PC build under $300

Hi there,

My nephew wants to get into some light gaming, but we're working with a pretty tight budget, so building a high-end rig isn't really on the table. Does anyone have the time or inclination to suggest what the best bang-for-your-buck setup would be for roughly $667—maybe stretching it by $100 or $200 if necessary?

Here’s what I was thinking:

Intel Pentium G3420

GeForce GT 730 2GB DDR3

Transcend Jetram 4GB DDR3 1600

Seagate HDD 500GB. 7200RPM, 32MB

Pairing that with an ASRock H81 M-ATX motherboard

Inside a Corsair ATX Case with a 400W PSU

The total comes out slightly over $200 at Best Buy (I'm currently in St. Louis), but it's doable.

So, what are your thoughts on this build, and is there anything here that really needs changing?

Thanks!

1 x ASRock H81 M-ATX
1 x AMD FM2 Processor A8-Series X4 7600 (3.8GHz,4MB,65W,FM2+) box
1 x Fortron 300 W Power Supply, active PFC, 12 cm fan, bulk
1 x Corsair ATX Case, mATX, external slots: 4x5,25
1 x Seagate HDD 500, Serial ATA III, 7200 rpm, Barracuda 7200.12
1 x DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Kingston, 1866MHz, CL10, HyperX Fury, HX318C10F

$692 Local shop in St. Louis - free shipping and assembly included

The PC arrives at your door and you pay then. This processor actually has a pretty decent integrated graphics chip; I guess it could even handle some heavier games on Low settings at Full HD. The only real bottleneck is the RAM, since the graphics will have to borrow from the system memory.
If you went with 8GB of RAM (2x4GB), the price would jump up to nearly $800.
Alternatively, $800 you could go with an Intel dual-core paired with a much stronger dedicated graphics card, but if you ever wanted to upgrade later, you’d probably need a new processor too, not just a new GPU.

crimsonstag84 said:1 x ASRock H81 M-ATX
1 x AMD FM2 Processor A8-Series X4 7600 (3.8GHz,4MB,65W,FM2+) box
1 x Fortron 300 W Power Supply, active PFC, 12 cm fan, bulk
1 x Corsair ATX Case, mATX, external slots: 4x5,25
1 x Seagate HDD 500, Serial ATA III, 7200 rpm, Barracuda 7200.12
1 x DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Kingston, 1866MHz, CL10, HyperX Fury, HX318C10F

$692 Local shop in St. Louis - free shipping and assembly included

The PC arrives at your door and you pay then. This processor actually has a pretty decent integrated graphics chip; I guess it could even handle some heavier games on Low settings at Full HD. The only real bottleneck is the RAM, since the graphics will have to borrow from the system memory.
If you went with 8GB of RAM (2x4GB), the price would jump up to nearly $800.
Alternatively, $800 you could go with an Intel dual-core paired with a much stronger dedicated graphics card, but if you ever wanted to upgrade later, you’d probably need a new processor too, not just a new GPU.

I vouch for this build 👍. At 720p, this will run plenty of games 🙂. It doesn't have to be played at full hd 😁

Thanks a lot, I’ve always been pretty skeptical when it comes to those integrated graphics cards.
If we were looking at an option closer to the $2,400 mark, what kind of CPU and GPU combo would you recommend instead of relying on a single integrated chip?
And presumably, 4GB of RAM should be plenty if she isn't going to be sharing it.

Honestly, it’d just be throwing money down the drain if you picked up a card in the $200-$100 range—especially since that specific GPU is actually weaker than the integrated graphics built right into your processor. If you really want to make a move, maybe look into bumping it up to 4GB? That way you’ve got 8GB total—though you have to remember the processor is going to claim a chunk of that for itself to stay functional...

Thanks, everyone. I appreciate it.

It looks like we’ll probably go with the suggested route. If it turns out to be a bit lacking down the road, it shouldn't be much trouble to just pick up another 4GB stick later on, right?
Best,

1 x Intel Pentium Gold Processor (2.70GHz,512KB,2MB,54 W,1150) Box
1 x 4GB DDR3 Crucial (1x4GB), 1600MHz CL11
1 x Fortron 400W HEXA Power Supply, 12cm fan, Active PFC
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB HDD, SATA III, 7200 rpm
1 x MS Phoenix Midi Tower Case (no PSU included), ATX/mATX compatible
1 x MSI R7 250 1GB GDDR5 128bit, 28nm, DVI + HDMI + VGA
1 x Asrock H81M-DGS - Intel H81, M-ATX, dual Channel 2 xDDR3 - 1600

$779
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