Budget before or after rebates? One of the $700 i5 builds posted would do just fine, for $1000 you can build pretty much anything you want if you shop right.

Rebates are fine, only thing that I would add is a drive and an OS

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($209.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($86.87 @ Amazon)
Memory: Kingston Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($75.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($52.91 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 280 3GB WINDFORCE Video Card  ($199.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Rosewill Line Glow ATX Mid Tower Case  ($34.00 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Rosewill 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($36.00 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer  ($13.50 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit)  ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $799.23
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-22 17:13 EDT-0400

Something like that would do just fine.

Thanks! .  

What about ssd? I've never used one

I'd add a 60-120GB SSD for about $70 for your OS and any really frequently used games; it helps decrease load times and like but doesn't increase gaming performance so in a budget gaming machine its usually a feature I forgo.

I hate you for costing me money but thank you for your help

Thanks for the links!  It is time for me to upgrade.  I was starting to think of an upgrade for when Star Citizen comes out, but I tried Assassin's Creed IV last night and it was stuttering.  

I still have a solid case and power supply and enough storage so I'll select a good Intel quad core, motherboard, 8GB of RAM and new NVidia based video card.

ETA:

I think I will go with (all through Amazon for free Prime shipping, gets the cost inline with NewEgg):


ASUS ATX DDR3 2600 LGA 1150 Motherboard Z97-K/CSM            $123.99  (I like ASUS motherboards...)

Intel Core i5-4460 LGA 1150 CPU - BX80646I54460                         $189.99

EVGA GeForce GTX 750Ti Superclock w/G-SYNC Support 2GB GDDR5 128bit  $153.99  (I prefer NVidia chipsets)

I'll also get 8GB of RAM and will pick up a 1TB SATA drive.  Didn't realize how cheap they have become, and it will make it easier to transfer all of my data and games to the new PC.  I'll use it with the old motherboard, CPU and RAM in an old case for a web browsing PC.

If your going to go for a locked CPU, save money and get an H97 chipset motherboard

Thanks for the tip- I am not much of an overclocker.


I'll try the Gigabyte H97 Motherboard GA-H97-D3H.  $30 cheaper and it gets good reviews, so this will be my first non-ASUS build in many years.

Doc, I'm re thinking my MoBo choice for my build. Apparently it is not very good for overclocking.

What would you recommend in the $80 range for OCing the AM3+ processors? I'd like to get my FX6300 to 4.2-4.4ghz. I have a Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO cooler, 2 intake fans, 3 exhaust fans

What case did you end up going with? Is it a ATX or mATX sized case?

Unfortunately pretty much all of the AMD mATX boards are pretty dismal for overclocking.

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-970extreme3r20
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-ga970aud3p

something like this will be your best bets in the price range.

Finally done with the pc,
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Very nice thread.   Taking a look to build one now.

FX CPUs should be going down in price soon, updated build lists when they do.

What OS is used in this build?

Man, the memory went up $56!

Any reason why I'd want that specific brand/model?

Yeah. ..

Exceeded my budget a small bit.

Just under $1800.

Negative, it was the cheapest at the time the build list was generated. Most RAM is pretty similar to other brands, the main concern I would look for when comparing RAM from different manufacturers around the same price point is a lot of complaints where people had DOA sticks and had to RMA them.

Cool cool.

Do you still like that build?

I've got a huge case, any full size Mobos you'd recommend vs. the mini?

If you are going to be running a single monitor, and don't anticipate the need to run multiple monitors, the mATX will do the job just fine. If you think you might want to expand to a second GPU then a full size board would be more appropriate. The objective in this thread more or less though is to post budget builds -- the very nature of them is to keep costs down while providing good gaming performance, so an SLI setup would be sort of contrary to that goal, so you'll see most of the builds I recommend featuring mATX builds with lesser features or less robust chipsets to save money to put towards other components that will have a noticable difference in actual performance during gaming.

If you are dead set on a full sized board, you'll want to get something with a Z97 chipset. They'll let you work with SLI setups and will work better with an SSD if you decide to add one later down the road.

Makes sense.  

I'm just worried that the mini won't fit in my maxi case.

