$500 Gaming PC: 3.0GHz CPU, DirectX 11 GPU, Samsung F3 HD and more!

The Rosewill Challenger, the case featured in this build.

An inside view of the Rosewill Challenger

This version compared to the previous version of the $500 Gaming Build (Last Updated August 28th 2010):

1. The Video card was upgraded from a Radeon HD 5750 1GB to a Radeon HD 5770 1GB, due to the Radeon HD 5770 reaching a new low price. This results in a nice performance boost, since the previously recommended Radeon HD 5750 has:
   1. 720 Stream processors
   2. 36 Texture Units
   3. Frequencies of 700MHx on the core and 4.6GHz on the memory

   While the newly recommended Radeon HD 5770 has:

   1. 800 Stream Processors
   2. 40 Textures Units
   3. Frequencies of 850MHz on the core and 4.8GHz on the memory

   Different games benefits more or less of this upgrade, but on average, you can expect a performance boost anywhere from 10% to 30% compared to the Radeon HD 5750.

2. The Power Supply was changed from a SILVERSTONE ST50F-ES 500W 80 PLUS Certified to a Seasonic S12II 520W 80PLUS Bronze Certified. The previously recommended Silverstone unit went up in price by $10, while the newly recommended Seasonic unit went down $10 in price, making both available for $60. The Seasonic offers a tad more power (A lot more on the 12V, 40A compared to 34A before), is a step up in reliability and is also more efficient, reducing your electricity bill, as well as running cooler and more silently.
3. Other than that, the build is unchanged and now costs $535 instead of $518, a $17 increase mostly due to the increase in price of quality power supplies (+$10) and the case going up $5 in price. I realize that at $537, we’re over the budget by 7.4%, more than the -/+5% that I usually give myself as a margin, but there’s no way to reduce the price that wouldn’t either sacrifice reliability or performance in an unacceptable way, that wouldn’t be worth the few dollars that you would save anyway.
4. Updated prices, discontinued/new parts: Prices of recommended components, as well as recommended upgrades, were updated to reflect the best prices on August 28th 2010. The GIGABYTE GA-770TA-UD3 AM3 770 SATA 6Gb/s USB3.0 ATX motherboard upgrade has been removed, due to it being discontinued. I now offer the ASRock 770 EXTREME3 as one of the available motherboard upgrades, with similar features (USB 3.0, SATA 6Gb/s) as the Gigabyte, at an even lower price.

Is this the right type of PC for me?

If you’re looking for a PC to play video games, you’re at the right place. If this is not what you’re looking for, check out our other Computer Systems instead.

$500 Gaming computer hardware parts recommendations, short version:

Explanation:

• In the left column, you have the component type, such as the Processor, Video Card, etc.
• In the middle column, you have the specific brand, model and a quick look at specifications for that part, as well as a link to buy it.
• In Bold, you’ll find my recommendations for the parts that you should buy in order to have the best overall performance while fitting the overall budget.
• In Italic, you’ll find the best possible upgrades if you have money to spare. These are the parts that offer better features or more performance, while still being relatively affordable in regard to the overall budget. In simple terms, if you want a more powerful video card, pick it from the list of recommended upgrades that are in Italic.
• In the right column, you’ll find the best price that I found after double-checking at various trustworthy online sellers such as Amazon.com, NewEgg.com, Buy.com and others.
• If upgrades just don’t cut it, visit the Gaming PCs page, where you’ll find our other gaming computer custom build designs.
• Note that all upgrades are compatible with the rest of the system, as well as other upgrades, meaning that you can choose one or many upgrades without a problem. Of course, please carefully read any note(s) that I may leave to clarify and avoid some possible issues.

