CPU

Mother Board

GPU

8GB of RAM

1TB HDD for way more storage space then a console. You could drop the storage space to match a console and save a bit of money, but we won't do that.

PSU Cheaper/lower wattage for this build is possible, but it's better not to skimp

Disk drives are dying out and everything is going digital. Even consoles are showing massive growth in direct game purchases and downloads from PSN/XBL. But here it is if you want one.

Here's a few cases 1 2 3 4. Pick your case based on style, USB ports, whatever. All of those are 30 dollars or less and are mATX, meaning smaller form factor.

So now peripherals. Need a monitor? No you don't, plug it in to your TV. HDMI just like a console and consoles don't come with displays. You might have a monitor already.
Controller/input devices? PCs can use the old controllers you have laying around. Here's a keyboard and mouse recommendation anyway if you want one or don't already own them since most people own a computer for stuff outside gaming. That costs around half the price of an OEM console controller and KB+M is a more accurate input method. Controllers are a comfort thing and are best suited for driving games, but point and click with a high DPI sensor is much more intuitive and accurate than a controller with bad input filtering and clunky auto aim. Microsoft tried cross platform and keyboard and mouse destroyed gamepad/controller players. The only real cross platform right now is Rocket League because controllers are the better input method for driving so it's equal footing. But if you're playing Rocket League on PC, you load in faster. You'll be sitting on an empty field while you wait for other players to connect before the countdown and stuff starts, kinda neat. Also, that one I recommended has a button to change DPI/sensitivity on the fly, no need to bother with settings menus. Seamlessly go from sniping to roaming to driving. The keyboard is back lit and has a few color options.

Operating system? GNU/Linux is free and is getting more and more gaming support every day. It's not as hard as people make it out to be. Get a basic/user friendly distro like Ubuntu and all you really have to do is install. If you're a masochist, a developer, or a masochistic developer get a tougher distro like Gentoo. Funny thing as well, games with Linux support run better on Linux since it's such a great operating system on the software level. SteamOS is also free. Want Windows? Download the OS and put it on a disk or flash drive, install it on the new computer and enter the product key. Where do you get a product key? Don't buy it from a big box retail store for 100 bucks or likely more, you're getting gypped. You can buy 100% legit product keys online. r/microsoftsoftwareswap sells them for 20-25$ and the keys are straight from Microsoft

Also, all of those listings are from Amazon and are Amazon Prime eligible (for the other guy that replied to you that wants to complain about rebates/shipping/living next to a MicroCenter). You can find a lot of those parts cheaper and/or with free shipping. I recommend NewEgg. So you can do even better than the price I'm about to give you (which also means you can get better hardware for better performance):

Here's the itemized list with the prices: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/QBVRNG

$448.51 total for a PC that is massively better than current gen consoles. Drop the unnecessary DVD drive and the keyboard+mouse combo and the PC itself comes in at $402.93.

So... brand new parts from a large online retailer with a great support system. You can get even better deals on the parts if you checked other great online retailers like NewEgg. Ten years ago consoles absolutely made sense, but now leaps in hardware design have made better hardware cheaper and the tables have turned.

Does that "come close without cheating"?

Here's a few more kickers now that we have the hard price set:

AMD and Nvidia are about to launch a new line of GPUs, meaning current prices will drop (better performance at lower cost on that build I just gave you) and AMD is specifically focusing on lower/mid range market with higher performance and efficiency. It's going to be great for mainstream gaming rigs.

PC gaming is usually cheaper over time because Intel/Nvida/AMD don't charge development fees (they can't), neither can EVGA/ASUS or whoever makes the parts, neither can Microsoft. Steam takes a cut, but so do stores like GameStop. Stuff like that is why Steam can have massive sales consoles can only dream of and the developers can still profit from a sale. The only reason PC games are 60 dollars like their console equivalents is because it's the standard and they can "get away with it" (especially if you're Microsoft trying to expand Windows 10 and not alienate XBox), but they can make the same or more per sale at a lower cost.

PCs also have the largest game library of any platform and the massive free to play library that comes with it as well. And it's really free, not 'pay 50 a year for a subscription and get to play a game for a month' free

PC is, in theory, forever backwards compatible. Want to play CoD4? Don't shell out the money for Infinite Warfare, just install CoD4 and play on the servers PC still hosts. Games that came out upwards of 10 years ago can still be installed and run with no issue.

You don't have to double spend. No buying a console and a computer for work/school. Put your 300 dollar home computer and 400 dollar console prices together and you made a huge leap in budget to built a killer PC. You also get a much more versatile platform capable of running much more stuff and you get so much more control over your experience.

You have a mainboard with 4 slots, of which 2 are currently used. The ram you should buy is DDR3-1600. You can chose between buying either 2x4GB, maxing out your ram capacity at 16GB, or buying 1x8GB, leaving one slot to later have it easier to reach 24GB.

