[Rat3d ///M]

My HP laptop is no longer working for what I need it to do, and I want to build a decent budget PC for around $500.00-$600.00. I know very little about PC's, especially building them, so noob-school me on this.

From Newegg (since this is likely where I will order most, if not all parts), piece me together a PC for around $500.00-$600.00 that will do the following:

1. Play, edit and upload GoPro footage at 1080P and 60fps
2. Handle some light gaming (i.e. the older CoD games)

I know the above can be done for under $600.00. I am not looking for a phenomenal $3000.00 gaming system here.

I already have a decent for what I need the computer to do (although outdated at this point) HD graphics card, so I won't have to worry about that. I also have monitor, mouse, keyboard, etc, so all that is needed is PSU, HDD, DVD Drive, CPU, RAM, etc. My desire to do this, is that I have recently started getting into editing GoPro footage, and my 2.4ghZ laptop processor is just too slow to handle it. The videos are so slow that the audio and video don't even sync up. My understanding is that to edit 1080P GoPro footage at 30fps, you need a 2.7ghZ quad core processor, and at least 4 gigs of RAM?

[Daemonblitz]

Even with limited knowledge of PCs this is an extremely good resource with putting something together.

http://pcpartpicker.com/

[ATL_335i]

Z97 gaming 5 gigabyte motherboard- 89.99 with bundle savings
i7-4790k- 279.99 with bundle savings
Crucial Ballistix Elite DDR3-1866 8GB x2- 104.99 or 99.99 with bundle savings
Samsung EVO 850 500GB-Primary for OS and apps- 175 via amazon
1TB toshiba HDD-secondary for more storage- 59.99 on most websites
H55 liquid cooler- 59.99 on most websites
EVGA 600watt Power Supply- 59.99 on most websites

Edit: I just saw you have your own GPU, but the setup above would be a beast and very reliable for either task. I know this because I have the same setup and use it for a Hackintosh and use final cut pro and then dual boot windows 7 for gaming. It runs so cool and is a beast what ever I throw at it.

I know newegg is convenient but, you can save a lot of money if you went to Microcenter (never mind I just saw you are in Germany lol) and bought this as a bundle package you literally would save 150-200$ with the bundle deal. Not to mention they have the cheapest price on pcpartspicker for the 4790k

Case would be personal preference.

[vachss]

Originally Posted by ATL_335i

Z97 gaming 5 gigabyte motherboard- 89.99 with bundle savings
i7-4790k- 279.99 with bundle savings
Crucial Ballistix Elite DDR3-1866 8GB x2- 104.99 or 99.99 with bundle savings
Samsung EVO 850 500GB-Primary for OS and apps- 175 via amazon
1TB toshiba HDD-secondary for more storage- 59.99 on most websites
H55 liquid cooler- 59.99 on most websites
EVGA 600watt Power Supply- 59.99 on most websites

Hard to really argue with any of this as I built something similar a year ago. I opted for slightly higher end components (Seasonic [XFX] PSU, mobo with a bit better power delivery, Intel 730 SSD and a big WD Black HDD for bulk storage) but I spent about $100 more and for a high performance budget build I think the suggestions above are excellent.

The main difference is I went with a big Noctua air cooler rather than closed cycle water and would recommend the same. I still worry about leaks - particularly if you're the sort who just runs their PC for months or years without opening it up to inspect components. Under most circumstances my computer is still nearly silent and OC's readily to 4.8 GHz. Maybe a similarly priced water cooler can do a bit better, but I doubt enough to notice.

Regardless, a computer built to these specs should scream with either sort of cooler. Personal preference.

[MChat]

I've built many PC's and once you get below a certain dollar amount, you cannot build them cheaper than you can buy a prebuilt one. At the price range you are looking for, I can usually get within $50-$100 of a pre-built with similar specifications, but that doesn't include an OS or any bundled software.

For instance the above mentioned build is over $800 with no OS, no software, no keyboard, no mouse and no case.

[mojobmw_e90]

Il sell u my built pc. Back in 2011 it cost me 2900 to build. It just recently took a shit and needs a new power supply. I'm asking 500 for it.

