Budget PC, light gaming

[Kingsdown77]

Approximate Purchase Date: Within the next two weeks

Budget Range: I can probably go max of $325 (I still need to buy an OS)

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, watching videos, web surfing

Parts Not Required: Mouse, keyboard, monitor

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com, tigerdirect.com, or any other reliable web site.

Country: US

Parts Preferences: Something reliable, cheap. Cheaper the better

Overclocking: Maybe

Monitor Resolution: Current resolution is 1680 x 1050

Additional Comments: I would like the keep it under $325 as I said, because I still need to buy an OS. I'm mainly going to play games such as Diablo 3, League of Legends, and other relatively lower graphic demanding games. Also, if you have any tips on an OS (i.e. lower price) I am thinking of a Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM OS ($99.99)

First time build as well, so any other building tips are very much welcome. Though I won't have to go completely blind into this, I have someone that can help with the build.

 

[jmsellars1]

I can't seem to be able to put together a system at that budget I'm afraid. If you can wait until you have an extra $100 or so you could buy a decent system though. I would grab something with an AMD A6-3500, it is cheap and the integrated graphics will be good enough for low settings. I know this because I play HoN (which is similar to LoL) on an AMD E-450 on my laptop sometimes. It is just about playable on the lowest possible settings. (The A6 has an extra core and slightly better graphics)

Your alternative would be to run Linux for a while until you can afford a copy of Windows. Then you could afford this:

AMD A6-3500
2x2GB Crucial DDR3 1333Mhz
ASRock A55M-HVS
Onboard HD 6530D Graphics
Seagate Barracuda 750GB
Rosewill FBM-01
Antec BP-350 350W
Samsung DVD Burner

Total - $305.93


As mentioned earlier, if you run Linux for a while you could afford something like that which should run those games smoothly on low settings.

 

[FinneousPJ]

:lol: I got $334 after $90 in rebates

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Pentium G620 2.6GHz Dual-Core Processor ($63.99 @ Mac Mall)
Motherboard: ECS H61H2-M2(1.0) Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($41.99 @ Newegg)
Hard Drive: Western Digital Scorpio Black 160GB 2.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($48.21 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 6770 1GB Video Card ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Diablotek CPA-0390 ATX Mid Tower Case ($24.99 @ Microcenter)
Power Supply: Corsair 430W ATX12V Power Supply ($26.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Sony AD-7280S-0B DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $334.13
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-05-20 06:12 EDT-0400)

Discrete graphics and all

 

[Kingsdown77]

Thanks jmsellars1 & FinneousPJ. Quick question though. Would that Operating system that I mentioned be any good, or should I spend a little more on the Operating System?

As for the price I may be able to spend about ~$375 (still keeping in mind the Operating System cost). I'm able to spend about ~$500 on everything (sucks not being able to build an idea PC) Maybe in the future I will... Anyways as I said ~$500, but the Operating System cost takes away from that right away.

 

[jmsellars1]

Ahh you have a bit more cash than we thought then, in that case I would go for the build I suggested, but with the A8-3850. It's a quad core with better graphics than the A6, still not good as a graphics card but that discrete graphics build is ~$420 before rebates and comes with a small/slow laptop hard drive.

That should keep the costs low enough to be able to go with the full retail version of Windows, this means that you can reuse the software on your next build and you get full support from Microsoft, you get neither of those things with the OEM copy.

 

[Kingsdown77]

Best answer selected by kingsdown77.