Extreme Budget Gaming rig 600$

[Lee Harvey]

Looking to build a low budget system.

I mostly play League of Legends (I know sigh). Know it will not take much of a system to kill a game like since I am getting 30 fps on a single core system as is. It has been years since I built my own PC and quite frankly all the information is making my head spin.

I don't need a OS, Monitor, or Keyboard.

I was told by a few friends that the AMD Athlon II X4 640's are really good for the price so I was looking at starting there.

Budget is pretty low or the Pergo GF is going to murder me with a baby going to be here in a week or so. Just trying to sneak one more thing by before it happens.

Thx in advance,

-

 

[tenaciousk]

This would run the games you play on high. and is a much better processor then the Athlon here are the benchmarks between the two
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/188?vs=699

the 7770, is an excellent light gamer card for the price. and can play newer games fine if you dont mind turning the setting down a little bit. here are some 7770 benchmarks. http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/536 for 109 dollars it packs a punch.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($133.79 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($61.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($71.50 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB Video Card ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 600W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($66.24 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($15.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $599.48
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-03-15 08:32 EDT-0400)

 

[marshallbradley]

For a gaming rig, I don't think it's ever wise to spend more on the CPU than the GPU. Even if modern titles like Crysis 3 are starting to tax the CPU more and more, frame rate limitations are still dictated much more buy the GPU. The case also seems like an unnecessary money sink.

It would help to know what resolution you want to game at?

This would be my recommended build (for purely gaming):

PCPartPicker part list

CPU: Intel Core i3-3220 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor ($114.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock B75M-GL Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($66.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($52.50 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB Video Card ($209.99 @ Microcenter)
Case: Antec VSK-3000 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($34.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 600W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($15.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $595.40

This is if you live near a Microcenter. You can of course change where you get the components from, it should add at most a couple of dollars here and there.

The i3 is much better than the FX-6300 in most games where they are not heavily threaded, as each individual core on the i3 is much faster than each core on the FX-6300 (League for example). If this benchmark is anything to go by: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/crysis-3-performance-benchmark-gaming,3451-8.html even in CPU optimized games like Crysis 3, the i3 will be on par with an FX-6300 as the i3 lies right between the FX-8k and the FX-4k. The 7770 in the previous build can't even compete with a 7870 Ghz edition. At a rough guess the 7870 is probably nearly twice as powerful at 1080p, though there aren't many benchmarks which compare them.

EDIT: This shows the difference in performance between the 7870 and the 7770: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/536?vs=548

M

 

[triviallytravis]

CPU: Intel Core i3-3220 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor ($114.99 @ Amazon)

If you want to save a couple of bucks, that Core i3 is even cheaper at Microcenter ($99.99): http://microcenter.com/product/398007/Core_i3_3220_330GHz_LGA_1155_Boxed_Processor

 

[coffeecoffee]

Hello Lee Harvey,

You can build a really nice light gaming PC on a budget these days. I highly recommend a AMD APU-based system for League of Legends, WoW, HoN, Dota 2, etc. You should be able to run it up to [1920 x 1200] resolution with high-max settings while getting very desirable frame rates.

**APUs are basically a CPU + Entery level graphics card in one small package.

Here is a build I have put together for you.

APU: AMD A10-5800k [$129.99]
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113280

Motherboard: ASRock FM2A55M-DGS [$49.99 USD + Free Shipping]
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157332

Power Supply: Antec VP-450 [$39.99 + $4.99 Shipping]
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371045

Ram: G.Skill Ripjaws 8GB @ 2133Mhz (4GB x 2) [$59.99 + Free Shipping]
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231468

Case: Gigabyte GZ-F3HEB [$24.99 + $7.99]
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811233072

Optical Drive: [$15.99 + $3.99 Shipping] (Free Shipping w/ promo code, ends March 18th)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106289

HDD: Western Digital Blue 500GB [$59.99 + Free Shipping] **
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136769

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo [$29.99 + Free Shipping] ****
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

Total: $427.89 USD before taxes.

