Building a New Cheap Med-spec PC

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
vlad9727

vlad9727

Distinguished
Feb 22, 2014
135
0
18,680
Greetings to everyone :).I started working on part-time job as im still 16 and with some calculation about the money i will get through 3 months of working (the summer) i got to somewhere around 350$ and i want to build a new Med-Spec PC since my pc barely runs dota2,csgo,garry's mod on low settings.I got Arma2 CO for Dayz and DayZ Standalone,also Rust, too but hell if i can play them on my rusty pc and i was thinking of finally fully upgrade the pc(building a new one) since i havent done that for 7 years.
So as i said, the budget isnt that big, only 350 dollars, and so i want to build a new pc which can support on med-spec the games i mentioned above. Ofc i wouldnt mind running them on High Settings, but i dont really care about graphics.. i just want to run them properly.
I was thinking about the next specs for my future PC:
Intel Motherboard with a processor Quad-core or i3 with 2.5-3.0 GhZ
4 DDR3 Ram memory
512 MB Nvidia Video Card
And the other i will replace with the actual components i own (Sound Card,HDD,etc)

*i'll buy Second-hand ram memories to get out cheaper*

Now,all i need from you guys is the names of those products.. i mean.. i want to buy them so they will be compatible with each other(im not good with those stuff).A pre-built pc example would be good or anything. Cheers.
 
Solution
Eximo
I would say wait until you have the money in hand wait on it. And no, you didn't list all your components.

Case, Powersupply, Monitor, Operating System, DVD Drive, Hard Drive could all be re-used, maybe. Generally the sweet spot for a complete budget build is $500-600, but here is a nearly finished PC for about your budget.

[PCPartPicker part list](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/bs3GnQ) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/bs3GnQ/by_merchant/)

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
**CPU** | [Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646g3258) | $74.99 @ Amazon
**Motherboard** | [ASRock H81 Pro BTC ATX LGA1150...
Sort by date Sort by votes
Eximo

Eximo

Titan
Ambassador
May 27, 2010
25,830
4,178
139,340
Tricky, what do you have in your current system that might be able to be re-used. List all your existing components.

One of the new unlocked pentiums and the cheapest unlockable board if you want to stick with Intel. Otherwise AMD budget systems tend to be better off.

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
C

cirdecus

Distinguished
Feb 14, 2008
687
25
19,315
I typically don't recommend trying to get a gaming machine going for under $500 bucks. But here's a GPU/CPU and board that will play your games well and be a good upgrade.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132042
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116946
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202090

The only thing missing would be cheap RAM, which shouldn't be to hard to pick up and a PSU/Case. I know you mentioned you would use existing components for these, but you may find that you'll have to replace them.

You could knock maybe 50 bucks off the Video Card and get an R7 250 Radeon, but again, the best thing to do in this scenario is try and save a bit more or buy components in phases
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
vlad9727

vlad9727

Distinguished
Feb 22, 2014
135
0
18,680

Motherboard : ASUSTeK Model P5GZ-MX
Processor : Intel Pentium D 925 Dual-Core 3 GhZ
Video Card: Nvidia GeForce GS8400 512mb
Ram Memory: 2GB DDR2 (from which 1GB with 667MHz and 1GB with 800MHz)
Sound Card : Realtek High Definition
hope i didnt miss anything.
Please take in consider that i exaggerated with the components i'd like to buy. I only need a PC who'd like to work my games on low-med video settings with 30-60 fps(such a 4gb DDR3 Ram,512MB Video,i3 processor or quadcore depends i dont really know which is better)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
vlad9727

vlad9727

Distinguished
Feb 22, 2014
135
0
18,680


The components u linked up there are pretty ... idk... too good for me. I mean the motherboard may not be expensive but that video card is hell...
I may have exaggerated with the components i'd like to buy. I only need a PC who'd like to work my games on low-med video settings with 30-60 fps(such a 4gb DDR3 Ram,512MB Video,i3 processor or quadcore depends i dont really know which is better)

And sadly i exaggerated with the money i might be able to gain in 3 months too... i could gain more.. or less.. all those depends on the weather from here...This summer part-time job depends on the people who are coming to the bar... if they are a lot, the boss calls me as "helper" and pays me...but sometimes im not needed so im not paid and if the weather isnt well...i stay home and im not paid.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Eximo

Eximo

Titan
Ambassador
May 27, 2010
25,830
4,178
139,340
I would say wait until you have the money in hand wait on it. And no, you didn't list all your components.

Case, Powersupply, Monitor, Operating System, DVD Drive, Hard Drive could all be re-used, maybe. Generally the sweet spot for a complete budget build is $500-600, but here is a nearly finished PC for about your budget.

[PCPartPicker part list](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/bs3GnQ) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/bs3GnQ/by_merchant/)

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
**CPU** | [Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646g3258) | $74.99 @ Amazon
**Motherboard** | [ASRock H81 Pro BTC ATX LGA1150 Motherboard](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-h81probtc) | $44.99 @ Newegg
**Memory** | [Crucial 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 Memory](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/crucial-memory-ct2kit25664ba160b) | $44.99 @ Newegg
**Storage** | [Seagate Barracuda 250GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st3250318as) | $33.70 @ Amazon
**Video Card** | [Asus Radeon R7 250X 1GB Video Card](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-video-card-r7250x1gd5) | $99.99 @ Newegg
**Case** | [NZXT Gamma Classic (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/nzxt-case-gama001bk) | $19.99 @ Newegg
**Power Supply** | [Cooler Master Elite Power 460W ATX Power Supply](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-power-supply-rs460psari3) | $24.99 @ Newegg
| | **Total**
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available | $343.64
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
vlad9727

vlad9727

Distinguished
Feb 22, 2014
135
0
18,680


thank you very much , but how do u know they are really compatible with each other? do the website says if they are compatible or not .. or ... anyway... thank you for helping :). The video card 1gb.. a lil bit too much... i care more about the processor... i have a dual core right now with 3.0GhZ... so i would like something a lil bit better not only 3.2GhZ :D . I will be still looking... got the hole summer to think about it...also i might as well earn more than 350$.. .who knows...
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Eximo

