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How good is this $300 budget build?

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  • Build
  • Systems
Last response: in Systems
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May 12, 2013 11:05:27 AM

So my friend is on an extreme budget, but he still wants to play games on PC.

How would you guys rate this build? His budget was like $300 so I had to cut down on LOTS.

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/PhoKingTasty/saved/1At1

How upgradeable is this PC? How well can it run games like planetside 2, battlefield 3, and guild wars 2 on low?

Note: MOBO is $5 since I'm using a CPU+MOBO deal at microcenter

http://www.microcenter.com/site/products/amd_bundles.as...

any other suggestions would be great!

More about : good 300 budget build

May 12, 2013 11:11:29 AM

Poor upgradability, he will struggle to play those games very well even on low, he will need to save at least 500 in my honest opinion.

If he's playing lower than 1080p it will probably be fine though.

For benchmarks on that graphics card read here:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-6570-rade...
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May 12, 2013 11:12:58 AM

Not bad for a very limited budget but try to squeeze out just a few more dollars foe a FX4300 or4350.
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May 12, 2013 11:18:00 AM

Do you live near a microcenter store? The cpu and mobo combos are for store pickup omly. If you do then go for the same mobo and FX6300 $115 total.
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May 12, 2013 11:19:41 AM

Goodeggray said:
Do you live near a microcenter store? The cpu and mobo combos are for store pickup omly. If you do then go for the same mobo and FX6300 $115 total.


Yes I do live near one.
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May 12, 2013 11:25:41 AM

I would make three changes. They would not add a lot to the cost (one saves money), but would increase the performance a LOT.
The FX-4130 is one of the Faildozer CPUs. For $95 (and look for deals), get a Phenom II X4 965BE instead.
Get a 7200RPM Desktop hard drive; the 5400RPM Laptop drive you've selected will be painfully slow. This WD Blue is $58, but has a promo code so it will be less: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
Finally, the GDDR5 version of the HD6670 will perform a lot better. If you can, get a GDDR5 version of the HD7750 instead. This item will eat up the cost savings from the CPU and maybe then some, but not much, and will make a huge difference in FPS and/or playable settings.
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May 12, 2013 11:56:20 AM

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($119.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard (Purchased For $0.00)
Memory: Mushkin Silverline 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($29.98 @ Outlet PC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($53.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB Video Card ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cougar Spike MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($27.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $361.92
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-05-12 14:56 EDT-0400)

-$5 from microcenter deal = $356.00, a little over budget.
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May 12, 2013 12:24:14 PM

if you want to get under 350:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD A10-5800K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor ($124.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A55M-DGS Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Wintec One 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($35.28 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($53.98 @ Outlet PC)
Case: Antec VSK-3000 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 300W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($36.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $341.21
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-05-12 15:23 EDT-0400)
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May 12, 2013 1:16:40 PM

ScrewySqrl said:
if you want to get under 350:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD A10-5800K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor ($124.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A55M-DGS Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard ($49.99 @ Newegg)

Wait no video card?
Memory: Wintec One 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($35.28 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($53.98 @ Outlet PC)
Case: Antec VSK-3000 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 300W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($36.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $341.21
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-05-12 15:23 EDT-0400)


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May 12, 2013 1:27:31 PM

the AMD A10 is a CPU/GPU combo. it has a raedon HD 7660D which depending how much gaming this person wants to do, could be a suitable idea. most reviews show it handling older games with moderate/high and low/mid for higher demanding new games. but it does leave room to upgrade later on.
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May 12, 2013 4:09:19 PM

Yes, but the PSU doesn't. Even a Seasonic 300W PSU won't be a good choice to add anything more than a HD7750 to that build later. It might with a power-sipping CPU like an i3, but those APUs pull a lot more juice.
Really, if your friend wants to avoid buyer's remorse later, he should increased his budget. $500 will build a decent, upgradable machine.
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May 12, 2013 8:18:57 PM

on a $300 budget, you have to make compromises. the best expansion for the A-10 is to add an HD 6670 n dal graphics mode.

you get almost a 7770 from the two cards working together, at least in DX11 titles
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May 13, 2013 6:40:36 AM

Crossfire is broken. I have yet to read anywhere that Crossfiring a HD6670 with an APU actually works well enough to make sense.
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May 13, 2013 8:44:56 AM

I can tell you it does work well on DX 10/11 games, but not DX9 games. I have a Llano APU + 7670 in my laptop, and they do work together well.
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