** A 1TB (1000GB) Western Digital Blue can be hand for $20 more.

****I HIGHLY recommend you getting this aftermarket cooler for your APU because it's your biggest asset (CPU + GPU in one). Having it run cooler will positively affect almost everything you do while extending it's lifetime.

Hope this information helps.

Coffee~

PS: The A10-5800k is leaps and bounds better than the Athlon II X4 640 you mentioned. For about $50 more, it's much faster, great graphics and also DX11 support.

 

[marshallbradley]

@coffeecoffee For APU builds having atleast 1866 Mhz RAM is a must (2133 Mhz would be even better). With rather slow 1600 RAM, your graphical performance is going to be a bit limited, as VRam is much more dependent on speed than normal RAM (and the RAM is acting as both VRam and normal RAM).

APUs are an option yes, but the graphical performance is (currently) no where near a discrete graphics solution. If you wanted to save some money you can go for Coffee's build, though for the full $600 don't go for an APU .

M

 

[coffeecoffee]

@coffeecoffee For APU builds having atleast 1866 Mhz RAM is a must (2133 Mhz would be even better)

Thanks for pointing that out, I forgot about that. Edited by post.

APUs are an option yes, but the graphical performance is (currently) no where near a discrete graphics solution.

I think you underestimate the power of the APU. Here is a video of a Far Cry 3 Demo [He's recording and playing at the same time on a 5800k]. This is way beyond the recommended requirements of League of Legends. The performance is also very impressive for a single chip solution.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0k2znvfyfUs

Warmest Regards,


Coffee~

 

[marshallbradley]

Yeah, it runs quite nicely on my GTX 670 .

I guess if that's all he was playing on the system, the APU would be worth it. But he said mostly so I assume there is atleast more than one other title he would be interested in playing. Now he could buy a system which runs cutting edge titles at reasonably high quality settings or, for $180 less, buy a system which can run fairly simple games like LoL, but would struggle with even fairly old titles like GTA IV, let alone the newer stuff like Far Cry 3, Crysis 3 and so on.

I'm not saying the APU is a bad option, just for his price range it gets very heavily outclassed.

It's his choice though of course, and he should choose how best to spend it.

EDIT: The video you linked is game-play at a resolution of 1280*800 (I don't even know if they sell monitors at that resolution any longer). That is about half the pixels of 1080p. Granted he is recording, but even without recording (23 FPS while recording, 35 while not apparently), 35 FPS is not exactly stellar for a shooting game. If you're planning on gaming at a reasonable resolution, that 35 FPS is going to take a serious beating. Again he is also using 2133 Mhz RAM.

Best of luck,

M

 

[coffeecoffee]

Yeah, it runs quite nicely on my GTX 670

Not all of us have the luxury to be able to afford top tier PC hardware. I would hope it runs nicely on your GTX 670 [$350-400 USD]. I recently bought a GTX 660 [$210 CDN] and I still feel guilty about it.

I guess if that's all he was playing on the system, the APU would be worth it.

The OP stated he's currently running LoL on a single core CPU. An APU would be a significant upgrade across the board in terms of performance.

Now he could buy a system which runs cutting edge titles at reasonably high quality settings or, for $180 less, buy a system which can run fairly simple games like LoL, but would struggle with even fairly old titles like GTA IV, let alone the newer stuff like Far Cry 3, Crysis 3 and so on.

Lee could try it out with the APU first. If he needs more graphics computing power, he can always get a discrete graphics card for $180 to maximize his budget. This gives him more options. Also, it's never a bad idea to keep your financial options open; especially when you have a child on the way.

Warmest Regards,

Coffee

 

[marshallbradley]

I'm not here to make financial decisions for him, merely suggest a build which would give him the most performance and usability which fulfills the requirements stipulated, which includes his stated price point.

Again the APU is a reasonable purchase for the price and will perform OK at lower resolutions (esp. since Coffee changed the RAM out for 2133 speed modules), but if you go that route, make sure that the performance is enough for your needs from the get go, since having an APU and discrete graphics is not optimal in terms of a price/performance ratio.

