Budget gaming PC recommendations?

Greetings, everyone. I find myself in need of some collective wisdom. While I’m not exactly swimming in cash at this moment, I am diligently setting aside funds for a specific purpose. I am looking for some general direction. My ultimate goal is to assemble a gaming rig capable of handling next-gen titles, though, much like every other rational human being on this planet, my heart truly yearns for a machine that costs absolutely nothing. Haha. In all seriousness, I was browsing YouTube and came across this video ( ) which suggests you can build a next-gen machine for roughly $450 to $500. Given current exchange rates, we're looking at a budget somewhere in the neighborhood of $3,000 to $3,500 if we were converting from local currency—wait, let me rephrase that for clarity: I'm aiming for that $450-$500 sweet spot. If anyone has any seasoned suggestions on how I might navigate this more cheaply, or perhaps even find a better way to stretch my dollars, I would be immensely grateful.

Here’s your thread, just so we stop cluttering up the old one.

A build like this is solid and pretty easy to put together here, though you're probably looking at around $1500. The dollar's been pretty volatile lately, which is why prices feel like they're all over the place. I guess it might be worth mentioning what games you actually want to play, how much you're aiming to save (and when, since there's no point building now if you aren't buying for another three months), and where you're planning to shop—if you've got the cash ready, ordering through an online retailer is probably your best bet.

The titles I'm looking at are Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Call of Duty: Ghosts, NBA '15, and Need for Speed—though, frankly, these newer entries in the franchise are complete garbage.
As for my strategy, I’m trying to figure out how quickly I can pull this off, though honestly, I haven't the slightest clue what that timeline looks like. I'm still debating where to shop or exactly which components to pick up, since I'm hoping to snag a few deals on certain parts if I play my cards right... and so on.

Here is my current setup:😛an Intel Pentium CPU running at 3.00GHz and 1.50GHz
2.00GB of RAM
a 32-bit operating system

Unfortunately, you haven't provided any specific details. I don't know if you're running a Pentium or whether your RAM is DDR2 or DDR3. You should probably run a tool like Speccy to get those specs. It would also be incredibly helpful if you could identify your power supply—just pop the side panel off and snap a photo of the label—as well as the case and other components.
At the very least, you might find some useful parts to salvage for your next build.

I don't want to clutter the thread, but a friend was asking me to browse some computer forums to see which version of Grand Theft Auto V he could run smoothly on a PC, though I guess I wonder if there's even an option out there that won't push his system way too far $1333

ruggedheron35 said:I didn't want to start a whole new thread, but a buddy asked me to check some PC forums. He wants to know which new Grand Theft Auto title he could actually run decently on a PC, and if there's even an option out there that isn't way too $1333

Nobody can tell you for sure how the optimization will turn out. Based on the system requirements, though, the game doesn't look overly demanding, so it should run fine even on budget builds. That is, provided it doesn't end up being the next Watch Dogs / Assassin's Creed Unity. For about $400, try something like this:

1 x Gigabyte 970A-DS3P, AM3+, AMD 970 SB950, 4x DDR3 2000(O.C.)/1866
1 x DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Kingmax, 1600MHz, FLGF
1 x Spire Kepler Rev.2 ,hladnjak, 1156/775/FM1, 96.5×51×125 mm ,92mm
1 x Power Supply EVGA 400W, HEXA Plus 400, 12cm fan
1 x MS PHOENIX case without PSU, Midi tower MBO: ATX, mATX
1 x Sapphire R9 270 2GB, OC Boost, 2GB GDDR5 256bit
1 x AMD FX-Series X6 6100 Processor 3.3GHz,14MB,95W,AM3+
1 x TOSHIBA 1TB, 7200rpm, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB, DT01ACA100

$1313 techforum.com

I saved you a bit on the processor by swapping in a slightly older version similar to the FX 6300 since $83 it's cheaper; that extra cash allows for a better graphics card, which is what really matters to you. It would also be a good idea to grab another 4 GB of RAM later, but it just won't fit into the current budget right now. Best to pick up another 4 GB down the road once you've saved up a little more $88, right? 😁

1 x Gigabyte 970A-DS3P, AM3+, AMD 970 SB950, 4x DDR3 2000(O.C.)/1866
1 x AMD FX-Series X6 6100 Processor 3.3GHz, 14MB, 95W, AM3+
2 x DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Kingmax, 1600MHz, FLGF
1 x TOSHIBA 500GB, 7200rpm, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB, DT01ACA050
1 x Sapphire R7 265 2GB GDDR5 Dual-X, 2GB GDDR5 256bit, 28nm
1 x FORTRON 400W Power Supply, HEXA Plus 400, 12cm fan
1 x MS PHOENIX case without PSU, Midi tower MBO: ATX, mATX
1 x Spire Kepler Rev.2 cooler, 1156/775/FM1, 96.5×51×125 mm, 92mm

