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Thread ID: 134487 2013-07-06 10:17:00 Cheap Gaming PC Build advice Burt_Munroe (17118) Press F1
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1348124 2013-07-06 10:17:00 Hi Folks,

Trying to build a gaming PC on a budget here's what I have so far what are your thoughts want to play games like Far Cry 3 Call of Duty Black Ops 2 Battlefield 3 etc.. on mid to high settings

So far what I have is a

Cool master case I was handed down it has a 430W PSU already in it

26" flat screen with HDMI input

I have $525.00 to spend I was thinking of spending my hard earned dough on the following

GIGABYTE F2A85XM-D3H $137.76 at alpha city

AMD A10 FM2 5800K $175.38 at alpha city

G.SKILL Ripjaws X 4GB $66.75 at alpha city

Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit 136.99

Then at a later date I was going to add a graphics card thinking this one

Sapphire HD6570 4GB GDDR3 PCI-E at 125.73 also at alpha city

Any feedback on companies like alpha city and Taylor made computers would also be appreciated

This will be my first PC and I also don't want to get myself into a situation where I can't upgrade parts slowly without throwing the lot out so any feedback from that front well welcomed

Thanks for your time helping me 		Burt_Munroe (17118)
1348125 2013-07-06 11:13:00 I'll take this post seriously, but honestly it's hard to.

Without trying to be too much of a gaming snob a "budget" gaming PC costs more than that. What you are suggesting will play games but on low settings @ 1080P (guessing that's the monitor resolution)a lot of the time and mid settings occasionally, never high.
You have a few issues due to budget;
Firstly even if it's a good brand a 430W PSU is too low end when you start adding real gaming hardware but if it's a cheap PSU it may not be worth even using. To be fair a mid range gaming rig can stay under 400W if parts are carefully chosen, but it has to be a good PSU even so.
Next is the CPU choice, normally I'd suggest going for an i3 or an i5 so you'd be able to upgrade later if necessary and because intel are just stronger gaming CPUs currently but they have weaker integrated graphics and won't game worth a damn without a Graphics card which pushes the price up so an AMD is your only option without a graphics card. That said an A10 is just ok in terms of gaming and it's GPU is low end.
Finally the 6570 - just no. It's weaker than the A10's GPU. An entry level gaming card would be a minimum of a 6670 or 7750 but realistically you'll be disappointed with anything lower than a 7770 and would be better off around the level of a 650Ti or better.

As a reference my i3 3220/ 650Ti boost combo plays far cry 3 excellently at Very high settings, Crysis 3 quite well at high, and world of warcraft at high. A 4850 (an old card but currently available at PBtech for ~ $100) is many times better than the options you list and will not play crysis at all (directX 9 only), plays far cry 3 poorly, and is just ok with WoW. I list these as I've tried them personally.

A PS3 would look better for less, PC's are the most expensive gaming machines you can buy. To game at mid settings with current and upcoming games expect to spend $1200-$1500 at least. To game at high settings $2k upwards. 		dugimodo (138)
1348126 2013-07-06 12:18:00 To game at mid settings with current and upcoming games expect to spend $1200-$1500 at least. To game at high settings $2k upwards. Thats about the size ( cost) of it seriously.

A GOOD graphic card and Good PSU would take most if not all ( for higher spec) of the budget of $525 - and thats without the other components. No point in going low end /spec components as it will only disappoint.

The Coolermaster case with PSU - if its the one that comes shipped with them, they are real low end budget PSU's you WILL have troubles in a very short time with that, worst case would be it blows and takes out all the other components in the PC (seen it happen all to often when they are pushed)


This will be my first PC and I also don't want to get myself into a situation where I can't upgrade parts slowly without throwing the lot out so any feedback from that front well welcomed Thats always a gamble - components get superseded all the time, so it depends on what time frame you were thinking about upgrades. 		wainuitech (129)
1348127 2013-07-06 12:36:00 Thanks Dugimodo

As much as I approached my last post with enthusiasm that is was going to work I had a sinking feeling it wouldn't

Thanks Youtube for getting my hopes up AGAIN with all your videos about how it works 		Burt_Munroe (17118)
1348128 2013-07-06 12:50:00 One thing about youtube - esp anything relating to costs - you have to remember they may be USA based, so the prices in NZ will be more.