Ram is easy: you can just buy whichever offer is best of all normal companies. Just look at the timings (CL) – your current ram probably has CL 9, your next ram should have the same.

You could for example buy this stick:

Type|Item|Price

----|:----|:----
Memory | Crucial Ballistix DDR3-1600 (1x8GB) (8 GB) | EUR 28,81 @ Amazon.de

From your other topic for anyone else interested in this kind of project:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price

----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD A6-6400K 3.9GHz Dual-Core Processor | $49.19 @ Amazon
Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-F2A68HM-H Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard | $39.99 @ Amazon
Memory | Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | $27.99 @ Amazon
Case | Rosewill Line-M MicroATX Mini Tower Case | $39.99 @ Amazon
Power Supply | EVGA 430W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply | $29.85 @ Amazon
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total | ~$186.01
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-13 18:15 EDT-0400 |
That CPU has about 2.2k passmark score, enough for one 1080 stream (about 2k score per client). The 8gb ram is probably overkill, but it's cheap so why not. About 134 watt consumption if you run headless. Have fun :)

RAM: Crucial for $33 or Crucial Ballistix Sport for 39$

What's the difference?

EDIT: I'm planning on using the RAM for Gaming specifically, as I'm guessing that the 'sport' RAM is more tailored to that, but I'm wondering about actual differences

> it's not far off.

https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-Ballistix-PC3-12800-240-Pin-BLS8G3D1609DS1S00/dp/B006YG9E7O

lmao 60$

I'd suggest staying with 1x8GB since your motherboard only has two RAM slots, and going with a slightly cheaper and lower latency stick:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B006YG9E7O/

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006YG9E7O/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_3Vg5ybKYCRTHQ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CLBZAHY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_dVg5ybH0T9YV9 this is my processor and ram , which are the only things I can get to you rn. I have 2 Sticks of 8gb

If you are doing photo editing, I probably would not recommend the Asus K501 as it's screen is a bit dim and only a TN display rather than a more vibrant IPS display.

If you're willing to upgrade the laptop, your best option may be to upgrade a Dell Inspiron 7559. It has an i7, 8gb of Ram, 1TB HDD, and 960M graphics card naturally. And a full 1080p IPS display with decent color reproduction. You can then buy another 8gb of ram for $32, and add an m.2 SSD in addition to the 1TB HDD for anywhere from $75 to $200 depending on how much you want to add.

The RAM I have

I'll give it a try. I was able to play for about two hours with no crash which is good but also driving me crazy because I can't pinpoint a single cause. I was hoping it was some sort of animation issue, maybe the birds mod, or something that I could trace.

Ram: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006YG9E7O?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

I'm doubtful it is the card because I tried playing hi-res textures disabled and with all post-processing disabled and my SPM read the same and I crashed similarly.

Card: XFX Radeon R9 290 R9-290A-EDFD 4GB 512-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Double Dissipation Edition Video Card

Yup i think i will just stick to this one thanks.

A few questions

To do crossfire do I need the same exact graphics card?

I currently have this RAM. What specs do I need match when I look to upgrade? Also if I get two 4gb sticks would I run those dual core? and would they need to match the specs of the RAM I have now?

Yea this one.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006YG9E7O/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

AMD A10-Series APU A10-7850K: $130

Gigabyte AMD FM2+ A68H: $50

8GB DDR3 ram: $35

EVGA 500 PSU: $40

VIVO ATX Mid Tower Computer Gaming PC Case: $38

Total cost: $308 before taxes and shipping.

I have this RAM https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-Ballistix-PC3-12800-240-Pin-BLS8G3D1609DS1S00/dp/B006YG9E7O/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1480707596&sr=8-2&keywords=crucial+ballistix+sport+8gb

I find these 2 from a local shop

http://www.vatanbilgisayar.com/crucial-8gb-ballistix-tactical-ddr3-1600mhz-cl8-15v-pc-ram.html#genel-bakis

http://www.vatanbilgisayar.com/crucial-8gb-ballistix-sport-xt-ddr3-1600mhz-cl9-15v-pc-ram.html#genel-bakis

Should I buy the CL9 one or the CL8 one? Or order the same stick from Amazon?

This one should be good enough

https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-Ballistix-PC3-12800-240-Pin-BLS8G3D1609DS1S00/dp/B006YG9E7O/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1481487320&sr=1-3&keywords=8gb+ram

Just realised you stated you were German, I happen to be going through a proxy server in Munich right now so I had a look on Amazon.de and found this: https://www.amazon.de/Ballistix-Sport-PC3-12800-UDIMM-240-Pin/dp/B006YG9E7O/ref=sr_1_4?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1502105546&sr=1-4

I'd go for that, and you should have no compatibilty issues with it

Thanks for the quick reply. I believe I have this RAM. I would like to play on high to ultra settings on most games. I've also been eyeing a new 1080p 144hz monitor.