EDIT: I apologise if you found my GTX 670 comment offending, it was not meant to be offensive in the slightest, merely point out that I have played LoL. I find your comparison of our graphics cards and their costs however wholly off-topic and unnecessary. How I choose to spend my money is of no concern to this discussion, and neither is the aim to try and score points off me. The fact that you have gone back and edited out certain comments (for example the 'Have you ever played LoL' one) also seems very underhand.

M

 

[Lee Harvey]

Thanks for all the responses,

League is pretty much all I play. Other then that all it is used for is movies and general use.

I generally play everything else on consoles so that is not really a issue. Even my single core does fairly well 25-30 fps as is but its locks up every once in a while in team fights and it is very frustrating.

Going to read some reviews on what you have posted and try to figure out where to from there. One splurge I may make is a 120 gig SSD as I have a 1TB external for everything else.

Also if I did buy the AMD/CPU combo I can corssfire that later right?

And another questions, Are the 7870's really that much more powerful then the 7770's as I have noticed that the price point is almost 100$ different.

Guess I have some reading to do, many thanks.

 

[marshallbradley]

If you're a console gamer in all other respects, then do go for the APU. It will suffice for League without a doubt.

CrossFiring with the APU can lead to micro-stutter, but yes it would work.

Here's a frame-rate comparison between the two across a bunch of games: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/548?vs=536 (I've linked it before but you might not have seen it). You probably won't need either though just for League.

M

 

[Lee Harvey]

If you're a console gamer in all other respects, then do go for the APU. It will suffice for League without a doubt.

CrossFiring with the APU can lead to micro-stutter, but yes it would work.

Here's a frame-rate comparison between the two across a bunch of games: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/548?vs=536 (I've linked it before but you might not have seen it). You probably won't need either though just for League.

M

Sorry did not notice the link my bad,

I see it is almost 2x as powerful might be worth looking at. Would definitely give the computer some more longevity.

Might tinker with your build, I "could" manage another 100'ish dollars if need be to get a SSD in there and possibly a slighty different case. I will tinker with both these builds for a but and see what I can come up with.

I was orginally looking at something like this,

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/TemporaryWishList.aspx?BundleExist=N&ChangeQty=0

$619.92 - 55$ in Mail in rebates and ALL free shipping. The case was nothing more then a guilty pleasure considering the free shipping. But seeing these builds it seems I have over shot some things that are not needed.

Been so long even figuring out compatibility issues is hurting my head.

 

[coffeecoffee]

League is pretty much all I play. Other then that all it is used for is movies and general use.

If LoL is all you play, the A10-5800k is more than enough. It will easily handle other Moba games as well (i,e Dota 2, HoN).

One splurge I may make is a 120 gig SSD as I have a 1TB external for everything else.

That's not a bad idea, but you mentioned something about movies? If you stream you'll be fine, but if you download/torrent movies, 120GB will probably not be enough.

If you do decide to get a 120GB SSD. I recommend the Crucial M4 128GB. Great quality, speed and has a solid track record.

Crucial M4 128GB [$119.99 + Free Shipping] [Same price at Frys]
http://www.microcenter.com/product/385188/m4_CT128M4SSD1_128GB_SATA_60Gb-s_25_Internal_Solid_State_Drive_%28SSD%29

Also if I did buy the AMD/CPU combo I can corssfire that later right?

Which AMD CPU combo??

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/TemporaryWishList.aspx?BundleExist=N&ChangeQty=0

The link isn't working for me. Can you post the specs of the system you were looking at earlier?

Warmest Regards,

Coffee~

 

[Outlander_04]

The strongest gamer in this price bracket will be the FX 6300 based build suggested

But If it was me I would look at cheaper alternatives for the RAM, case, power supply and hard drive
which would mean you can fit a Radeon 7850 into that budget easily

 

[boulbox]

you can also drop to 4GB ram if you want to save that extra cash.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD A10-5800K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor ($129.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Xigmatek Dark Knight II SD1283 Night Hawk Edition 89.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus F2A55-M LK PLUS Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($47.98 @ Amazon)
Storage: Sandisk Ultra Plus 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($94.99 @ Amazon)
Case: MSI TC- (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($19.99 @ Microcenter)
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 400W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($44.97 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($15.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $442.88
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-03-15 17:06 EDT-0400)

went with dark knight CPU cooler because it is on a pretty nice sale right now.

