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  1. #1

    Ultra Mega Low Absurd Budget PC

    /copy pasting from my Techguy.org thread for more input.
    -----------------------------------------------------------------


    Hello all. Was wondering if i could bug a few peeps to help me make the right choices.

    this will be my first time ever building my own pc. kinda scared cause i don't want to go through RMA's, but it seems the best choice to save money.

    Need a system SPECIFICALLY to run World of Warcraft to get 15+fps or more on MINIMUM settings. on 40man's or more (think AV, Isle of Conquest, Ordos)


    i DON'T need to run it on ultra. just need 10-20fps or more for tons of players on screen.

    the Warlords of Draenor Patch was finally the patch that killed my PC. (not literally ).

    I used to play just fine with my current system of 9 years. but after each expansion, it's gotten worse and worse and before WoD, i was able to tolerate 5fps in 25man raids on min settings.

    but now, i get 5fps or LESS no matter where i go or what i do.

    Current PC. I STILL play WoW on this even in 6.0.2. (i found a neat script that lowers my view distance much lower than the slider in the options. i can do ordos again! lol 5fps ftw!

    mobo: k8m-800m. made by FIC (First International Computing)
    with a chipset by VIA.

    Single Core 2ghz Sempron. Palermo Model. the one with 128kb of L2 Cache socket 754 -_-

    2gigs of DDR1 Memory.

    BFG Geforce 6800xt 256mb AGP (over the years, i burnt through 2 other 6800 cards. )...i play a lot
    oh how i wish blizz would incorporate the old graphics engine as an option for setting everything to "low". I could run so smooth like the old days in BC or wrath. /sigh


    while browsing for the cheapest of cheapo CPU's that are not "garbage". (even though modern day 'garbage' will surely slaughter my cpu) i stumbled upon an AMD FX-4200 3.3GHz Quad-Core OEM CPU/Thermaltake CPU Cooler Bundle going for 55 bucks on Tigerdirect.

    it's just 10 bucks more compared to the listing of cpus that were under 49 bucks. but so much more powerful.

    so i decided, maybe i should build around it. and came up with this.

    Asus M5A78L-M LX PLUS Micro ATX AM3+ $40.00
    G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 $38.00
    Corsair 430W ATX12V $19.99. (after rebate)


    total with cpu and heatsink, about $180.00


    My budget is 150-200 for everything I need.

    i don't think i need to buy a case/hdd/kb/mouse/gfx/monitor. gonna reuse old junk i have lying around.

    but I do want to make a note of the case i plan to use.

    is anyone familiar with the ancient eMachines eTower 400i. (the beige one with turqoise button). i want to use that case.

    that's my first pc ever. still works! (ah the days of half life and tfc 1.5). *tears up*

    my fear is the parts wont fit even though it's a mATX board. idk about psu size. :-/


    if you guys have any suggestions for better more affordable parts. PLEASE let me know. remember, you don't have to go all out, look at the ancient PC im replacing! (points above). single core!!

    i was also considering amd apus like a6-5200 or a6-6310. but i don't know how good the built in GPU's would be. info on that is also appreciated.


    any info, thoughts, concerns, ideas on anything is GREATLY appreciated. tyty.

    which companies should i avoid? which companies have great return policies. who makes the BEST budget parts? does such a thing exist?

  2. #2
    Pandaren Monk lockblock's Avatar
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    Personally i think you will have a hell of a time achieving your goals within that budget.

    A. You can't reuse the gpu as agp slots have been completely phased out for many years now. (also note you must use a separate gpu with the Asus M5A78L-M LX PLUS as the onboard ati 3000 will not run wow - I have that chipset on a guest machine
    B. If your hdd or optical drive have the large ribbon cables instead of the smaller sata you will need adapters as most modern boards wont be equipped to use them.
    C. Your case appears to have an sfx psu. sure you can buy them but the selection is much smaller then regular atx and generally more expensive.

    If you decide to stay in that budget the apu's are pretty much your only choice.
    Last edited by lockblock; 2014-10-23 at 08:12 AM.

  3. #3
    how about buying 2nd hand used PC from a friend or ebay?

    cause as Iceblock said above its almost impossible to build anything meaningless, especially since the old parts are most likely not compatible,

  4. #4
    Deleted
    Does your old setup use sata ports?

  5. #5
    There's no IGP on that CPU? In which case he might not need a GPU.

