Budget PC build under $400?

Good afternoon,
So, I am looking to put together a full computer setup by $1333. To be clear, I’ll need everything included—both the tower and a monitor. This is actually a gift for my brother, so we really need it to be a solid gaming rig. He spends most of his time playing World of Warcraft, League of Legends, and Minecraft, though he does occasionally jump into newer titles. It would be wonderful if the machine could handle more recent releases without breaking a sweat. I am prepared to pay the full amount in cash right away, provided that we can arrange for free shipping. Honestly, I am not quite sure what else to include here, so if there is any specific detail you need from me to make this happen, please just ask! As I mentioned, the primary goal is gaming, so please don't forget that the price should cover both the monitor and the case. Thank you!

1 x AOC LCD 22" WLED, 250 cd, DVI
1 x AMD Athlon ii x4 740 (3.2GHz,4MB,65W,FM2) box
1 x KINGSTON DDR3 (8GB,1600MHz(PC3-12800) CL11
1 x MSI A88XM-E35 (FM2+,DDR3,SATA III,USB3.0,VGA,HDMI, DVI) mATX
1 x Toshiba DT01ACA050 500 GB 3.5,7200rpm, 32MB HDD
1 x MS PHOENIX kućište bez napajanja
1 x SILVERSTONE Strider ST50F-230, 500W, Walmart, 1x120, BlackRock
1 x Asus R7260-1GD5 ukupno
Ukupno: $1344

A 22" monitor with digital input, a decent quad-core processor (I guess it's a decent value if you're on a tight budget for gaming), 8GB of RAM, a motherboard with USB3 and SATA3, a 1TB drive, a reliable power supply, and a pretty good graphics card.

futura-it

If you go with the Intel option, this setup will handle all the major titles quite nicely. It features a strong processor that should keep up with most games for at least another four years, and you’ll have the flexibility to swap in a more powerful graphics card down the road whenever this one starts feeling sluggish. Eventually, if he manages to save up some extra cash, adding another 4GB of RAM would turn this into a very solid gaming rig.

-LG 21.5" LED 22M35A, VGA, FHD, 5ms

-Intel CPU desktop Core i5-4440 (3.1GHz, 6MB,LGA1150) box
-Gigabyte GA-H81M-DS2V, 1150, iH81, D3, S3, U3, DVI, mA
-Sapphire Radeon R7 260 x OC, 1GB GDDR5, DVI, DP, HDMI 11222-05-20G
-Fortron PSU 400W, Hexa, 80+, active, 12 cm
-Patriot Sig. DDR3 1600Mhz, 4GB PSD34G160081
-Toshiba DT01ACA050 500 GB 3.5
-Zalman micro tower case black, ZAL-ZM-T2 plus sveukupno

Total price:$1404 Best Buy

$67 You actually gave him more—plus you bumped his RAM up to 4GB.

Larry Ortiz5 said:$67 You actually gave him more—plus you bumped his RAM up to 4GB.

Honestly, even 4GB is plenty for most games right now, and upgrading RAM is easily the simplest fix.$93 When the time comes, he won't have much trouble saving up for another 4GB stick. As for the processor—once he picks one up, he isn't going to touch it again. That’s why I went with the i5; it gives him peace of mind for the next four years. You can keep acting like a know-it-all all you want,$67 but it isn't much over budget considering the performance boost he gets from them.

Maybe just wait for a reply from the original poster—who knows, maybe the guy just doesn't have $67 any more ☕

It would be more prudent to opt for 4GB of RAM and allocate the remaining budget toward a superior processor or perhaps a better graphics card. In my estimation, 4GB remains perfectly sufficient for most tasks at present; should a deficit ever arise, one simply installs an additional module and the matter is resolved.

Alternatively, one could maintain the current CPU and GPU configuration but swap out the HDD for an SSD, provided there isn't a pressing need for massive storage capacity—which I am certain is not the case here. One can always just plug in an external USB drive down the road if necessary.

That’s all fair enough, but for $67 it definitely blew the budget. I mean, maybe the guy doesn't "just" have those extra $67 lying around—that's my point, anyway.

Those games aren't even that heavy. You don't need an i5 for this stuff...
www.newegg.com (check $667 for free assembly and shipping)

1 x MSI A88XM-E35,FM2+, micro ATX, S FM2 Chipset: AMD A88X Memory
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K Processor 3.40GHz 4cores
1 x DDR3 8GB (1x8GB) Crucial, 1600MHz CL11
1 x SanDisk Ultra USB DVD burner, SATA Bulk Black, SATA
1 x Zalman 500-GS_II PSU, 500W, ATX12V V2.31, active PFC
1 x TOSHIBA 500GB, 7200rpm, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB, DT01ACA050
1 x MS LOGIC A32 without PSU, Midi tower, ATX, 5.25"
1 x Sapphire GTX 750 Ti 1GB GDDR5 OC, 1GB GDDR5 128bit, 28nm
1 x AOC E2250SWDAK, 21.5", 16:9, 1920x1080, speakers, 200 cd/m2
1 x Apple iPhone 11 Pro ARCTIC-COOLING 92mm PWM Fan

$1360

Larry Ortiz5 said:That’s all fair enough, but for $67 it definitely blew the budget. I mean, maybe the guy doesn't "just" have those extra $67 lying around—that's my point, anyway.

Even if he does, wouldn't it be smarter to just sit tight for a few days and slow down? He stands to gain so much more by being patient.

