Building a gaming rig for around $500

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Locke wrote on 2012-12-12 04:28
As the title implies, I am building a computer, specifically designed for gaming to be precise. I have never built a computer before, but I have some idea of what I am doing. However, I would like suggestions on parts. A few things to keep in mind when giving suggestions:
- I will be using Windows 7
- While the title says $500, I should have a little room to go over, but assume $600 is the absolute highest I can go.
- I already have a 500 gb hard drive with win7 installed, but I would like an additional 500gb for extra storage space, however it may be excluded for pricing issues.
- External apparatuses (monitor, keyboard, mouse, etc) are already covered, but I am looking to replace them as well, so cheap-but-good-quality suggestions for those is welcome as well.
If possible, leave links for online purchase of any suggested products from TRUSTWORTHY retail sites (amazon, newegg, tigerdirect, etc.).

Thank you for any help provided.
RealityBreak wrote on 2012-12-12 04:35

$500 you stingy.
Locke wrote on 2012-12-12 04:47

Quote from RealityBreak;996841:
$500 you stingy.

It's not a matter of being stingy, it's a matter of limited funds. If I had more money to put towards this, I would easily go into the thousands. However, this is not the case.
Evaris wrote on 2012-12-12 04:58

My recommendation;
right at $500 after MIR; (using OS from your current drive)
Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139018
Power Supply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027
Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157280
CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727
GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127687
RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148543
HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145299
ODD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136254
(of course, if you have an optical drive, you can leave that out too.)

Though at $600, I would recommend this;
Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128519 (+$20)
CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113286 (+$30 after promo code)
GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161426 (+$50)
Aubog007 wrote on 2012-12-12 11:31

500 bucks will only last you a year or so before it starts to show the age.
If you double it, it can last 6-8 years depending on how the market is, expensive parts are starting to plummet in the comin months, if you really want to just put 500-600 dollars in, i suggest you wait a few months before purchasing. Unless you have a very inferior computer, which judging by the fact you have windows 7 on it, you don't.

This is coming from someone who was satisfied with a dual core AMD 2.4 ghz processor. An nvidia 9600 GT card,, 250 gb HD, and 2 GB of ram, back when this was built almost SEVEN years ago (minor change to card since then), that computer lasted up until a few months ago when the parts basically degraded and lost its efficiency. That computer was built for over 1500$ back then, and was a gift as graduation.

My new one uses much better parts and is estimated to be high quality (runs all new games including graphic intensive ones on Max perfectly fine) for 1k.

Just remember, do you want it NOW? Or do you want to save for later and get a better one.

From my observation on the pc part market. The more you put it, the more growth at an exponential rate, until about 1200-1500.

If i had infinite funds, i would stop at around 1200. Anything more is like throwing your money away like getting spinners on a car.
Yoorah wrote on 2012-12-14 00:58

$500 Gaming PC System Components
CPU: Intel Pentium G850 (Sandy Bridge): 2.9 GHz Base Clock Rate, No Turbo Boost, 3 MB Shared L3 Cache $70
Heat Sink: Intel Boxed Heat Sink and Fan 0
Motherboard: ASRock H77 Pro4/MVP: LGA 1155, Intel H77 Express $70
RAM: G.Skill Value Series 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR3-1333 F3-10600CL9D-8GBNT $34
Graphics: PowerColor AX7850 1GBD5-DH: Radeon HD 7850 1 GB $170
Hard Drive: Western Digital WD3200AAKX: 320 GB, 7200 RPM SATA 6Gb/s Hard Drive $65
Case: Rosewill Blackbone ATX Mid-Tower $40
Power Supply: Antec VP-450 450 W $36
Optical Drive: LG 24x DVD Burner SATA Model GH24NS90-OEM $16

Total Price $501

From http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/budget-gaming-do-it-yourself-computer,3364.html

I suggest you don't get an optical drive or extra hard drive for now. Based on the prices they listed, that would save about $81, which can be put towards a better CPU or GPU. Be careful in the case of GPU upgrades, however, as they would require a PSU upgrade as well, stretching your budget.

As for deciding which CPUs and GPUs are better bang for the buck, here's two decent guides for different price points:

Best Gaming CPUs for the money
Best GPUs for the money
Evaris wrote on 2012-12-14 01:14

Quote from Yoorah;997876:
From http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/budget-gaming-do-it-yourself-computer,3364.html

I suggest you don't get an optical drive or extra hard drive for now. Based on the prices they listed, that would save about $81, which can be put towards a better CPU or GPU. Be careful in the case of GPU upgrades, however, as they would require a PSU upgrade as well, stretching your budget.

As for deciding which CPUs and GPUs are better bang for the buck, here's two decent guides for different price points:

Best Gaming CPUs for the money
Best GPUs for the money

My main disagreement on Tomshardware is on the emphasis on a dual-threaded CPU when most new games and future games are supporting 4+ threads, given you can get AMD quad cores for more performance in modern applications, which from my point of view is where it counts more in current / future applications.

I also cannot recommend the Rosewill blackbone case, given it does not have a bottom mounted PSU. An NZXT 210 or Rosewill Redbone would be a better buy for a case for the same price. The NZXT case also has superior cable management.

For a power supply, I would never recommend cheaping out on a PSU. Antec may be a decent brand, but that unit is using older low end parts, and doesn't even reach an 80+ bronze spec. Heck, it's not even 80+ (standard) certified.

Of course, these are my personal opinions.