Article: Gaming PC - What can I get for £500?

Nice article in terms of showing what can be had for that money. I think it would be good to show how a rig like that runs so people can compare it to consoles at a similar price point, eg, will it run games at a solid 1080/60, how high can you turn up effects without impacting this, etc.

That said, I'd love to know if anyone in the history of PC gaming has ever stuck to their budget. In my experience I've always gone at least 50% over once I see the newer/shinier/better product at the slightly higher price point. :D
 
Nice article in terms of showing what can be had for that money. I think it would be good to show how a rig like that runs so people can compare it to consoles at a similar price point, eg, will it run games at a solid 1080/60, how high can you turn up effects without impacting this, etc.

That said, I'd love to know if anyone in the history of PC gaming has ever stuck to their budget. In my experience I've always gone at least 50% over once I see the newer/shinier/better product at the slightly higher price point. :D

I came in under budget once (my current build, due an update soon ish). I managed to get 2x4GB DDR3 Ripjaws at £35 a pop (was 2011 though I think), so that saved me a bit.

Well, it didn't - I bought two sets instead and have had 16GB RAM ever since :D
 
Why not a link back to this thread?

https://www.avforums.com/threads/spec-me-a-gaming-pc-updated-25-06-14.1626883/

......plus I know sticking to a budget is hard at this price point, but why would someone have an OS and not keyboard and mouse? Plus, if they did have an OS, they are likely to have a TFT.

Or, more realistically, the OS they do have is likely to be XP or Vista and unable to be transferred.

As Windows 8 is ~£90 it would be better to say 'What can I get for £600' and included Keyboard mouse and OS, and use the TV as per your article.
 

This thread is for the discussion about the article and the issues/points raised within that. Plus, the thread you have linked to is massive and, while no doubt it's another useful resource, this thread is connected to a subject matter that is designed to be a first helpful stopping off point, before visiting the rest of the fantastic PC gaming forum and existing threads.
 
Based on my recent home build, what can you get for £500? Not much! ;) Joking aside, mine started at around that level and then spiralled as I added things like and SSD and a better GPU. I reused some things like the case, optical drive and OS as well.
 
I would spend an extra £200 on top of the recommend parts to future proof you with a 4gb R290 AMD graphics card. This will allow you to play 1080P/60 fps and also covers the cost of Windows 8.1 and a basic keyboard/mouse/headset.
 
This thread is for the discussion about the article and the issues/points raised within that. Plus, the thread you have linked to is massive and, while no doubt it's another useful resource, this thread is connected to a subject matter that is designed to be a first helpful stopping off point, before visiting the rest of the fantastic PC gaming forum and existing threads.

Exactly Phil, lull them into a false sense of security before they visit the PC Gaming section and see their £500 budget treble before their very eyes!

I've seen it happen, it's like mermaids luring sailors onto the rocks!:laugh:
 
Hi,
What's peoples opinion on using something like AMD FX6300 6 core or for a bit more the FX8350 8 core for a cost minded build ?
:lease:
 
Hi,
What's peoples opinion on using something like AMD FX6300 6 core or for a bit more the FX8350 8 core for a cost minded build ?
:lease:

Yeah with a 500 budget that's where ud have to be going, probably the 6300 or 6350 at around £100, perhaps would be some similar priced intel option? no idea down at that level tbh. But then could build quite nicely around a 280/gtx960 for £500, cheap case, suitable cheapish mobo, 8GB ram, obviously no SSD.
If budget is strict then can be done reasonably well, just hampered in the future around the cpu. But would still be good.
Its just when people come along saying £250-£350 things get impossible without mega skimping and hampering, and lets face it on pc there little point going to low.
 
If it is your first ever PC build, then you should probably really aim to spend higher than 500 quid. Buying good quality base components like a case, power supply unit, harddrives and optical drives will see you through many builds.

My MIDI tower case is now over 12 years old!

If you can get a good base, then you can build it up over the years, part of the fun of PC gaming.
 
Nice article, I put together a small PC for gaming a couple of years ago which came in at just over £500 (£515 or something close to that) I think that you can easily spend triple that but at the same time you can put something together on that budget that will outperform a console and get some decent graphics settings at 1080p
 
At £500 for a gaming pc I would definitely go for a anniversary processor with 4gb ram, then you could add a ssd and an aftermarket cooling fan. I would think they are essential and you could just as easily (more easily, even) add 4gb ram later when funds allow. I think a ssd sees more difference then the extra 4gb ram and small amount of processor speed difference. The 960's are only a few quid difference if they are faster than the 280 - they are definitely cooler and would overclock better. £500 is absolutely fine for a mid range gaming pc if you already have the peripherals.
 