Required components:

Components	Make, Model and Specifications	Price
CPU/Processor	AMD Athlon II X3 440 3.0GHz Triple-Core AM3 95W AMD Athlon II X3 445 Rana 3.1GHz Triple-Core AM3 95W AMD Phenom II X2 555 BE 3.2GHz 6MB L3 Dual-Core 80W AMD Athlon II X4 635 Propus 2.9GHz Quad-Core AM3 95W AMD PhenomII X4 945 3.0GHz 6MB L3 Quad-Core 95W AMD PhenomII X4 955BE 3.2GHz 6MB L3 Quad-Core 125W AMD PhenomII X4 965BE 3.4GHz 6MB L3 Quad-Core 125W AMD Phenom II X6 1055T 2.8GHz 6MB 6-Core 125W	$75 $80 $91 $99 $140 $153 $166 $200
Motherboard	ASRock M3A770DE: Socket AM3, 770 Chipset, ATX ASRock EXTREME3 AM3 770 SATA6Gb/s USB3.0 ATX ASRock EXTREME3 870 CF 8x/8x SATA6Gb/s USB3.0 ATX ASUS M4N98TD EVO NVIDIA nForce 980a SLI 16x/16x ASRock DELUXE3 890FX SATA6Gb/s,USB 3.0,CF 16x/16x	$60 $75 $90 $140 $155
RAM	G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1333 G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 CAS 9 G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 CAS 7 1.35V	$81 $93 $99
Video Card	Radeon HD 5770 1GB GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 460 1GB OC Edition	$145 $230
Hard Drive	Samsung F3 500GB SATA II 3.0Gb/s Samsung F3 1TB SATA II 3.0Gb/s Two Samsung F3 500GB SATA II 3.0Gb/s in RAID 0 for 1TB Two Samsung F3 1TB SATA II 3.0Gb/s in RAID 0 for 2TB	$53 $70 $106 $140
Optical Drive	LITE-ON Black 24X SATA CD/DVD Burner	$18
Power Supply	SeaSonic S12II 520W 80PLUS BRONZE Certified SeaSonic M12II 620W 80PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular SeaSonic S12D 850W 80PLUS SILVER Certified	$60 $100 $130
Case	Rosewill CHALLENGER ATX 2 x 120mm + 1x 140mm fans NZXT M59 – 2 x 120mm case fans Antec Three Hundred Illusion – 3 x 120mm + 1 x 140mm	$45 $50 $70
Cooling	AMD CPU Stock Cooler included with CPU COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus 120mm CPU Cooler ARCTIC COOLING MX-2 Thermal Compound CORSAIR All-in-One Water-Cooling CPU Cooler Rosewill RFX-120 Adjustable 120mm Case Fan	Free $29 $8 $80 $8
Sound	8 channels sound card: Integrated on the motherboard	Free
Network	Ethernet RJ-45 10/100/1000 Mbps: Integrated on the motherboard	Free
Total price	Not Including OS, Shipping nor handling. Within -/+ 5% of Budget	$537

Accessories:

Accessories	Make, Model and Specifications	Price
Headphone	Rosewill RH-40C 3.5mm Circumaural SONIC HP-259 3.5mm Circumaural PLANTRONICS .Audio 355 3.5mm Circumaural SENNHEISER PC31 Dual 3.5mm Supra-aural KOSS SB45 3.5mm Circumaural Logitech G330 3.5mm/ USB Circumaural ABS AZ1 Circumaural USB SENNHEISER PC151 3.5mm Binaural	$7 $8 $20 $28 $30 $43 $50 $50
Speakers	Logitech X-140 5 watts 2.0 Creative Inspire T3130 15 Watts 2.1 Logitech X-540 70 watts 5.1	$27 $50 $89
Monitor	ASUS VH198T Black 19″ 5ms LED 1440 x 900 Samsung BX2035 20″ 2ms 1600×900 LED ASUS VW224U Black 22″ 2ms 1680 x 1050 ASUS VH226H 21.5″ 2ms Full HD 1080P 1920 x 1080	$130 $180 $170 $180

Computer Builds FAQs:

I often get questions such as:

• Who are you to tell me which parts to choose?
• Can you suggest me a step by step guide to build a computer?
• Why should I build a PC instead of buying one in a store?
• And many more…

You will find the answers to all of these questions and more in this article: FAQ: How to Build Your Own Computer

Also, if this is your first build, here are 10 Quick Tips for 1st Time Builders to get you started.

