400 $ gaming build

Sorry to burst your bubble, but in a $400 budget you're not going to fit a quad core and a 'high' end GPU. At this price it's almost better to find something used or manufacturer built.

hey i could try & add another 100$.....would dt help

Not happening.

What you want is $100 for the CPU, most likely $70-100 for the board, $100 for the GPU, $60 for 2 GB of RAM. Right there is already over budget, and you'll still need about $100 for the case/PSU

Yes, take this build from Tecmo's sticky at the top of the forum and drop a 4850 in. You might be better off with a different mobo as well, since you won't be using the onboard gpu. Also, one of the gaming builds at the top of his sticky would give you better gaming performance, although you would not have a quad.



http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/269162-31-recommended-builds-usage

hey dt is jst my wishlist...wt would u buy if u had jst 400$ for a gaming machine ...I have to get a good graphics card for playing games such as protoype,crysis,call of duty(latest games)....say for the graphics card costs around 125$...I have 275$ to spend on the cpu,mobo,ram,& the power supply...Maybe an ordinary case would do....I could go for a 2 core or 3 core processor like the phenom 550 or....What do you suggest...???

CPU: Athlon II X2 240 $59
Mobo: Asus M4A77TD $70 after rebate
RAM: Kingston HyperX 2x1 GB DDR3 1333 mhz CAS Latency 7 $64
PSU: Corsair CMPSU-400CX 400W $40 after rebate
Case: Antec 200 $50
GPU: $117 left.

Honestly, wish list or otherwise, you would do yourself a huge favor by continuing to save your money for a bit and then building when you have a bit more to spend. If you're interested in playing current graphics-intensive games, you'd be much better off if your budget had a little more room in it.

If you need it now, you need it now. If you can wait a while, though, you'd probably benefit from it.

Agree completely with Restatement. With the ~$120 left in the budget for the GPU, you're in the range for either an HD 4850 or GTS 250. Neither of these will be very great for playing current games, especially at higher resolutions and high details.

Seems like people aren't optimistic about budget builds lately ^_^. If you're willing to add that $100 to go up to $500 then your prospects look better. Anyway, I say

AMD Athlon II X2 240 $58.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

ASRock A780LM $54.99 +7.56 ship
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) $41.99 +5.99 ship
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

RAIDMAX SMILODON Extreme Black $84.99 (+24.99 ship)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Western Digital Caviar Blue WD3200AAJS 320GB 7200 RPM 8MB $47.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

ASUS Black DVD-writer $23.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

SAPPHIRE 100284L Radeon HD 5750 1GB $134.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Total : $486.47

Of course you may be able to get it a bit cheaper by taking advantage of combo deals and what not. You may even chose to go with a cheaper case in order to get a quality PSU. The PSU in the Smilodon though is sufficient for a single 5750, just not for two of them. The Athlon 240X2 is about as low as I would go as there isn't much sense in saving just a few bucks to go with a Brisbane Athlon X2.

The 240 is particularly decent if overclocked, so if you cut corners don't do it on a motherboard. Make sure you get a motherboard that can support your intended CPU and has sufficient overclocking options if you want to overclock. A Radeon 5750 is pretty good and can cope with modern games on medium-high settings while playing slightly older games on high. Despite what some have said, a Radeon 4850 is sufficient to play most modern games on at least medium, but the 5750 is worth the extra money  .