Lower level gaming for less than $200

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firefrog6

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Mar 7, 2012
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What I'm looking for: mobo, cpu, case, psu, ram, and possibly a graphics card

What I've got: dvd drives, hard drives, think i have some extra fans, and might re-use my Radeon HD 2600XT unless something better is brought up

I just wanna be able to play some newer games, I'm on an old HP dx5150 with 1GB ram, and rather than paying a ton upgrading an dated tech, why not upgrade to a better system. So prety much, just any suggestions?
 
Solution
geekapproved
i3-2120
H61/H67 depending on your needs/uses, starting at $59
8GB ddr3 going for around $25 after rebate.
You can find a good case for around $35-50
You can get a good 400w psu for around $40-$60

When you have the money, repost, prices and promotions change daily and we can give you a more specific suggestion.
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AntiZig

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Apr 6, 2011
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umm, for $200 I'd say go with a console if you have a TV available, or worst case a handheld.

$200 is just not much to go on,

cheapest of the cheap - A4 APu ~$70, mobo ~$50, ram ~$30, psu ~$60 that alone puts you at $210, while you still need a case.

And even then, I just wouldn't recommend going with an APU because your upgrade options are limited to that socket.

basically, I say your budget is too slim
 
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morgoth780

morgoth780

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+1
 
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firefrog6

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You're probably right. I'll probly save up like $300 or so and buy everything i need except the case unless I can find a cheap case/psu combo. My B-day's in like a week I wanted to see if I could piece something together to atleast order by then. Any opinions on $300? (I know its still a tight budget but just trying to get options.)
 
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ScrewySqrl

ScrewySqrl

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Aug 2, 2010
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Tiger Direct has a barebones kit with case, crappy PSU, AMD Athlon II X3 445, 4 GB RAM, DVD, and 500 GB HDD for $199.

get a better PSU (Antec 350W, $29.99) and a either a 6670 ($69.99) or if you can go a little over $300 a 7750 ($110), and that will be a decent low end gamer
 
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geekapproved

geekapproved

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Dec 10, 2010
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i3-2120
H61/H67 depending on your needs/uses, starting at $59
8GB ddr3 going for around $25 after rebate.
You can find a good case for around $35-50
You can get a good 400w psu for around $40-$60

When you have the money, repost, prices and promotions change daily and we can give you a more specific suggestion.
 
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Solution
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firefrog6

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Mar 7, 2012
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Geek I'm going off your suggestion right now. What do you think about this combo

i3 2120
http://www.1stchoicememory.com/catalog/viewitem.asp?ID=36754&r=g

H61
http://www.nothingbutsoftware.com/catalog_type.asp?ProductCode=178367&ai=1550

Case/PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811148047&nm_mc=OTC-Froogle&cm_mmc=OTC-Froogle-_-Cases+(Computer+Cases+-+ATX+Form)-_-Logisys+Computer-_-11148047

Ram
I'll figure in $50 atleast for ram just in case i cant find any deals


I have a hdd, monitor, and cd/dvd

That's roughly $250 before s/h
what do you think?
 
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geekapproved

geekapproved

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Looks good but I certainly wouldn't trust that psu with MY parts. It's up to you.
 
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mildgamer001

mildgamer001

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psh you people are rediculous. 200$ budget? maybe a tad bit low, add another 50-100 and you could do something, especally because you have the cd drive, hard drive, and a video card, see, low budgets dont always need to buy every part. my next computer going to cost about 250$, with shipping. i need to know what your hard drive's connections are, IDE/PATA or SATA, as well as you optical drive, and your video card, is it AGP or PCIe 1.0/2.0? there are ways to save money an dthen upgrade mor eparts later, like video card, one of the biggest factors in a very low budget is motherboard, it has to have all teh connections to use any parts you want to use, and be abel to upgrade, while still being overall cheap in price, which is why AMD fits the superlow budget, AM3 socket mobos usually have more features (and often older connection options) for the same price as other socket boards. tell me what connections you have and ill try to think something up.
 
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firefrog6

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Mar 7, 2012
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so if we kick the case/psu combo what PSU would you go with for that combo, preferably within like a $50 price range my case will fit the mobo im assuming.
 
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mildgamer001

mildgamer001

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fire you can also find a cheap old computer case just about anywhere that sells old junk or somewhere that is recently upgrading, even if they look like nasty tan old poeple cases, a coat of fresh black spraypaint does wonders.
 
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firefrog6

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Mild the hdd's are SATA and the dvd drives are IDE, but small stuff like that I'm not too worried about, and the grapics card is PCIe 1.0 I believe, but if I go with the h61 for now I'd be satisfied long enough to earn some money for a new graphics card
 
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mildgamer001

mildgamer001

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fire also the onboard gpu on some adm motherboards (like the hd 4250 i think os one option) is much better than intels hd or even hd 2000 (reg hd usually in pentium and laptops) and i dont think it will be easy to find a h61 board with PCIe 1.0, and plus re using that cd drive (you wont find a decent h61 board with a ide slot, if any at all) will also save you 20-30$, that could go to a case or video card or ram, and plus most h61 boards cost more than similar featured AM3, super low budget sometimes has benifets to amd, even if their cpu's arent as high performance. they will still play most of what you stated as games you wanted to be able to play.
 
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firefrog6

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Yeah I agree a lot of newer boards wont have an IDE slot, but as I said I'm not too worried about small stuff like the hdd cd/dvd roms. As for the case as long as I stick with a Micro ATX board I'm all set. I'll just use current case. And the graphics card I'm not to sure of any ways, a friend of mine who works for a construction company was clearing out apartments and found a box of 9 Radeon 1600's and 2 2600's and a lot of 1GB Server Ram, I'll be trying to sell all them this weekend hopefully... I've been stuck on AMD for a while and havent really tried any of Intel's new stuff ( I know it's more expensive but what the hay right?)
 
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pacific27

pacific27

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Did a quick Build....

CPU
AMD Athlon II X3 455 Rana 3.3GHz Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Desktop Processor (79.99)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103911

MEMORY
Patriot Gamer 2 Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model PGD38G1333ELK (44.99) - $10 rebate + free 8gb flash card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220557

CASE
XION XON-180 Meshed Black/Red Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case (34.99) - $10 rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811208042

COMBO MB & PSU
CORSAIR Builder Series CX500 V2 500W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply ($94) -$25
-1x ECS IC780M-A2 (V1.0A) AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.843137

GPU
SAPPHIRE 100326DDR3L Radeon HD 6670 1GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102952 (69.99) -$15

TOTAL $325 +Shipping
TOTAL after MIR = $265 + shipping

No onboard graphics on the MB so you will need a video card. You could cut the budget down by getting a cheaper CPU & GPU But thats about as low as I'd go on both the CPU and GPU...pretty tight budget. I bought parts over a couple months for a cheap ($150) home server I built so it can be done. Patience is bitter, but its fruit sweet......good luck
 
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mildgamer001

mildgamer001

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he said he could probably use his old case as well so that takes off 35$, leavng this build under 300. or at about 315-320 (just a guess) with shipping, whioch people never seem to include... also very similar to what i was going to suggest.
 
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firefrog6

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Mar 7, 2012
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Thank you all for being so helpful. I think I'm still gonna stick on the i3 path with a h67 or h61 mobo, and probly one of the Antec psu's someone recommended earlier, and I'll look around for some Ram. So this has came out to be a little under $300 build (without case and graphics card ) but I can pick up other stuff over time. This will end up being a lot better than the POS i have now (i cant run youtube and minecraft at the same time without lag in one or the other)

All in all Thanks
 
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