$350 pc or Save Up?

[Joshua_9]

I dont earn that much money and i want to buy a pc this year. Either $350 pc this thanksgiving or save up and buy at christmas. If this thanksgiving, give me a build pls.

Thank you in advance.

 

[dudeman509]

Intended use?

 

[Deleted member 217926]

If you are looking for a basic internet computer with light, Flash style games you can get a lower end laptop for $350 that would fit the bill nicely. If you're looking for a gaming PC you need to almost double your budget to get entry level. Even used you aren't going to get much gaming power for that price.

 

[TechyInAZ]

Just what anort said. If for non-gaming tasks, $350 is fine. But for a gaming rig, you'll want to get to at least the $600 range.

 

[lunyone]

Something like this for 1080p gaming on a budget:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor ($114.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Asus H110M-E/M.2 Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($37.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB Video Card ($144.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1100 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $447.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-11-14 23:30 EST-0500

or w/GTX 1050:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor ($114.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Asus H110M-E/M.2 Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($37.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 1050 2GB Mini Video Card ($113.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1100 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $416.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-11-14 23:34 EST-0500

 

[Joshua_9]

Intended use: light gaming

Maybe games such as Dota 2, LOL at med settings.

 

[Joshua_9]

I could raise it up to $400

 

[Deleted member 217926]

You need a keyboard, mouse, monitor and Windows as well? Add another $250-$300 just for that.

 

[lunyone]

The best iGPU setup that you can get would be less, but not much upgrade path other than to get a dGPU later down the road. I prefer to have upgrade-able systems, but under a tight budget you have to compromise on something:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD A10-7890K 4.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($148.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus A88XM-A/USB 3.1 Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($76.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($53.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1100 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $389.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-11-15 07:01 EST-0500

 

[TechyInAZ]

I personally wouldn't go the A10 route. I've read up a ton on APUs recently, and they simply cannon compete with an equally priced CPU + GPU combo.

Can you afford this?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G4400 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor ($57.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-HDS Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($48.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($48.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1050 2GB SC GAMING Video Card ($118.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Thermaltake Versa H15 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $409.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-11-15 10:40 EST-0500

 

[Joshua_9]

I have monitor, mouse, keyboard, and windows.

 

[Joshua_9]

Maybe a build taht is upgradable later on

 

[dudeman509]

If you can spend a little more on the CPU, you may not *need* to upgrade to run upcoming games, as an i3-6100 will typically handle anything at low-medium settings. Some recent games will flat-out not run on a 2C,2T chip like the Pentium. Not enough processing power.

 

[Joshua_9]

How much dudeman?

 

[dudeman509]

How much dudeman?

See the build put together with the i3 a few posts above.

You would generally be ok with the regular GTX 1050 over the 1050ti.

 

[Joshua_9]

Ok thanks for the help