Eximo

Titan
Ambassador
May 27, 2010
25,830
4,178
139,340
Gigahertz/Megahertz is only a measure of difference between identical CPU platforms. Instructions per cycle is the more important measure. Latest generation Intel chips run at an impressive speed and the one I selected can also be overclocked to around 4.0 Ghz or more. Any i3 will have a locked multiplier and only the i5 k and i7 k series chips can be overclocked (though they will run up to 3.9-4.0Ghz with no modifications). But these blow past your budget.

Alternative here would be an AMD setup, which do run at higher frequencies, or an APU setup that shares your main system memory (no video card required at all for the type of gaming you seem to want to do)

You would be hard pressed to find a video card with less then 1GB of memory that wasn't new old stock or a very old rebranded product. Memory is also not much of a factor in GPU speed, just sets the maximum amount of textures and other things that can be stored while the card is in use. FLOPS, floating point operations per second is an accepted rule of thumb, but still not a very good way to compare GPUs. Benchmarks in the applications you want to run, ie games, is the best measurement.

As an example, the common difference between a desktop GPU and a mobile GPU is only the clock speed. When they lower it they can use a lower voltage and thus use less power and create less heat. The underlying architecture is identical. Form factor is a little different (smaller number of higher capacity memory chips and power is supplied by the laptop)

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
vlad9727

vlad9727

Distinguished
Feb 22, 2014
135
0
18,680

Thank you again for wasting some of your time answering me :), some of these things u said here.. some... most of them... i didnt know till now... I was browsing a good website from my country and found a cheap PC and i want you to give an opinion about it... ofc i will buy separately the components so i can get the "PC" cheaper (ill keep my oldy HDD,and some other stuff that can be reused)
http://www.cel.ro/calculatoare-desktop/diaxxa-essential-i3_4130-500gb-4gb-r7-240-2gb-ddr3-l/
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Eximo

Eximo

Titan
Ambassador
May 27, 2010
25,830
4,178
139,340
Not terrible and it does come with an OS and presumably a warranty. i3-4130 is the lowest end haswell i3, but I use one as a browser and downloader for a lot of things.

If you see any computers with an A10 series AMD processor that would get you more video performance then the R7-240 for about the same price, also be a quad core.

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
vlad9727

vlad9727

Distinguished
Feb 22, 2014
135
0
18,680

what about this one? ... and .. i know , you've already helped me a lot... but could u please... go on this website http://www.cel.ro/calculatoare-desktop (using google translate ofc) and search for a good pc with the price around 1000-1500 RON/LEI (the currency)... something you'd buy with those money ... i really dont know which are good or not...

https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=ro&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cel.ro%2Fcalculatoare-desktop&edit-text=

i really need help about choosing a good PC... you know.. you dont buy a new one everyday... the one im using right now , has been bought 7 years ago, with a GPU change 5 years ago and +1gb ram 3 years ago. Myah... my family wallet is empty so i gotta work for my money.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Eximo

Eximo

Titan
Ambassador
May 27, 2010
25,830
4,178
139,340
Not seeing anything spectacular on that website, they don't have much variety. Mostly just OEM desktops with iGPU. They only had a single A10 and A8 computer, both outside your budget, no A6 at all. The A4 computer they had would probably be better then what you have now:
http://www.cel.ro/calculatoare-desktop/desktop-asus-m11bb_ru001d-amd-a4_6300-1tb-4gb-l/

But I think you already found the best budget system on there:
http://www.cel.ro/calculatoare-desktop/diaxxa-essential-i3_4130-500gb-4gb-r7-240-2gb-ddr3-l/

They don't really have any budget gaming builds (there really isn't a demand for them) Which is why people build their own or spend a lot more then you are intending on gaming builds from OEM.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
vlad9727

vlad9727

Distinguished
Feb 22, 2014
135
0
18,680


Thank you for all the help :) , im looking forward buying the components of This Diaxxa separately anyway, so i'll be looking for a better CPU maybe... The first on the list is the Motherboard, then the CPU, RAM and GPU...
Would u recommend buying a QuadCore instead of this i3 (from Diaxxa Essential PC)

My brother is also looking for a laptop (we work together on a pub) could u take a quick look again for laptop on the same website?... if u have some free time ... (His budget is $500)
http://www.cel.ro/laptop-laptopuri/
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Eximo

Eximo

Titan
Ambassador
May 27, 2010
25,830
4,178
139,340
Well, something like an FX4300 or an Athlon X4 760k (Or 750k) are popular for budget builds, FM2 motherboards are very cheap. FX4300 leaves you room to upgrade to anything they release for the AM3+ socket over the next couple of years.

Intel i3-4130 though (LGA1150) socket gives you access all the way up to the i7-4790, which in a few years you might be able to find used for relatively cheap.

If you want a system built I can certainly try and use that website to do it. At this end of the spectrum you get a lot of value with pre-built systems since they bundle the OS with it.

$500, going to need a website that deals in dollars then. Though that isn't much for a laptop, pretty much anything you can buy at a retail store at that price is as good as it gets. I would lean towards AMDs mobile APU (A10, A8, A6 processors) this gets you a little more video performance over the Intel integrated graphics.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
vlad9727

vlad9727

Distinguished
Feb 22, 2014
135
0
18,680


thank you again :), cheers.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom