Building Entry Level Low Cost PC for Brother Need Advice

[Krunsh]

Hey all, brother graduated 8th grade and decided he wants to start gaming on PC. Being the computer guy in the family I've been tasked with building him a gaming pc under $600 after taxes and shipping.

Yes I know how that sounds.

Either way I've come for some advice on how I can keep reasonable performance and lower my cost.

He's planning on playing TF2 and LoL and I know my brother it needs to be able to get reasonable (40 ish) on BF3 high settings. In my opinion, which is probably wrong, if it can do that it can play most games reasonable well for a couple years.

It's a big undertaking and I'm a little out of the loop these days, but i'm hoping that some of the price drops on last year's(+1-2) parts and maybe some corner cutting, cannibalism will help me get the job done.

Planning on using an old case for a computer. I have 2 I can use Not sure what their brands etc are since both were "hey do you need that? Can I have it?". Other than that I can cannibalize my dual monitor setup and give him my crappy 720p 1366x720 monitor that I use as my web browser in games but would prefer to keep it since I've grown accustomed to it.


Here is what I'm looking at currently for the build:
-Quick note, I know the GPU is PCIE 3.0 and the mobo is 2.0 not sure how much of a performance hit that is but it fits everything.
also he has a mouse.

DVD/CD RWhttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827151269

HDDhttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136769

Mobohttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131872

PSUhttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817438005

keyboardhttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16823233003

RAMhttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231642

CPUhttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819113286

GPUhttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814202011

Monitorhttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824113034

Current Cart Total is kinda confusing. At the top it says "$678.91 10 items, in my cart the subtotal is $548.92 shippings is $14.04 and grand total is $700.54

The 10th item is a free copy of norton included with the dvd drive.

I'm sorry for the long post any help/advice will be considered, researched, and though on as well as appreciated.

[yurano]

PSU and monitor are too expensive for the $600 price point.

Something like this leaves $150 or so for the monitor, keyboard and optical drive. $100-120 shipped for a ~20" 1080p monitor is a more reasonable price.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Pentium G2020 2.9GHz Dual-Core Processor ($61.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI B75MA-E33 Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($57.24 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport XT 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($62.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost 2GB Video Card ($134.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($25.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $398.19
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-07-21 02:48 EDT-0400)

[Krunsh]

PSU and monitor are too expensive for the $600 price point.

Something like this leaves $150 or so for the monitor, keyboard and optical drive. $100-120 shipped for a ~20" 1080p monitor is a more reasonable price.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Pentium G2020 2.9GHz Dual-Core Processor ($61.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI B75MA-E33 Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($57.24 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport XT 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($62.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost 2GB Video Card ($134.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($25.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $398.19
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-07-21 02:48 EDT-0400)

I didn't know dual core was still a thing with the way things are now.

I noticed you went with the 650 ti. Is the HD 7770 not that good? I mist admit I've been very nvidia biased for many years.

The PSU is kinda expensive but I wanted to make sure there was more than enough power.

[chazus]

Out of curiousity, what about the OS? $600 just isn't doable when you need the system AND the OS AND the monitor and peripherals. At least, not comfortably.

[yurano]

I didn't know dual core was still a thing with the way things are now.

They're not, but the budget is extremely tight ($600 for tower + monitor after taxes) and the goal is to maximize BF3 performance.

When I added up the cost of your parts list, it was way over at ~$750 with shipping but before taxes.

I noticed you went with the 650 ti. Is the HD 7770 not that good?

650 Ti Boost

63% faster than the 7770

The graphics card is the single most important aspect in maxing out BF3.

The PSU is kinda expensive but I wanted to make sure there was more than enough power.

The CX 430 has enough power for a 3570K + 660 overclocked.

A $115 PSU is out of budget, even in a $1200 tower.

[Krunsh]

Out of curiousity, what about the OS? $600 just isn't doable when you need the system AND the OS AND the monitor and peripherals. At least, not comfortably.

I still have a boot of win 7 left.

