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[QuantumSquid]

Do you want an affordable gaming PC that will be super-simple to assemble and provide you with a great 1080p gaming experience in everything from Overwatch to The Witcher 3? If the answer is yes, read on.

Something very exciting has happened with the release of Intel's new Kaby-Lake processors. While the higher-end offerings provide minimal performance gains over the previous generation, the budget end of their processor lineup has seen a massive jump in price/performance.

For roughly $70, you can buy the new Pentium G4560, which offers a level of performance that is almost identical to the popular and significantly more expensive i3-6100 from Intel's last generation of processors.

What does this mean? Well, coupled with some recent deals on AMD's excellent RX 470 graphics card, it means you can now build a capable gaming PC for substantially less money than it used to cost.

Let's go through all of the parts one by one so you can see my reasoning for choosing them.

Processor/CPU: Intel Pentium G4560

I already kind of explained this one, but long story short: what made last generation's dual core i3-6100 so good was its hyperthreading technology, which gives it better performance through the simulation of additional cores; cores that aren't physically present on the processor chip itself. The i3-6100 was a great value at its MSRP of $120, but now, with the G4560, you can get almost exactly as much performance for nearly half the price. This processor is probably going to be the king of the budget gaming CPU space for a while unless AMD is hiding something amazing in their Ryzen lineup.

Motherboard: Gigabyte B250 MicroATX

It's a good basic motherboard that has all the features we need for a totally reasonable price. It also has 4 RAM slots, which is unusual for an inexpensive MicroATX board like this one.

RAM: 8GB Crucial Ballistix DDR4 @ 2666 MHz

One stick. 8GB of RAM. Pop this in any of the RAM slots on the motherboard and you're golden, no need to worry about putting multiple sticks in the right slots to activate dual-channel or anything like that. 2666 MHz is faster than usual for cheap RAM, too; usually basic RAM runs at 2133.

Storage: 1TB Western Digital Caviar Blue

This was a tough one as I know a lot of people think SSDs are an absolute necessity for any modern PC, but for a gaming PC, you're going to need a lot of space for the humongous 50GB games that you're gonna play on it, and you can always add an SSD later if you want.

Video Card: MSI Radeon RX 470 4GB

If your budget for a video card is "under $200", it's hard to do better than the RX 470. Some will question the viability of 4GB of VRAM in 2017, but for 1080p gaming, I think it's fine. I use a GTX 970 in my personal rig which only has 4GB of VRAM (0.5 of which doesn't run at full speed) and I have never encountered VRAM issues gaming at my monitor's native resolution of 1920x1080.

Also, there is a promotion running at the moment where if you buy this video card, you get a free code for the new HITMAN game. Trust me, you want that. HITMAN is a sweet game with some sweet visuals to match, and it would make a great benchmark for your new PC.

Case: Corsair 88R

For fifty bucks, this is a great case. Solid construction, no crappy sharp metal on the inside for you to cut your hands on, just a nice charcoal black case that comes with everything you need for a gaming PC build. There's even a window on the left side so you can look inside and watch all of the fans spin! Wonderful.

Power Supply: EVGA 500B 80+ Bronze Certified

If there's one thing you shouldn't skimp out on, it's your power supply. Super-cheap power supplies are pretty much just glorified fire hazards, and you owe it to yourself to get at least a decent bronze certified unit like this one to keep your PC's components powered properly.

And that's all the parts! Here's the full parts list for you to refer to on PCPartPicker.com if you're interested in building this PC yourself:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G4560 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($75.00 @ B&H)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B250M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($73.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Tactical 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($49.18 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI Radeon RX 470 4GB ARMOR OC Video Card ($169.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair Carbide Series 88R MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.98 @ B&H)
Total: $518.11
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-02-01 23:11 EST-0500

If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Yes, I did make a super dumb thread last year about how I didn't think budget gaming PCs were worth it. I was wrong then, and I'm especially wrong now that there are great new parts available like the G4560 that provide such great performance for the price.

 

[Art Vandilay]

There's also the OS, keyboard, and mouse to consider. And monitor if you're not using a TV. I keep wanting to make the leap, but just going to wait until after Scorpio releases.

In before but you can get ps4pro for 200$ that plays at 4k.

$200? I want one.

 

[Vipu]

In before but you can get ps4pro for 200$ that plays at 4k.

 

[HvySky]

In before but you can get ps4pro for 200$ that plays at 4k.

Where are you getting a PS4 Pro for $200 and would you kindly point me in that direction?

 

[QuantumSquid]

In before but you can get ps4pro for 200$ that plays at 4k.

I know I'm not alone in preferring 1080p60 to 4K.

 

[Leafhopper]

In before but you can get ps4pro for 200$ that plays at 4k.

You mean "4K"

 

[Ibuki]

 

[Renekton]

Great parts but please include OS ☺

 

[QuantumSquid]

tru

 

[medze]

I wanted to throw in that I grabbed a rx480 8gb for around $200 not even a month ago. I know those deals probably aren't too common but might be worth keeping an eye out for that rather than a rx470 4gb.