 

[boulbox]

The strongest gamer in this price bracket will be the FX 6300 based build suggested

But If it was me I would look at cheaper alternatives for the RAM, case, power supply and hard drive
which would mean you can fit a Radeon 7850 into that budget easily

Well if all he is playing is LoL, you don't need a whole lot to max it out. Would agree on you if he was going to play other games though

 

[Outlander_04]

The strongest gamer in this price bracket will be the FX 6300 based build suggested

But If it was me I would look at cheaper alternatives for the RAM, case, power supply and hard drive
which would mean you can fit a Radeon 7850 into that budget easily

Well if all he is playing is LoL, you don't need a whole lot to max it out. Would agree on you if he was going to play other games though

Perhaps in a few months he will play other games just because he has the option to with a more powerful computer?

 

[jesot]

Key question: Do you have access to a Microcenter?

 

[boulbox]

The strongest gamer in this price bracket will be the FX 6300 based build suggested

But If it was me I would look at cheaper alternatives for the RAM, case, power supply and hard drive
which would mean you can fit a Radeon 7850 into that budget easily

Well if all he is playing is LoL, you don't need a whole lot to max it out. Would agree on you if he was going to play other games though

Perhaps in a few months he will play other games just because he has the option to with a more powerful computer?

True. Its just that in my experience, the people that had a decently strong computer don't even do much with it besides play Lol or other non intensive games. Like they might jump onto a few games like crysis 3 but only play it for a month then leave it to die on their computers.

 

[jesot]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks
CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: ASRock Z75 Pro3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($76.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($30.98 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7850 1GB Video Card ($154.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Zalman Z5 ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $572.92 (Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.) (Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-03-15 17:51 EDT-0400)

If you have sata on your current optical drive and hdd, you can save some money. Didn't include an optical drive ($16).

This is squeezing everything possible out of your budget and giving you a high end machine. It's actually $602. If you can get to a Microcenter, you can shave like $80-90 off that price, though.

 

[boulbox]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks
CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: ASRock Z75 Pro3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($76.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($30.98 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7850 1GB Video Card ($154.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Zalman Z5 ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $572.92 (Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.) (Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-03-15 17:51 EDT-0400)

If you have sata on your current optical drive and hdd, you can save some money. Didn't include an optical drive ($16).

This is squeezing everything possible out of your budget and giving you a high end machine. It's actually $602. If you can get to a Microcenter, you can shave like $80-90 off that price, though.

don't bother with OC CPU when you can get a cheaper locked i5 at micro and since you won't be adding in a second card anyways.

 

[jesot]

You can save $40 by going with a 3470 at Microcenter.

Bottom line: you can put a sweet rig together that beats out probably 95% of the gaming population for $600.

 

[boulbox]

You can save $40 by going with a 3470 at Microcenter.

Bottom line: you can put a sweet rig together that beats out probably 95% of the gaming population for $600.

Kinda over exaggerating on the 95% part but yes. if he can get to microcenter he can make a pretty good build for a bit cheaper than normal is what you should be saying

 

[bodeen2012]

without ssd
PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/JWVa
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/JWVa/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/JWVa/benchmarks/

CPU: AMD A10-5800K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor ($119.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A75 Pro4-M Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard ($73.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($56.79 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($67.98 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 6670 1GB Video Card ($52.99 @ Microcenter)
Case: Silverstone PS08B (Black) MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($34.90 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 400W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($44.97 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($15.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $497.56
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-03-15 20:05 EDT-0400)

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

CPU: AMD A10-5800K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor ($119.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A75 Pro4-M Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard ($73.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($56.79 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($67.98 @ Amazon)
Storage: OCZ Agility 3 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 6670 1GB Video Card ($52.99 @ Microcenter)
Case: Silverstone PS08B (Black) MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($34.90 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 400W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($44.97 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($15.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $587.55
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-03-15 20:07 EDT-0400)