Need a budget gaming rig

[Donkeypunch0420]

Hi guys, so the last time I built a computer was probably about 2002. Think Counter Strike before Steam, single core processors, PC1000 RAM. So been out of it for awhile, now play on lame consoles. However, I've been addicted to Twitch lately, particularly DayZ, and now I need to get in on it. Are there any factory built gaming rigs that will get me going for about $500? If not, can one be built for about that much? Is so, what parts would you guys use? I'm in So Cal so Frys is easy access. Thank you!

[afteractionreport]

Its possible but you may havd to wait for spwcials and stuff...i wouldnt cheap out on the main components like cpu, motherboard,video card or PSU...the ram you can get away with some midlevel brand and maybe even the PSU but dedinitely dump most of your budget on the CpU and Motherboard...

All other stuff look for clearance at frys or newegg....

I havent looked at what intel is offering these day in way of chips but always go intel. And always go ASUS for the motherbaords
Ive heard good things aboot gygabite but i dont uave personal experience with them.

Psu: antec, corsair
MB:ASUS,gygabyte
Ram:corsair, (ive heard decent things about gskill and mushkin)
HDD:western digital
CPU:intel
Graphics card: sorry no reccommendations.

[2shotjoe]

https://pchound.com/xRhcZj/

[MaHoTex]

Newegg.com and Amazon. Between these two you do not need anything else.

Go with i5 CPU and some Gigabyte motherboard. 8G+ ram for sure. Graphics card is where you have to dump the cash. I am a fan of NVIDIA series and avoid AMD, but that is preference.

[castgold]

I've built a couple i5 gaming rigs and everything was fine until I got a 4k display. New i5, corsair liquid cpu cooler, asus board, new psu, all for the 980ti card. My original builds were all around $450 or less for playing Dota 2 on Steam. I had better luck at Microcenter than Fry's.

[j-shot]

Hi guys, so the last time I built a computer was probably about 2002. Think Counter Strike before Steam, single core processors, PC1000 RAM. So been out of it for awhile, now play on lame consoles. However, I've been addicted to Twitch lately, particularly DayZ, and now I need to get in on it. Are there any factory built gaming rigs that will get me going for about $500? If not, can one be built for about that much? Is so, what parts would you guys use? I'm in So Cal so Frys is easy access. Thank you!

I think your budget $500 gaming rig is either an xbox or ps with an extra controller and a few games on top.

[OutlawStar]

Visit this site: http://www.logicalincrements.com/ for a bit of direction on parts if you decide to build your own. You can even post a list of parts here and calguns will be happy to verify parts and offer suggestions for improvement within a budget.

Don't get hung up on brands so much, they're just good examples. You can go up or down in certain areas where you're re-using parts, or where you just don't need it. Factory built rigs are available, but you'll have to consider they have extra overhead and need to turn a profit, so you're paying for someone else to do what you know you can do.

AMD (both processor and graphics) have the highest performance per dollar, but intel and nvidia are the shear performance winner. Just remember that speed costs money, so if you want a really high powered machine, you'll need to spend more than $500. There isn't a rational reason to avoid one or the other.

Newegg, and amazon if you'd like the most selection, frys is certainly a viable solution, they do price matching to internet prices. If yo'ure starting from scratch, $500 is a really tight budget, consider skipping ammo purchases for a month or two and save up more. I'm assuming you'll buy windows for $100, monitor for $125, and a case is easily $50. You're already over 50% of your budget and it won't even be a computer.

[Donkeypunch0420]

Thanks for the advice guys. What do you guys think about the first thing that pops up on amazon?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0111MTSZ8/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1467335877&sr=1-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=gaming+desktop&dpPl=1&dpID=51ve2tCMnrL&ref=plSrch

[afteractionreport]

As a guy who use to work as a saleman in the co mputer dept at frys electronics i will say no to the cyberpowers...

Maybe theyve changed since 2006-7 but they were crap then....constantly returned

Youre better off building one

[Albs]

I made my PC for 400 bucks, this was a while back, but it was just for casual gaming.

Check out the thread: http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/s....php?t=1157799

Never go cheap on your GPU if you have a tight budget.

Since AMD dropped their new RX 480 for $200, it's the best bang for the buck at the moment; equivalent to the 970 for about 60 bucks less.

[sholling]

If I were to try and build a budget system I'd build an i5 and Gigabyte MB based system with an AMD RX480 video card. But I don't think you could keep it within budget. I built my i5 gaming rig with a GTX960.

If you watch for sales you occupationally see Dell's Inspiron 3650 desktop with an i7-6700, 16GB DDR3L RAM, 2TB HDD, and an AMD Radeon R9 360 on the motherboard for $580 with a coupon code. The sale in link below may or may not be expired but if it's not still good it'll probably be back. If it had a had a usable video card slot I'd think about buying one for myself.

http://slickdeals.net/f/8883815-dell-inspiron-3650-desktop-i7-6700-16gb-ddr3-2tb-hdd-amd-radeon-r9-360-300w-psu-579-at-dell-small-business-with-f-s?src=SiteSearchV2_SearchBarV2Algo1

[Eldraque]

If your gonna get a pre built id recommend getting one locally so you can take it to them if you have problems. I suggest just building and troubleshooting your own system. Advantage to custom builds is you can get better components for your money. A quick build I would purchase myself with your budget would be something like this.

http://pcpartpicker.com/list/TsZd6X

Important thing to note is bottlenecking. Two parts you want to spend the most on is CPU and Graphics. But DONT spend $50 on CPU and $300 on graphics, i see so many people cheap out on every component then spending 80% of budget on graphics.

[Donkeypunch0420]

If your gonna get a pre built id recommend getting one locally so you can take it to them if you have problems. I suggest just building and troubleshooting your own system. Advantage to custom builds is you can get better components for your money. A quick build I would purchase myself with your budget would be something like this.

http://pcpartpicker.com/list/TsZd6X

Important thing to note is bottlenecking. Two parts you want to spend the most on is CPU and Graphics. But DONT spend $50 on CPU and $300 on graphics, i see so many people cheap out on every component then spending 80% of budget on graphics.

I'm leaning towards something like this. Think it's worth it to go 16gb vs. 8gb RAM?

What OS should i run? Last time I installed an OS, it was Windows XP.Any recommendations for WiFi/wireless ethernet?

[OutlawStar]

its very worth it to go 16gb since ram is so cheap. You don't need one with an aluminum heat sink and fans and lights, just about anything will do fine. to get a 16gb kit is more cost effective, it doesn't double the price going from 8 to 16.

If i had to install an OS, i'd do win7 again, I'm just not ready to make the leap to 10.

Just about any pcie wifi card will do, I wouldn't bother with ethernet adapters, and extenders, just go full wireless.

[Sliik]

I can help if your local.