500 - 600 budget gaming rig

As of now i only have a ps3, but i would like to change that. I wanna build a rig for under 500 or 600 if possible. I dont need top of the line everything. I just want to run games like the sims, oblivion, the witcher and maybe some other older games.

What parts do you need? Do you want to build it yourself? Do you need an operating system, keyboard, mouse, monitor, etc.. as well?

Do you need a monitor? an OS? $600 is possible if you don't need either of those.

I'd wait for the newer GPU's to drop prices on current ones, but I would get a Phenom 965 and a Gigabyte 870A-UD3 as a starting point.

Do you need a monitor? an OS? $600 is possible if you don't need either of those.

i_am_the_slime

even if he has the OS its do able.. monitors (of some lower quality) can be had for that budget.. 525 + 75 for the monitor sounds about right..

ive seen monitors for as low as $70 bucks before tax (lcd 16")

I'd wait for the newer GPU's to drop prices on current ones, but I would get a Phenom 965 and a Gigabyte 870A-UD3 as a starting point.

desertpython

What's the point in getting a 965 when you can get a 955 for $13 less? There's no real difference. 99% of 955's out there just need to have the multiplier set to 17, and you've got a 965.

I got an os, and an older monitor and will probably try to get someone else to build it for me b/c i have very limited knowledge in this. I could get a new monitor though, thats not too much a bother.

[QUOTE="desertpython"]

I'd wait for the newer GPU's to drop prices on current ones, but I would get a Phenom 965 and a Gigabyte 870A-UD3 as a starting point.

hartsickdiscipl

What's the point in getting a 965 when you can get a 955 for $13 less? There's no real difference. 99% of 955's out there just need to have the multiplier set to 17, and you've got a 965.

Because I can't be bothered jacking the multiplier up. And there is a slight difference.

[QUOTE="hartsickdiscipl"]

[QUOTE="desertpython"]

I'd wait for the newer GPU's to drop prices on current ones, but I would get a Phenom 965 and a Gigabyte 870A-UD3 as a starting point.

desertpython

What's the point in getting a 965 when you can get a 955 for $13 less? There's no real difference. 99% of 955's out there just need to have the multiplier set to 17, and you've got a 965.

Because I can't be bothered jacking the multiplier up. And there is a slight difference.

Extremely negligible. Changing the multiplier takes 15 seconds at most.

[QUOTE="hartsickdiscipl"]

[QUOTE="desertpython"]

I'd wait for the newer GPU's to drop prices on current ones, but I would get a Phenom 965 and a Gigabyte 870A-UD3 as a starting point.

desertpython

What's the point in getting a 965 when you can get a 955 for $13 less? There's no real difference. 99% of 955's out there just need to have the multiplier set to 17, and you've got a 965.

Because I can't be bothered jacking the multiplier up. And there is a slight difference.

[QUOTE="desertpython"]

[QUOTE="hartsickdiscipl"]

What's the point in getting a 965 when you can get a 955 for $13 less? There's no real difference. 99% of 955's out there just need to have the multiplier set to 17, and you've got a 965.

ProudLarry

Because I can't be bothered jacking the multiplier up. And there is a slight difference.

A 6870 would murder a 460 and no L3 cache in Athlons will drop a lot of your FPS's.

[QUOTE="desertpython"]

[QUOTE="hartsickdiscipl"]

What's the point in getting a 965 when you can get a 955 for $13 less? There's no real difference. 99% of 955's out there just need to have the multiplier set to 17, and you've got a 965.

ProudLarry

Because I can't be bothered jacking the multiplier up. And there is a slight difference.

We're on the same page for this build. I was thinking an Athlon II X4 640.

[QUOTE="ProudLarry"][QUOTE="desertpython"]

Because I can't be bothered jacking the multiplier up. And there is a slight difference.

desertpython

A 6870 would murder a 460 and no L3 cache in Athlons will drop a lot of your FPS's.

Alright, let's address some issues here-

-6870 is $30 to $50 more than a GTX 460 1GB. An overclocked GTX 460 1GB can keep up with a 6870. Almost all 460's overclock easily to this level.

-Athlon II X4's perform about 10-12% worse than a Phenom II X4 of the same clock speed in gaming. There is no game that a 3ghz Athlon II X4 can't run very well.