  6. #6
    i keep forgetting to post the gpu i had planned to use. >.< sorry about that folks. i intend to use

    Radeon HD 2600 xt. 512mb

    i do have a 500gb sata hdd i plan to pull off of my current pc to re-use.

    you have me worried about the psu size though for my case. sfx? i was half hoping all microATX cases were built universally the same and i just had to find some type of mATX sized PSU. but sfx? that's news to me. >.<. sounds too tiny and prolly hella expensive.

    i guess i'll have to buy a case afterall. :-/. i really needed to save money in that area. every dollar counts. i was gonna re-use the old emachine case, a sata hdd i bought last year, the above video card, and only needed to buy psu/cpu/mobo/memory. (or so i thought)

    i haven't even bothered to see how the above card compares to my 6800. all i cared was that it was pcie. -_-. very nub of me. need to research more.

    but if you guys have any links to parts you think might be pretty good, or what type of mobo's i should avoid. let me know. any info is appreciated.

  7. #7
    Pandaren Monk lockblock's Avatar
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    Assuming your radeon card only requires bus power and no 6/8 pin pci-e or molex you should be able to get away with the following. If you remove the psu from that emachine case and take some measurements I would be willing to help you confirm what it is.

    PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant


    CPU: Intel Celeron G1820 2.7GHz Dual-Core Processor ($49.99 @ Newegg)
    Motherboard: Asus H81M-D PLUS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($44.99 @ Newegg)
    Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($38.25 @ Newegg)
    Power Supply: SeaSonic 300W 80+ Certified SFX Power Supply ($45.98 @ Newegg)
    Total: $179.21
    Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
    Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-23 23:52 EDT-0400

    Lastly you never mentioned what os you plan to use but anything below windows 7 wont have driver support for this particular board.

  8. #8
    Deleted
    Sorry to say but that psu is crap. Also why get the celeron when he can get the G3258

    This with new case. Update mobo bios and overclock the cpu to 4.5 (will need better heatsing than stock for that much) and do wonders in games:

    PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

    CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($69.98 @ OutletPC)
    Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H81M-H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($51.34 @ Amazon)
    Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($38.25 @ Newegg)
    Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($24.99 @ Newegg)
    Power Supply: Rosewill 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
    Total: $224.55
    Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
    Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-24 02:30 EDT-0400

  9. #9
    Pandaren Monk lockblock's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kostattoo View Post
    Sorry to say but that psu is crap. Also why get the celeron when he can get the G3258

    This with new case. Update mobo bios and overclock the cpu to 4.5 (will need better heatsink than stock for that much) and do wonders in games:

    PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

    CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($69.98 @ OutletPC)
    Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H81M-H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($51.34 @ Amazon)
    Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($38.25 @ Newegg)
    Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($24.99 @ Newegg)
    Power Supply: Rosewill 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
    Total: $224.55
    Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
    Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-24 02:30 EDT-0400
    It may be low wattage but it certainly isn't crap. Due to the ops extremely limited budget and other factors one can assume they will most likely never use a gpu that is even remotely power hungry. His system will likely pull under 150watts at full load so a quality 300w from seasonic should be more then adequate.

    Also how will he overclock that cpu on a H81 chipset board? Last I checked that requires a Z chipset. There is a fairly good chance the cpu you recommend won't even post on an 8 series board without a bios update.

  10. #10
    Deleted
    Yes it needs a bios update, the crap comment wasn't in the wattage part but in the quality.

  11. #11
    Deleted
    buy a second hand pc

  12. #12
    thanks a lot for the suggestions guys. really appreciate.

    i found my power supply and size i think. (looked at the sticker)
    you nailed it right on the head!

    150W Micro ATX Power Supply, SFX form factor
    Width: 125mm (4.9"),
    Length:100mm(3.9"),
    Height: 63.5mm(2.5")


    this is gonna be an interesting build. the only other case i have lying around is a mid/full? size with a weird Opening door for the power supply. (think DeLorean door hatch).

    kinda ugly. i have much to think about. :-/

    what are some good places to buy secondhand? ebay? craigslist? O_o

  13. #13

  14. #14
    Epic! Pejo's Avatar
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    Craigslist is fine; however, try to test it real quick before purchase. Also, look for a computer that looks like it was custom-made, usually taken care of a bit better.

  15. #15
    the amd apu's were another serious consideration i was looking at. but i didn't have any personal opinions by anyone regarding them. does anyone use them and can give their input?

    one thing that concerns me is if i can disable the built in gpu and have the extra cores get used by the cpu.

    like the a6-7400 six core. (2cpu, 4gpu). it'd be awesome if by installing a gfx card, going into bios, disabling the built in, i can get a full 6 cores for desktop cpu use.

    or better yet, just use the built in cause my discrete gpu prolly sux compared to these brand new integrated ones.

    and that price is AMAZING! O_o.

    i'd love to hear opinions on the apu's and their gfx capabalities. i've heard i can get an even cheaper apu if they have a 'K' suffix which i think means gpu disabled/missing. idk if that's true.

  16. #16
    Pandaren Monk lockblock's Avatar
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    Yes you can disable the integrated gpu cores but that won't magically convert them into cpu cores.

