$300 PC

[Parker88]

Hey guys I want to build this system for my lil bro. He wont be doing any "hardcore" gaming probably just MMO's and Age of Empire type games. I pretty much based this off a mix of the "Cheap ass gaming pc" and the "$350 gaming build" I just wanted to see if anyone on the forum had any other suggestions! Thanks guys! (videos referring to "https://www.youtube.com/user/razethew0rld" and "http://teksyndicate.com" should defiantly check them out!

~ Parker

*Heres what I came up with* "CPU: AMD A6-5400K 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor ($69.28 @ DirectCanada)

Motherboard: ASRock FM2A75M-DGS Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard ($49.99 @ Canada Computers)

Memory: Kingston HyperX 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($25.49 @ Newegg Canada)

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.99 @ Canada Computers)

Case: Zalman Z9 Plus ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ NCIX)

Power Supply: Corsair Builder 600W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($39.99 @ Memory Express)

Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.99 @ Canada Computers)

Total: $304.72

 

[Deemo13]

600W is too much for that power supply, but it is cheap. Not bad unless he is playing anything demanding.

I would recommend the Antec VP-450 to shave off those extra bucks to bring it under $300.

 

[Parker88]

For me it only shaves off $3... I think I'll just stay with the corsair one but I do understand what youre saying!

 

[Deemo13]

Ah, in that case you may as well go for the Corsair. What games would he be playing?

 

[shellls45]

get dual channel ram (2x2gb) (will increase fps
You can get away with a cx 430
Get a cheap aftermarket cooler if you plan on overclocking (OCing iGPU will increase fps)

Otherwise looks good!

 

[nix327]

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

CPU: Intel Pentium G860 3.0GHz Dual-Core Processor ($64.99 @ NCIX)
Motherboard: ASRock B75M-GL Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($54.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix sport 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($17.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Video Card: Asus Radeon HD 7750 1GB Video Card ($87.99 @ NCIX)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($34.99 @ NCIX)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 450W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($39.99 @ NCIX)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($16.82 @ DirectCanada)
Total: $317.76
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-13 18:09 EST-0500)

Get an h61 mobo if you think thats enough for you.

edit: i saw the 600w PSU..if its available for that price go for it.

 

[Parker88]

get dual channel ram (2x2gb) (will increase fps
You can get away with a cx 430
Get a cheap aftermarket cooler if you plan on overclocking (OCing iGPU will increase fps)

Otherwise looks good!

Ya thanks it even saved some cashh too! and I dont want to spend too much $$$ on a after market cooler. I have the Hyper 212 EVo in my rig right now so I'll probably pass that down to him worse case.

 

[Parker88]

Ah, in that case you may as well go for the Corsair. What games would he be playing?

Nothing crazy and he'll be gaming in 720p most likely. Probably like Age of Empires, old Total Wars. He wont really care if he has to play on like medium settings either aha.

 

[xFriarx]

Yea, definitely go with dual channel rams. PSU is definitely overkill, but at that price why not. Could be used in the future if he upgrades, so might as well...

Nix build looks pretty solid. Will outperform the original build, but it doesn't look like he left a HDD in. You could change the 7750 out for a 6670 to add a HDD and still come out better than the original build.

 

[Parker88]

Yea, definitely go with dual channel rams. PSU is definitely overkill, but at that price why not. Could be used in the future if he upgrades, so might as well...

Nix build looks pretty solid. Will outperform the original build, but it doesn't look like he left a HDD in. You could change the 7750 out for a 6670 to add a HDD and still come out better than the original build.

Taking out the 7750 and putting in a 6750 and an HDD would still bring me over budget by quite abit....

 

[Parker88]

This is what I'm at right now. http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/p/smBM

 

[nix327]

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

CPU: Intel Pentium G860 3.0GHz Dual-Core Processor ($64.99 @ NCIX)
Motherboard: ASRock B75M-GL Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($54.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix sport 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($17.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Hitachi 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ NCIX)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 6670 1GB Video Card ($46.81 @ DirectCanada)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($34.99 @ NCIX)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 450W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($39.99 @ NCIX)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($16.82 @ DirectCanada)
Total: $326.57
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-13 18:39 EST-0500)

Get the corsair cx 430 and an h61 mobo..

Its upto you what to get..i'm only providing you with another option.

Also take a look at this case: http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/part/antec-case-df10

 

[Parker88]

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

CPU: Intel Pentium G860 3.0GHz Dual-Core Processor ($64.99 @ NCIX)
Motherboard: ASRock B75M-GL Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($54.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix sport 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($17.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Hitachi 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ NCIX)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 6670 1GB Video Card ($46.81 @ DirectCanada)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($34.99 @ NCIX)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 450W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($39.99 @ NCIX)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($16.82 @ DirectCanada)
Total: $326.57
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-13 18:39 EST-0500)

Get the corsair cx 430 and an h61 mobo..

Its upto you what to get..i'm only providing you with another option.

Also take a look at this case: http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/part/antec-case-df10

Thanks for the option its just he wont be gaming anything that I think will need that... Later on he'll probably end up building his own. I have a budget of $300 and I just need to stay under that as much as possible and alot of people recommend the A6, A8 because he's also going to be doing 720p gaming...

 

[Parker88]

This is what I'm probably going to go with. http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/p/sno8

 

[xFriarx]

Personally I would go with the second build Nix posted, its alot more bang for the buck. If you swap out the case with the Apex case you selected on you latest build they will be within $3 of each other. Nix's build would blow away the A8 in gaming.

If you absolutely won't budge from that, the 1866 ram upgrade is completely worthless upgrade in that system. You could drop back down to the 1600 or even 1333 without any noticeable decrease in performance and shave some money off.

 

[Deemo13]

Don't go with the Thermaltake TR2 power supply. They are not reliable units.

 

[Parker88]

Personally I would go with the second build Nix posted, its alot more bang for the buck. If you swap out the case with the Apex case you selected on you latest build they will be within $3 of each other. Nix's build would blow away the A8 in gaming.

If you absolutely won't budge from that, the 1866 ram upgrade is completely worthless upgrade in that system. You could drop back down to the 1600 or even 1333 without any noticeable decrease in performance and shave some money off.

If I were to go with the A8 system the ram would make a difference since the integrated graphics use it.... But I'm thinking about nix's

 

[xFriarx]

Not a noticeable increase. A quantifiable increase in benchmark tests...maybe. Noticeable increase to the end user, no.