Gaming Rig for Under $500

[Xian-Luc Picard]

I know some of you pride yourselves in building decent performing gaming rigs for under $500, so I have a challenge for you.

My 8 year old son is saving his money up to build his first gaming rig. He is currently using an old laptop of mine that can't really play more than Minecraft. He is going to front half the money and I am fronting the other half... the thing is, if we can keep the cost low, it allows me to get some accessories for him; so keeping the cost low is priority. I don't really have any requirements other than cost and the ability to play newer games on decent setting. I would prefer that the parts come from well established sites like Amazon or Newegg.

 

[Bruce]

I think you'd need to cheat, and give him some old monitor and some mouse/keyboard .
With those two assumptions -something like https://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.3104100 would solve your "starting gaming rig" request, but I'd recommend to invest a bit more and have a look at https://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.3085016

in both cases It would work better than any "old laptop" , and down the road you could upgrade processor to i5 or i7 quad cores w/o big additional investment. Unfortunately any AMD alternatives ~ this pricerange would bring you to the deadend (no upgrades etc. )

Sorry for recommendation to stay slightly above 500 but 1060 worth it


( oh yes - you'd need to install some *nix on those :) )

 

[mromutt]

$500 is very hard to do without any spare parts laying around like cases or PSUs, but you would always get somewhat close doing a R5 1400 with like 8GB ram a 1TB drive and something like a 1050 ti. Do you have anything laying around to start from? At least an old monitor and keyboard/mouse? that would at least help cut cost. I can throw a build together for you real quick to show the bare minimum you would need :)

 

[mromutt]

Motherboard: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06Y26HV5F/ref=ox_sc_act_title_8?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

CPU: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XKWT8J4/ref=ox_sc_act_title_7?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

PSU: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00H33SFJU/ref=ox_sc_act_title_6?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Ram: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01ARHBBPS/ref=ox_sc_act_title_5?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

HDD: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001IEXU68/ref=ox_sc_act_title_4?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A2S27O3FM71130

GPU: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MF7EQJZ/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Case: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00RORBQNW/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Fans(yes you need more fans): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00F6S13DE/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

$605.83 before tax

This would let him play most things on ok settings, things like LOL or Overwatch cranked up :) but bumping up to say $700 or $800 budget would give a hell of a lot more performance :)

 

[chrizz]

https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/wiki/builds

decent updated builds brought to you by the wisdom of the pcmasterrace subreddit

"The Crusher" is a fine build with a 1050 Ti that is good for 1080p gaming

 

[mromutt]

https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/wiki/builds

decent updated builds brought to you by the wisdom of the pcmasterrace subreddit

"The Crusher" is a fine build with a 1050 Ti that is good for 1080p gaming

I avoided that cpu because it wont have an upgrade path very soon :)

 

[Xian-Luc Picard]

$500 is very hard to do without any spare parts laying around like cases or PSUs, but you would always get somewhat close doing a R5 1400 with like 8GB ram a 1TB drive and something like a 1050 ti. Do you have anything laying around to start from? At least an old monitor and keyboard/mouse? that would at least help cut cost. I can throw a build together for you real quick to show the bare minimum you would need :slight_smile:

I have some old components to start with but I wanted to get a base line to start from. Keyboard, monitor, and mouse I have lying around. I moght have a case and PSU to use as well from an old PC.

 

[mromutt]

I have some old components to start with but I wanted to get a base line to start from. Keyboard, monitor, and mouse I have lying around. I moght have a case and PSU to use as well from an old PC.

oh nice if you have that stuff laying around and a case/ok psu that gives you wiggle room for either more cpu or gpu :)