Girlfriends extreme budget gaming build advice $400-450

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Cvdasf

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Approximate Purchase Date: As soon as possible.

Budget Range: $400 or less is what i'd like to be at. I could stretch a little further if its truly worth the upgrade but please try and keep it near $400

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Listening to music, internet browsing

Are you buying a monitor: No, the monitor does not need to be included in the $400



Parts to Upgrade: ALL

Do you need to buy OS: Yes


Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Microcenter, Newegg, Tiger direct, Amazon.

Location: City, State/Region, Country. USA MD

Parts Preferences: by brand or type: Always had AMD not opposed to going intel. Whats the benefit of either?

Overclocking: Can if needed

SLI or Crossfire: If it would be cheaper then yes

Your Monitor Resolution: Unknown have not picked a monitor yet.

Additional Comments: Like to have a "bad" looking computer. Have a 6k+ gaming PC right now that runs like an angel girlfriend decided it's time to buy her own. We will be playing WOW, LOL, DOTA 2, Sims, Minecraft, and Left 4 dead 1-2. I have a xfx R7970 a evo pro SSD and a AMD fx- 8350. Runs like a charm.

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: My girlfriends upgrading because she is in love with my rig and would like something comparable for the above games ^^.

Edit: found this laying around. Is this any good?

CPU: AMD A10-5800K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor ($114.99)

Motherboard: ASRock FM2A75M-DGS Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard ($58.98)
6x SATA 6gb/s
USB 3
PCIe 2.0 16x, 1x, and PCI
Up to 16GB DDR3 2400+ (oc)

Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 CAS 10 1.5V ($57.99)

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1.5TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($79.99 @ NCIX US)

Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 ATX Mid Tower Case ($40.04 @ NCIX US)

Power Supply: Cooler Master GX 450W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($29.99)

Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99)

Total: $396.95
 
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Cvdasf

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After looking for awhile online the best thing i could find was this.

CPU: AMD A10-5800K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor ($114.99)

Motherboard: ASRock FM2A75M-DGS Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard ($58.98)
6x SATA 6gb/s
USB 3
PCIe 2.0 16x, 1x, and PCI
Up to 16GB DDR3 2400+ (oc)

Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 CAS 10 1.5V ($57.99)

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1.5TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($79.99 @ NCIX US)

Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 ATX Mid Tower Case ($40.04 @ NCIX US)

Power Supply: Cooler Master GX 450W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($29.99)

Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99)

Total: $396.95

What do you think of this? Any advice/flaws?
 
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Cvdasf

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I'm sorry forgot to add the $ in front of 6k+. Was saying that i built my own $6k+ gaming rig a few years ago. Thank you for the suggestion although i have already scanned through hundreds of these "videos" ill keep looking :p
 
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numanator

numanator

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I would probably go with this if you are looking for an APU build:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD A10-6800K 4.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus A55BM-A/USB3 Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($52.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($76.50 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($55.98 @ OutletPC)
Case: NZXT Source 220 ATX Mid Tower Case ($44.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Antec 450W ATX Power Supply ($37.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $403.43
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-15 16:58 EDT-0400

Cooler master only makes 1-2 good PSU models, I don't think the GX is one of the good ones so grab the Antec instead.

If you wanted a discrete GPU build then this is ok (over budget)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 760K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor ($84.73 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus A55BM-A/USB3 Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($52.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($76.50 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($55.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: HIS Radeon R7 260X 2GB iCooler Video Card ($101.37 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT Source 220 ATX Mid Tower Case ($44.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Antec 450W ATX Power Supply ($37.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $469.54
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-15 17:05 EDT-0400


Keep in mind that the A10 6800k is an older architecture and cannot use AMD's mantle software to boost performance. The A10 7850ks are Kaveri architecture and can use mantle but cost almost $50
 
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Cvdasf

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Is the one with the graphics card significantly better? Why or why not?
 
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bluejayek

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I am kind of curious as to what your $6000 build was? Did it include quad SLI titans? If not... I have a hard time adding up to that number. Even if it DID it is hard to get there.

Well I managed a completely insane 6000$ build on pc partpicker! It includes two-way SLI titan blacks, a 1500W 80 plus titanium rated power supply, because you can't risk 4000$ worth of PC on just any old PSU... and two 4K 28" monitors. Maybe this is the build OP was referring to?

http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/ZMPvD3

As per the OS thing... depending on the type of game, on this paper-thin budget, it might be worth looking into not buying windows, but rather using a free linux distro and running games under wine. This is by no means guaranteed to work however.

