Building a gaming computer on a tiny budget, what do you think of this parts guide?

600 bucks, absoute max. I'd rather it be much less than that if possible. I do not need a monitor, i can live without a DVD drive and hard drive. (id like to get all new parts if possible to have a "clean slate"

I really really like the case above, so i will be getting that, anything else is flexable.
 
My "old" dual-core still plays anything on the market at high or highest settings, so don't worry about it too much. But there are probably better options for a new machine.
 
MattD1zzl3 said:
600 bucks, absoute max. I'd rather it be much less than that if possible. I do not need a monitor, i can live without a DVD drive and hard drive. (id like to get all new parts if possible to have a "clean slate"

I really really like the case above, so i will be getting that, anything else is flexable.
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Alright then, I went over by $2. However, this is what I would build for that budget. I had to axe the DVD burner though.

Case: Raidmax Smilodon

PSU: Forton 500WATT (You said you might do dual video cards in the future. This was the least expensive "good" PSU I could find that has two PCI-E rails.)

CPU: AMD X4 620 2.6GHz (It's a quad core, trust me, you want one. It will also out perform that i3.)

MOBO: ASRock 770 (It's inexpensive and it's good.)

RAM: A-Data 4GB Dual Channel Kit

KBM: Logitech USB Wireless

Video: Ati Radeon 5770 (It's now in your budget, does DX11, and it will make a mockery out of the one you had listed before.)

Total comes to $589.

That would be my suggestions with the short time I spent researching.
 
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I'd pirate Win7 and get 4GB RAM.
 
Yea, i've already got windows 7 i can use again. Take that off FOR MORE POWAH!

morepower.jpg


I've already got a 500GB SATA drive i should be able to re-use as well. One more try on the list with this updated info? You seem to know a lot more than me :)

EDIT: That video card doesnt even support directx 11!!!
 
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MattD1zzl3 said:
Yea, i've already got windows 7 i can use again. Take that off FOR MORE POWAH!

morepower.jpg


I've already got a 500GB SATA drive i should be able to re-use as well. One more try on the list with this updated info? You seem to know a lot more than me :)

EDIT: That video card doesnt even support directx 11!!!
Click to expand...

Well, in that case, we can get you a much better video card and more RAM. Give me just a sec to fix that.

EDITED MY OTHER POST.
 
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On a budget, a more powerful 4 series card is still better than a weaker 5 series card, even without DX11. I wouldn't take that into too much consideration.
 
Polygon said:
Alright then, I went over by $2. However, this is what I would build for that budget. I had to axe the DVD burner though.

Case: Raidmax Smilodon

PSU: Forton 500WATT (You said you might do dual video cards in the future. This was the least expensive "good" PSU I could find that has two PCI-E rails.)

CPU: AMD X4 620 2.6GHz (It's a quad core, trust me, you want one. It will also out perform that i3.)

MOBO: ASRock 770 (It's inexpensive and it's good.)

RAM: A-Data 4GB Dual Channel Kit

KBM: Logitech USB Wireless

Video: Ati Radeon 5770 (It's now in your budget, does DX11, and it will make a mockery out of the one you had listed before.)

Total comes to $589.

That would be my suggestions with the short time I spent researching.
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This is a good build, I definitely agree with this. Keep in mind though this mobo only has one PCI-E 16x slot, so you will not be able to crossfire in the future.

Edit: This board is cheaper and you will be able to run Crossfire in the future, but it doesn't have USB3.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157176
 
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Good build for sure. The keyboard is kinda lame, but it does type fairly nicely and as long as you want wireless it's a decent set for the price, though the range is bad enough that you might as well have wired in that respect. Of course this was when I had one at work about a year and a half ago, so it might be a bit better now.
 
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I would go with the 5770 over the 4850, especially when he wants to Crossfire later on. It's going to be hard to find a 4+ year old card in 2 years when he decides to Crossfire. But it should be relatively easy to find a 1-2 year old card.
 
I dont need crossfire if i can get more performance for cheaper now. I dont need to get a new operating system, monitor, keyboard, mouse, or any hard drive smaller than 500GB.


Also, are all you guys with badass computers laughing your asses off at these cheap old parts? haha.
 
The 4850 or 5770 are enough for today's games, but I would definitely get a mobo with two PCI-E lanes just in case you need to upgrade. Also if you're likely to Crossfire 5770 in the future then I would suggest getting a slightly beefier PSU. This Antec 550w has triple 18A 12V rail (the FSP 500W only has dual), so it should be enough to power two 5770s, and it's the same price as the FSP 500w.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...03941&cm_re=antec_550w-_-17-103-941-_-Product
 
If the keyboard/mouse is dropped, will a 5850 make it in under budget?
 
