Ultra Affordable, Ultra Enthusiast

So because I don't want to do the R9 290/290X builds until aftermarket coolers are released, I've decided to do an ultra affordable gaming rig on Cyber Monday. This rig is for someone who wants to get into PC gaming, but thinks it costs too much to get good performance. Pretty much the reason I started this blog.

So, how about we set a budget? Say $500 before tax? The same price as an Xbox One. That sounds fair. You'll get similar performance out of this rig, plus the added functionality of a regular computer. So let's get started.

CPU: AMD FX-6300 Six Core
So since we're going with a good affordable rig but with good performance, we're gonna use an FX-6300. This is a six core processor and has really good price to performance. It's perfect for this rig, and is more powerful than the CPUs (coughAPUcough) in the PS4 and Xbox One.

GPU: PowerColour Radeon 7850 2GB GDDR5
So we're gonna use a Radeon 7850. Now, if you buy this card on Amazon or Newegg, you might be able to get the card for cheaper than the list price because of rebates, but even at list price, you can't go wrong with this card. You're getting really good power out of it, and has one of the best price to performance rations out. You'll really love this card. You could also go with an R7 260X if you want a smaller card with similar performance.

Mobo: ASUS M5A97 LE
So for the Mobo, we'll use the Asus M5A97 LE. It's not a top of the line Mobo, but it gets the job done for right now. Plus, it has Crossfire and USB 3.0, so it's very upgradeable.

RAM: Crucial Ballistix Sport 4GB 1333MHz
Going with 4GB of the Ballistix RAM. This RAM will do you well for gaming and will get you in good shape for the next wave of AAA titles. Most games never recommend more than 8GB of RAM, so you will still be fine, even with this. You can always upgrade later, cause this is really inexpensive RAM.

HDD: Seagate Barracuda 1TB
So we'll use the Seagate Barracuda 1TB HDD right now, cause it's literally just pennies more than a 500GB HDD from the same manufacturer on Amazon. It'll be able to hold all your games easily.

PSU: Corsair Builder Series CX500
So we'll use the Builder Series CX500 cause it's quite literally the exact same price as the CX430. It's an 80+ Bronze Certified PSU, and you know I don't recommend anything but 80+ Bronze Certified because don't want you computer to EXPLODE! So get 80+ Bronze! Sorry, someone bought a 400W normal PSU in a store the other day and I told them not too, but they did anyway... idiots.

Case: Gigabyte GZ-PD ATX Case
We'll go with a Gigabyte case, cause it's the cheapest one that isn't ugly. Cases are subjective. I usually recommend the Fractal Design cases or the Rosewill Galaxy cases. They're inexpensive, but not as inexpensive as this. But I'm sure you probably have a case lying around, or can just gut your current one if you want this build.

Total Price: $515

I went a bit over budget, but I didn't go overboard. For $15 more than an Xbox, you can get better performance, better functionality, and more games than on the consoles. Why wouldn't you just spend the $15, learn a new skill and get a better computer? You could even save some money by getting a four core CPU, since six cores isn't a necessity right now. You could easily get below $500.

Happy gaming, everyone.

My game recommendation of the day is Dust: An Elysian Tail. This game is a really awesome side-scroller beat 'em up. It's super fun, has really awesome visuals and gameplay, and has a really interesting tail. And it's $3.74 on Steam now.