About Gaming PCs:

Gaming Computers are all about playing video games. Every year, new video games that pushes the boundaries of visual effects are released and demand more and more power from your computer to run. Being so powerful to handle cutting-edge video games, they are also very good all-around computers, capable of handling photo/video edition, web development, High Definition content playback and much more.

This is why our Gaming Builds Designs focus both on current performance for today’s games, as well as being ready to upgrade, to be ready to handle future games. For Gaming Builds Designs, a big portion of the budget goes to the Video Card and the Processor to ensure high performance in video games, as well as a solid power supply with a case with good cooling abilities, to ensure reliability.

Upgrades will usually focus on the processor and video card for enhanced performance, as well as on the power supply and cooling, to enhance overclocking capabilities. You may choose to upgrade the hard drive for more capacity, or change the case to get one that matches your personal preferences, such as look, cooling, size, etc.

$500 Gaming Computer Hardware parts recommendations, detailed version:

Motherboard:

ASRock M3A770DE AM3 AMD 770 ATX

A basic, yet reliable motherboard at a great price that supports everything in this system. Come with six USB ports, two of them being Hybrid E-SATA/USB ports, S/PDIF Out via Optical and Coaxial, two PS/2, Gigabit LAN and 8 Channels audio on the back.

Two PCI-Express 2.0 16X (Green at 16X, Orange at 4x), one PCI-Express 1X and three PCI slots, four SATA ports and the usual IDE port, etc.

If you wonder who is ASRock, they were originally spun off from Asus in 2002 in order to compete with companies like ECS and Foxconn for the commodity OEM market. Over the years, ASRock has garnered a reputation for good value (cost/performance).

Recommended upgrade:

1. If you want a motherboard that offers SATA 6.0Gb/s and USB 3.0 for a more future-proof platform, without breaking the bank, the ASRock 770 EXTREME3 AM3 770 SATA6Gb/s USB3.0 ATX is the motherboard that I recommend for that, at a cost of $75.
2. With AMD’s new 870 chipset on the ASRock 870 EXTREME3 AM3 870 SATA6Gb/s USB3.0 ATX, you get six native SATA 6.0Gb/s with RAID 0/1/0+1/5 support, as well as two USB 3.0 ports and support for Crossfire, at a speed of 8x/8x. Considering that 8x/8x offers enough bandwidth but for the most extreme video cards (Think Radeon 5970 here), this won’t be a problem unless you want to upgrade to high-end parts of future generations of video cards, in which case you can go with one of the two higher-end motherboards below, depending on if you want SLI or Crossfire support.
3. If you intend to run SLI with two Geforce cards, or just want to keep that possibility open for a future upgrade perhaps, the ASUS M4N98TD EVO AM3 NVIDIA nForce 980a SLI 16x/16x ATX is what you want, with support for SLI at full speed, 16x/16x.
4. If you want a motherboard based on AMD’s best chipset, the 890FX, I highly recommend the ASRock DELUXE3 AM3 890FX SATA6Gb/s,4xUSB 3.0,CF 16x/16x,ATX, as it features eight native SATA 6.0Gb/s, an exclusive four USB 3.0 ports and Crossfire at full speed, 16x/16x. Other features include support for 6-core Phenom CPU, Unlock cores, E-SATA 6.0Gb/s, active cooling for the northbridge, 1 x Power Switch with LED, 1 x Reset Switch with LED, 1 x Clear CMOS Switch with LED and more.