MattD1zzl3 said:
I dont need crossfire if i can get more performance for cheaper now. I dont need to get a new operating system, monitor, keyboard, mouse, or any hard drive smaller than 500GB.


Also, are all you guys with badass computers laughing your asses off at these cheap old parts? haha.
Click to expand...

Not at all, I never buy top of the line, you can get 90% of the performance for half the cost. I bought my Core 2 system a couple of years ago. It was already technically outdated then, but it still plays any game very well with $200 of upgrades in video card and RAM (even without those it would still do modern games on medium).

It's the same mentality I have when looking at cars, I would be hard-pressed to buy brand new when a few years and miles can mean a fraction of the price.
 
So, here's the revised builds. One for if you want to be able to cross-fire in the future and one if you don't.

No Cross-Fire Support:

Case: Raidmax Smilodon

PSU: Antec 500WATT

CPU: AMD X4 620 2.6GHz
MOBO: ASRock 770

RAM: A-Data 4GB Dual Channel Kit

Video: Ati Radeon 5770

Total: $545

Cross-Fire Support:

Case: Raidmax Smilodon

PSU: Antec 550WATT

CPU: AMD X4 620 2.6GHz

MOBO: MSI 790X

RAM: A-Data 4GB Dual Channel Kit

Video: Ati Radeon 5770

Total: $585

thevictor390 said:
On a budget, a more powerful 4 series card is still better than a weaker 5 series card, even without DX11. I wouldn't take that into too much consideration.
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I would agree. My sister bought my brother in law StarCraft 2 but he has a 3000 Radeon on his MOBO. I built the computer and I told her that it won't run it very well with the video card in there. So, I bought them that 4850. It's still a pretty good value.

awdrifter said:
This is a good build, I definitely agree with this. Keep in mind though this mobo only has one PCI-E 16x slot, so you will not be able to crossfire in the future.

Edit: This board is cheaper and you will be able to run Crossfire in the future, but it doesn't have USB3.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157176
Click to expand...

awdrifter said:
The 4850 or 5770 are enough for today's games, but I would definitely get a mobo with two PCI-E lanes just in case you need to upgrade. Also if you're likely to Crossfire 5770 in the future then I would suggest getting a slightly beefier PSU. This Antec 550w has triple 18A 12V rail (the FSP 500W only has dual), so it should be enough to power two 5770s, and it's the same price as the FSP 500w.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...03941&cm_re=antec_550w-_-17-103-941-_-Product
Click to expand...

Good point, I didn't even notice that. However, that MOBO only has one x16 slot. The other is only x4. Still, I'm not a huge fan of cross-fire. I see it as bragging rights. Granted it's faster, but to what end. I'm not going to see the difference between that and one fast video card.

smib said:
Good build for sure. The keyboard is kinda lame, but it does type fairly nicely and as long as you want wireless it's a decent set for the price, though the range is bad enough that you might as well have wired in that respect. Of course this was when I had one at work about a year and a half ago, so it might be a bit better now.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I dumped it. Now that you mention it, it would be best to go with wired. At least on the keyboard.

awdrifter said:
I would go with the 5770 over the 4850, especially when he wants to Crossfire later on. It's going to be hard to find a 4+ year old card in 2 years when he decides to Crossfire. But it should be relatively easy to find a 1-2 year old card.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I doubt you're going to be able to get a good 4850 in a year.

MattD1zzl3 said:
I dont need crossfire if i can get more performance for cheaper now. I dont need to get a new operating system, monitor, keyboard, mouse, or any hard drive smaller than 500GB.


Also, are all you guys with badass computers laughing your asses off at these cheap old parts? haha.
Click to expand...

I still run a 4850. Granted I have a Core i7 for encoding, but the 4850 is still good enough for what I do. This build is actually pretty good. A lot of people over build their computers. This will be a pretty good system. Especially for the money.

smib said:
If the keyboard/mouse is dropped, will a 5850 make it in under budget?
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Hahaha.......... no. The 5850 starts at about $260. The keyboard/mouse was only $28.
 
Polygon you are seriously the man

Edit: but you do know the case comes preinstalled with a 500W power supply, right?
 
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MattD1zzl3 said:
Polygon you are seriously the man bored.
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As for the included PSU, you might want to look into what people have said about it. Cheap PSUs can fry Mobos.
 
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