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Affordable gaming desktop for max 350USD

Discussion in 'Technical Discussion' started by Twinbee MkII, Nov 28, 2014.

  1. Twinbee MkII

    Twinbee MkII

    Uber Snuzzlemuffins Member
    I'm trying to get at least an average gaming pc for upwards of $350 max. djohe assisted me in finding some options, but suggested I try here for further ideas on if I can get something even better than the tower in question for the same rough amount.

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA4GH2420044

    Can this be improved on yet still retain the economic price? Open to any and all suggestions. Thanks.
     
  2. rata

    rata

    Member
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    Trying to be useful somehow.
    First of all, get an i7. There you have your 350USD. Oh, wait...



    Now seriously, the best you can do is buying all parts and assembly it yourself. You will gain experience and save some bucks, and that's mean a little more money dedicated to hardware. It is not hard to assembly your own PC, there are tutorials on YouTube that are real How-To. You just have to read your mother board's manual to connect front panel and power switch, and then... nothing will fit where it shouldn't. All cable connectors have specific shapes, colors and pattenrs to easily identify them.

    Also, note that Intel Xeon processors are not made exactly for gaming but to serve as workstations, so maybe that isn't a good idea. That PC is used, and that's soemthing to consider.

    Ok, the lowest I can get while still useful is 380 USD (however, all components are new):

    Antec Micro ATX VSK 4000E ($24)
    EVGA 500W 80Plus ($44)
    ASRock 760G DDR3-1886MHz AM3+ ($60)
    AMD FX-6300 ($100)
    1x Kingstone X-Fury 4GB DDR3 1600MHz CL10 ($37)
    WD Caviar Blue 500GB SATAIII ($44)
    XFX Radeon R7 240 780MHz 2GB DDR3 ($70)

    Note that OS is not included, since that you can use your actual Windows license on the new PC.
    In my humble opinion, if you want a gaming PC you may want to save more money, because with 500USD you can make a real PC for gaming. Of course, if someone get a better configuration I would love to see it.

    EDIT: okay, I was talking about this in other forum, and they pointed me some things. With this budget they said that its better going for an APU instead of an fx with a loussy graphics card, and they are right. I never think in APUs because I just don't relationate them with gaming. So changing the FX and the R7 with an A10, also a new mother board comes necessary because of the new FM2 socket, and since both RAM and VRAM will be the same thing, it has to be increased. Now its about 400USD and its more like a PS4 or an XBox. Also, an optical drive and 1TB hard disk are included now, without them the cost is almost the same but with a better PC:

    Antec Micro ATX VSK 4000E ($24)
    EVGA 500W 80Plus ($44)
    ASUS micro ATX A78M-A ($75)
    WD Caviar Blue 1TB SATAIII ($55)
    2xCrucial Ballistic Sport 4GB (8GB total working in dual channel) ($61)
    AMD A-10 7700K APU ($130)
    ASUS DVD-RW drive (SATA) ($21)

    Total: $409. Using the 500GB HDD and removing the DVD drive it goes to $379, the same than the previous one. Im sorry but I can't go under that with new components.
     
  3. Thousand Pancake

    Thousand Pancake

    Being a food you put milk on and then eat in the m Member
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    What about using a single 4GB stick of ram and bumping the A10 down to an A8? You'd be saving about $30 on RAM and $16 on the CPU. Games will probably not perform as well as they would on two sticks of RAM, but it's a lot closer to his price range.

    There's also an EVGA power supply that comes in at around $5 less than the one you listed. If you still want/need an optical drive after all that, just get the 500GB hard drive.