[QUOTE="desertpython"]

[QUOTE="ProudLarry"] The difference is only noticeable if you only intend to use your system to run benchmark tests. Otherwise in gameplay, you're not going to notice the difference of 3-4 FPS. I say skip on the Phenoms entirely however with such a strict budget. The Athlon II X4 635 should be only $100 if not less, and spend the money you save on trying to get up to a GTX 460. hartsickdiscipl

A 6870 would murder a 460 and no L3 cache in Athlons will drop a lot of your FPS's.

Alright, let's address some issues here-

-6870 is $30 to $50 more than a GTX 460 1GB. An overclocked GTX 460 1GB can keep up with a 6870. Almost all 460's overclock easily to this level.

-Athlon II X4's perform about 10-12% worse than a Phenom II X4 of the same clock speed in gaming. There is no game that a 3ghz Athlon II X4 can't run very well.

The loss in FPS isn't worth it.

[QUOTE="ProudLarry"][QUOTE="desertpython"]

Because I can't be bothered jacking the multiplier up. And there is a slight difference.

desertpython

A 6870 would murder a 460 and no L3 cache in Athlons will drop a lot of your FPS's.

I got an os, and an older monitor and will probably try to get someone else to build it for me b/c i have very limited knowledge in this. I could get a new monitor though, thats not too much a bother.

suz437

okay pitter patter lets get atter... ill edit this post with my listbut for now heres a little something to keep you interested..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqNtsQebyuA&feature=related

edit: the list:

case+dvd: Rosewill challenger case + lite-on dvd-rom $70: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.542810

cpu + mobo+ram : athalon II x2 260 Regor 3.2ghz + 4gb ddr2-800 + Asus motherboard $172: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.543707

psu: antec earthwatts 650 watt psu $70 w/ 10% off promo code Apsu10 :http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371015

gpu: EVGA gtx 460 1gb w/ free copy of mafia II $209 also dont forget that every gpu is 10% off with a generic promo code atm.. move quick to get that savings..:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130571

hard drive: western digital caviar black sata 3.0 500gb HDD $60 : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136320&cm_re=caviar_black-_-22-136-320-_-Product

total before S and H and any promo code's sits at $584

[QUOTE="hartsickdiscipl"]

[QUOTE="desertpython"]

A 6870 would murder a 460 and no L3 cache in Athlons will drop a lot of your FPS's.

desertpython

Alright, let's address some issues here-

-6870 is $30 to $50 more than a GTX 460 1GB. An overclocked GTX 460 1GB can keep up with a 6870. Almost all 460's overclock easily to this level.

-Athlon II X4's perform about 10-12% worse than a Phenom II X4 of the same clock speed in gaming. There is no game that a 3ghz Athlon II X4 can't run very well.

The loss in FPS isn't worth it.

Not worth saving $50 to $60 on the CPU, and $30 to $40 on the GPU in a build that has to stay under $600? Right.. :?

[QUOTE="suz437"]

I got an os, and an older monitor and will probably try to get someone else to build it for me b/c i have very limited knowledge in this. I could get a new monitor though, thats not too much a bother.

okay pitter patter lets get atter... ill edit this post with my listbut for now heres a little something to keep you interested..

[QUOTE="suz437"]

I got an os, and an older monitor and will probably try to get someone else to build it for me b/c i have very limited knowledge in this. I could get a new monitor though, thats not too much a bother.

okay pitter patter lets get atter... ill edit this post with my listbut for now heres a little something to keep you interested..

Im having a hard time getting it under 600$.(770$ is the best I could do)

I mean....It really depends on game's you're going to play. If you wan't to play something like Crysis you need $800-$900 on a completly fresh build. With a game like cod4 or L4d2 I could do 500$ easy. If you need a monitor and an OS then 600$ is impossible.

First ever builds are always the hard ones.....

[QUOTE="suz437"]

I got an os, and an older monitor and will probably try to get someone else to build it for me b/c i have very limited knowledge in this. I could get a new monitor though, thats not too much a bother.

okay pitter patter lets get atter... ill edit this post with my listbut for now heres a little something to keep you interested..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqNtsQebyuA&feature=related

edit: the list:

case+dvd: Rosewill challenger case + lite-on dvd-rom $70: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.542810

cpu + mobo+ram : athalon II x2 260 Regor 3.2ghz + 4gb ddr2-800 + Asus motherboard $172: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.543707

Here you go. This will be a rocking gaming rig. Comes to $599.60 with promo codes. No monitor or OS included.

ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM

Rosewill DESTROYER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, comes with Three Fans-1x Front Blue LED 120mm Fan, 1x Top 120mm ...

