[SOLVED] The cheapest build for a gaming pc?

[rellussini]

The cheapest build for a gaming pc?

 

[kanewolf]

The cheapest build for a gaming pc?

Define "gaming PC" better. What games, what resolution, what minimum frame rate?
Minecraft at 30fps is very different that COD at 1440p 144hz ...

 

[punkncat]

In theory, and according to your market and availability you could repurpose an old office build with a lightly powered GPU sub $300.
If you were going to build new something workable probably about $500. PSU prices are nuts right now, and availability on some other items is pretty low as well, or wait times.

 

[Nivz0r]

I don't know the prices in your country or the games you want to play, but i built a PC for my nephews to play fornite it cost me around 400$.
Here are the specs;

Ryzen 5 1400 (4 cores, 8 threads)
Gigabyte GA-320A
8gb ram 3200 cl16
128gb ssd transcend sata 2.5
1tb hdd 7200rpm
Msi gtx 750ti gpu
Antec 500w psu
Antec nx220(i think)


It runs fortnite smoothly at around 100fps with a 60hz 1080p monitor. Which is where i was aiming.

 

[punkncat]

Nivz0r, that's a well put together build for the price. Even just upgrading the GPU would take that to a whole new level. Well done.

 

[ocer9999]

Depends on what games and settings do you wish to play... A very basic gaming PC:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 3 3200G 3.6 GHz Quad-Core Processor ($99.99 @ Best Buy)
Motherboard: ASRock B450M-HDV R4.0 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($71.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Aegis 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR4-2400 CL17 Memory ($30.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: ADATA SU635 240 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($25.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($37.19 @ Amazon)
Case: DIYPC Solo-T2-R Black USB 3.0 ATX Mid Tower Case ($30.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 500 W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($46.99 @ Walmart)
Total: $344.13
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-08-30 18:36 EDT-0400

 

[Archaic59]

The cheapest build for a gaming pc?

If you want something of decent quality that can actually play some games and with some ability to upgrade. You can easily put a GTX 1660 ti in this later on for a solid 1080p gaming system.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3400G 3.7 GHz Quad-Core Processor ($139.99 @ B&H)
Motherboard: MSI B450M PRO-M2 MAX Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($74.98 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Flare X 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial P1 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($104.99 @ Adorama)
Case: Phanteks Eclipse P300A Mesh ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair CX (2017) 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($74.99 @ Corsair)
Total: $514.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-08-30 19:13 EDT-0400

 

[punkncat]

Depends on what games and settings do you wish to play... A very basic gaming PC:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 3 3200G 3.6 GHz Quad-Core Processor ($99.99 @ Best Buy)
Motherboard: ASRock B450M-HDV R4.0 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($71.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Aegis 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR4-2400 CL17 Memory ($30.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: ADATA SU635 240 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($25.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($37.19 @ Amazon)
Case: DIYPC Solo-T2-R Black USB 3.0 ATX Mid Tower Case ($30.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 500 W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($46.99 @ Walmart)
Total: $344.13
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-08-30 18:36 EDT-0400

If you want something of decent quality that can actually play some games and with some ability to upgrade. You can easily put a GTX 1660 ti in this later on for a solid 1080p gaming system.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3400G 3.7 GHz Quad-Core Processor ($139.99 @ B&H)
Motherboard: MSI B450M PRO-M2 MAX Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($74.98 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Flare X 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial P1 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($104.99 @ Adorama)
Case: Phanteks Eclipse P300A Mesh ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair CX (2017) 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($74.99 @ Corsair)
Total: $514.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-08-30 19:13 EDT-0400

Between these two I can appreciate where bottom post is going.
Given cheaper budget I am almost fully on board with the above build. I would go with a better PSU since you will want to add a GPU to it, soon. IMO would probably sub the Cx550 from the second to the first and go with that, as new. You should be able to game light titles at 720 on it till you save for a graphics card.

 

[Archaic59]

Between these two I can appreciate where bottom post is going.
Given cheaper budget I am almost fully on board with the above build. I would go with a better PSU since you will want to add a GPU to it, soon. IMO would probably sub the Cx550 from the second to the first and go with that, as new. You should be able to game light titles at 720 on it till you save for a graphics card.

Too bad you can't use a B550 board with Picasso (AFAIK), although I've seen articles stating some boards do. That would make upgradeability much better. X570 is just too expensive for ultra-low budget build.

 

[Desch_]

a rephrasing of your question would be very beneficial.

instead of "cheapest gaming build?"

try:

Whats the best build i can make with "X" amount of money?

or

Just state what games you wants to play and what else you want to achieve with the build and we can guide you in the right direction

If youre willing to buy used/open box deals you can often times build a pretty sweet computer with very little $$$.

 

[Karadjgne]

Go to Walmart. Best Buy. Staples. Office Depot. Electronic Express. Micro Center. Any big chain that has pc stuff and computers. They are all in competition with each other. Their prices are bulk prices and usually better than what you can build for from retail build it yourself.

They won't be top-grade, they are unlikely to be very upgradable, but you basic HP can do quite a bit, cheap.

 

[punkncat]

Go to Walmart. Best Buy. Staples. Office Depot. Electronic Express. Micro Center. Any big chain that has pc stuff and computers. They are all in competition with each other. Their prices are bulk prices and usually better than what you can build for from retail build it yourself.

They won't be top-grade, they are unlikely to be very upgradable, but you basic HP can do quite a bit, cheap.

Cringe....ouch.


(can't say I haven't suggested it "for a friend" myself)

 

[Karadjgne]

Cringe....ouch.


(can't say I haven't suggested it "for a friend" myself)

LOL, yeah. But when you just want a car that runs, as cheap as possible, you don't get to complain its the wrong color or has dents.

 

[punkncat]

LOL, yeah. But when you just want a car that runs, as cheap as possible, you don't get to complain its the wrong color or has dents.

I was in the midst of help a business friend of mine with a new computer after a crash, loss of books, etc. About halfway through I realized there was 1) no way I was going to beat the budget the offered (performance be damned) and 2) that I would ever get off the hook for being their tech support for common PEBCAK issues. Nope. Best Buy is your best bet....

 

[Corwin65]

I prefer MicroCenter for prebuilds.