Dont be put off in building your Own / First PC- you just need to be realistic regarding pricing and performance.

Its better you get the truth than people saying " yeah thats great - that will work" then be disappointed.Better to save some more $$ and get something that will do what you really want. 		wainuitech (129)
1348129 2013-07-06 21:36:00 want to play games like Far Cry 3 Call of Duty Black Ops 2 Battlefield 3 etc.. on mid to high settings

Cool master case I was handed down it has a 430W PSU already in it

GIGABYTE F2A85XM-D3H $137.76 at alpha city
AMD A10 FM2 5800K $175.38 at alpha city
G.SKILL Ripjaws X 4GB $66.75 at alpha city
Sapphire HD6570 4 GDDR3 PCI-E at 125.73 also at alpha city


Gaming with such games as you mention and the word cheap do not go together.

430w PSUs bundled in cases....no.
The graphics card is the single most important component for gaming and that will not do.

However the CPU is not to be ignore either and that won't do either.

If budget is the issue, think second hand or last years hardware new. (Last years graphics cards can still be available for instance)

Research - Toms Hardware has many benchmarks for GPU and CPU and a Ranking Chart for both - which can be easier to see whats good and whats not.
This rates them according to performance. A higher end last years card can be way better than mid range this years for instance.

But you're way under estimating what you need. And of course, check the GPU - often there is a minimum wattage requirement on higher end cards, I doubt 430w would be enough for a proper gaming card. 		pctek (84)
1348130 2013-07-07 14:12:00 even a 5770 is about 450W minimum I believe.


As others have said, budget and gaming don't really fit together. Gaming is literally the thing that pushes graphics hardware forwards, and as such often falls at the top end of the hardware spectrum.

If you want, as per your post, to be able to upgrade your PC later on, I would go for the highest specs you can possibly manage and then see where you sit from there.

The graphics card is the most expensive to upgrade, and also the most likely candidate, as well as the PSU if you buy an under wattaged one (IE if you buy a 550 watt PSU and a GPU that needs a 550 watt PSU, you're going to likely have to upgrade both next time)

Places you COULD skimp on a bit would be things like harddrives, ram (for a short while), and motherboards (sort of. if you don't need SLI/xfire capable ones for example, a cheaper one would likely do fine)

Think of it this way - If you're buying the cheapest now, it'll be obsolete before the next things even come out, and you'll be forever stuck in an upgrade loop. Or you can buy something big now, and it'll still hold its own later. 		8ftmetalhaed (14526)
1348131 2013-07-07 14:42:00 Probably the best reasoning behind spending more than 1k on a gaming rig is to cut down on future costs, with the righ you want to build there is practically no upgrade options meaning you will find youself paying another large chunk of money later on. This combined with the fact that you get what you pay for interms of build quality tends to mean you spend more money later on than someone who spen 1.5k to begin with. Slankydudl (16687)
1348132 2013-07-07 22:50:00 I agree with most of what's been said, BUT, if you do insist on going down this "Budget Gaming PC", here's a pointer:

You can combine the onboard graphics processor in the 5800K with an HD6670 (the Gigabyte 2GB version is $110 from Alphacity, whom I haven't used personally but I've heard lots of good reports). This will definitely play Battlefield 3 smoothly on Medium settings @ 1080P - not sure about High and not sure about other games, but "Medium" again should be fine for most of them.

And you COULD use the 430W PSU that you have. At full load a 5800K + HD6670 system will draw under 200 watts. As has been pointed out though, they are not very good quality, so the risk is that it dies an untimely death as cheap PSUs are prone to do (the more load you put on the them the higher the risk though). Perhaps good for an interim solution whilst you save up for a better PSU - even $100 can get you a good ~550W Antec or similar.

Or you could just buy second hand :) 		pablo d (15490)
1348133 2013-07-07 22:58:00 I should probably add that you most likely wouldn't have an upgrade path for the CPU though, as the FM2 platform will probably be replaced with FM2+ by Xmas, and the 5800K is about the best CPU you can get for the platform. pablo d (15490)
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