$1351
Slightly over budget (skipping the monitor since nobody really uses them anymore), but the GPU is decent enough for gaming and everything else.🙂

www.newegg.com

Robert Rodriguez2 said:1 x Gigabyte 970A-DS3P, AM3+, AMD 970 SB950, 4x DDR3 2000(O.C.)/1866
1 x AMD FX-Series X6 6100 Processor 3.3GHz, 14MB, 95W, AM3+
2 x DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Kingmax, 1600MHz, FLGF
1 x TOSHIBA 500GB, 7200rpm, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB, DT01ACA050
1 x Sapphire R7 265 2GB GDDR5 Dual-X, 2GB GDDR5 256bit, 28nm
1 x FORTRON 400W Power Supply, HEXA Plus 400, 12cm fan
1 x MS PHOENIX case without PSU, Midi tower MBO: ATX, mATX
1 x Spire Kepler Rev.2 cooler, 1156/775/FM1, 96.5×51×125 mm, 92mm

$1351
A little over budget (no SSD, though nobody really uses them much anymore), but the GPU is solid for gaming and everything else included 🙂

www.newegg.com

Going with a weaker GPU and a smaller HDD just to get more RAM? It’s not worth it. You can still run Grand Theft Auto V on 4 GB of RAM, and you can always just grab more memory later when you have the cash $83, so there's no point sacrificing the graphics card or the hard drive.

Quote: Evil

Adam Moore3 said:Trading a better GPU or a bigger hard drive just to squeeze out an extra 4 GB of RAM? Honestly, probably not worth it. You can still run Grand Theft Auto V on 4 GB, and you can always just grab more RAM later when you actually have the cash. $83No point in sacrificing your GPU or even your hard drive.

I know it’s not there, but I gave him the option anyway. Not everyone goes chasing high-end specs, and nobody actually needs a 1TB hard drive. 🙂

He's got options, so let him pick.

Thanks, guys 👍

Adam Moore3 said:Nobody can really say for sure how the optimization is going to turn out. Based on the system requirements, though, I guess the game doesn't look overly demanding, so it might run pretty decently even on budget builds. That is, assuming it doesn't end up being another Grand Theft Auto or Assassin's Creed situation. For about 4 mil, maybe something like this:

I think I might be looking at a Gigabyte 970A-DS3P motherboard, which uses an AM3+ socket along with an AMD 970 SB950 chipset and supports four sticks of DDR3 memory running at either 2000MHz via overclocking or 1866MHz.
I think I have one single stick of 4GB DDR3 Kingmax RAM here, running at 1600MHz, specifically the FLGF model.
I suppose there's one Spire Kepler Rev.2 cooler here, which I think uses a 92mm fan and measures about 96.5x51x125 mm, and it seems to support the 1156, 775, and FM1 sockets.
I suppose there's one Fortron 400W Hexa Plus 400 power supply available, which includes a 12cm fan.
I guess there is one MS PHOENIX mid-tower case available, though it doesn't come with a power supply. It should fit either an ATX or mATX motherboard, I suppose.
I suppose I have one Sapphire R9 270 2GB, the OC Boost version with 2GB of GDDR5 and a 256bit bus, if anyone might be interested.
I guess I'm looking at an AMD FX-Series X6 6100 processor, which runs at 3.3GHz with 14MB and a 95W TDP on the AM3+ socket.
I think there is one Toshiba 1TB hard drive here, running at 7200rpm with a SATA 6 Gb/s interface and 32MB cache, specifically the DT01ACA100 model.

$1313 I guess I should probably mention that I was spending some time over on adm.hr earlier today.

I guess I ended up making a bit of a compromise with my processor; I decided to go with an older version of a similar Intel Core i5-4460 because it seemed like the more sensible way to go. $83 It might be better to go with the cheaper option, since that extra savings could probably go toward a more powerful graphics card, which I suppose is the most important part for you. It would also be a good idea to add another 4 GB of RAM later on, though I guess that just isn't feasible within your current budget right now, so maybe it's best to just pick up another 4 GB once you've managed to save up a bit more. $88Hey there. 😁

Well, I guess if that's actually the case, then things might be different. $83 I guess there’s a bit of a difference there; it doesn't feel quite the same to me when you're looking at $4,250 versus $4,999. 🙂