Western Digital Caviar Blue WD10EALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

ASRock M3A770DE AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard

Palit NE5X460SF1102 GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) Sonic 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

OCZ Fatal1ty OCZ550FTY 550W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V SLI Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

G.SKILL NS 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-4GBNS

AMD Athlon II X4 640 Propus 3.0GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor ADX640WFGMBOX

Here you go. This will be a rocking gaming rig. Comes to $599.60 with promo codes. No monitor or OS included.

ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM

Rosewill DESTROYER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, comes with Three Fans-1x Front Blue LED 120mm Fan, 1x Top 120mm ...

Western Digital Caviar Blue WD10EALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

ASRock M3A770DE AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard

Palit NE5X460SF1102 GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) Sonic 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

OCZ Fatal1ty OCZ550FTY 550W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V SLI Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

G.SKILL NS 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-4GBNS

AMD Athlon II X4 640 Propus 3.0GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor ADX640WFGMBOX

Here you go. This will be a rocking gaming rig. Comes to $599.60 with promo codes. No monitor or OS included.

ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM

Rosewill DESTROYER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, comes with Three Fans-1x Front Blue LED 120mm Fan, 1x Top 120mm ...

Western Digital Caviar Blue WD10EALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

ASRock M3A770DE AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard

Palit NE5X460SF1102 GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) Sonic 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

OCZ Fatal1ty OCZ550FTY 550W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V SLI Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

G.SKILL NS 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-4GBNS

AMD Athlon II X4 640 Propus 3.0GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor ADX640WFGMBOX

hartsickdiscipl

actually i like this one.. is good too.. bigger HDD.. i guess im just not fond of the mobo.. but w/e

[QUOTE="hartsickdiscipl"]

Here you go. This will be a rocking gaming rig. Comes to $599.60 with promo codes. No monitor or OS included.

ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM

Rosewill DESTROYER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, comes with Three Fans-1x Front Blue LED 120mm Fan, 1x Top 120mm ...

Western Digital Caviar Blue WD10EALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

ASRock M3A770DE AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard

Palit NE5X460SF1102 GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) Sonic 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

OCZ Fatal1ty OCZ550FTY 550W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V SLI Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

G.SKILL NS 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-4GBNS

AMD Athlon II X4 640 Propus 3.0GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor ADX640WFGMBOX

ionusX

actually i like this one.. is good too.. bigger HDD.. i guess im just not fond of the mobo.. but w/e

I can vouch for the motherboard. It's a great value.

Thanks man appreciate the helpsuz437

You're welcome. I have fun putting stuff like this together.

ive never had a board from asus or RoG fail on anyone i know.. but ive seen nothing but mediocre stuff from Asrock.. yes im aware their a child company of ASUS.. its just idk bad luck maybe mixed with a bit of fact..

ive never had a board from asus or RoG fail on anyone i know.. but ive seen nothing but mediocre stuff from Asrock.. yes im aware their a child company of ASUS.. its just idk bad luck maybe mixed with a bit of fact..

ionusX

I can tell you this- the M3A770DE isn't great for overclocking, but not horrible either. The onboard RAID support is pretty bad too from what I've heard. Of course, that won't affect most users at all. They made a bad choice of putting a very tall heatsink on the northbridge (originally the M3A770DE's had a shorter heatsink but they changed it). The tall sink means that you can't really use the top PCI-E x1 slot. However, the board has a 2nd full-length PCI-E slot and multiple PCI slots, so it's a really a non-issue for most users.

[QUOTE="suz437"]

I got an os, and an older monitor and will probably try to get someone else to build it for me b/c i have very limited knowledge in this. I could get a new monitor though, thats not too much a bother.

ionusX

okay pitter patter lets get atter... ill edit this post with my listbut for now heres a little something to keep you interested..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqNtsQebyuA&feature=related

edit: the list:

case+dvd: Rosewill challenger case + lite-on dvd-rom $70: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.542810

cpu + mobo+ram : athalon II x2 260 Regor 3.2ghz + 4gb ddr2-800 + Asus motherboard $172: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.543707

psu: antec earthwatts 650 watt psu $70 w/ 10% off promo code Apsu10 :http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371015

gpu: EVGA gtx 460 1gb w/ free copy of mafia II $209 also dont forget that every gpu is 10% off with a generic promo code atm.. move quick to get that savings..:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130571

hard drive: western digital caviar black sata 3.0 500gb HDD $60 : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136320&cm_re=caviar_black-_-22-136-320-_-Product

total before S and H and any promo code's sits at $584

Nice Job ! And to the TC, if your ready to buy, follw his suggestion and look to Newegg's Black Friday's deals now while they are hot. It will save you some cash.... Again ionusX, excellent suggestions to keep within budget and come up with a nice system for his needs.....well done.