- - - Updated - - -

They're not, but the budget is extremely tight ($600 for tower + monitor after taxes) and the goal is to maximize BF3 performance.



650 Ti Boost

63% faster than the 7770

The graphics card is the single most important aspect in maxing out BF3.



The CX 430 has enough power for a 3570K + 660 overclocked.

A $115 PSU is out of budget, even in a $1200 tower.

thanks for the insight. I know the budget is incredibly tight, that's why I came here. I use BF3 as the benchmark because running that on high comfortably should mean running most other games comfortably as well barring cpu intensive games like mmos. If I have to scrap the monitor for now I will. I'll just force myself to stop being lazy and actually buy a new second one.

[chazus]

I modified Yurano's a bit. I went with crazy cheap mouse/kb, since... The budget is so tight, you really can't afford to spend extra money on those when performance parts are suffering. The price on that 650 ti Boost is crazy. You could drop the DVD/RW and save $15, but it's within budget and nothing else can really be upgraded except maybe a 'nicer' monitor. BF3 -ought- to run at about 40fps, in theory.

PCPartPicker part list
CPU: Intel Core i3-3220 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor ($119.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI B75MA-E33 Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($57.24 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport XT 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($62.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost 2GB Video Card ($134.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($25.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Monitor: AOC e2351F 60Hz 23.0" Monitor ($117.47 @ TigerDirect)
Keyboard: Rosewill RK-101 Wired Standard Keyboard ($5.99 @ Amazon)
Mouse: Rosewill RM-P2U Wired Optical Mouse ($5.49 @ Newegg)
Total: $600.12

[Krunsh]

I modified Yurano's a bit. I went with crazy cheap mouse/kb, since... The budget is so tight, you really can't afford to spend extra money on those when performance parts are suffering. The price on that 650 ti Boost is crazy. You could drop the DVD/RW and save $15, but it's within budget and nothing else can really be upgraded except maybe a 'nicer' monitor.

PCPartPicker part list
CPU: Intel Core i3-3220 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor ($119.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI B75MA-E33 Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($57.24 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport XT 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($62.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost 2GB Video Card ($134.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($25.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Monitor: AOC e2351F 60Hz 23.0" Monitor ($117.47 @ TigerDirect)
Keyboard: Rosewill RK-101 Wired Standard Keyboard ($5.99 @ Amazon)
Mouse: Rosewill RM-P2U Wired Optical Mouse ($5.49 @ Newegg)
Total: $600.12

I appreciate this btw to you and everyone. Couldn't we go with AMD and get similiar performance but cheaper? and say go with the phenom black x4

Don't need the mouse either so I can save 5 bucks there.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($90.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Foxconn A78AX 3.0 ATX AM3 Motherboard ($34.99 @ Geeks.com)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport XT 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost 2GB Video Card ($134.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($25.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Monitor: AOC e2351F 60Hz 23.0" Monitor ($117.47 @ TigerDirect)
Keyboard: Rosewill RK-101 Wired Standard Keyboard ($5.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $585.38
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-07-21 04:04 EDT-0400)

Im wondering if i should go the ATX or micro-ATX route. These cases I have aren't full size like mine.

[chazus]

As far as I'm aware, the i3 will beat out the Phenoms by a decent margin. Also, going that cheap on a motherboard is usually a recipe for disaster.

[Kayko]

I was actually about to buy EVGA 750b for $89 (and it has a $20 MIR)

[chazus]

I was actually about to buy EVGA 750b for $89 (and it has a $20 MIR)

Not sure how this is relevant >.>

[Toffie]

The modified builds by Yurano and Chazus is the best for the money.
Only the AMD FX-6300 is worth changing over the 3220. If you play MMO's the higher single core performance of the 3220 will win over the FX-6300.
Also remember the 6300 can be overclocked, 3220 cannot.

[Krunsh]

Just giving an update. After discussing it with the brother he's decided to go with Chazus' list. Minus keyboard, mouse, monitor. Appreciate the feedback everyone. 10/10 would come back.