You can fit smaller boards in bigger cases, but not vice versa.

sub-$500 (before rebates) FX6300 build

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor  ($98.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus M5A78L-M/USB3 Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard  ($44.99 @ Micro Center)
Memory: Team Vulcan 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($68.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($53.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R7 260X 2GB DirectCU II Video Card  ($104.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1100 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($27.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $419.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-12 06:25 EDT-0400
After rebates comes out to just over $400; pretty much a revision of the build from the first page but with current pricing. Fractal case was selected based on my experience with the Fractal ARC mini and Core 1000, which were some of the one of the best mATX cases I've worked with, though if you'd rather work in a full sized case you can swap it out with the Bitfenix Merc from the build below for about $2 more. 6300 + 260X should be able to handle most games at decent settings on a single monitor, some less intensive games should get decent frames even on high settings. More CPU intensive games might give it some problems with stuttering and the like but overall for a little over $400 after rebates and $25 shy of $500 before rebates, for the cost it does very well.


$600 (before rebates) 8 core + R9 280 Build

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor  ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus M5A78L-M/USB3 Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard  ($44.99 @ Micro Center)
Memory: Team Vulcan 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($68.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($53.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 280 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card  ($169.99 @ Newegg)
Case: BitFenix Merc Beta (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($29.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply  ($28.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $521.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-12 06:26 EDT-0400
Taking advantage of a current Newegg combo discount, we get the 8 core 8320 paired with an R9 280 for $600, or $521 if you include mail in rebate offers. Although we don't get the most out of the unlocked 8320 by basing it on the M5A78L-M (the board doesn't support overclocking very well at all), the base performance of the 8320 combined with the 280 is great considering the cost-to-performance ratio. The Barracuda is a staple HDD for most of these builds as it consistently has the best size-cost ratio; Team Vulcan is currently the cheapest deal for 8GB of 1600mhz RAM. The Bitfenix Merc Beta case is very similar to the Merc Alpha case I've linked for previous builds, but with the lack of mounting options for fans up top -- though since we won't be overclocking and its a full size case, we don't really have to worry about adding too much additional cooling options (though a front intake fan wouldn't hurt). The EVGA PSU isn't bronze rated, but the difference between 80+ and 80+ bronze is a 3% efficiency rating, so for our purposes the price suits the build very well.

Here's nearing my final build:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($177.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-E33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($47.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($72.00 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($79.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($74.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 280 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card  ($156.00 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $643.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-12 06:53 EDT-0400

Good, bad, ugly?



Oh, and just stick a USB dongle in for Wifi?  Any recommendations?

My thoughts (remember, they're what you paid for them!):

Nice price on the power supply.

You could save a few bucks stepping down on notch on the graphics card as your chosen mobo does not support all it's features (crossfire).

For a couple bucks more, you could get a mobo that has usb 3.0 headers (so you can access 3.0 on the front of your box).

Do you need a WD Black hdd?  Go Blue and save a few buxors.

Can you get a cheaper version of that CPU without the HD graphics or the graphics turned off? Seems like an opportunity to save money, but not sure what the performance is.

The WD Black is going to have a higher RPM and cache of RAM -- still, the best 1TB HDD price to size ratio is the seagate. Both have the same warranty and the like, so if he saved $20 bucks there, he could upgrade his motherboard to something like this http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=MB-H97MD3H&c=CJ#, that not only could support USB 3.0, or a crossfire setup if he wants to (though the 280 was selected specifically for its high performance as a single card for its price -- crossfiring would be overkill for most games unless on multiple monitors). The 4460 doesn't have a P, or GPUless model, and right now, is the cheapest i5 CPU on the market, while being located right in the middle of i5 performance, so its a great deal. Since he probably won't be upgrading to crossfire, he could save a bit of money sticking to an H81 motherboard with an onboard header like this one here, which is $7 more than the one he wanted and very similar, but with an onboard USB3 header.

My PC is not in any way a "budget" build...but I never finished it how I really wanted.












 

Pretty much a trait of AMD products in general. Still, price to performance, they beat Nvidia or Intel hands down -- and a lot of these builds listed cost less than your motherboard or that SSD you wanted outright because they use them. The 280 at less than $200 is an amazing deal, especially for one factory OC'd, when compared to the GTX760.

I thought the Blue and Black were the same RPM now, and it appears they are.  However, the Black has up to 4x the cache of the Blue!

Yep, looks like I was mistaken -- the WD black also has a better warranty now. HDD's are one of the most common parts that fail, so if he wants to have a little more piece of mind, I wouldn't fault his decision to go with that HDD.

Still recommending he put $7 more towards a motherboard with a USB3.0 header like you recommended, too.

Okay, I'm gonna keep the black, spend the extra money on the E34 board, and I might swap out the SDD for a different brand.  

Another arfcommer told me they're having issues with that model.

Updated:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($177.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-E34 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($55.72 @ Mwave)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($72.00 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($71.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($74.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 280 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card  ($156.00 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $643.66
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-12 19:21 EDT-0400

What's the hotness in 60mm fans these days?



