Gaming build for $400

[stardust2280]

Approximate Purchase Date: e.g.: Next week, at the latest week after

Budget Range:400 USD

System Usage from Most to Least Important: gaming, surfing the internet, watching movies

Are you buying a monitor: No



Do you need to buy OS: Yes

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com


Parts Preferences: I would like a Intel CPU.

Overclocking:No

SLI or Crossfire:No

Parts already Have: 800w PSU, 18gb or DDR3 ram, And a i7 920 if u want to use it, but i know its old. I also have a old alienware case.

just do the best you can with the money

 

[vmartelle]

Hey man, check out pcpartpicker.com its what most of us use here on the forums to get an estimate of everything.

If your looking mainly for a gaming pc, you'd want to get a good video/graphics card over anything else...however, with $400, don't expect a really good pc. (although I've heard stories of people building these magically awesome pcs under 400 bucks, but I have never seen one)...anyway, check out the site.

 

[zared619]

So, 1366 is an out-dated socket, and trying to find a good mobo to go with it is difficult, especially with your budget. So what I am going to do is have two builds, one with your cpu, and one without.

With your CPU.
PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/kovC
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/kovC/by_merchant/


Motherboard: MSI X58M Micro ATX LGA1366 Motherboard ($151.30 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB Video Card ($109.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($92.11 @ Amazon)
Total: $406.39
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

With a different CPU
PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/koxV
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/koxV/by_merchant/


CPU: Intel Pentium G850 2.9GHz Dual-Core Processor ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock H77M Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7850 1GB Video Card ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($92.11 @ Amazon)
Total: $440.07
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

This is difficult. The second system includes a far superior graphics card, but it takes a step down on the motherboard in terms of features. However, the second mobo is an H77 and supports the new ivy class of processors. The main comparison to be made between these two are the CPU's. To help you out, I will include a benchmark comparison of the two.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/47?vs=404
In gaming, they are fairly close, but the 920 destroys in in multi-threaded applications. I'm not really sure what you value more.
Regardless though, if you stick with your CPU, your are buying an out-dated motherboard, and if you ever decide to go with a CPU upgrade, you will have to buy another board.
If you get a new board, at least you will have an updated build that will allow for a CPU upgrade.
Personally, I would wait until you have 500-600 dollars. At that price range, you can get a really nice system.
I hope this all helps!

 

[stardust2280]

I thought Pentiums were old? how does it do against a i3? would it be better just to go for a i3? is a i3 good for gaming?

 

[zared619]

An i3 is alot better than the pentium, and it would indeed game alot better. If you have the cash to get one, I would get the i3 for sure.

 

[stardust2280]

What is the cheapest i3?

 

[zared619]

I believe that the i3 2100 is about $120.

 

[kawininjazx]

While I prefer intel CPUs, you could always get an AMD APU which has a decent quad core CPU and graphics in one chip, an A10-5800K is 3.8Ghz with a 7660 GPU, which should play most games ok, and it's only $130.

 

[stardust2280]

I would rather not get a AMD... I mean, If its way better, than yeah. but if only a bit, then i would rther go for intel

 

[stardust2280]

so what about this for gaming?

http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/partlist/

 

[zared619]

so what about this for gaming?

http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/partlist/

Your link is empty. On pc part picker click on the plain text button on the top right hand corner of the page. Copy and paste that down.

 

[stardust2280]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/koXk

 

[zared619]

You would be severely undercutting your graphics performance with that. If you want to buy now, go with the second build I posted. Its only a little more costly, and it will pay off greatly.

 

[stardust2280]

I cant. $415 is my literal top max.

 

[zared619]

Okay, give me a minute.

 

[zared619]

At your budget, this is your best bet.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/kpdA
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/kpdA/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/kpdA/benchmarks/

CPU: AMD A6-3670K 2.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($86.97 @ CompUSA)
Motherboard: ASRock A55M-HVS Micro ATX FM1 Motherboard ($55.97 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($38.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 6670 1GB Video Card ($56.97 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($92.11 @ Amazon)
Total: $384.00
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

 

[stardust2280]

I upgraded it a bit

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/kpsG

 

[zared619]

There is a fairly basic concept I am going to explain. If you are gaming, a half decent dual core paired with a powerful GPU is always better than a powerful CPU paired with a weaker GPU. More or less, spend more on the GPU than the CPU.