Build Gaming PC budget $500

[richdog16]

I going to start building my first Gaming PC. What is the best parts can I buy with ($500) United States.

Something that can run games like BF3, Dirt 3 and Rage from Medium to High Settings.

I would be thankful for your recommendations.

 

[sandorski]

Do you have a keyboard and mouse, monitor, or any other parts?

 

[jlee1]

He better if he wants something that'll handle BF3

 

[Rvenger]

He can do dual graphics with the HD6670, I was running 1366x768 @ medium settings in BF3 beta with a Radeon 6570 crossfired with the Integrated 6530d. The A8 paired with the 6670 should do wonders.

If you want USB 3 you have wiggle room to get a better A75 based FM1 board. If you don't mind the A55 based board, I would recommend a case with a bottom mount PSU.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

He can do dual graphics with the HD6670, I was running 1366x768 @ medium settings in BF3 beta with a Radeon 6570 crossfired with the Integrated 6530d. The A8 paired with the 6670 should do wonders.

If you want USB 3 you have wiggle room to get a better A75 based FM1 board. If you don't mind the A55 based board, I would recommend a case with a bottom mount PSU.

i like it

 

[Bryf50]

That 6670 has DDR3. Spend the extra few bucks to get a GDDR5 version. The 128-bit memory bus needs it. It should be well worth it.

 

[gammaray]

i would not buy a 6670 to play BF3 ever...might be able to play it on low settings...tho that sucks.

at least get a 6870 or a 5850, but you should get a 6950 for that game and go over your budget a lil.

Video card is what will make you enjoy this game a little or a lot.

 

[lehtv]

i would not buy a 6670 to play BF3 ever...might be able to play it on low settings...tho that sucks.

Low settings and low res are fine if you play it competitively

 

[Bryf50]

On second thought how about this. SLKs build but switch out the Llano, Motherboard and Graphics card for:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102908
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103808
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813138324
Total in Cart 514.85 shipped or 479.85 After MIRs.
I'd say go i3 sandy bridge but seeing how much BF3 loves quads I think the X4 will perform better.
And the 6850 will eat the 6670+Llano setup for breakfast and should be effecient enough for the cx430.

 

[mfenn]

OP, please update this thread with answers to the questions in the sticky.

I did some searching around for BF3 CPU benchmarks, but I couldn't find any good ones. In general though, the X4 955 and i3 2100 have about the same number of raw FLOPS, with the X4 slightly winning. However, this means that the X4 is only better than an i3 2100 in situations where all four cores can be maxed out all the time. The i3 will handle bursty loads (like games) better.

 

[Rvenger]

i would not buy a 6670 to play BF3 ever...might be able to play it on low settings...tho that sucks.

at least get a 6870 or a 5850, but you should get a 6950 for that game and go over your budget a lil.

Video card is what will make you enjoy this game a little or a lot.

Yes, but it blows the whole idea of being able to crossfire with his Llano graphics. Check my sig, I play BF3 on my Llano and it works very well with crossfire enabled. I get 40-50 fps on medium. I agree with Bryf50, go for the Gddr5 model and he will be golden for BF3.



EDIT:

If he doesn't want the integrated graphics.. I went with an Athlon II 631 and HD6850.. Comes out to $499 after shipping.

 

[mfenn]

Crossfiring two slow, memory bandwidth-limited cards seems like a recipe for horrendous microstutter to me. Might as well get the cheapest Athlon II and pair it with the best GPU that you can afford.

 

[Rvenger]

Crossfiring two slow, memory bandwidth-limited cards seems like a recipe for horrendous microstutter to me. Might as well get the cheapest Athlon II and pair it with the best GPU that you can afford.

I have my Llano crossfired and I did have microstuttering.. I managed to resolve the issue with new All in One drivers.