CPU:

AMD Athlon II X3 440 Rana 3.0GHz Triple-Core AM3 95W

The other contenders in the same price range would have been the E5400 (2.7GHz $70) or the E6500 (2.93GHz 2MB $80).

I picked the AMD Athlon II X3 440 over them for the following reasons:

• The motherboard ($60) & CPU ($75) are less expensive with the AMD platform, a critical advantage when you’re on a tight $500 budget.
• The AMD Athlon II X3 440 outperforms the more expensive E6500 ($80) when it comes to gaming in four benchmarks out of five. Heck, it even did beat the much more expensive Intel E7600 ($150 – 3.06GHz 2MB), also in four out of five benchmarks. Not bad for a $75 CPU!
• Here are the said benchmarks comparing the E6500/E7600 and the X3 440 for you:

1. Borderlands
2. DiRT 2
3. Modern Warfare 2
4. Left 4 Dead 2 and Valve’s Source engine particle simulation

• You get more value out of upgrading with AMD CPUs as you can see below.

Recommended upgrades (Compared to the AMD Athlon II X3 440 main recommendation):

1. AMD Athlon II X3 445 Rana 3.1GHz Triple-Core AM3 95W – For $5 more ($80), you get an additional 100MHz.
2. AMD Phenom II X2 555 BE 3.2GHz 6MB L3 Dual-Core AM3 80W – The only Phenom II (Compared to Athlon II) CPU in this guide, the Phenom II X2 555 is a good gaming CPU at its stock frequency, but it doesn’t offer the best value for $91, especially when compared to the triple-core CPUs which usually outperform it. However, this CPU is for those who see the potential in it: If you’re lucky, this CPU can be unlocked to a full-fledged 3.2GHz quad-core Phenom II X4 CPU, in which case it easily outperform any CPU in this guide. If it doesn’t unlock to a quad-core, it might unlock to a triple-core, still making it the best CPU in this guide.If you can’t unlock any core, at least it’s a Black Edition CPU, meaning that it’s multiplier is unlocked and that it can easily be overclocked. On top of that, it’s a C3 stepping CPU, meaning that it will usually overclock a good 200MHz more than previous steppings. Like I said before, stock, it’s a good cpu. If you see the potential in possible core unlocking and overclocking, this CPU is a gem.
3. AMD Athlon II X4 635 Propus 2.9GHz Quad-Core AM3 95W – For gaming, right now most games don’t take advantage of a quad-core, making this quad-core at a disadvantage compared to the two previous triple-core CPUs with higher frequencies. However, this CPU shines when it comes to multi-tasking and audio/video converting. Also, this CPU is more future-proof, as future games will more and more take advantage of additional cores. It’s not THE fastest CPU for gaming purposes in this build, but rather a very good all-around performer.
4. AMD Phenom II X4 945 Deneb 3.0GHz 6MB L3 Quad-Core 95W – Unlike Athlon II CPUs, the Phenom II class of CPUs include a 6MB L3 cache, which gives a nice 5%-10% more performance on average, compared to the L3-less Athlon II. At $140, the Phenom II X4 945 gets you an extra core, equal frequency and the additional 6MB of L3 cache.
5. AMD Phenom II X4 955BE Deneb 3.2GHz 6MB L3 Quad-Core 125W – Same as the X4 945, but with an extra 200MHz boost. Note that this is a Black Edition CPU, meaning that it’s multiplier is unlocked and that it can easily be overclocked.
6. AMD Phenom II X4 965BE Deneb 3.4GHz 6MB L3 Quad-Core 125W – Same as the X4 945, but with an extra 400MHz boost. Note that this is a Black Edition CPU, meaning that it’s multiplier is unlocked and that it can easily be overclocked.
7. AMD Phenom II X6 1055T Thuban 2.8GHz 6MB 6-Core 125W – Like I mentioned with the quad-core CPUs, most games don’t take advantage of more than 2 cores, making a high-frequency 3 cores CPU ideal here. However, if you want a good all around CPU, that excels in multi-tasking and audio/video converting, consider this 2.8GHz Six-Core CPU.
8. For additional options, check out our guide to The Best CPUs For Your Money. Make sure to double-check compatibility with sockets, chipsets and memory if you pick another CPU. You can also leave a comment to ask me

Video Card:

Radeon HD 5770 1GB

For its price, you’ll not find a card that offers as much performance as the Radeon HD 5770, as I pointed out in our latest edition of The Best Video Cards For Your Money series of articles.