[BrokenVert]

reddit.com/r/buildapcforme

[Rat3d ///M]

Originally Posted by Daemonblitz

Even with limited knowledge of PCs this is an extremely good resource with putting something together.

http://pcpartpicker.com/

Thanks for the link. I glanced at it briefly last night, and it seems like a great resource. I will definitely use it during this process.

Originally Posted by ATL_335i

Z97 gaming 5 gigabyte motherboard- 89.99 with bundle savings
i7-4790k- 279.99 with bundle savings
Crucial Ballistix Elite DDR3-1866 8GB x2- 104.99 or 99.99 with bundle savings
Samsung EVO 850 500GB-Primary for OS and apps- 175 via amazon
1TB toshiba HDD-secondary for more storage- 59.99 on most websites
H55 liquid cooler- 59.99 on most websites
EVGA 600watt Power Supply- 59.99 on most websites

Edit: I just saw you have your own GPU, but the setup above would be a beast and very reliable for either task. I know this because I have the same setup and use it for a Hackintosh and use final cut pro and then dual boot windows 7 for gaming. It runs so cool and is a beast what ever I throw at it.

I know newegg is convenient but, you can save a lot of money if you went to Microcenter (never mind I just saw you are in Germany lol) and bought this as a bundle package you literally would save 150-200$ with the bundle deal. Not to mention they have the cheapest price on pcpartspicker for the 4790k

Case would be personal preference.

With your configuration, I am already at $850 without a case or OS. I am really trying to stay around $700 or less TOTAL, including OS, case, and all hardware. I may consider some of the components you recommended (perhaps a cheaper CPU?)

Originally Posted by MChat

I've built many PC's and once you get below a certain dollar amount, you cannot build them cheaper than you can buy a prebuilt one. At the price range you are looking for, I can usually get within $50-$100 of a pre-built with similar specifications, but that doesn't include an OS or any bundled software.

For instance the above mentioned build is over $800 with no OS, no software, no keyboard, no mouse and no case.

Since you say once you get below a certain price point, building a PC vs. buying one pre-built becomes too similar in price to justify it, I thought I would mention the **ONLY** local option for me that I can just go into the store and buy. Because I live in Germany, and I am iffy about buying a PC from a German store marketed for the German economy (don't know how that would work with language differences and whatnot) this is the only PC at my local AAFES that I would consider:

http://www.amazon.com/HP-Pavilion-23.../dp/B00XRI29DS

That being said, I would actually highly prefer an all in one PC, assuming it is optioned well enough that I wouldn't have to upgrade anything, and it can use a secondary monitor for dual display. Touch screen means nothing to me, I could take it or leave it. Is the above option a good system for what I want? Again, I used to game a little back in 2009 when COD:MW was popular. I stopped, since my old desktop PC crapped out a little over a year ago, and even up to that point I hadn't gamed much in a couple years. I was contemplating getting back into it a little, but the important thing is being able to view, edit and upload 1080P GoPro footage.

If the HP all in one I linked would work, I may just go pick it up and be done with it, or, here is my build I threw together (knowing very little about what I was picking)

1. NZXT Guardian 921 case
2. MSI 970 Gaming AM3+ MOBO
3. Rosewill Valens-700 PSU
4. AMD FX-4350 Vishera Quad-Core CPU
5. Corsair Vengeance 16GB RAM
6. WD Black Series WD1003FZEX HDD
7. HP DVD1265I DVD burner

This, plus my current GPU (which IIRC is a Visiontek Radeon HD 4xxx) is only $530.00, which leaves me money left over for an OS. Any thoughts on how this setup would do? I am sure the setup ATL_335i posted is far superior, but for what I need I suspect it would be overkill and is over my budget.

[ATL_335i]

Not necessarily, in my opinion the computer I listed above is very future proof. Some of the parts can be substituted for cheaper parts and still be a pretty solid platform. If you are dead set on a budget though the only thing I would consider changing would be the CPU. I can tell you from personal preference though that the i7 4790k is the best bang for your buck out there and is very future proof as stated above if you ever need to OC it. I would recommend down grading to an i5 and worst case when you feel like you need to upgrade the computer you would just have to upgrade the CPU to an i7.

Keep in mind though in short form most of the parts on that list are very low maintenance and future proof for the price. The only thing you will be doing is opening up the case to clean out dust bunnies and making sure your cooler is still working properly.