Solved Building a gaming PC for $250

[jloc]

I read an article yesterday and it was saying about how you can build a PC, capable of playing Modern Warfare 3 for just $250 - Build a Modern Warfare 3 PC for under $250 | ExtremeTech

It's my birthday next week and $250 (£165) is quite a bit cheaper than getting a console, here's the specs;



AMD A4-3300 Llano 2.5GHz Socket FM1 65W Dual-Core Desktop APU with DirectX 11 Graphic AMD Radeon HD 6410D AD3300OJGXBOX - $65

Crucial Ballistix sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 Desktop Memory Model BL2KIT51264BA1339 - $45


ASRock A55M-HVS FM1 AMD A55 (Hudson D2) HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - $59

Broadway Com Corp 1243MA-BLACK Glossy black Steel ATX Mini Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply - $30

PHILIPS Black 3.5mm O'Neill THE STRETCH Headband Headset SHO9567BK/28 - $30


That means that the total is only $225 (£145), I know that I couldn't run games at their highest quality but it would be better than on a PS3/360. What do you think of the specs, are they good in general? Also, would I be able to run GTA IV and Battlefield 3 in better quality than on a console but still have no lag?

Thanks for reading!

 

[whs]

Here is the list of games you may be able to play (or mostely not play) with that graphics.

 

[jloc]

Here is the list of games you may be able to play (or mostely not play) with that graphics.

That's a long list of things I couldn't play! Would you recommend any tweaks to the hardware list that would change anything?

 

[metalmania31]

I'm sorry but if you want to play current modern games $250 is not going to get you far. One gaming video card will cost you $250+. Even that card wouldn't be able to play many of those games on higher settings.

 

[whs]

A decent graphics like this one will probably do. And here is the list of games it can do:
http://community.futuremark.com/hardware/gpu/ATI+Radeon+HD+5770/games

 

[jloc]

I'm sorry but if you want to play current modern games $250 is not going to get you far. One gaming video card will cost you $250+. Even that card wouldn't be able to play many of those games on higher settings.

At max, I suppose I could go up to $400, what would be my situation then?

 

[whs]

Well, you are still missing a disk, an optical reader and an operating system. That will add $200 to $250 right here. I think it is not possible to build a halfway decent gaming rig for less than $500 to $600 - all components considered - unless you can salvage a few from a scrapped rig. And in the UK prices are probably higher.

 

[jloc]

Well, you are still missing a disk, an optical reader and an operating system. That will add $200 to $250 right here. I think it is not possible to build a halfway decent gaming rig for less than $500 to $600 - all components considered - unless you can salvage a few from a scrapped rig. And in the UK prices are probably higher.

I have a 1TB HDD from my old rig and I still have the disk drive, it came with a copy of Windows 7 aswell so i'm sorted for an OS.

Am I thinking unrealistically? I just thought it would be cooler than getting a console since i've wanted a gaming PC forever, too expensive :/

Oh well, thanks for your help

 

[metalmania31]

You can get a ps3 for $250 and XBOX 360 for $200. And they look pretty good for the most part. If you want a gaming video card that looks better then dedicated consoles you're gonna have to get $350+ video card with DX11 that's capable of rendering those extra bits of eye candy.

 

[whs]

It is a big question whether your Win7 on the HDD will work. If it is an OEM, it will not work. If you have a retail installation disc, you can reinstall it. Else you will have a driver problem.
I think that graphics card I linked is pretty decent. No need to spend more unless you want to go to the extremes.

 

[M1GU31]

You can get a ps3 for $250 and XBOX 360 for $200. And they look pretty good for the most part. If you want a gaming video card that looks better then dedicated consoles you're gonna have to get $350+ video card with DX11 that's capable of rendering those extra bits of eye candy.

no you can max games with a 150$ video card at dece3nt resloutions like with a gtx 460 you dont need a $300 card......

He could max out games with around $400-500usd by using a decent quad core and 4gb of ram

 

[metalmania31]

You can get a ps3 for $250 and XBOX 360 for $200. And they look pretty good for the most part. If you want a gaming video card that looks better then dedicated consoles you're gonna have to get $350+ video card with DX11 that's capable of rendering those extra bits of eye candy.

no you can max games with a 150$ video card at dece3nt resloutions like with a gtx 460 you dont need a $300 card......

