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.

get the 860k, literally a dollar more, faster, and overclockable (which would make the 212 evo make sense) https://www.amazon.com/AMD-Athlon-Thermal-Solution-AD860KXBJASBX/dp/B01BIWKNAK/

also, get a 120gb SSD from amazon literally the same price as the 30gb.

you can probably get like a 650/ti for that money

Wow, that psu is big.

The 860K will be a big upgrade compared to what you have now. It will also be totally sufficient if you don't intend to game AAA games on high FPS all the time. You should however get another version: This one comes with a quiet cooler that is capable of overclocking, you would not need the Hyper TX3, saving 20€.

If the focus is gaming, a Skylake i5 would indeed be in your budget and be the better choice:

pc-kombo shared list

Type|Item|Price

----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i5-6500 | EUR 199,00 @ Mindfactory
Motherboard | MSI H110M PRO-VD | EUR 55,07 @ Amazon.de
Memory | Crucial Value DDR4-2133 (1x8) (8 GB) | EUR 33,58 @ Cyberport
| Total | €298.63
| Generated by pc-kombo 26.07.2016 |

Screw the Pentium. You're better off with the AMD Athlon X4 860k with 4 real cores.

That motherboard is socket fm2+ right? Your best bet really for that is something like an Athlon x4 860k. I'm not entirely sure of your motherboard's socket though, you may want to find that first.

What about an x4 860k? I don't really understand AMD's naming scheme, and the benchmarks don't seem that far off.

so i do have a A68HM-PLUS : https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/A68HMPLUS/

Should i return my FX-6300 and grab x4 860k

https://www.amazon.com/AMD-Athlon-Thermal-Solution-AD860KXBJASBX/dp/B01BIWKNAK/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1482783377&sr=1-1&keywords=x4+860k

or some other FM2+ cpu ?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BIWKNAK/?tag=pcpapi-20

If you've only got 175 there's no sensible upgrade including board unless you go used.

https://www.amazon.com/AMD-Athlon-Thermal-Solution-AD860KXBJASBX/dp/B01BIWKNAK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1500587099&sr=8-1&keywords=athlon+x4+860k

AMD Athlon X4 880K is the best CPU you can put in your motherboard. You'd probably be better off buying this AMD Athlon X4 860K instead and just overclocking it.

How much system RAM do you have?

You know what, you are 100% correct. I was going to recommend the 860K to OP, but for some reason, I thought the 860K was on the AM3+ socket. Whoops.

/u/LeanZo, forgive my mistake. An 860K would be a little cheaper and would give better performance.

Make sure to get an X4 860K ($75), GTX 750 Ti (~$100), and that stick of RAM ($15).

> Athlon x4 860k

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BIWKNAK/ref=psdc_229189_t1_B00MU00IOQ

This one right?