Need help building a $500-$550 range "gaming" PC

rajncajn

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Sep 12, 2006
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My in-laws HP desktop has gone out on them (on-board video) and rather than try to find parts to fix a very out-of-date PC they've asked me to put one together for them. I've built my last two, but it's been a few years & I'm not really up with what is out there now, so I need a little help piecing together one for them. Their only requirements are that it be no more than $550 and that it is capable of running online games such as World of Tanks, Wizards 101, etc In order to keep their cost down I've offered to give them a few spare parts I have to get started. Here is what I've got already. It's not much, but it may save them a few bucks. If any of it isn't worth keeping that's fine too::

- I'm going to install their old hard drive, A WD10EADS Western Digital 1 TB Caviar Green SATA Intellipower 32 MB Cache. I've tested it on my PC and it runs fine.


-COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW ATX Mid case


- Coolmax APX-550 PSU

-Lite-on DVD burner & card reader from thei old PC

-Several case fans including a nice variable Thermaltake.
 
Solution
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor ($119.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Biostar Hi-Fi H81S2 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: OCZ ARC 100 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: HIS Radeon R9 280 3GB IceQ OC Video Card ($182.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Rosewill Capstone 450W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $562.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by...

sparestuff

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Sep 22, 2014
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Would this be good enough? I believe your in-laws could easily roll with this

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.59 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($74.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($48.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: HIS Radeon R9 280 3GB IceQ OC Video Card ($182.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $535.53
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
 

mdocod

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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor ($119.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Biostar Hi-Fi H81S2 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: OCZ ARC 100 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: HIS Radeon R9 280 3GB IceQ OC Video Card ($182.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Rosewill Capstone 450W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $562.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-23 03:05 EST-0500

Set up the machine on the SSD and use the old WD10EADS as their backup and storage drive. The SSD will have an enormous effect on user experience, much moreso than going from the i3 to i5 in this case.

Don't use the Coolmax PSU, they are trash.
 
Solution

rajncajn

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Sep 12, 2006
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Looks like a solid build. I've never gone with a Radeon or a SSD. Can't wait to see how it works out as I'll be looking to rebuild my own PC in the next year or so and plan on going that route.