The Radeon HD 5770 is capable of handling pretty much any game at a resolution of 1680 x 1050 with high visual quality. 1080p (1920 x 1080)y gameplay is possible too, but you will most likely have to scale back details here.

Finally, it is DirectX 11 compliant, HDCP Ready and will handle Blu-Ray and other 1080p content playback, with audio over HDMI as well.

Recommended upgrades:

1. GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 460 1GB OC Edition – Just released by Nvidia, the Geforce GTX 460 1GB is the new king at the ~$230 price point, overtaking the Radeon HD 5830. Based on the GF104 die, its power consumption is much more reasonable than the GTX 470 or GTX 480, while its performance is unmatched at this price point. If you want to take on games with maxed out details at 1080p (1920 x 1080), this is the card to get.
2. Other, more powerful options are available in our guide to The Best Video Cards For Your Money. Make sure to consider power requirements and the length of a video card if you decide to go with a different card. Also very important: A very powerful video card will be useless in a low-end Gaming PC, you want to balance the components to avoid having your CPU limit your video card for example.

RAM:

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1333

4GB of RAM is pretty much mandatory to handle the latest video games along with Windows and background background such as your anti-virus, web browser, music/video player, etc.

Considering the price of RAM these days and the ever-expending memory use of games and programs, 4GB of high-speed DDR3 memory is a no-brainer.

I went with G.Skill for their high reliability and compatibility with the majority of motherboards. I chose these particular sticks due to their low price.

In my opinion, there is little incentive to move to faster frequency RAM, as it brings only a small performance increase (According to Tom’s Hardware ) for a much higher price.

Recommended upgrades

1. If you do happen to want those extra % of performance, for only $18 more, you can get the G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 CAS 9 memory kit.
2. If you want a kit that has lower latencies and needs only 1.35V to run at 1600MHz, take a look at the G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 CAS 7 1.35V memory kit.

Hard Drive:

Samsung F3 500GB 3.5″ 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s

A standard SATA hard drive, that offers 500GB of storage, plenty enough to handle your video/music collection and all your games. In this Tom’s Hardware hard drive article, the SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ (The 1TB version) finishes on top of all transfer rates benchmarks, even ahead of what used to be my recommendation for high-end builds, the Western Digital Caviar Black.

Recommended upgrades:

1. Samsung F3 1TB SATA II 3.0Gb/s – This is the 1TB edition that I wrote about just above. For only $17 ($70) more, you get twice the capacity.
2. Two Samsung F3 500GB SATA II 3.0Gb/s in RAID 0, Total Capacity: 1TB – For $106, you get two of these Samsung drives, ready to be setup in RAID 0, for a capacity of 1TB and transfer rates of 300+MB/s!
3. Two Samsung F3 1TB SATA II 3.0Gb/s in RAID 0, Total Capacity: 2TB – Same as above, 300+MB/s transfer rates, except that you get a 2TB storage capacity this time.
4. Interested in SSDs (Solid State Drives), or want a different drive? I invite you to take a look to our guide to the Best Hard Drives & Best SSDs For Your Money.

Optical Drive:

LITE-ON Black 24X SATA CD/DVD Burner

This drive is able to read and burn CDs and DVDs. Silent, compatible with all major formats including DVD-RAM.

The motherboard includes two SATA cables (One will be used for the hard drive and one for this DVD Burner), so no need to worry about cables.