Robert Rodriguez2 said:Those games aren't even that heavy. You don't need an i5 for this stuff...
www.newegg.com (check $667 for free assembly and shipping)

1 x MSI A88XM-E35,FM2+, micro ATX, S FM2 Chipset: AMD A88X Memory
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K Processor 3.40GHz 4cores
1 x DDR3 8GB (1x8GB) Crucial, 1600MHz CL11
1 x SanDisk Ultra USB DVD burner, SATA Bulk Black, SATA
1 x Zalman 500-GS_II PSU, 500W, ATX12V V2.31, active PFC
1 x TOSHIBA 500GB, 7200rpm, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB, DT01ACA050
1 x MS LOGIC A32 without PSU, Midi tower, ATX, 5.25"
1 x Sapphire GTX 750 Ti 1GB GDDR5 OC, 1GB GDDR5 128bit, 28nm
1 x AOC E2250SWDAK, 21.5", 16:9, 1920x1080, speakers, 200 cd/m2
1 x Apple iPhone 11 Pro ARCTIC-COOLING 92mm PWM Fan

$1360

He stated that he wants to be able to play newer titles in addition to those three specific ones, and in that case, an i5 makes a huge difference—especially when we consider the next generation of even more intensive games coming out in a year or two. Furthermore, from a long-term upgrade perspective, isn't an i5 clearly the superior choice?

Keith Wright2 said:He stated that he wants to be able to play newer titles in addition to those three specific ones, and in that case, an i5 makes a huge difference—especially when we consider the next generation of even more intensive games coming out in a year or two. Furthermore, from a long-term upgrade perspective, isn't an i5 clearly the superior choice?

Fine, then just give him the extra cash he needs for the i5 processor.😁

Look, you slap in the i5, probably the cheapest motherboard you can find... and a GTX 750 Ti.😂
The CPU won't even hit 40% usage... the GPU won't be able to keep up anyway.

With these budget builds, when you only have four slots to fit everything including the monitor, you have to balance things out. You want components that actually work together, not just maxing out one part while the rest of the rig suffers.🙂

Robert Rodriguez2 said:Fine, then just give him the extra cash he needs for the i5 processor.😁

Look, you slap in the i5, probably the cheapest motherboard you can find... and a GTX 750 Ti.😂
The CPU won't even hit 40% usage... the GPU won't be able to keep up anyway.

With these budget builds, when you only have four slots to fit everything including the monitor, you have to balance things out. You want components that actually work together, not just maxing out one part while the rest of the rig suffers.🙂

What kind of nonsense are you talking? Hahaha! Everything here is perfectly balanced, and there is absolutely no need for a more powerful graphics card right now. Besides, you always have to look at the platform first—and in this case, that means the processor and the motherboard. You can swap out a GPU whenever you feel like it, but you rarely, if ever, touch the core platform. If he picks a processor like that, it probably won't even be able to handle games coming out in six months, let alone a year from now. And let’s be honest, he isn't going to be able to pair it with a high-end card anyway without hitting a massive bottleneck, which would just limit him immediately. I set him up with an Intel Core i5 instead, and it's perfect. He can easily drop in a much stronger graphics card a year down the road once he saves up enough cash.

For newer games, he’ll probably run out of 8GB of RAM way before he hits any CPU limits. An Athlon isn't exactly some weakling, and it should handle this just fine. But hey, you clearly have a crystal ball, so I guess you know exactly when every processor becomes obsolete.

Guys, thanks so much 🙂 I’m going to spend some quality time diving deep into all of this. As I see it, wouldn't it be much more sensible to invest a bit $67 more into the processor now, and then perhaps look at adding even more RAM down the road? Isn't it always better to ensure everything is perfectly balanced from the start? Still, I plan on taking a closer look at those specific builds you mentioned. I truly appreciate you all giving me your time. If anyone else happens to have any additional suggestions or thoughts, please, don't hesitate to share them!

fadedorca66 said:For newer games, he’ll probably run out of 8GB of RAM way before he hits any CPU limits. An Athlon isn't exactly some weakling, and it should handle this just fine. But hey, you clearly have a crystal ball, so I guess you know exactly when every processor becomes obsolete.

Look, I already pointed out that upgrading RAM is the easiest fix. I’m not sure if you actually know how to read a quote or what the issue is here, but I know that processor will be way too weak—especially if he decides to pick up a more powerful graphics card a year from now.

Keith Wright2 said:Look, I already pointed out that upgrading RAM is the easiest fix. I’m not sure if you actually know how to read a quote or what the issue is here, but I know that processor will be way too weak—especially if he decides to pick up a more powerful graphics card a year from now.

There's just no point arguing with you.😁

You're just stubborn.

Why would anyone drop more cash on upgrades in six months or a year if they don't have to?

That Athlon is basically like an old Phenom X4 955—those things can still limp through games after six years.

If you think you're some expert, go ahead and try to predict exactly which parts will be enough for everyone else.

Kyle Miller6 said:Guys, thanks so much 🙂 I’m going to spend some quality time diving deep into all of this. As I see it, wouldn't it be much more sensible to invest a bit $67 more into the processor now, and then perhaps look at adding even more RAM down the road? Isn't it always better to ensure everything is perfectly balanced from the start? Still, I plan on taking a closer look at those specific builds you mentioned. I truly appreciate you all giving me your time. If anyone else happens to have any additional suggestions or thoughts, please, don't hesitate to share them!

If you go with that pre-built setup from the downtown shop with the i5, just swap out that Fortron Hexa power supply for a Zalman one (it'll be about $3.25 more expensive). Obviously, the Hexa will work just fine, but I think the upgrade offers much better value for the money.

True, plus those Hexa cables look pretty short, so that might actually be an issue.

fadedorca66 said:True, plus those Hexa cables look pretty short, so that might actually be an issue.

I've seen that exact point brought up countless times. I actually just read a thread on PCPartPicker where a guy mentioned putting a Hexa unit in a case just like that one, and he said despite all the warnings, it worked perfectly fine. 🤷

Still, it’s probably best to play it safe and not take the risk.