Yes, though you can get the exact same stick from Amazon for a few dollars less.

Hey man, I'm just gonna upgrade my computer instead. let's just forgot about that crappy graphic card. I'm thinking about keeping the cpu (i7), cpu cooler (H80), ram (https://www.amazon.com/Ballistix-Single-PC3-12800-240-Pin-Memory/dp/B006YG9E7O), and the power supply ( 80 Plus bronze, PS 750BSM). Should I change out the motherboard? What graphic card should I buy that could run ultra setting Overwatch around 100 fps or above?

I did this no more then two months ago all sourced from Amazon with prime shipping plus a 10% amazon employee discount which literally just covered tax cost in Seatttle which is 9.5% This is what I wound up getting, runs everything great. I'm overclocking at 4.3 with 55c temps completely stable and having zero issues. Playing most games on Very High settings at 60fps+ Streaming at 720p with 30fps cap. GW2, League of Legends, Shadows of Morder, The Witcher 2, Borderlands, etc...

Case: Rosewill ATX Mid Tower ~$40
Mobo: MSI 970A-G46 ~$75
CPU: AMD FX-6300 ~$117
Cooler:Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO ~$33
GPU:PNY GTX 750Ti ~$130
RAM:Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB ~$72
Monitor:BenQ GW2255 21.5" ~$120
Sub Total: $587

NOTES: This does not include the cost of HHD or SSD, Operating System, or peripherals. I leave this up to you depending on your needs but this is a solid base leaving room for more ram, hard drive etc. I wound up getting a headset, keyboard, mouse and webcam as well as a 1TB HDD wound up at $900ish range.

thanks for replies i'll check out those two cards

Is it worth sticking an extra 8gb RAM in as well? could i get this 8gb stick to go along with my 2x4gb?

Do you get any artifacting by any chance?

16GB may help fix the issue. Just roll back drivers to an older version. TBH, a single 8GB is cheaper, why didn't you go for that?

http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-Ballistix-PC3-12800-240-Pin-BLS8G3D1609DS1S00/dp/B006YG9E7O/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1457825590&sr=1-2&keywords=8gb+ram

Could I swap to this ram instead and order it from Amazon? I have quite a few Amazon gift cards that I could use.

Just order a new 8GB stick. I had seen that Server req 4GB but hadn't though about the need for more VM's.

I order this: RAM

Yo what is this article, it's made a list of the top 5 pre-built gaming PC's and they are all by the same brand, are they just the only competitive pre-built manufacturer?

Anyway, quick amazon US search (amazon isn't even the cheapest place for a lot of these parts) shows that all those parts are worth maybe 460 dollars (plus a case and windows which you can get for free) they also don't list any of the models/brands so I assume that means they are terrible, on the amazon search I get legit brands like EVGA for the PSU. See for yourself: https://www.amazon.com/MSI-GAMING-GTX-960-2G/dp/B00SAYDRP8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473949393&sr=8-1&keywords=Nvidia+GTX+960+2GB+GDDR5+Video+Card

https://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-DDR3-Micro-Motherboard-GA-78LMT-USB3/dp/B009FC3YJ8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473949409&sr=8-1&keywords=amd+760g

https://www.amazon.com/AMD-FD6300WMHKBOX-FX-6300-6-Core-Processor/dp/B009O7YORK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473949427&sr=8-1&keywords=fx-6300

https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-Ballistix-PC3-12800-240-Pin-BLS8G3D1609DS1S00/dp/B006YG9E7O/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1473949445&sr=1-2&keywords=8gb+ram

https://www.amazon.com/EVGA-WHITE-Warranty-Supply-100-W1-0500-KR/dp/B00H33SFJU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473949459&sr=8-1&keywords=500w+psu

https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Cache-Desktop-Drive-WD10EZEX/dp/B0088PUEPK/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1473949474&sr=1-1&keywords=1tb+hdd

You said you don't have a lot of money so I would definitely just build your own, other people have linked to subreddits that can tell you what components are best for the money for what you're going to be using it for, wouldn't be surprised if you could be playing CS:GO at 300 fps on a 450 dollar computer. When you buy a pre-built you are basically paying the manufacturer an extra 30% for them to build it for you, which is like 150 dollars in this case, for what would take you a couple of hours, idk anyone who's time is worth that much, you also lose the ability to save money by cutting costs in certain areas, you don't need a sick GPU to play CS:GO afaik for example.

I keep trying to post this but every time I do it it viewed by the rest of the reddit as deleted. So I have no idea what to do!

Have you read the sidebar and rules? (Please do)

Yes.

