Building a good $300 Build.....possible?

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j3m4090

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Mar 25, 2014
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This is my very first budget build and would like a good opinion as to what i should get.

My tv is 1360 x 768 resolution and i would like to do some gaming but i have no need for the latest games (Would love to play skyrim though). I have no need for a os either. Any suggestions?
 
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Couldn't put together a decent setup at $300, but managed to squeeze just enough at $354

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3giJG

That's the bear minimum if you want to play Skyrim, you can see from the following review that the GTX 650 I picked for you can even handle it at 1920x1080 at high details (albeit barely), so it should be fine at 1360 x 768.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2012/10/04/evga-geforce-gtx-650-1gb-review/5


The CPU is also the bear minimum for gaming. Obviously you could save a few dollars on the cpu / gpu and still manage to play, but keep in mind that every dollar you save on any of these components will dramatically reduce the performance because the cheaper parts are very low-end.

Keep in mind that the motherboard does not support USB 3.0, if you want that you'll have to add around $13 for the Gigabyte GA-F2A75M-HD2.

I feel that the only components you'll be able to save money on without losing tons of performance are the case, which is also the bear minimum for me because that's the cheapest one I can personally recommend, but maybe if you research a bit you'll be able to find a better deal.

You'll also be able to save $15 if you don't get the dvd writer, but I added it because I thought that you might want to watch some blockbusters on the TV using the computer.

Hope that helped, good luck.
 
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sure there is a solution.

first
Simply find a sympathetic friend, tell them of your plight and request that they sell you their 1000 dollar computer for 300 dollars because your either impoverished or cheap.

second
Go down to the local horse track, inspect the competitors with a hearty ball squish, then choose the one that will win.
Hopefully you were smart enough to bet your less than impressive PC budget on that horse and now have more than
300 crummy dollars to buy a low end gaming PC.

Other than that your pretty much $crewed
 
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you can start from here
but dont expect it to run skyrim at high setting :)
playable at low setting 1366 x 768

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Pentium G3220 3.0GHz Dual-Core Processor ($55.00 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($38.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($30.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.00 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R7 260 1GB Video Card ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Antec One ATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($19.99 @ Micro Center)
Total: $314.95
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-25 15:33 EDT-0400)
 
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I would pick AMD RADEON's build over mine because although the athlon II x4 will offer better overall gaming performance, after a short check, Skyrim seems to run surprisingly well on just 2 cores and might even run at high / ultra.

Cpu performance link - http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-processor-frame-rate-performance,3427-6.html

@AMD RADEON - Can't find your graphics card at that price though.



I really don't see your point, it says it right there on the link.
If you need to save money, you will get those rebates.
 
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First of all, keep in mind that amd radeon's posted price also includes rebates, so all of the recommendations here cost roughly the same at around $400 before rebates.

A real increase of $100 (AKA $500 before rebates) would make quite a bit of a difference, gaming wise, but that depends on what you intend to do with your pc.

Since the xbox one and ps4 are out, new and future games will require more out of the pc and at around $300 that's just not (or barely) enough, especially if you're planning to get a 1080p screen down the road.

As a home theater pc with some gaming capabilities at $300, though, amd radeon's configuration is the best option here, although I still stand by my more expensive cpu and dual channel memory recommendation.
 
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$300 is not enough, $400 is just about enough

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Pentium G3220 3.0GHz Dual-Core Processor ($55.00 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($38.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($30.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($57.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB Video Card ($90.38 @ Newegg)
Case: Thermaltake VL80001W2Z ATX Mid Tower Case ($24.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($19.99 @ Micro Center)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($18.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $337.31
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-25 16:55 EDT-0400)

$406 including rebates and when you get the rebates back, add another RAM stick.
 
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