Also, seeing as DVD Burners are often go out of stock lately, here are a two alternatives that you can use to replace it. All are SATA based.

1. LITE-ON Black 24X SATA Black CD/DVD Writer
2. HP Black 24X SATA 24X CD/DVD Writer – Retail

Case:

Rosewill CHALLENGER ATX 2 x 120mm + 1x 140mm fans

For only $45, you get one sweet deal from Rosewill:

• Cooling wise, this case includes two 120mm and one 140mm case fans, insuring proper cooling for your Gaming PC. You can also add two additional 120mm case fans if you wish to.

Features wise, you get:

1. Screw-less design for 5.25” Devices & 3.5” HDDs.
2. Dust filters.
3. 2x USB, 1x eSATA, Audio out, MIC in at the top
4. An hole on the back panel, to easily install after-market CPU Cooler without having to remove the motherboard from the case.
5. Various holes and space to route and hide your wires.

Seriously, for $40, what else can you ask for?!

Recommended upgrades:

• If you want a case with a side window to show off your new build, the NZXT M59 – 2 x 120mm case fans is an excellent and affordable case.
• On the flip side, if you care more about performance, overclocking and cooling, take a look at the Antec Three Hundred Illusion – 3 x 120mm + 1 x 140mm, which includes nothing short of three 120mm and one 140mm case fans, that are all easy to adjust for your personal preference in balance between noise and airflow.
• If you want a different case, take a look at the following article: Find Out the 88 Best Computer Cases For Your Money.

Power Supply:

SeaSonic S12II 520W 80PLUS BRONZE Certified

This power supply is capable of delivering up to 500W, not that should rely on this information only as I often point in posts such as Warning: 6 Surefire Ways of Blowing Up Your Computer Due to an Inadequate Power Supply, but more importantly 40A on the 12V line, the most important factor when it comes to choosing a power supply for a gaming computer.

Best of all, it is 80 PLUS Bronze certified, meaning that it’s always at least 82% efficient, resulting in less heat, more silence and a lower electricity bill for you, compared to a less efficient power supply.

Power Consumption:

According to the eXtreme Power Supply Calculator, it is estimated that this system will consume at load (peak usage):

• 286W with the recommended Athlon II X3 440, the Radeon 5770 and this build without upgrades.
• 315W with a Phenom II X4 965 and a Radeon 5770.
• 350W with a Phenom II X6 1055T, a Geforce GTX 460 and two hard drives in RAID. This is the worse case scenario.

The power supply will have no problem handling any of the recommended upgrades, even in the worse case scenario. However, if you intend on upgrading to a Crossfire/SLI setup, upgrading the power supply is a must to ensure a properly working PC that is stable and that will last.

Recommended upgrades:

1. SeaSonic M12II 620W 80PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular – If you want to be future-proof, for example to be capable of upgrading to a dual Geforce GTX 460 setup in the future, a setup that will pull about 500W with a quad-core Phenom, you’ll want at least this power supply. This is also what you want if you have a single video card system, but that decide to overclock it to extreme levels.
2. SeaSonic S12D 850W 80PLUS SILVER Certified – If you want to be future-proof, as above, but also overclock to your heart’s desire, something that would bring power consumption to 600W, if not even 700W+, you’ll want to pick a solid power supply. On top of delivering up to 850W, this unit is certified 80PLUS Silver, resulting in less heat, more silence and a lower electricity bill for you, compared to a less efficient power supply.
3. If you’re not sure and need help to pick the right power supply, set some time aside and read Warning: 6 Surefire Ways of Blowing Up Your Computer Due to an Inadequate Power Supply.

Cooling: Stock cooling

To save on costs, I recommend using the cooler included with the CPU. While there are better coolers, the one that is included is good enough to handle the cpu under normal operation. The case includes cooling fans as well to help you keep your system cool.