What is your intended use for this build? The more details the better.

I plan on starting up a YouTube channel for League of Legends and a few other online games like Starcraft II and Overwatch.

If gaming, what kind of performance are you looking for? (Screen resolution, FPS, game settings)

I want at the very least 720p with a very stable 60 fps for league at medium settings the least, but would prefer to have setting pumped to max.

What is your budget (ballpark is okay)?

My budget is $500-$525 (taxes and OS included)

In what country are you purchasing your parts?

United States

Post a draft of your potential build here (specific parts please). Consider formatting your parts list. Don't ask to be spoonfed a build (read the rules!).

Type|Item|Price

----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD Athlon Quad Core FM2+ | $95.63 @ Amazon
Graphics Card | XFX PCI-Express Video Card R7-360P-2SF5 | $101.47 @ Amazon
Motherboard | Gigabyte AMD FM2+ Micro ATX | $49.99 @ Amazon
Memory | Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB | $34.99 @ Amazon
Case w/ Power Supply | Rosewill Ultra High Gloss Finished MicroATX Computer Case with 400W ATX 2.2 12V Power Supply, Black R363-M-BK | $56.64 @ Amazon
|| Total
| | $338.72"

Provide any additional details you wish below.

I really only want this build to be able to run League of Legends and also be able to record with no drop in FPS or in setting. My goal is to have it on high settings as well. I am a big newbie at computer building so this is a pre-build that I want to use because it is cheap. If you have any suggestions that I should change a part out or if I forgot something let me know, I'm only running 8gbs of ram but I might want to run 16 if it will help the recording while playing. Also another question, can I mix ram? Two different ram sticks of different brands? My guess is no but if someone could tell me that would be great. I already have a SSD that I'm going to have installed also but didn't put in the build.

Side note I do no know how to choose the OS. I want to go with Windows 7 but everywhere I look it's about $100, any solution to this would be great thanks.

What would you suggest between

http://www.amazon.com/Kingston-HyperX-FURY-2x4GB-1600MHz/dp/B00J8E93G6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1409944209&sr=8-2&keywords=ram

and

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006YG9E7O/?tag=pcpapi-20

They are both nice. Crucial Ballistix Sport are even nicer and cheaper: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-BLS2CP4G3D1609DS1S00CEU-Ballistix-240-pin-PC3-12800/dp/B006YG94Y2/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1398350059&sr=1-1&keywords=crucial+ballistix+sport+8gb

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-BLS8G3D1609DS1S00CEU-Ballistix-240-pin-PC3-12800/dp/B006YG9E7O/ref=sr_1_3?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1398350059&sr=1-3&keywords=crucial+ballistix+sport+8gb

> Is this your first day learning about building computers?

No, but chances are I've been doing it many, many times longer than you considering your very first build was only done a week ago :)

Bud, let's not resort to ad hominems. The fact of the matter is that I am not attacking you. I am saying you could've done a lot better for the price.

When you build a gaming computer and you come to /r/buildapc for a performance evaluation, it's not hard to see that the build I put in another comment with a 390 performs far, far better for games. Here's some synthetic benchmarks for comparison. Here is how it compares to a 960 and a 380. They didn't even bother including the 390 because it's so far beyond it that it's crazy.

> It's for older games at 1080p and I get 60 FPS in every single one, so I am satisfied

Because a 280X/7970 is about $50 cheaper on average, has more VRAM, and performs far, far better.

>Memory: Its actually 1600 speed and once again, works just fine for MY needs, not YOUR needs, but MINE. Price is average for that type of RAM as well.

??? That RAM is made to be OC'ed; that's why it has heatsinks. Just take it and tweak it in the BIOS in about 2 seconds and BAM 1600 Mhz. You overpaid. It's about $37 for 8 GB of RAM. Just get two of these.

>once I want to upgrade

Kabylake will be out by the time you want to upgrade most likely, or Zen. Kind of a moot point.

>PSU: There isn't much to say here; YOU DONT SKIMP ON THE POWER SUPPLY

But you don't go overkill. A 500W EVGA PSU for $40 would have accomplished the same thing and would be just as reliable in real usage, especially with a power draw that low. It's just waste.

>Maybe I want an i3 and a 950, and you want an i5 and a 290. That's great! Go and buy an i5 and a 290!

Well that's not the problem, buddy. The problem is that the i5 and the 390 destroy the 950 and it does it cheaper. So your point is aesthetics. You paid a couple hundred for aesthetics, but the point we are making is that you could have gotten better gaming experience with the same amount or even less money. That's why this sub exists. This sub really isn't about aesthetic elements as much; there are other enthusiast places you can check for that.

TL; DR: We are concerned primarily with price/performance, and that is what we criticize about the build.

Some folks like Alienware and that's all fine and dandy, but it could be a bit of a waste.