Got a client wanting a decent gaming PC for $300... I don't know how to approach this.

[Kawaii Penguin]

I have a spare case for him, so that's about $40-60 off the total. However, he wants a PC for games.. he hasn't specified which yet but I assume he will be interested in mainstream games like cod, battlefield, minecraft, etc etc. It's varying in pc requirements, so I need a price estimate on something that can run on about everything with reasonable fps (~30-40)

Once then, I'll work things out with him and hopefully put together a reasonable build for him (which I will post here so you guys can check it

Any help is greatly appreciated, I don't deal with budget builds often

-KP

 

[James Mason]

$300 INCLUDING your expenses for time?

Impossible.

He wants something cheaper than a console to perform equal or better to a console it sounds like.

Tell him what he wants isn't possible for what he wants to pay (you).

I dunno why you're giving stuff away for free either.

That said, there's quite alot of used hardware out there that could kind of make a $300 gaming system, but not if that $300 is including your profit.

Windows alone is gonna cost $90-100.

 

[mjslakeridge]

As James said above, unless you buy a bunch of used parts (which will take you time and money to find and order), $300 isn't going to get your customer much. And he will be unhappy that it doesn't perform as well as his friend's higher end build, and YOU will be the bad guy.

A non-gaming budget build can be accomplished in that price range, but it will be pretty bare-bones.

 

[Anarkie13]

It ain't pretty and certainly won't get you a very good reputation:

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/fNzgXH
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/fNzgXH/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD A10-7860k 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor ($104.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Asus A68HM-E Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($39.88 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Blue 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($16.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 640GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($43.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Rosewill R363-M-BK MicroATX Mid Tower Case w/400W Power Supply ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($83.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $334.73
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-05-31 14:57 EDT-0400

No profit included and no dedicated GPU which is highly recommended for gaming. The embedded GPU will work, just not so good.

 

[mjslakeridge]

Anarkie13: You forgot one more component - a fire extinguisher to accompany the PSU that comes with the case!

 

[hang-the-9]

I have a spare case for him, so that's about $40-60 off the total. However, he wants a PC for games.. he hasn't specified which yet but I assume he will be interested in mainstream games like cod, battlefield, minecraft, etc etc. It's varying in pc requirements, so I need a price estimate on something that can run on about everything with reasonable fps (~30-40)

Once then, I'll work things out with him and hopefully put together a reasonable build for him (which I will post here so you guys can check it

Any help is greatly appreciated, I don't deal with budget builds often

-KP

Used parts or a used system.

Buy a Core i3 or i5 business tower which will include a Windows 7 license, look for one with a 300 watt power supply, get a GTX 750 Ti video card for it. Really for $300 that is about all you can do.

 

[Jake17]

Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor @ $66.99
MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard @ $53.99
Kingston HyperX Fury Blue 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory @ $31.09
Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive @ $49.99
Asus Radeon R7 240 2GB Video Card @$67.99
EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply @ $39.99
Total: $310.04



http://pcpartpicker.com/list/33PK8K

 

[USAFRet]

Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor @ $66.99
MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard @ $53.99
Kingston HyperX Fury Blue 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory @ $31.09
Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive @ $49.99
Asus Radeon R7 240 2GB Video Card @$67.99
EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply @ $39.99
Total: $310.04

http://pcpartpicker.com/list/33PK8K

Plus an OS, puts it way over.

 

[Jake17]

Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor @ $66.99
MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard @ $53.99
Kingston HyperX Fury Blue 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory @ $31.09
Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive @ $49.99
Asus Radeon R7 240 2GB Video Card @$67.99
EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply @ $39.99
Total: $310.04

http://pcpartpicker.com/list/33PK8K

Plus an OS, puts it way over.

If we got rid of the GPU... He could use G2A get win 10 or win 7 for $50

 

[USAFRet]

Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor @ $66.99
MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard @ $53.99
Kingston HyperX Fury Blue 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory @ $31.09
Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive @ $49.99
Asus Radeon R7 240 2GB Video Card @$67.99
EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply @ $39.99
Total: $310.04

http://pcpartpicker.com/list/33PK8K

Plus an OS, puts it way over.

If we got rid of the GPU... He could use G2A get win 10 or win 7 for $50

I was under the assumption that the client probably wanted a valid OS.
But that is for a different discussion.

 

[Jake17]

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/list/Kwx23F

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($66.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ECS B85H3-M(1.0) Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($17.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($85.95 @ Amazon)
Total: $310.90

 

[James Mason]

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/list/Kwx23F

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($66.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ECS B85H3-M(1.0) Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($17.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($85.95 @ Amazon)
Total: $310.90

That won't play any game at all besides like solitaire. Not cod or BF, minecraft extremely questionable as well.