    As for igpu vs your really old ati, I have no idea what the performance benefit or lack of one would be. My best guess is there would be an improvement.

    Apu's are good for htpc/office/basic gaming but the moment you decide to swap to a better gpu an intel cpu will almost always be a better choice. That being said get an apu if you never intend to upgrade the gpu or get Intel if you do.

  17. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by Kostattoo View Post
    Sorry to say but that psu is crap.
    Lol, seasonic is one of the best PSU manufacturers...

  18. #18
    Deleted
    Quote Originally Posted by jackfrost View Post
    Lol, seasonic is one of the best PSU manufacturers...
    It is, but it also produces some crapy low budget ones like the one above, from spare parts etc...

  19. #19
    Get a Haswell generation Intel i3 processor and run with the integrated HD4600 graphics. Save money on buying a separate graphics card.

  20. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by Kostattoo View Post
    It is, but it also produces some crapy low budget ones like the one above, from spare parts etc...

    which companies would you say makes awesome budget parts? like even if i were to find lets say, a 20 dollar psu. or 20 dollar mobo. (make believe) which brand would that have to be able to still say "it's cheap, but it'll last forever" or something along those lines. or "it's cheap, but it's made by Xbrand so it's still quality regardless compared to other cheap brands".

    i'd love to know who makes quality regardless of price point. if such a thing exists.

    - - - Updated - - -


    phew. holy crap i spent 5 more hours researching today!! O_o. it's been like 2 weeks since patch 6.0.2 and i'm not sure how much closer i am to finally just committing and buying something. >.<

    i have to keep reminding myself that ANYTHING is gonna be miles ahead of my current cheapo eMachines system. litteraly, any crappy dual core will give me a world of difference. but i keep trying to "future proof" it by buying stuff i know i can upgrade later. which i don't think is wrong of me to do. but the budget is insanely limited so i have to splurge in 1 or 2 parts and then sacrifice on the rest. (which I have, thanks to you guys, learned it should be MoBo, and PSU) if anything else.

    so long as i can get the right mobo/psu. everything else can be upgraded later without issue. i need to learn to just trust you guys but i had to spend hours to find out "why" and understand it for myself. (i love learning pc junk anyway).

    but you guys are right on the money that if i go for intel, haswell is the way to go. i can start off cheap, (celeron) and upgrade later no probs. i even got a lot of the same parts when i tried to re-do my build. check it out.

    [PCPartPicker part list] [Price breakdown by merchant]

    Type|Item|Price
    :----|:----|:----
    **CPU** | [Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor] | $55.00 Amazon
    **Motherboard** | [Gigabyte GA-H81M-DS2V Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard]( | $44.99 Newegg
    **Memory** | [G.Skill AEGIS 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory](| $37.99 Newegg
    **Power Supply** | [Silverstone 450W 80+ Bronze Certified SFX Power Supply](| $68.99 SuperBiiz
    | | **Total**
    | Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available | $206.97
    | Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-27 00:50 EDT-0400 |
    i chose an sfx psu for shits and giggles. i may end up using my bigger case anyway. still not sure. >.< the price of the mobo went down. makes me wanna jump on it before i regret it. but the news about the cheaper apu's has me excited.


    i did some more homework, and realized an a4 apu will kick any GPU i currently own. (my best card in my house is the xt, followed by a 7900gt.

    gpu ranking by Surlix

    radeon hd 8370d IGP (built into the A4-6300 and going for 48 bucks on newegg) : 459

    geforce 7900gt: 528

    2600xt: 530


    i think i'm too tired to do a amd test build right now. and i still have to gut out my case and measure it so maybe i can save more money by going regular atx. /shrug idk.

    i might do that tomorrow cause pcpartpicker is a fun site.

    but for anyone interested. here is what i learned. correct me if i'm wrong.

    (extra non-important stuff. optional reading. just felt like sharing.)
    as of oct 2014, i learned the following info about building pc's...


    intel is king. but very expensive. very very expensive.

    if building intel, future proof it by going with a mobo with latest socket type that will get made for at least

    next couple of years. (haswell for now)


    AMD is king of BUDGET!

    in amd, latest socket types-microarchitecture-amily are am3+(vishera) and fm2+(kaveri). (am3+ is older (2012) but

    has the most powerful cpu's for amd ever. FX-9550 8 core zomg!)

    fm2+ is the "future" with APU's. very budget concious. not ultra powerful but damn good.

    still can't decide which mobo to get. am3+ or fm2+. :-/. depends on if the IGP > my discretes. (most likely yes)
    i think i'll go fm2+ if i go amd. since it's backward compatible with any fm2 apu/cpu
    Last edited by AnimeLeech; 2014-10-27 at 05:15 AM.

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