Suggestion on my first gaming PC Build

[cloudofnanomachines]

So I want to make this as painless as possible for you guys since I'm sure you read a lot of these:

I'm looking to buy my first dedicated gaming PC with my tax return in February -- so that gives me a few months to either buy the parts one by one or save up to just drop down the cash all at once.

My budget is pretty working class, if I'm honest. The sweet spot for me is gonna be between $450-$500 shipping included.

As far as usage is concerned -- I wanna surf the web and play video games. No HD video editing or audio production.

I don't need to purchase an OS or any input devices nor do I need A monitor or anything like that so the budget is just for the box itself.

I have Amazon prime, so that's my preferred site -- I know, lame, but I'll pay a couple extra bucks to keep all the shopping on one site and satiate my OCD.

As far as parts preferences go. I have no allegiances -- best for cheapest is the motto.

I've already got a hard drive that I'm happy with in terms of size and reliability and a dvd-rw I can live with so we don't need those either.

After hours and hours of watching videos and reading articles on best budget gaming PC assembly -- here's what I've come up with:

Rosewill Dual Fans MicroATX Mini Tower $22.49

Kingston HyperX Blu 8gb $64.99

XFX HD 7770 CORE Edition card $114.49

Solid Gear 650-Watts Power Supply $51.76

ASUS M5A78L-M PLUS AMD Micro ATX Motherboard $54.90

AMD FX-8320 FX Series 9-Core Black Edition $129.99

Total cost $438.62

So there ya go. And I'm coming in under budget.

So my basic question is where do I need to spend a few extra bucks?

 

[ronnrenee]

Windows 8? I would put more r\memory in there. 8GB is good, but I recently stepped my rig up from 8gb to 16gb and I notice a HUGE difference! Im an avid PC gamer and especially when it comes to games, youll use that ram, no matter what anyone tells you...Where your computer with 8gb might slightly hiccuup, 16gb's will push it right by without noticing.

Ive always been a big fan of going overkill on the ram when you build a gaming machine. Some people say you wont see the difference, but I've proven that; the more ram, the merrier, when it comes to gaming.

Here's an example on my new rig. I used to play my games on medium graphics and it would slightly hiccuup sometimes with 8GB. With the 16gb's in there I play everything on high or ultra without a hiccuup. Same graphics card and everything else. Heck Im even contiplating upgrading to 32GB's sometime soon for overkill, lol.

Anyway, looks like your doing good on that budget. From one gamer to another, throw another 65 bucks towards your memory

Youll be glad you did.

 

[cloudofnanomachines]

Windows 8? I would put more r\memory in there. 8GB is good, but I recently stepped my rig up from 8gb to 16gb and I notice a HUGE difference! Im an avid PC gamer and especially when it comes to games, youll use that ram, matter what anyone tells you...Where your computer with 8gb might slightly hiccuup, 16gb's will push it right by without noticing.

Ive always been a big fan of going overkill on the ram when you build a gaming machine. Some people say you wont see the difference, but I've proven that; the more ram, the merrier, when it comes to gaming.

Here's an example on my new rig. I used to play my games on medium graphics and it would slightly hiccuup sometimes with 8GB. With the 16gb's in there I play everything on high or ultra without a hiccuup. Same graphics card and everything else. Heck Im even contiplating upgrading to 32GB's sometime soon for overkill, lol.

Anyway, looks like your doing good on that budget. From one gamer to another, throw another 65 bucks towards your memory

Youll be glad you did.

Thanks for the reply! okay so more RAM would significantly improve FPS and maybe some multitasking. got it.

As far as graphics card, and CPU/motherboard I'm looking good though?

Was maybe contemplating spending more on a motherboard with USB3 capabilities -- as that seems to be ubiquitous.

 

[ronnrenee]

Well you said your limit was 500, so I figured the ram would bring it perfectly there....Yeah, your motherboard is the heart f your hardware. I like these two right now
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130692
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131989
for pentium and
http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-Crosshair-Formula-Z-990FX-Motherboard/dp/B00906DHLE
for amd
The price is right and the benchmarks are there.
If you can squeeze another 150 or so out of your budget id go with one of these.

I know you want to build a budget game machine but these motherboards are some of the best out there right now. Do it right if you can

Hope this helps

 

[ronnrenee]

Beside those 2 pentium boards, Im really liking asus and amd products for gaming these days. If you go any road, stick with that. Good luck and happy gaming