I probably need to replace a couple in my case.

Should I try to set them to blow on one side and suck on the other to get cross flow?  Or suck all the time?

have any front fans be an intake, and any rear/top as exhaust. I don't know how many fan headers are on that motherboard, usually budget mATX only have a couple. If you have more than the headers you might need to get adapters to plug them into one of the molex cables on your psu or adapters to plug them into the same fan header on the mobo.

Are 60mm fans all your case can take? 120's are like the standard.

Yeah, it's a hella old case, but oh so stylish:



2 60's in the front, 1 60 in the back, and 1 60 as a chimney fan.

Good enough?

ETA:

These ASUS mobos cost as much as the MSI:

http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-H81M-A-DDR3-1333-Motherboards/dp/B00ESETQOK/ref=psdc9_t2_B00HUFEUQ8_B00ESETQOK

http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-H81M-E-DDR3-1333-Motherboards/dp/B00ESETQNG/ref=psdc9_t1_B00HUFEUQ8_B00ESETQNG

Better, worse?

Negative pressure will help keep dust out (all fans blowing out/exhaust)

Maybe invest like $20-30 for one of those better budget cases like the Fractal 1100 or the Bitfenix Merc -- you'd at least have the option for fan mounts. They aren't very flashy or full of lights but they do the job. As for the mother boards, the full size boards might have more options for fan headers and the like as they're full size ATX boards. They're the same chipset though so they'd support the same confgurations pretty much exactly the same.

Inspired by the discussed setup; $600 i5 build

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($177.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-E34 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($55.72 @ Mwave)
Memory: Team Vulcan 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($68.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($53.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: HIS Radeon R9 280 3GB IceQ OC Video Card  ($179.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1100 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($27.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $604.65
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-13 05:06 EDT-0400

i5 CPU's have better per core performance than any of the FX series chips by AMD -- the motherboard is a pretty barebones MSI model, which with the latest BIOS revision supports the Haswell refresh 4460. The 4460 is a middle of the line CPU in the i5 series, but is currently the least expensive CPU and the best price to performance for an Intel CPU. The RAM is the cheapest 8GB dual channel setup at current, standard for most of latest builds, and still the Barracuda comes in as the best size-cost ratio for HDD. The HIS 280 is less expensive than the MSI offering if you do not take account rebates. If you count rebates, you can get the MSI twin frozr 280 for technically less, but I wanted to keep this setup as close to $600 without rebates as possible. The Fractal case used in recent builds is retained, Fractal produces amazing products for the price. The 430W ends up being the perfect sized PSU for our setup, thanks to the i5 being a bit more efficient than an offering from AMD.

Thanks for everyone's help!

I just pulled the trigger on everything, I'll put up a build thread.

Anyone got a copy of Windows 8 laying around?

Don't get 8. Get 8.1

I think you can update 8 to 8.1 fo' free.

I might be getting the hotness for a case too!

Well, hopefully doc will approve of these fans:









In keeping with the budget build...got it for $50.



It's HUUUUGE.

Airflow will definitely not be a problem. Its almost sad that you ended up going with a micro atx board -- you could have done like an X99 build with 64GB of RAM and four GPU's in that thing.

You don't need 64Gb of RAM for gamibg. I have 16GB and its more than enough.

Yeah, it was a joke in reference to how big the case is, not an actual suggestion.

Bit the bullet and bought Windows 8.1 full version.

All of the parts should be coming today.

Any building tips?

1. Should I put the mobo in the case, and then the chip/cooler?
2. Or assemble outside the case, then put in?
3. Powersupply first then mobo, or other way around?
4. I assume all the fans plug into the mobo, not the power supply?
5. Do SSD's get hot?  Do I need to have airflow over it?

I have an anti-static wristband.  

Classic Shell 4.0 will be going on ASAP.

What the fuck??

Go through all this to build your own system and then you do that?

I usually do a preassembly outside of the case and test it before putting it in to make sure all the components work. Then I install by placing the PSU in first, then routing all the wiring towards the back to get it out of the way, then install motherboard. Plug in all wirings and tie them down so they're out of the way, install HDD/SSD, plug them in to the mother board, tie wires out of the way, plug in rest of components, tie rest of wires off.

SSD's don't really get hot unless they're close to hot components. Focus on cooling off the CPU/GPU. Have front/side fans be intake, rear/back fans be exhaust. You want more exhaust than intake to keep dust out.

 

Most important advice... Don't put the side panel on until everything is working. Avoid the curse!