Looking to build a gaming PC for the wife - preferably 400$ range

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abower911

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I was looking at this case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811208052

But it seems like that might make it a pain for someone to give me a hand here, so I am open to others, my preference is on the smaller side.

Approximate Purchase Date: e.g.: Within the week if all goes according to plan.

Budget Range: 400$

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Facebook, Netflix, Youtube, etc.

Are you buying a monitor: No


Parts to Upgrade: Everything inside the case. The only parts I don't need to replace for her are the peripherals and monitor.

Do you need to buy OS: No

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg is my preference but I will do what I need to, to get the best deal

Location: NE Oklahoma

Parts Preferences: No preference as far as AMD or Intel

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: No

Your Monitor Resolution: 1280x1024


And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: Wifes PC is 6+ years old, was my old gaming PC and it is getting to the point where it cannot run anything modern at all.
 
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Eduello

Eduello

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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($59.00 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus H81M-D PLUS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($38.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.91 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R7 260X 2GB Video Card ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Xion XON-560 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($36.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer ($13.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $386.84
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-24 13:24 EDT-0400
 
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Solution
plywrlw

plywrlw

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That g3258 above won't work with that motherboard without a BIOS update.


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3420 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock H81M-DGS R2.0 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($51.38 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($72.00 @ Newegg)
Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($44.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: HIS Radeon R7 260X 2GB iCooler Video Card ($96.31 @ Amazon)
Case: Rosewill FBM-01 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($24.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 430W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($35.00 @ Amazon)
Total: $394.66
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-24 13:29 EDT-0400
 
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Teemi

Teemi

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I agree with Karsten. It's extremely hard to get a decent pc for that price. Maybe you will have to buy used parts, but let me give this a shot. I will use the amd apu system which has a decent integrated graphics chip.

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/eivuwan/saved/PZddnQ

CPU AMD A10-7850K 3.7GHz Quad-Core $169.99
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-HD3 Micro ATX FM2+ $59.79
Memory G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 $69.30
Storage Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM $52.92
Power Supply SeaSonic 400W ATX12V / EPS12V $43.98
Total: $395.98

There is no optical drive because you can use a usb to load the OS. There is no case because you have one, but please tell us what the case is.
 
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Karsten75

Karsten75

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I believe the Pentium that Eduello recommended is specifically because it is the overclockable Anniversary Edition Pentium That Intel recently released. There was an article soewhere where it was overclocked on an x81- chipset (if memory serves) motherboard to yield an impressive gaming PC at a very low cost. Can't quite lay my hands on that article, it was either here at Tom's or over on Anandtech.
 
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Eduello

Eduello

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Newegg will refund you if you return it within 30 days, so I wouldn't worry about. Of course if the OP is worried about things like that, the build you made should be fine for him.
 
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Eduello

Eduello

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The Pentium G3258 Cheap Overclocking Experiment
 
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A

abower911

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Thank you for the responses, I actually had read that article not long before posting but figured I would ask some folks who I knew had a better idea of what was around.

So far I really like the setup Eduello posted, the most taxing thing she plays is Skyrim. And if the current 6+ year old rig can run it at the very minimum(barely) I am sure that will be a night and day difference.

If I did decide to overclock her, what cooler would you recommend for that setup Eduello?
 
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Eduello

Eduello

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The only choice you have for that case would be an AIO water cooler: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-cpu-cooler-rls12v24pkr1

If you get a bigger case, you can get a similarly performing air cooler like the Hyper 212 Plus/Evo/X for $20-30.
 
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plywrlw

plywrlw

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Could you do me a favour and let me know if the motherboard and processor work together out of the box because if they do I will definitely be suggesting this combination to others with confidence :) After all it's a great deal if they do but I'm fairly cautious when suggesting builds for other people
 
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A

abower911

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Wanted to make sure I came back and let you know - that it fired right up without any issues, other than the radiator on the seidon 120v blocking the 200mm fan I got the intake on the side lol

So in the future I would keep that in mind so you know if someone asks about fans, they need to triple check clearance on the side panel, because that radiator left like 1.5mm of space between the side and the radiator
 
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