar build with a better r9-390 is easily in reach

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($136.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock 970 Pro3 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($56.98 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 390 8GB Video Card ($339.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($93.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $677.84
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-23 18:24 EDT-0400

or with a 390x.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($136.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock 970 Pro3 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($56.98 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 390X 8GB Video Card ($429.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($93.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $767.84
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-23 18:26 EDT-0400

the psu is a bit bigger now to accommodate the power hungry gpu plus it is semi modular.
 

Jacob_1

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Aug 23, 2015
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Yes, I want the best AMD stuff out there. I have no idea what the new r9 300 series are like, so would like to avoid them if possible, but if I can afford a DECENT one, I would go all out for it. I just need to check that CPU, I know it's AM3/AM3+ socket on the mobo but the mobo is fried (convincing myself again) and the 8GB @ 1866 Mhz is brand new (from this past Christmas) and hopefully we can even maybe switch some things around, play with the stakes a 'lil bit, and go around 1000, because my parents will be mostly paying for it, and I already asked a family member for a 4k monitor, but we'll see how everything goes, and how fast I can get a job... Thanks again for everyone's help!!!

Update: Found an unused Windows 7 Home Premium OS - Could that work and upgrade to Windows 10????
 

Math Geek

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so long as the win 7 is unused on another machine then yes it is good to go itself or as an upgrade path to win 10. that saves $100 which at closer to $1000 budget puts you into the fury range paired with an 8320/50. since there are so many parts you don't need the budget goes a lot further on the gpu front :)

the fury and fury x really excelled at the higher resolutions so a 4k monitor would be a great monitor for one of those beasts.
 

Math Geek

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well here it is. the fury x build which stays under $1000 easy. you can save about $100 on a fury (air cooled vs water cooled) and put that into a nice cooler for the cpu if you wish to overclock it. it will get to the 4.0 ghz 8350 speed on stock cooler but any more and you will want much better cooling for it. this all depends on what that case can support. do some figuring since the fury x is water cooled so it will need a spot for the 120 mm fan to go.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($136.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock 970 Pro3 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($56.98 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 Fury X 4GB Video Card ($679.99 @ B&H)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $923.95
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-23 18:35 EDT-0400
 
Solution

Jacob_1

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Sounds great my man, thanks for your help!