He could max out games with around $400-500usd by using a decent quad core and 4gb of ram

Well OP wanted better than consoles. $150 card is probably on par with consoles. That's what I'm basing it on.

 

[mjf]

A decent monitor would also help.
I have a GeForce GTS 450 cost ~$110. Although I'm not a gamer I believe it can handle most.
WEI Gaming Graphics: 7.2
Cinebench OpenGL : 53.

 

[profdlp]

See the second part of this amazingly helpful post:

http://www.sevenforums.com/vip/206793-computer-cash-strapped-student.html#post1736399

DX11 and Quad Core, baby!

 

[whs]

This is a good build. The OP could get away with $350 since he alrerady has the HDD - but no optical drive.

 

[jloc]

A decent monitor would also help.
I have a GeForce GTS 450 cost ~$110. Although I'm not a gamer I believe it can handle most.
WEI Gaming Graphics: 7.2
Cinebench OpenGL : 53.

I've got a great monitor, it's an iiYama Prolite E2407HDS, it set me back around $450 a couple of years ago.

See the second part of this amazingly helpful post:

http://www.sevenforums.com/vip/20679...ml#post1736399

DX11 and Quad Core, baby!

That thread is in the VIP section

It is a big question whether your Windows 7 on the HDD will work. If it is an OEM, it will not work. If you have a retail installation disc, you can reinstall it. Else you will have a driver problem.
I think that graphics card I linked is pretty decent. No need to spend more unless you want to go to the extremes.

It's a retail copy of Win7 Ultimate that I got with my PC.

This is a good build. The OP could get away with $350 since he alrerady has the HDD - but no optical drive.

I've got a spare drive lying around, it's a Lightscribe something (not sure exactly what model).
___________________________

My current graphics card doesn't support any games (I can play Call of Duty: World at War on it's lowest settings). It's a nVidia GeForce 7800GTX.

 

[profdlp]

See the second part of this amazingly helpful post:

http://www.sevenforums.com/vip/20679...ml#post1736399

DX11 and Quad Core, baby!

...That thread is in the VIP section ...

Whoops - sorry about that.

I don't think I'd be breaking any sacred rules by reposting the pertinent part here:

I'm thinking maybe an FM1 system from AMD:


Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-A75M-S2V FM1 AMD A75 (Hudson D3) SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - $70 (after rebate)

Newegg.com - AMD A8-3870K Unlocked Llano 3.0GHz Socket FM1 100W Quad-Core Desktop APU with DirectX 11 Graphic AMD Radeon HD 6550D AD3870WNGXBOX- $145

Newegg.com - Patriot Signature 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory with heatshield Model PSD38G1600KH - $36

Newegg.com - Antec Basiq BP500U 500W Continuous Power ATX12V Version 2.01 Active PFC Power Supply - $55

Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GZ-KF03B Black SGCC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - $17

Newegg.com - Seagate Barracuda ST31000524AS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive - $125 (includes free MSI DVD Burner!)

That adds up to $448 and gives you a Quad Core CPU at 3.0GHz along with DirectX 11 Graphics, an adequate PSU and the cheapest doggone case I could find to hold it all. The CPU is the top-of-the-line FM1 processor, so you could save some money there if you wanted. You could also drop from 8GB RAM to 4GB, though you wouldn't save much. Wait a few months for Hard Drive prices to return to normal and that's probably another $50 off right there.

 

[M1GU31]

You can get a ps3 for $250 and XBOX 360 for $200. And they look pretty good for the most part. If you want a gaming video card that looks better then dedicated consoles you're gonna have to get $350+ video card with DX11 that's capable of rendering those extra bits of eye candy.

no you can max games with a 150$ video card at dece3nt resloutions like with a gtx 460 you dont need a $300 card......

He could max out games with around $400-500usd by using a decent quad core and 4gb of ram

Well OP wanted better than consoles. $150 card is probably on par with consoles. That's what I'm basing it on.

well then with a card around $200 should do that then max at 720p-1080p dont really need a $300 card unless you want to do like resloutions higher then that anyways w/e don't want to argue anymore

 

[metalmania31]

No arguing here. I was just backing up my own point.

 

[M1GU31]

ye i just didn't want him to believe you needed $300 to max games because you can do it with cheaper cards but i can see were your coming from