*+

IM looking for something in this price range as well. The best thing you can do is go to Newegg and look at their "gaming desktop" pcs. They have a few under 600 that look good. You can only get so much BANG for that price. BUT the good thing is, they will play pretty much any game on high settings. Thats all im after cause my main concern is older games anyways.

Was looking at laptops, but im just turned off by the whole..."if something happeneds to it im out of luck" thing....I really want on more so then another desktop but being unable to fix things on it turns me off every time.

IM looking for something in this price range as well. The best thing you can do is go to Newegg and look at their "gaming desktop" pcs. They have a few under 600 that look good. You can only get so much BANG for that price. BUT the good thing is, they will play pretty much any game on high settings. Thats all im after cause my main concern is older games anyways.

Was looking at laptops, but im just turned off by the whole..."if something happeneds to it im out of luck" thing....I really want on more so then another desktop but being unable to fix things on it turns me off every time.

VanDammFan

mine is about the best your going to get and stay UNDER the 600 dollar watermark.

if you wanted = to or +25 bucks room for overhead then seagal is your man for this job..

Here you go. This will be a rocking gaming rig. Comes to $599.60 with promo codes. No monitor or OS included.

ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM

Rosewill DESTROYER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, comes with Three Fans-1x Front Blue LED 120mm Fan, 1x Top 120mm ...

Western Digital Caviar Blue WD10EALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

ASRock M3A770DE AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard

Palit NE5X460SF1102 GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) Sonic 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

OCZ Fatal1ty OCZ550FTY 550W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V SLI Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

G.SKILL NS 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-4GBNS

AMD Athlon II X4 640 Propus 3.0GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor ADX640WFGMBOX

hartsickdiscipl

[QUOTE="hartsickdiscipl"]

Here you go. This will be a rocking gaming rig. Comes to $599.60 with promo codes. No monitor or OS included.

ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM

Rosewill DESTROYER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, comes with Three Fans-1x Front Blue LED 120mm Fan, 1x Top 120mm ...

Western Digital Caviar Blue WD10EALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

ASRock M3A770DE AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard

Palit NE5X460SF1102 GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) Sonic 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

OCZ Fatal1ty OCZ550FTY 550W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V SLI Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

G.SKILL NS 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-4GBNS

AMD Athlon II X4 640 Propus 3.0GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor ADX640WFGMBOX

muscleserge

going 4 core isnt "that crucial" your selling it too much man.. all of 10 games need one and 8 of those are due to lazy coding on the dev's part..

and into the forseeable future we have no known games that will need one.. i foind your assumption to be a poor one.. yes its good but a tri core atm is the most you should really "need" and anything beyond this is your own cooky look at things..

Here you go. This will be a rocking gaming rig. Comes to $599.60 with promo codes. No monitor or OS included.

ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM

Rosewill DESTROYER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, comes with Three Fans-1x Front Blue LED 120mm Fan, 1x Top 120mm ...

Western Digital Caviar Blue WD10EALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

ASRock M3A770DE AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard

Palit NE5X460SF1102 GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) Sonic 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

OCZ Fatal1ty OCZ550FTY 550W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V SLI Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

G.SKILL NS 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-4GBNS

AMD Athlon II X4 640 Propus 3.0GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor ADX640WFGMBOX

hartsickdiscipl

going 4 core isnt "that crucial" your selling it too much man.. all of 10 games need one and 8 of those are due to lazy coding on the dev's part.. and into the forseeable future we have no known games that will need one.. i foind your assumption to be a poor one.. yes its good but a tri core atm is the most you should really "need" and anything beyond this is your own cooky look at things.. ionusX

[QUOTE="VanDammFan"]

IM looking for something in this price range as well. The best thing you can do is go to Newegg and look at their "gaming desktop" pcs. They have a few under 600 that look good. You can only get so much BANG for that price. BUT the good thing is, they will play pretty much any game on high settings. Thats all im after cause my main concern is older games anyways.

Was looking at laptops, but im just turned off by the whole..."if something happeneds to it im out of luck" thing....I really want on more so then another desktop but being unable to fix things on it turns me off every time.

ionusX

mine is about the best your going to get and stay UNDER the 600 dollar watermark.

if you wanted = to or +25 bucks room for overhead then seagal is your man for this job..

:P Seagal is always the man for the job.