Windows 7: Budget Gaming Suggestion..

To be quite frank, I'm not exactly in a wealth of money at the moment, being 15 and all. I'm not asking for some 1337, i7 2600k 16GB DDR3 RAM with a 4gb ATI pwn GFX Uber system, Just something that'll run modern-ish games, and be useful as a basis to upgrade on.



Computer I'm thinking of..

AMD, obviously Budget is the first thing that slaps you in the face, but I'm not trying to run Crysis 2 - More like Minecraft, Battlefield 2.. If I'm lucky with an upgrade here or there, Battlefield 3 when it releases in Autumn. I'm strapped for cash at the moment.. but my Birthday's coming up in august, and I'm saving and getting a job so.. My future plans are *Currently*

Purchase said Desktop
Potentially upgrade to a higher-end Phenom X4, or an X6.
Debate on upgrading much else..

Also - I literally just need raw hardware. Providing the BIOS is already sorted (Never installed a new MoBo, about all my experience lacks) I don't need any form of OS pre-installed.

Thanks.. PPS - Not sure if it's the right section, I've looked :-)

How much of a budget are we talking about, $400, $800, $1200?

Well, Considering I'm UK, I'd say around.. $400-500? If I'm right.. It should around £200-350 area in my currency

Antec Three Hundred + BP430 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 430W Power Supply $85
Newegg.com - Antec Three Hundred + BP430 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 430W Power Supply

MSI 870-G45 AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard, $75
Newegg.com - MSI 870-G45 AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard

AMD Phenom II X4 840 3.2GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor $104
Newegg.com - AMD Phenom II X4 840 3.2GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor HDX840WFGMBOX

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-10600CL8D-4GBHK $47
Newegg.com - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-10600CL8D-4GBHK

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3500418AS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $45
Newegg.com - Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3500418AS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

EVGA 01G-P3-1450-TR GeForce GTS 450 (Fermi) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card $120
Newegg.com - EVGA 01G-P3-1450-TR GeForce GTS 450 (Fermi) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

$476. Expect to have to upgrade the power supply later, as this one only has 430 watts. I kept the cost under $500 which was the goal. Should give you ability to upgrade down the road.

Hope this helps.

My only suggestion is if you are going AMD and looking for upgradeability, go wiyh an AM3+ motherboard. It will run am3 chips but will also allow you to upgrade to the vewer chips later.

Those are good suggestions...the only change I would make is thisNewegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100297L Radeon HD 5830 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card w/ ATI Eyefinity Technology

$109.99 one notch higherGraphics Card Hierarchy Chart : Best Graphics Cards For The Money: May 2011

However the Egg doesn't ship to the UK

I thought about it, and was thinking about this board; $129
ASUS M5A88-V EVO AM3+ AMD 880G HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

The problem was the $129 price tag, put the box over $500.

What about this one ASUS M5A87 AM3+ AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard 99.00 should keep him at his mark. Plus I have a problem with MSI.

You have a Keyboard,Mouse,Monitor all covered?
And speakers if needed?

@essenbe: You are right, I linked to the wrong mobo. I thought about that $129 board when I was considering using onboard video to stay under $400. However, it would have never met his gaming goals. So, the second board I linked to had onboard video and the one you mentioned, shaved $30 off by removing it. That IS what I should have linked to.

@Wishmaster: I wondered about those things as well. Plus, as nobody should ever forget, a copy of Windows 7 is likely going to set you back at least $100 depending on what version and what licensing type you choose.