CHEAP gaming build

[leatherlips]

I was looking at upgrading my sons pc. I assume a new motherboard, cpu, graphics card, memory are needed. suggestions on those would be great. Also, can I reuse the other parts (power supply, cd/dvd, hard drives, etc.?) I dont expect to be able to use much, but whatever i can do to save.


Here's what he has now:
CPU:
1.80 gigahertz AMD Athlon 64
128 kilobyte primary memory cache
512 kilobyte secondary memory cache
64-bit ready
Not hyper-threaded

Board: DFI Corp,LTD LP NF3 250GB 1.0
Bus Clock: 202 megahertz
BIOS: Phoenix Technologies, LTD 6.00

Graphics:
ATI Raedon 9250

Memory:
2048 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory

HDD:
WDC WD3200AAJS-00L7A0 [Hard drive] (320.07 GB) -- drive 1, s/n WD-WCAV2W762020, rev 01.03E01, SMART Status: Healthy
WDC WD800JD-23JNA1 [Hard drive] (80.03 GB) -- drive 0, s/n WD-WMAM95368914, rev 06.01C06, SMART Status: Healthy

DVD :
Samsung

He plays WOW, and a few other similar games, but has run into some that wouldn't play at all on his current PC.

if at all possible, id like to stay around $400


Thanks for your help!

 

[rivethead]

You didn't mention, but I'm assuming you can reuse the montior, case, power supply and keyboard/mouse?

I'm in the process of helping my son build his first system. Here's what we've purchased thus far:

Intel i3 2120 CPU $120
Biostar H67 Mobo $79
G.Skill 2x2GB RAM $25
Windows 7 Home Premium OS $90

I'm gifting him an Antec case, a 350W PSU, and an old 160GB HD for now. He also just bought a 23" ASUS montor for $140

He's got about $100-120 left in his budget for a video card. We're waiting patiently for a sale on a Radeon 6850.

Not sure if that helps, but I think your $400 budget is very doable if you can reuse the case, PSU, a harddrive, keyboard/mouse and monitor. And OS if possible.

 

[lehtv]

Is the current PC a prebuilt? What power supply does the PC have now? I'm going to guess it needs upgrading. Is the case in good condition?

What is the monitor resolution?

That's USD right, not Canadian?

You can reuse the drives since they are SATA 3gb/s.

 

[fastamdman]

I would AT LEAST buy a z68 board. You can get new cheap ones anywhere from 85-115 new. Used, you can get nice boards cheap too.

Going z68 gives you a lot of options for later on down the road. Never buy into older chipsets, boo.

 

[leatherlips]

Yes USD, and i did plan on reuse of the monitor/keyboard/mouse. I do have a copy of win 7 ultimate not in use too.
I heard that the psu should be upgraded, but ill check to see whats in it. its not a pre-built system that he has now, it was put together by a local company years ago.

also the current memory is: Kingston ValueRAM 2GB Kit (2x1GB Modules) 333MHz PC 2700 DDR CL2.5 DIMM Desktop Memory (KVR333X64C25K2/2G)

 

[DrTan]

GIGABYTE GA-A75M-D2H FM1 AMD A75 (Hudson D3) HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard ---$85.00

AMD A4-3400 Llano 2.7GHz Socket FM1 65W Dual-Core Desktop APU with DirectX 11 Graphic AMD Radeon HD 6410D AD3400OJGXBOX --- $70.00

Patriot Signature 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory with heatshield Model PSD38G1600KH --- $36.00

Windows 7 Home Premium OEM - $ 90.00

Available at Newegg.com

 

[Bateluer]

Yes USD, and i did plan on reuse of the monitor/keyboard/mouse. I do have a copy of win 7 ultimate not in use too.
I heard that the psu should be upgraded, but ill check to see whats in it. its not a pre-built system that he has now, it was put together by a local company years ago.

also the current memory is: Kingston ValueRAM 2GB Kit (2x1GB Modules) 333MHz PC 2700 DDR CL2.5 DIMM Desktop Memory (KVR333X64C25K2/2G)

That RAM is worthless today. You're going to moving to DDR3 of some kind.

The i3 build detailed earlier, with a video card, will be a solid purchase, I think. And allow you to drop in a faster CPU, and/or video card down the road.

