Decent $400 Gaming Build

Grimsilver

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Feb 7, 2011
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Approximate Purchase Date: Within the week

Budget Range: $400, maybe a bit over if it's a big difference in performance

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Casual Gaming

Are you buying a monitor: No

Do you need to buy OS: No

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg. Can go to Microcenter but it won't be worth it in cost of gas for a say $10 discount on a single item, and I don't think they would have all of the lower end parts needed for a build like this, so who knows.

Location: USA

Overclocking: No

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: I know the budget is tight for gaming, but I'm fine with games just being able to run in general. I don't expect 60 FPS on Ultra on new games of course, but I'm sure they will be playable. Thanks for looking!
 
Can you grab this?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

Memory: Crucial Ballistix 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($31.82 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($65.56 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB Video Card ($94.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Other: FX-6300 + MSI 970A-G46 at microcenter ($159.98)
Total: $447.32
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-06-19 18:26 EDT-0400)

-Good case to handle any upgrades.
-Good processor with decent motherboard at microcenter. Although getting a FX-6300 might not be smart in this budget, getting a Phenom with a decent motherboard will cost the same thing, if not more than this.
-Most games usually use about 3.9gb of ram.
-7770 ghz edition does decent in gaming.
 

Grimsilver

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That build does seem ok, but just a note, I am in Colorado Springs, which is still close to Denver (Where microcenter is), but it will prob cost me around $25 bucks in gas or so, so the micro center deal might not be worth it. Not complaining of course, I always appreciate the feedback!
 

assasin32

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Apr 23, 2008
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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD Athlon II X4 750K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI FM2-A75MA-E35 Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($31.82 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($71.98 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB Video Card ($99.99 @ Microcenter)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($24.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $403.74
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-06-19 18:47 EDT-0400)

I tried to aviod using mail in rebates on the GPU so I went with the 7770, you can go with a 650 ti for a bit more power if you don't mind the mail in rebates. Just buy a rear fan for the case at a bear minimum.

You can also drop down to an A55 mobo to save around $10 or so, but I went with the A75 to leave the option of using a SSD to it's fullest potential in the future due to it having sata III compared to sata II in the A55. Though now that I think about it using the $10 saved to invest in 8gb dual channel ram would be a wise investment.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD Athlon II X4 750K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI FM2-A55M-E33 Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($57.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($71.98 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB Video Card ($99.99 @ Microcenter)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($24.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $419.91
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-06-19 18:59 EDT-0400)
 

Grimsilver

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Feb 7, 2011
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Sorry about the late reply, but I like those builds, and they definitely give me something to work with, thanks!