Looking to Build Gaming PC for Around $400

[Bergyberg]

Approximate Purchase Date: e.g.: This Week

Budget Range: 300-400, After Rebates, After Shipping

System Usage: Gaming

Are you buying a monitor: No

Do you need to buy OS: No

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Somewhere Reputable

Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States

Parts Preferences: None

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe

Additional Comments: I would be okay with going a little bit over budget.
I would like to be able to run Arc: Survival Evolved with medium settings, if possible.

 

[davidarad02]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 860K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($72.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-D3H Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($50.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.45 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 270 2GB Dual-X Video Card ($132.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Rosewill FBM-01 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($29.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $419.28
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-03 13:44 EDT-0400

you can replace the GPU to a GTX 750 ti if the 20 extra bucks is a big deal.

 

[Bergyberg]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 860K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($72.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-D3H Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($50.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.45 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 270 2GB Dual-X Video Card ($132.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Rosewill FBM-01 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($29.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $419.28
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-03 13:44 EDT-0400

you can replace the GPU to a GTX 750 ti if the 20 extra bucks is a big deal.

What would my upgrade path look with this build?

 

[davidarad02]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 860K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($72.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-D3H Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($50.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.45 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 270 2GB Dual-X Video Card ($132.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Rosewill FBM-01 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($29.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $419.28
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-03 13:44 EDT-0400

you can replace the GPU to a GTX 750 ti if the 20 extra bucks is a big deal.

What would my upgrade path look with this build?

sockets on both AMD and intel are starting to fade away (intel with skylake and AMD with Zen), so in-terms of the CPU, not much without a motherboard swap, but you can upgrade your graphics card anytime you want.

 

[madmatt30]

That's a solid budget gamer - the thing I would suggest is faster ram - the 860k performs considerably better with 2133 ram.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231518&FM=1

 

[Bergyberg]

Thanks all. So they Gtx 750 ti is a downgrade compared to the Sapphire?

 

[davidarad02]

Thanks all. So they Gtx 750 ti is a downgrade compared to the Sapphire?

yes. the r9 270 is more powerful then the 750 ti.

 

[madmatt30]

A fairly big downgrade yes - the 270 is easily worth the extra $20

 

[jimmyh234]

I hope you didn't spend 400 on a "gaming" computer yet. You aren't going to be able to do jack with a 400$ gaming computer. You are better off buying a game console if you are going to be gaming because 400$ in a pc will get you nothing at all. Don't rush yourself, save up about 400$ more, then buy a rig that you will atleat be able to upgrade in the future. $400 will get you and out dated piece of junk.

 

[tropical8878]

this build seems to be in your price range
http://goo.gl/qmA3JB

 

[davidarad02]

this build seems to be in your price range
http://goo.gl/qmA3JB

that's crap compared to the other builds shown here