PC to Play Minecraft

[MagicalKiwi]

I'm looking to buy a new PC for under $500 - $600 to play minecraft smoothly at medium or far render distance. I don't know anything at all about building a PC, so I would like the PC to come from a bigbox store like Best Buy, or to come from a PC building site such as IBuyPower. This is going in my bedroom, so it doesn't really have to be small or quiet. Thanks!

 

[erinlove]

Anything better than a cheap laptop will play Minecraft 😛.. It is Java and I find that games with Java work for everyone but also work crappy for everyone lol. Got to love it.. I build my computer for about that much. I researched every part to find the cheapest, most functional things for the price. I didn't know anything either lol. In fact I tried for a year to build my own with the parts I bought, finally I took my parts down to a store and he put it together for $40 and replaced my bad RAM (grrr I didn't suspect the brand new ram) for free. I still recommend the fun of choosing your own parts. My rig glows blue because I said so 😛

This is a great place, I am sure everyone is more helpful than me xD Sorry.

 

[bwcbwc]

I'm looking to buy a new PC for under $500 - $600 to play minecraft smoothly at medium or far render distance. I don't know anything at all about building a PC, so I would like the PC to come from a bigbox store like Best Buy, or to come from a PC building site such as IBuyPower. This is going in my bedroom, so it doesn't really have to be small or quiet. Thanks!

I'd say the 2 key specs are that you'll need a core i3 or equivalent AMD processor running at 2.4 GHz or higher. Now that single-player minecraft runs a separate server thread, you need dual core, at least. You'll also need a low-end graphics card. A Radeon HD 6570 or 7570 will be more than sufficient. If you want to play mods like FTB, you'll definitely want a 7570 or better.

If you go with a good AMD APU instead of the core i3, (like an A8 series) you may be able to skip the graphics card. The built-in graphics on a low-end Intel chip will only give you about 15 fps at best. And even the APU probably won't be able to run big mod-packs and keep up frame rate.

If you check out deal sites like dealnews, you should be able to find a deal that meets these specs and fits your budget: assuming you don't need to buy a monitor too. Now seems to be a good time to buy. I'm seeing some heavy markdowns on desktop PCs out there. But you'll need to find one that allows adding a graphics card as an option, or find a friend to install the card for you.

 

[darrick1994]

If you don't mind building your own computer, this should work out well for you

CASE: You can choose any you personally like but for a budget computer, this would be a good one since it's cheap and it works and has space in the back for you to tuck and hide your cables
NZXT Source 210 at $29.99: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146076

MOTHERBOARD: MSI Z77A-G41 at $94.99 (not including the $10 mail in rebate yet): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130653

PROCESSOR: i3-3220 at $129.99: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116775

RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series DDR3-1600 8GB (2x4GB) at $49.99: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428

POWER SUPPLY: Corsair CX430 at $46.99 (not including the $20 mail in rebate yet): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026

GRAPHICS CARD: any amd radeon 7770 should be fine for your purpose. I personally chose the XFX Double D 7770 (model FX-777A-ZDF4) at $139.99 (not including the $30 mail in rebate yet): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150597

STORAGE: I assume you can reuse the current hard drive(s) you have. If you need more storage, you can get this Western Digital Green 1TB (model WD10EZRX) at $79.99: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236070

DVD/CD DRIVE: I assume you can reuse the current dvd/cd drive you have. If for whatever reason, your current one is broken and you need a new one, you can get this ASUS DVD/CD drive at $19.99: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204

I also assume you are going to be using the same monitor, keyboard, and mouse


Adding everything up except for the storage and dvd/cd drive section yields a total cost of $491.94. The mail in rebates add up to $60. Tax and shipping have not been accounted for.

Adding everything up including the storage and dvd/cd drive section yields $591.92. The mail in rebates still add up to $60. Tax and shipping have not been accounted for.

OH! And if you need an operating system and don't have an installation disc already or do not plan to get it for free from other "sources"...
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit at $99.99: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986
Windows 8 64 bit at $99.99: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832416550

I highly recommend windows 7 (personal preference though).

Anyways, adding the OS will just bring up the cost by $100, $591.93 and $691.91 respectively.

It really isn't that hard to build a computer. Sure, it won't look as great as someone with experience already but it's actually pretty fun. You'll save some money too by building it yourself. If you really must buy a pre-built computer, I will try and see if I can find a decent one at the budget you have

For the budget you have, it's more beneficial to just build your own computer.

edit: there are PLENTY of youtube videos out there teaching you how to build/put together a computer. Here's from from newegg. (yes, a bit lengthy but it goes into quite the detail)
part 1 (choosing your components): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPIXAtNGGCw
part 2 (the build): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_56kyib-Ls
part 3: (installing windows and finishing touches): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxaVBsXEiok


edit2: I personally cannot fathom how expensive these desktops are (for the hardware given) so I cannot make any good pre-built desktop recommendations to you. Hopefully another individual can help you with that