However, there are two reasons why you may choose to upgrade your cooling system:

1. To keep your computer components cooler, which in return extend their lifespan and allows you to overclock to higher speed.
2. To keep your system silent, as the stock cooling can get noisy at times, especially during prolonged gaming sessions.

Alternatives:

1. Cpu Cooler: If you have any intention of overclocking, I cannot stress enough the importance of a good cooler.The COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus 120mm CPU Cooler offers the best value regarding performance for the price.
2. Thermal Compound: Use the ARCTIC COOLING MX-2 Thermal Compound either with the stock cooler or better, with the upgraded CPU cooler to lower your CPU temperatures further more. For $8, this is a wise investment.
3. Case cooling:You can add up to two additional 120 mm fans in the case, both on the side. Although the Rosewill case already comes with three cases, feel free consider adding one, if not two Rosewill RFX-120 Adjustable 120mm Case Fan in order to improve airflow, especially to your video card(s), in order to lower the temperatures in your system and make your PC last.

Sound Card: 8 channels sound card: Integrated on the motherboard

Integrated with the motherboard, this sound card will handle many different sound setups, including headphones, a microphone and more. While integrated audio on a PC used to be absolutely horrible, it has gotten much better in the last few years, thus why I have no trouble recommending it.

Network: Ethernet RJ-45 10/100/1000 Mbps LAN: Integrated on the motherboard

Integrated with the motherboard, this network adapter will allow you to access your local network and Internet.

Accessories:

Headphones – With a Microphone:

Headphones, with a microphones, are a must for many games, especially First Person Shooters (FPS), where a lack of team communication can break a team. However, I do realize that we all have different tastes when it comes to headphones, as in which size is comfortable, which brand sounds the best, etc. This is why I found eight great pair of headphones, with prices ranging from $7 to $50, for you to choose from:

1. Rosewill RH-40C 3.5mm Circumaural
2. SONIC HP-259 3.5mm Circumaural
3. PLANTRONICS .Audio 355 3.5mm Circumaural
4. SENNHEISER PC31 Dual 3.5mm Supra-aural
5. KOSS SB45 3.5mm Circumaural
6. Logitech G330 3.5mm/ USB Circumaural
7. ABS AZ1 Circumaural USB
8. SENNHEISER PC151 3.5mm Binaural

Speakers:

If all you want is a pair of decent, inexpensive speakers, the Logitech X-140 5 watts 2.0 at $27, or the Creative Inspire T3130 15 Watts 2.1 for $50 will do a great job.

Looking for higher quality speakers, without breaking the bank still? The Logitech X-540 70 watts 5.1 make for an excellent and affordable 5.1 setup.

Display:

For a long time, you’ve been asking for recommendations for a good monitor to play on. I’m listening to you and starting today, with this $500 Gaming PC, I’ll be including a few recommendations of good monitors for every Gaming PC.

My recommendations are based on the following criteria:

• Price: I obviously won’t recommend a $500 monitor if the budget for the PC is $500.
• Resolution: The resolution of the monitor directly impacts the performance within video games, as higher resolution are more demanding on the system, resulting in lower FPS. Picking the right resolution for a particular system is crucial to achieve good performance.
• Response time: The lower the better, very important with video games.
• Brightness and Contrast Ratio: The higher, the better.

1. With its resolution of 1440 x 900, the ASUS VH198T Black 19″ 5ms LED 1440 x 900 is my main recommendation for the $500 Gaming PC, as it is, without upgrades. This Build will have no problem offering excellent performance in all video games on this monitor. It is also the best option to be able to play future video games (Think DirectX 11 games) without upgrading, or at least, not as soon.
2. If you play all, but the most demanding games (i.e. Crysis), the $500 Gaming PC, as it is, without upgrades, will be capable of handling the 1600 x 900 resolution of the Samsung BX2035 20″ 2ms 1600×900 LED. If you do intend on playing the most demanding video games, or simply want to be more future proof, I highly recommend upgrading the video card to a Radeon HD 5770 (See the video card section).
3. If you play older, less demanding games, the $500 Gaming PC will be capable of rendering them without a problem on the ASUS VW224U Black 22″ 2ms 1680 x 1050. If you do intend on playing the most demanding video games, or simply want to be more future proof, upgrading the video card to a Radeon HD 5770 (See the video card section), is a must, unless you are enjoy lag for some reason…
4. For 1080p gameplay, with pretty much maxed out details in any game, get the ASUS VH226H 21.5″ 2ms Full HD 1080P 1920 x 1080 and upgrade the video card to a Geforce GTX 460 for top-notch performance now.

