The "Just Enough" gaming box

[Chester Burnett]

Hello and thanks in advance for any advice. My son and a couple of his friends want to build themselves gaming computers. We need to keep the cost per box as low as possible while still being able to handle most modern titles decently. It doesn't need everything on ultra, just respectable performance. I'm hoping to get the most bang for the buck by overclocking the CPU and GPU rather than buying top of the line hardware. I'm fine with AMD or Intel I'm just not sure where the budget processors start being viable.


Approximate Purchase Date: Next month or so

Budget Range: How low can you go?

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming > ya know... everything else.

Are you buying a monitor:Yes

Parts to Upgrade: The whole shebang.

Do you need to buy OS: Yes

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Most US websites. No Microcenter in my state 🙁 There's a Compusa not far from me.

Location: City, State/Region, Country - Florida USA

Parts Preferences: Any

Overclocking: Yes

SLI or Crossfire: No

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1200 hopefully

 

[blake1243]

sorry, no it isn't. but if you or the OP want to make concessions to your gaming settings that's fine.

With you logic we might well recommend a GT 620 2gb because apparently more video ram means more performance/sarcasm

 

[NerdBBQ]

In my opinion 1gb vram is plenty if you're only planning on using 1 monitor. Getting a card with 2gb is only useful if you're getting a higher end card like a 7950 or GTX 670

 

[DeusAres]

Alright guys, chill out. No need to get all hostile. You've all offered sound advice.

@OP If you want upgrade-ability in your system, I would definitely recommend an Intel build. I would recommend the i3 over the Pentium though. It has hyper-threaded cores and they will definitely come in handy in BF3 multiplayer. It won't run as good as a true quad core; however, it'll get the job done until you're son and his friends are able to afford an upgrade.

I chose a Z75 board over the H77 chipset because it's easier to upgrade in the future. Once your son has obtained enough cash, he can just pull out the i3 and drop in an i5 and have access to overclocking (granted that he also purchases an aftermarket heatsink). If you feel this isn't something your son or you will experiment with, feel free to drop the motherboard down to the H77 chipset. The ASRock H77 pro4/mvp would be an excellent alternative and you can still upgrade to a non overclock-able i5 quad core.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-3220 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor ($109.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock Z75 Pro3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($84.55 @ Newegg)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($35.57 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB Video Card ($106.97 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Gamma Classic (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($35.75 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224BB DVD/CD Writer ($15.99 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Acer G236HLBbd 60Hz 23.0" Monitor ($127.59 @ TigerDirect)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $696.37
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-01-06 17:13 EST-0500)

Once again, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. I hope this helps; good luck!