Low budget first gaming pc build

Jacob H · Oct 19, 2014

Hi everybody, been toying with the idea of building a pc for a while now. Unfortunatly, I am on a tight budget ($450). I went on pcpartpicker.com and threw this together. I don't know too much about hardware and how everything works together nor do I know much about what kind of performance I'll be getting other than what I've read or seen in reviews. Please leave some suggestions on how I could make this better or let me know if I should change something. One last thing, I do know that I'm not going to get super high end performance for under $450 but my current PC lags a lot when gaming.

zeyuanfu · Oct 19, 2014

This build is better if you can spare 10$:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4150 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus H81M-D PLUS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($73.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($42.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 1GB ACX Video Card ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($37.99 @ Mwave)
Power Supply: Antec 450W ATX Power Supply ($30.49)
Total: $460.43
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-19 08:27 EDT-0400
There's a coupon for the PSU on Amazon that saves you a few bucks.

DonkeyOatie · Oct 19, 2014

On my Mini-ITX build thread zeyuanfu, I and others have been working on a low-end foundation build that can be upgraded significantly.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4330 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($135.95 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($64.78 @ Newegg)
Memory: Team Zeus Red 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($68.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.98 @ OutletPC)
Case: Azza SIRIUS ATX Mid Tower Case ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $399.68
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-16 18:35 EDT-0400

This is it, although it relies on rebates and other tricks to get to this price point. This has the legs to run any GPU up to a GTX970, and perhaps the GTX980.

You could throw in a GTX730 for $64, or weaker R7 240 for $54.

What have you got now? Could you use any of those bits to save money, then get a GTX750ti?

Jacob H · Oct 19, 2014

DonkeyOatie :

I'm currently gaming on a laptop but I have an old dell dimension 5150 with a fried hard drive. I was going to just get a new hard drive and and then upgrade the gpu but I didn't know if I was going to run into compatibility issues with the motherboard. The motherboard in the dimension is the dell wg261 and I believe that I have a pentium D processor

zeyuanfu · Oct 19, 2014

I would suggest you keep your old machine as a secondary web-browsing computer if you can buy a hard drive for it and build a new computer as Pentium Ds are VERY old.

DonkeyOatie · Oct 19, 2014

OK then. Maybe you could salvage the case

I think that a solid foundation with a graphics card to be replaced later is the way to go.

I'd bit the bullet and spend the extra to put the GHT750ti in zeyuanfu's build.

zeyuanfu · Oct 19, 2014

Actually, keeping the case might not be a good idea as Dell makes proprietary stuff. I have an example. I am currently using the Dell Dimension E310 with a P4 CPU (it's not too shabby), but the case opens from the right-hand side instead of the ''normal'' left-hand side.

DonkeyOatie · Oct 19, 2014

Stand-offs and Mr. Drill Press my solve that problem, or not, but it's worth considering if possible.

zeyuanfu · Oct 19, 2014

It MAY, nobody knows...
Reusing the case WILL save 40$, that's for sure.

zeyuanfu · Oct 19, 2014

If Op can spare 17.50$, a case and an HDD, this build would be the best for 467.50$:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4150 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus H81M-D PLUS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($73.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 760 2GB ACX Video Card ($198.00 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec 450W ATX Power Supply ($30.49)
Total: $467.46
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-19 17:26 EDT-0400
The VP-450 has a coupon on Amazon, if I didn't mention it before.

Jacob H · Oct 19, 2014

zeyuanfu :

I did some tweaking and came up with this. I'm choosing amd because it's just what I'm used too and I've been able to get good performance out of AMD in the past. I'm going to be playing games like Payday 2, Nether, Warface, assassin's creed, battlefield 4, and maybe even some COD. Would I be able to play with a minimum of 25 frames per second?

DonkeyOatie · Oct 19, 2014

Would work for me for you.

Should be good or even better than that although you may have to reduce effects.

zeyuanfu · Oct 19, 2014

Jacob H :

zeyuanfu :

I did some tweaking and came up with this. I'm choosing amd because it's just what I'm used too and I've been able to get good performance out of AMD in the past. I'm going to be playing games like Payday 2, Nether, Warface, assassin's creed, battlefield 4, and maybe even some COD. Would I be able to play with a minimum of 25 frames per second?

It will get at least 30 FPS, but keep in mind that the highest you can go on that upgrade path is the Athlon x4 860K, which isn't bad, but compared to high-end CPUs such as the 4690K, it pales.
I would still get the i3 build.

Jacob H · Oct 19, 2014

zeyuanfu :

Jacob H :

It will get at least 30 FPS, but keep in mind that the highest you can go on that upgrade path is the Athlon x4 860K, which isn't bad, but compared to high-end CPUs such as the 4690K, it pales.
I would still get the i3 build.

How do I know how far I can upgrade? is it based on my motherboard?

zeyuanfu · Oct 19, 2014

Yes, as the Athlon x4 760K is FM2+. The best CPU for that socket is the Athlon x4 860K. If you can find a hard drive and reuse your Dell case, the i3-4150 and GTX 760 build would be the best.

Jacob H · Oct 19, 2014

zeyuanfu :

so if i wanted to be able to upgrade more, should i look for a cpu with a different socket? What about something like the AMD FX-6300?

DonkeyOatie · Oct 20, 2014

At the moment, the Intel high-end, even medium end, pretty much spanks any AMD chip in gaming and general use. Where you are looking, at the lower end, AMD does offer possible solutions.

You could switch to the AM3+ socket, but the more powerful processors will exceed your budget. By the time you upgrade, the current generation of AMD will likely use a different socket anyway, and you will need to replace your motherboard as well.

At your budget, go with something that works well, and be prepared for a complete rebuilt in a couple of years when your finances and circumstances are likely very different.

sparestuff · Oct 20, 2014

The gtx 760 isn't worth the price compared to a r9 280 especially because the r9 280 has more v-ram, and the r9 280 generally has better performance and is cheaper

If you need an HDD I got a build below this one, if you don't just cut out $50 from this build and you can get this build instead

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($69.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper TX3 54.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-D2V Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($49.79 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($70.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: HIS Radeon R9 280 3GB IceQ OC Video Card ($169.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $460.73
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

This is with an HDD
PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ktmjqs
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ktmjqs/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($69.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper TX3 54.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-D2V Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($49.79 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($70.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R7 265 2GB Video Card ($130.50 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $471.22
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

I included an aftermarker cooler because if you overclock this build you will get great performance.

zeyuanfu · Oct 20, 2014

I would stay with Intel as they beat and sometimes CRUSH AMD CPUs.

The G3258 isn't very good despite its overclockability as it has stuttering issues.

Low budget first gaming pc build

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