Recommended operating systems:

The operating system cost, if there’s one, is not included in the total cost. The two reason for this are:

1. The budget only considers hardware.
2. You may be able re-use a previous license, go with an open-source OS such as Linux or , if you’re so inclined and are aware of what you’re doing, use torrents.

If you decide that you need a need OS, here are some recommendations:

Windows 7

Despite Linux gaining more and more support, Windows still is the platform of choice for compatibility at the moment. Considering that you’ll have 4GB of RAM or more, along with a dedicated video that also has memory (512MB or 1GB), you’ll need a 64-bit version, as 32-bit is limited to 4GB of memory for the entire system, which is not enough now, nor in the future if you decide to upgrade.

Windows 7 is by far better than Windows Vista, looks better, more functional, less annoying, consumes less resources and brings DirectX 11 to the table.

Three Available Versions:

1. Windows 7 Home Premium: The basic edition, with all the looks, most of the functionality and DirectX 11.
2. Windows 7 Professional: If you want the virtual XP mode, you’ll need at least the Professional edition. Also required if you want to backup to a network, using the built-in backup mode in Windows.
3. Windows 7 Ultimate: To help protect data on your PC and portable storage devices against loss or theft with BitLocker and to work and switch between 35 languages.

OEM vs Retail:

The OEM version allows you to only install it once on a computer. You cannot transfer the license to another computer in the future and you do not receive support from Microsoft. It’s the same type of license you get when you get Windows on a desktop or laptop that you buy from Dell, HP and such. It’s less expensive, but gives less flexibility. Ideal if you intend on keeping your computer for many years.

The Retail version is the full version, which allows you to transfer the license to another computer in the future and you can call Microsoft if you need any form of support. Ideal if you intend on upgrading/changing your computer down the road.

Other than that, you get the same features on both, only the license differs. The price between the two differs obviously.

OEM Versions:

1. Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OEM – $100
2. Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit OEM – $140
3. Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit OEM – $175

Retail Versions:

1. Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Retail – $180
2. Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Retail – $258
3. Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate Retail – $276

Linux

A lot of people these days boots more than one OS. Linux is a wonderful choice: powerful, cool, and cheap. Take your pick of distributions and have fun! For Fedora, Ubuntu, Debian, Slackware, and Mandrake, try Distrowatch.com, Cheapbytes.com, LinuxQuestions.org or one of the many others.

While Linux does not offer the wide compatibility of Windows with video games, gaming on Linux is still possible, through projects such as Wine, Cedega and Crossover. For more on the topic of Linux Gaming, I invite you to read this excellent article from AnandTech: Linux Gaming: Are we there yet?

What about Word processing, Excel and other Windows-based programs that you need? Linux being an open platform, there are many free alternatives that will answer your needs. For Word/Excel and such, try OpenOffice.

Cost: Free

Conclusion

What do you think of this updated version of the $500 Gaming PC?

Let me know what you think by leaving a comment below.

Building this system?

Do you need a guide on how to build a computer or do you have some questions?

Consult our: FAQ: How to Build Your Own Computer

Also, if this is your first build, here are 10 Quick Tips for 1st Time Builders to get you started.

Finally, if your newly built computer won’t start, I invite you to read Help me: Why won’t my newly assembled PC start or boot?

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Category: Gaming PC