Prebuilt Gaming PC, $500 budget, ideas?

[Crimson92]

Well now that my NDA has been lifted I just wanted to add.

The XB1X is really a great 4k console at the $500 price point.

I've been playing games at 4k60fps,4k30fps, and 1080p60fps for a few months now and all I can say is wow.

So if youre in the market, I strongly suggest this console.

[3rdcoast228i]

Originally Posted by M2Rush

Lol, unfortunately the times have changed... My monitor alone was over $1200.

I do also. I didn't want to sound like one of those guys that it's the best or nothing. But in all honesty, $500 just isn't going to do it, not even at 1080p.

[Uber Commuter]

Yep; it used to be building your PC could save you a ton. Now you can still save over a OTS system, but nowhere near what you could before.

Wish her the best of luck

[cxp213]

There's no need to spend all that much, although many people like to overspend for various reason (show off, hobby, just because, ignorance, etc). As an enthusiast myself, I'm all for overkill and top of the line specs, but none of that is remotely necessary to enjoy games. Like I said, focus on the GPU first and foremost, so the kid can maximize his game time.

If she's buying him a monitor during BF, then he clearly has a PC already, no?

Post up his current PC specs and we can help you with what needs upgrading for that budget.

Another thing to keep in mind is that a gaming experience will only be as good as the monitor. If the monitor is crap, you can throw all your money at the PC and the experience will still be crap. What I'm saying is, make sure they're matched for one another. Don't build a 4K PC to game on a 1080p60 display and don't build a low end PC to game on 4K TVs.


edit - Personally, if I knew that my parents wanted to get me a PC and had $500 to spend, I'd just ask for the money so I can learn and build it myself (and add a bit more on top for the stuff that I want). Of course, this is assuming there's no desire by either parties to do it together, lol.

[Lowkey F10]

I can sell you mine. Built it myself

https://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/sys/6312939277.html

[BeastMode335i]

Thanks for the replies guys (and girls if any) lol..

I shared the feedback and she is kind of on a tight budget so that's why the $500 budget was set, as her son always talks about his friends playing online PC gaming and he'd like to join the fun.. I told her the piece together style would be good for him to learn, but she wasn't confident that he'd be able to handle that task (even though I told her it's all plug-n-play), so we'll see if she believes me or not.. When I told her I paid $500 for a video card alone she was mind blown, but I showed her some links to prove me being right.. And as of right now all they have is a 4k TV that he wants to use for gaming, and no PC as of yet..

Thanks again for your insight!

[smrtypants44]

My bf bought one of those alienware steam machines and installed windows on it for his budget gaming computer.

[cxp213]

Gaming on a TV is a bad idea as you'll have to deal with slow input lag on majority of the currently available TVs. Even if you luckily have a TV without terrible input lag, you'll have to deal with outputting 4K resolution worth of pixels. Unless you have a beast of a GPU (GTX 1080Ti+), you're going to be forced to lower resolution or quality, both of which will look bad on something as big as a TV.

[R3dliner]

Even with my 1080 ported to my led 120hz tv it's pretty bad and washed up. I would invest in a 27 or 32 inch monitor.

OP steam machines are the best you're going to get on a budget.

[BeastMode335i]

Originally Posted by cxp213

Gaming on a TV is a bad idea as you'll have to deal with slow input lag on majority of the currently available TVs. Even if you luckily have a TV without terrible input lag, you'll have to deal with outputting 4K resolution worth of pixels. Unless you have a beast of a GPU (GTX 1080Ti+), you're going to be forced to lower resolution or quality, both of which will look bad on something as big as a TV.

What would you recommend for a screen, for a budget gaming build?

[cxp213]

Honestly, if I was in that position, I'd just do it piece by piece and focus on one thing at a time. You usually try to pair up the display with the GPU so one isn't too far ahead in terms of spec for the other. If you try to get little of everything, you're going to spread out your funds too thin and none of the stuff you get will be worthwhile

As you can barely build a decent gaming rig that will last more than a year or two with the current budget, there's no way you'll fit in a display on top of it. I say get a relatively new i5, throw in a GTX 1060, lower resolution/quality for the 4K TV and play as is with whatever input lag that already exists.

When you have another $500 saved up, you can get a GTX 1080 (or better by then) to be able to bump up the settings on that 4K TV. Alternatively, you can save up $200 for a decent 1080p or 1440p display with higher than 75Hz refersh, preferably a IPS variant for better color reproduction and good response time. Ultrawide screens are very popular nowadays, so maybe look at some of the 29" LG offerings if you like good, affordable ultrawides.


edit-
Here's a decent one that's currently on sale:
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...82E16824025038

[BeastMode335i]

Originally Posted by cxp213

Honestly, if I was in that position, I'd just do it piece by piece and focus on one thing at a time. You usually try to pair up the display with the GPU so one isn't too far ahead in terms of spec for the other. If you try to get little of everything, you're going to spread out your funds too thin and none of the stuff you get will be worthwhile

As you can barely build a decent gaming rig that will last more than a year or two with the current budget, there's no way you'll fit in a display on top of it. I say get a relatively new i5, throw in a GTX 1060, lower resolution/quality for the 4K TV and play as is with whatever input lag that already exists.

When you have another $500 saved up, you can get a GTX 1080 (or better by then) to be able to bump up the settings on that 4K TV. Alternatively, you can save up $200 for a decent 1080p or 1440p display with higher than 75Hz refersh, preferably a IPS variant for better color reproduction and good response time. Ultrawide screens are very popular nowadays, so maybe look at some of the 29" LG offerings if you like good, affordable ultrawides.


edit-
Here's a decent one that's currently on sale:
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...82E16824025038

Awesome brother, thank you!

[Franklin818]

Building your PC from scratch and all by yourself is great, I learned a lot about the computers that way when I was young. If the kid is not really confident about all this - why not ask his friends to help him out with assembling and picking the best hardware for given budget?

[Banana Hammock]

BeastMode335i If you are still looking for a PC.

https://slickdeals.net/f/10950623-as...bay-daily-deal

[Husnain]

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