 

[lehtv]

And the monitor resolution?

 

[illram]

On a $400 budget gaming build, you're pretty limited.

HIS 6870 -- $149.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161389

Biostar H61MGC LGA 1155--$49.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813138332

GSkill 8GB DDR3 1333 RAM--$34.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231422

Intel i3-2100--$124.99, $15 off w/ promo code if you order before 1/9.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115078

Antec NeoEco 400w--$44.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371029

Total of $404.95 before shipping and handling and before discounts and rebates.

Re-use your case if it can handle a microATX mobo (usually microATX are cheaper than full ATX), use your Windows license, re-use your DVD drive and your hard disks. If you live near a Microcenter, i3-2100's are $99 there.

If you're on a budget no need for Z68 mobos, just get the cheapest mobo you can find with the features you need. H61 is fine if you don't need SATAIII, SSD caching, or USB 3.0 and don't plan on overclocking. H61 and H67 are not old tech, they just lack features. The above will handle all games currently on the market at medium to high settings.

 

[mfenn]

On a $400 budget gaming build, you're pretty limited.

HIS 6870 -- $149.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161389

Biostar H61MGC LGA 1155--$49.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813138332

GSkill 8GB DDR3 1333 RAM--$34.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231422

Intel i3-2100--$124.99, $15 off w/ promo code if you order before 1/9.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115078

Antec NeoEco 400w--$44.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371029

Total of $404.95 before shipping and handling and before discounts and rebates.

:thumbsup: to this. The Corsair 430CX is also available for $35 AR.

Re-use your case if it can handle a microATX mobo (usually microATX are cheaper than full ATX), use your Windows license, re-use your DVD drive and your hard disks. If you live near a Microcenter, i3-2100's are $99 there.

Given the age of the system, the DVD drive is likely IDE, which means that he'd need a new one of those as well. The promo code on the i3 very nearly takes care of the cost of one of those though.

If you're on a budget no need for Z68 mobos, just get the cheapest mobo you can find with the features you need. H61 is fine if you don't need SATAIII, SSD caching, or USB 3.0 and don't plan on overclocking. H61 and H67 are not old tech, they just lack features. The above will handle all games currently on the market at medium to high settings.

:thumbsup::thumbsup: to this. Spending an extra 12.5% of a $400 budget on a Z68 mobo would indeed be a little silly.

 

[fastamdman]

Does h61/h67 support IB suddenly?

 

[mnewsham]

Does h61/h67 support IB suddenly?

Does he need IB?

 

[VirtualLarry]

illram's build is pretty solid. I probably would have suggested an unlocked Llano A8-3870K APU myself, but that limits the resolution that you can game at comfortably.

 

[leatherlips]

This is great! I really appreciate your assistance with this. I have an available windows 7 os, but its 64bit. Is that ok or should i buy a 32bit copy (I wasn't sure if there were any gaming considerations between the 32 and 64 bit)?

Thanks again!

 

[lehtv]

64-bit is better, it can take advantage of more than 4 GB of RAM and run 64-bit executables

Still curious about the monitor resolution though.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Does he need IB?

Probably not. I do though

 

[leatherlips]

This is the monitor, replaced his old one with this last year.
I didnt see reference to resolution in the amazon description though.

http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-VW246H-24.../ref=de_a_smtd

 

[Bateluer]

This is the monitor, replaced his old one with this last year.
I didnt see reference to resolution in the amazon description though.

http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-VW246H-24.../ref=de_a_smtd

Its 1920 x 1080.

 

[lehtv]

In that case, +1 to Illram's build

 

[leatherlips]

Thanks all! I've placed some hardware on order based on these suggestions. I really appreciate all the input!

 

[Skott]

This is a late reply on my part but someone asked if H61/67 mobos support IB and the answer is, yes, some do. A BIOS update will be needed of course but that is expected. Here is a couple of links for ASUS and Gigabyte mobos.

http://event.asus.com/2011/mb/PCIe3_Ready/
http://www.gigabyte.com/press-center/news-page.aspx?nid=1048

This info came out before Thanksgiving (October info I think) so there may be more mobos than are listed here but this should help those that are looking for H61/67 mobos and wanting IB compatibility.