If you're coming in a £500 then I think it needs to be something that is capable of some decent performance. The thing I find is when friends ask about spending really low budgets then seems upset when explained it won't run all the latest games at full settings.

For this I'd look to get some good quality parts like case, PSU and HDD - it would be a stepping stone to upgrade to a more capable system as money allows.
 
I think it would be good to show how a rig like that runs so people can compare it to consoles at a similar price point, eg, will it run games at a solid 1080/60, how high can you turn up effects without impacting this, etc.

That is pretty much what I was going to ask. How does the graphical output compare to the XB1 and PS4? Also, taking into consideration what has happened in the past. Just what kind of lifespan would this rig have before it will struggle to run the latest games on anything but the lowest settings?
 
Nice article and very informative.

On another note, please give us an article on a HTPC build as well. I know there are lots of builds on the forums, it would be interesting to see what you think of BD playback via your own build.
 
started my pc back in like 2007 on a budget of £500,as the years have gone ive upgraded it which has cost me like £1200 in total and it still runs much better then any console and my pc isnt even top of the line,had my processor for ages and its still good for quite awhile (still running the i5 2500k).

but thats one of the things i love about pc gaming,you make that money back on the games,
120 games for £400,you definitely cant get that many games on the console for £400 (cost that just for 10-15 let alone 120).

also agree what sinzer said,definitely dont buy a cheap psu,get a good brand like seasonic,select corsair,xfx.
 
I came in under budget once (my current build, due an update soon ish). I managed to get 2x4GB DDR3 Ripjaws at £35 a pop (was 2011 though I think), so that saved me a bit.

Well, it didn't - I bought two sets instead and have had 16GB RAM ever since :D

haha bought ripjawX back around then as well,still got em and there fantastic,prices have gone up over the years now.
 
having just built my first gaming PC i would have loved to just spend £500 ,
but it cost no were near that , it was more like £750+
and that was just buying the most expensive parts i could afford , which in the scale of things weren't that expensive or the best , the part that cost the most was the gpu , i went with the gigabyte gtx 970 g1 ,
yes i could of bought something cheaper , but i wanted a card that would play the latest games at 1080p
lucky enough it will it let me take things up a level to 1440p gaming , but in a little while it may not ,
so buying a cheap gpu now , isn't going to help me in a few months time when games become more demanding , so i would be upgrading sooner rather than later which would cost me more money in the long run
and some parts i recycled from my old pc , so if everything was brand new , it would have been a lot more in price

now im no were near an expert in PC parts , im far from it , i spent a lot of time researching parts that would to the job ,
but i can say £500 isn't no were near a decent price to start gaming from .
 
What's probably the part we upgrade the least often?

The monitor IMO. To keep costs down, have a look in the trade section of this site, or other sites. You can pick up someones old 1080 monitor. There are some bargains out there at the moment, as people are upgrading to 4k screens.
 
Just to add to all this:

If you're contemplating your first build, then getting something like a cheap case to stay within budget can be a false economy. I started with an Antec 300 but it was a complete dust magnet and wasn't big enough to cope with the latest graphics cards. When I upgraded my GPU, I decided to get my R4 and it was money well spent. Anyone want an Antec case? It's ... ummm ... great :)

Ditto for power supplies. Make sure you have a decent brand with 600w on your list, it won't cost the earth. Get anything else and you'll probably regret it.

CPUs: don't worry too much about going for something like Ivybridge if it's much cheaper. I've got an Ivy i5 and it's still going strong.

GPUs: this will be the harshest bit of your spend. For first timers, I'd go second hand. I nabbed a GTX 460 from the classifieds here and it did me well for a good few years. Sure, if you have the cash for a new GTX970 then fine, but otherwise you might be able to get something much more powerful than if you'd gone new.

RAM: I went with bog standard Crucial ages back and I'm still using it. It even overclocks nicely if that's your thing. No need for nice looking ones with go faster red stripes along the sides :)
 
What's probably the part we upgrade the least often?

The monitor IMO. To keep costs down, have a look in the trade section of this site, or other sites. You can pick up someones old 1080 monitor. There are some bargains out there at the moment, as people are upgrading to 4k screens.

For a £500 build, I don't think a monitor would even enter the equation.

I'm sure most people, at this price point, would just hook the PC up directly to a TV.
 
i bought my Intel Pentium G3258 and i`m to much satisfied with performance. The only problem was temperature of processor so i upgrade with Cooler Master 8320 and now its perfect !!!
 
Agreed, I wasn't suggesting that it should be part of the £500 PC spending.
 
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