$350 budget gaming computer

HungryFiend

Distinguished
Jan 29, 2012
102
0
18,680
Hey everyone, I am building a computer for my friend and his budget is very low $350 and he has a very bad computer.
Here are some of the parts that i have picked out

case/w built in psu: RAIDMAX Altas ATX-295WBP Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply

MOBO:MSI FM2-A75MA-E35 FM2 AMD A75 (Hudson D3) SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

APU: AMD A10-5800K Trinity 3.8GHz (4.2GHz Turbo)

RAM: G.SKILL Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2133 (PC3 17000)

HDD: Seagate Barracuda Green ST1500DL003 1.5TB 5900 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5

DVD Drive: SAMSUNG DVD Burner SATA Model SH-224BB - OEM

Main use will be for gaming with a little video streaming

Total cost: $365 From Newegg

I could use suggestions comments and other things but i am not will to go any higher on my budget unless there is some major flaw here. Thanks in advance
 
Solution
It looks solid, but with one exception: the case and power supply.

Raidmax already makes terrible quality power supplies, I'd hate to find out how the built in ones are.

I'd go with an NZXT Source 210 which is on sale for $30 right now, and was one of the best cases under $50, and right now is kind of a steal. Pair that with a CX 430 ($25) and you should be solid. Both can be found at newegg.

430W is enough, anything over 200W would be able to run that build.

Also, that hard drive is a terrible choice. The Green hard drives have had a reputation to fail, and also, you've chosen a 5900 RPM hard drive. A 1TB 7200 RPM hard drive would be a much better choice at this price point, as you're getting much better performance. 5900 RPM...

sonicers

Distinguished
May 5, 2009
335
0
18,810
It looks solid, but with one exception: the case and power supply.

Raidmax already makes terrible quality power supplies, I'd hate to find out how the built in ones are.

I'd go with an NZXT Source 210 which is on sale for $30 right now, and was one of the best cases under $50, and right now is kind of a steal. Pair that with a CX 430 ($25) and you should be solid. Both can be found at newegg.

430W is enough, anything over 200W would be able to run that build.

Also, that hard drive is a terrible choice. The Green hard drives have had a reputation to fail, and also, you've chosen a 5900 RPM hard drive. A 1TB 7200 RPM hard drive would be a much better choice at this price point, as you're getting much better performance. 5900 RPM hard drives are considerably slower, and if he's on such a low budget, he shouldn't be getting a 1.5 TB hard drive in the first place.

I'd recommend getting him a 500 GB 7200 RPM hard drive from Seagate for 50 dollars and using the money saved on the better case.
 
Solution

sonicers

Distinguished
May 5, 2009
335
0
18,810


The integrated graphics on the A10 will be able to play most modern games at decent frame rates, for example it can play BF3 on medium-high settings at 30-ish frames per second.
 

mohit9206

Distinguished


but adding in a discrete radeon 6670 would give a healthy boost in performance.
considering how cheap a 6670 is its a good idea to crossfire it with the APU
 

sonicers

Distinguished
May 5, 2009
335
0
18,810


First of all, a 6670 is not "cheap" for this person's budget. It's a minimum 55 dollars.

Second, Crossfiring with the APU is a terrible idea. It gives lower framerates than if you were to use the A10 as a CPU and the 6670 on its own... and that completely defeats the purpose of an A10.

http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/cpu/46157-amd-a10-5800k-dual-graphics-evaluation/?page=2
 

mohit9206

Distinguished

ok i know arkham city doesnt play well with dual graphics but there a ton of games that do benefit from dual graphics almost doubling the frame rate.
also $55 for a 6670 is about as good as it gets. its worth every cent.
dual graphics would allow a person with trinity to game on high settings on 1080p for games that support it.
and thats a good thing

 

sonicers

Distinguished
May 5, 2009
335
0
18,810


It's not just Arkham City.... it's every game except Dirt 3 on a medium graphics setting. Lol.

The only problem is... very very few games work well with Dual graphics. He'd be better off with a 7770 and a Pentium G630, if it came to that.