Of the games you mentioned, Minecraft can be natively run on linux, and at least WoW and LoL seem to be able to run on wine. http://forums.na.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=2957372
http://www.wowwiki.com/World_of_Warcraft_functionality_on_Wine

edit: added stuff about wine
 
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Cvdasf

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I have found it very easily online for around $40-50. Which would make the budget still around $400



Oh my friend how i wish it was not true :/ yes quad titans, a big *** case, 16TB, and full liquid cooling system did add up for me to about $6k :/
 
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bluejayek

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Cvdasf: honest question. Since you have four titans in your computer and a lot of things REALLY don't scale when you are more then 2 way SLI, is it an option for you to ebay one or two of the titan GPU's to vastly expand your budget on the second PC? I mean, if you got 400$ from the card(s), youd be doubling the budget, and it would actually be possible to make a competent gaming rig.
 
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Cvdasf

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That's a very interesting thought. Although I may be able to find an old w7 key laying around. For right now lets say i dont need an OS. Any suggestions on a build besides the ones already posted? Trying to get as many options as possible :)
 
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Cvdasf

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I would do that in a heart beat if my girl would let me or if the computer was for me. As stated above it is for my girlfriend who is insisting on paying for her own. She wants me to find the right "parts" and teach her/help her build it for herself. I think it's more of a pride thing and a hey i built my own computer (which is totally understandable) but she wont let me help on the money or part end unless its her buying them from a place.
 
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Cvdasf

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Thank you for the suggestion but i'd like to keep my computer seperate from hers and i know she wants the same. She wants her own computer not a hammydown (although it is a good idea) from mine.
 
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Cvdasf

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This is still the question i mainly have. These builds fit the budget. Which one of these is better? Does the Graphics card make a difference even though we are giving up the cpu power? will this run WOW lfd2 LOL on medium or so settings smoothly?

 
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CAaronD

CAaronD

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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3220 3.0GHz Dual-Core Processor ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($49.98 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($84.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($51.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card ($119.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Thermaltake VL80001W2Z ATX Mid Tower Case ($22.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: EVGA 430W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($19.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer ($13.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $418.89
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-16 04:06 EDT-0400

So its about $418 :) The 750 ti is slightly better than the R7 260x and consumes less power. This build will pretty much run any of those games you mentioned with ease, even at ultra!
 
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Cvdasf

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Thanks very much for the quick reply! So this build will run WOW lfd2 LOL sims 4... all that kinda stuff on ultra smoothly? or even high smoothly? just out of curiosity why that processor? isn't that a very low end and would tax speeds in games or anything else for that matter?
 
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CAaronD

CAaronD

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Nope, that CPU, although not the best, can still do the job very nicely :) And there will be no bottleneck either. Sometimes Intel's dual core processors even beat AMD's six core processors (not with this model) at gaming. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fKy5ctjixaY Although they are using an I7 3770k? For this test, you would still get very close to this performance :) That's just a rough idea of what you can do! If you could spare a bit more ($50) I would recommend getting an I3 instead.
 
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hackintosh777

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Don't get an AMD APU. Intel's released the new Pentium G3258 Anniversary edition - use that instead (it's $57 at MicroCenter). Get a cheap H81M board and overclock the sh#t out of it. You probably want to add a $30 Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO for overclocking. You don't need a 1.5TB drive, get a cheap 500GB and save $20 although the 1.5TB looks like a good deal. Then you want a better PSU but that would sort of stretch your budget.
 
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Cvdasf

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Going to definitely agree with you on this one. Pretty sure im going with your build just checking over everything again to make sure its the best for what she needs :)
 
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numanator

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Sorry for the late reply, was out of town for the weekend.

Personally I would prefer the CPU+GPU build. The Athalon x4 is the same exact CPU as the A10 but does not have the integrated GPU. The main reason I prefer a discrete GPU is because then you are not sharing RAM between the CPU and GPU. Regarding performance, either build should do well for the games you mentioned with the GPU build coming out on top by a bit.

Edit: For WOW and LOL intel CPUs usually fare a bit better than AMD CPUs so if your GF will be playing a lot of those then the pentium build posted above would probably work better.
 
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