 

[Kazuo Hirai]

Great parts but please include OS ☺

When no os.include, I think he imply the...pirate.
But pirate os is not common in Western, am I right?

 

[Atraveller]

You mean "4K"

FauxK

 

[dsk1210]

You can buy windows 10 keys for about £20, just download the iso and buy a key.

 

[Femto.]

There's also the OS, keyboard, and mouse to consider. And monitor if you're not using a TV.

Yeah, most of the time these threads never add the cost of peripherals. Like what are people going to do with just a tower? Sit on it? lol

PC gaming is awesome if you want to make the investment. I used it for most Western releases back when I gamed heavily on the platform.

 

[TheSeks]

When no os.include, I think he imply the...pirate.
But pirate os is not common in Western, am I right?

Or you could run the games on Linux.

I mean shit Disgaea 2 has a Linux port now.

 

[Crayon]

When no os.include, I think he imply the...pirate.
But pirate os is not common in Western, am I right?

We do not imply pirate here on GAF.

He meant you should use Linux.

 

[Aztechnology]

Here's a better option for the GPU.

RX 480 4GB $154.99 From Newegg or $160 from Amazon after rebate.



RX 480 8GB $204.99 or $197.99 with Amex Promo

 

[kuYuri]

You can go even cheaper on some of these parts too.

Also, as someone who built using the Corsair 88R recently, I would not recommend that case.

 

[Grifter]

Helpful thread! If I had about that budget and just needed an MB/CPU/RAM combo, would these still be recommended?

 

[Aztechnology]

When no os.include, I think he imply the...pirate.
But pirate os is not common in Western, am I right?

$25

http://www.play-asia.com/microsoft-windows-10-pro-3264-bit-oem/13/709747

 

[tim.mbp]

You can always use an unactivated W10 copy if you want to cheap out. It's not like the old days with WGA.

 

[texasairhead101]

There are resources out there for an OS like a student account that comes with windows for free. A budget pc I beleive would be targeted to that type of person. Use your tv and spend 20 on a m+kb and wait for the next steam sale.

I'm going to share your build with a friend and try and talk him into buying my 290 for 100ish so I can upgrade

 

[Pif]

There's also the OS, keyboard, and mouse to consider. And monitor if you're not using a TV. I keep wanting to make the leap, but just going to wait until after Scorpio releases.



$200? I want one.

With scorpio (or consoles in general) there is: paid online inferior to free steam, higher digital prices, no real OS, and no M&K support.

Gotta consider those over the span of years, and then check and see where the most money is being spent.

 

[Aztechnology]

I also had this thread up for the last twenty days, just expired :/

Heads up: HP, Intel I5 6400, RX 480, Windows 10, 1TB HDD/128 SSD $600/Free shipping.

 

[zewone]

You can't really recommend someone buy a mechanical hard drive over a solid state.

 

[QuantumSquid]

You can go even cheaper on some of these parts too.

Also, as someone who built using the Corsair 88R recently, I would not recommend that case.

What's wrong with it?

 

[Aztechnology]

You can't really recommend someone buy a mechanical hard drive over a solid state.

Sure you can, a mechanical 7,200 RPM is still faster than a consoles drive by a decent margin and it has very large storage capacity for a low price. Nothing wrong with getting a cheap 120GB SSD (There's deals pretty frequently for $30-40) for the OS and a game or two later.

 

[Renekton]

What's wrong with it?

Cable management and lack of space.

 

[Kurt Russell]

You can't really recommend someone buy a mechanical hard drive over a solid state.

This is a budget build, and if you were to build such a machine with just an SSD you'd have to settle for a really small drive, that's a no go with the big games we get nowadays.

 

[Aztechnology]

What's wrong with it?

Squid link this one instead. No reason to get the 470, it also has a $10 MIR which brings it down to $165

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M368YOU/?tag=neogaf0e-20

 

[Kazuo Hirai]

$25

http://www.play-asia.com/microsoft-windows-10-pro-3264-bit-oem/13/709747

MS sold it for around $125 in my country, they are crazy.

 

[QuantumSquid]

Squid link this one instead. No reason to get the 470, it also has a $15 MIR

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M368YOU/?tag=neogaf0e-20

I would but I'm on mobile now and it's a massive pain to edit stuff on my phone

 

[EctoPrime]

The Pentium does seem to be a good deal if you have a much older I3 and can salvage everything else from your existing pc besides the ram and motherboard.

 

[KojiKnight]

$25

http://www.play-asia.com/microsoft-windows-10-pro-3264-bit-oem/13/709747

Yeah it's not hard to find a cheap oem license, or switch licenses from a non gaming pc (almost everyone has one of these) to a gaming rig such as this.

 

[LelouchZero]

You can't really recommend someone buy a mechanical hard drive over a solid state.

I'm not trying to write off SSDs as they're lovely but for a $50 budget for a storage drive you probably wont get much more than a 250GB SSD.

If the games you're playing are small in size you might get by, but if you're playing games that have large install sizes it may become a nuisance unless you expand your budget by another $50, which could also go into having more powerful components elsewhere

 

[omg_mjd]

Useful thread. I've been happy so far with my laptop and Steam Controller for the old games in my backlog but going forward I want to play new/recent releases on PC, and keep my PS4 Slim for the exclusives.

Good to know there's a cheap and viable alternative to the i3. Learning about Windows 10 OEM keys is huge too--I was always adding the cost of a boxed copy to my builds, which dissuaded me the last time I was thinking about going PC.

 

[Allen Poe]

i'm still waiting for an answer about the $200 PS4 Pro

 

[datsunzep]

This new Pentium barely runs faster than my stock phenom II 955BE (im pretty sure it's 7 years old) from 2 builds ago. Definitely a budget chip.

 

[Aztechnology]

i'm still waiting for an answer about the $200 PS4 Pro

Wat? I saw PS4 Slim's at $220 or so. Are you waiting for it to drop to $200? Is that what you mean?

This new Pentium barely runs faster than my stock phenom II 955BE (im pretty sure it's 7 years old) from 2 builds ago. Definitely a budget chip.

You have one? That chip is benchmarking at I3-6100 levels.

 

[Art Vandilay]

With scorpio (or consoles in general) there is: paid online inferior to free steam, higher digital prices, no real OS, and no M&K support.

Gotta consider those over the span of years, and then check and see where the most money is being spent.

To each their own. If I ever build, I'll be playing games on my couch and TV with a controller. That said, I'll never be playing competitive online shooters on PC as I'd be greatly disadvantaged. Single player games are another story though.

 

[pretty done]

This PC is not going to be running HITMAN well at all at 1080p. I've got a 4670k/290x and it doesn't even run at 60 for me at a mix of medium and high @ 1080p.

The CPU is an issue imo

 

[Aztechnology]

To each their own. If I ever build, I'll be playing games on my couch and TV with a controller. That said, I'll never be playing competitive online shooters on PC as I'd be greatly disadvantaged. Single player games are another story though.

Ehhhh, I mean, it's really the player that makes the difference. I played BF1 for a week straight with a controller and my performance didn't drop markedly. I was still in the top few players of every match. I think it's greatly exaggerated for the vast majority of use cases. Sure if you're a pro circuit player I get it, vast majority of the time it won't make much difference.

 

[Renekton]

This PC is not going to be running HITMAN well at all at 1080p. I've got a 4670k/290x and it doesn't even run at 60 for me at a mix of medium and high @ 1080p.

The CPU is an issue imo

There are three fuhgedaboutit games for that rig - Hitman, Dishonored 2 and Mankind Divided.

 

[Wowfunhappy]

This is a budget build, and if you were to build such a machine with just an SSD you'd have to settle for a really small drive, that's a no go with the big games we get nowadays.

Furthermore, SSD's lead to almost no improvement in actual game performance. If you're looking for maximum gaming performance per dollar, and loading times comparable to currenr Microsoft and Sony consoles, a spinning hard drive is the way to go.

 

[Stumpokapow]

I would not recommend gaming, even on a budget, without an SSD. I also would not recommend 8GB of system RAM.

 

[pretty done]

There are three fuhgedaboutit games for that rig - Hitman, Dishonored 2 and Mankind Divided.

Yea I just found it weird that OP is mentioning how HITMAN would be a great benchmark... I don't think so lol

Witcher 3 would be great, a game that actually looks good and is incredibly optimized.

 

[Rizific]

add on the additional cost of os, mouse, keyboard, and a controller.

I would not recommend gaming, even on a budget, without an SSD. I also would not recommend 8GB of system RAM.

i store my games on a 1tb wd caviar black. its fine. obviously an ssd is better. but take into consideration the budget. a 1tb (960gb) ssd would eat up around half the cost of this build alone. a 120g ssd dedicated to the os for around $35 is a better investment and imo should be included in any build.

 

[Dynomutt]

$25

http://www.play-asia.com/microsoft-windows-10-pro-3264-bit-oem/13/709747

Great deal! I have used this in a pinch for dual boot OS on Macs. But please be aware this is an OEM install and has some caveats. A major one being the key will not allow for a change to a different motherboard model once installed. This can be a bad thing if a motherboard upgrade is planned down the line.

 

[Aztechnology]

add on the additional cost of os, mouse, keyboard, and a controller.

Or just a steam controller for $30, I set my friend up with one and he's able to do everything on his computer with that and his microphone for added convenience. He's pretty sick so it was the best option for him.

As I posted above you can get a OEM copy of windows 10 for $25 from Play Asia.

For added convenience if you really want it, you can get a cheap $18 Wireless M/K combo.

http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=KB-MK270&c=CJ

Great deal! I have used this in a pinch for dual boot OS on Macs. But please be aware this is an OEM install and has some caveats. A major one being the key will not allow for a change to a different motherboard model once installed. This can be a bad thing if a motherboard upgrade is planned down the line.

Honestly I just went to reddit software swap and got a key, checked with microsoft and they confirmed it was legitimate.

But there's always buying a legitimate windows 7 key too for cheap and upgrade to 10 using this

http://www.pcgamer.com/you-can-still-upgrade-to-windows-10-for-free-thanks-to-loophole/

 

[Sectorseven]

How many years will this PC go before it can't run the latest AAA well?