Extreme budget $300 computer for a friend

[Deleted]

A friend of mine wants me to put together a computer on a very tight budget to replace her crappy laptop for gaming. It will be primarily for WoW 10m raid.

Budget - ~$300
Resolution - 1600x900
Games / Settings Desired - Low/Playable
Any other intensive software or special things you do (Frequent video encoding, 3D modeling, etc) - No.
Country - US
Parts that can be reused - Will be giving her my optical drive and a Crucial M4 SSD 128 GB.
Do you need an OS? - No.
Do you need peripherals (e.g. monitor, mouse, keyboard, speakers, etc)? - No. Giving her my old stuffs since this will be her first desktop.

This is what I'm thinking.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD A10-6800K 4.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($99.99 @ Micro Center)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A75M-HD2 Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard ($9.99 @ Micro Center - bundle deal)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($58.94 @ Amazon)
Case: BitFenix Merc Alpha (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($23.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $302.88
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-27 17:31 EST-0500)

[Fascinate]

Well you can do better, but you gotta cut some corners.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811148047
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136696
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820313355
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814202011

http://www.microcenter.com/product/4...oxed_Processor
http://www.microcenter.com/product/3...MD_Motherboard


Newegg: 223.95 after shipping
Microcenter: 85.81 in cart after tax

Total: 309.76 before rebates

Mobo has a 10 dollar MIR and video card has a 15.00 MIR

Sure case is sketchy, but this will actually play WoW quite well. About 4x as fast as the APU you linked, not to mention a more powerful CPU.

[Deleted]

The case + PSU bundle review scares me a bit. I think I may still have the NZXT Gamma lying around somewhere in the garage and hopefully with the screw box. The build will be the same as what you suggested but without the case (will use the CX430 with the gamma if I find it instead).

[Fascinate]

There you go that would work perfect. But ya, that CPU+mobo combo is insane deal (i assume you realize you need to live near a microcenter for this tho)

[Deleted]

I live pretty close to one. It's about 15-20 mins drive. Hopefully, this will stop her excuses from dying in the fire.

[Icathian]

I think you might need a video card, even if it's a simple one. A lot of onboard video chipsets are incompatible with wow. And even if it is, it'll run very laggy, even on low settings. You could get one card for really cheap like this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121645

[Fascinate]

Ya my first PC i had with WoW had 512mb of memory, finally upgraded to 2gb's and it was like wow was a different game lol. Assume she will have a similar experience : )

[zhero]

I think you might need a video card, even if it's a simple one. A lot of onboard video chipsets are incompatible with wow. And even if it is, it'll run very laggy, even on low settings. You could get one card for really cheap like this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121645

that is because they are intel graphics, AMD motherboards use AMD onboard, which are mostly the same as dedicated graphics card minus dedicated memory and being low end.

[Sarthan]

The case + PSU bundle review scares me a bit. I think I may still have the NZXT Gamma lying around somewhere in the garage and hopefully with the screw box. The build will be the same as what you suggested but without the case (will use the CX430 with the gamma if I find it instead).

Your friend can always save up and get another case when she can afford it. I do that all the time. Skimp on the case then get a nicer one

[chazus]

While I don't have any qualms about skimping on the case, the Logisys PSU that comes with that case makes me twitch. Those are the ones that explode. A PSU is almost the most important thing not to skimp on. I'd take a Corsair CX 430 over a Logisys anything.

[ignit3e]

I think I have an old 9800 GT from a couple builds ago in my closet at my parents house that I have no use for if you're in dire need of a freebee. I'm heading back there in about 30 min and can see what I've got if you're interested.

[ben-]

That build is great for whomever. the A-10 is like running a radeon 7700 series video card. She will be able to play many different games at not terrible resolutions, wow will run 1920x1080 on medium settings and still hold 30 fps with a 5800k which is worse than that a-10.

Intel might make good processors when your building a gaming rig, but AMD- A series is awesome for a budget conscience gamer. and makes intels integrated graphics offering look like crap.(because they are).

As far as the power supply other posters are correct its fishy, however i built a computer with an integrated power supply and its still chugging along to this day, that pc has an athlon x2 and a 4650 and has had multiple hard drives in it over the years. Its always a dice roll, but typically it wont burn out the whole system if it goes bad (fries added video cards pretty quick) and its a very easy thing to exchange down the road.

A video is always better if you want perfection but for someone just starting out you nailed it.

[chazus]

As far as the power supply other posters are correct its fishy, however i built a computer with an integrated power supply and its still chugging along to this day

That's the problem with those power supplies.... A good power supply is always good. A bad one can be hit or miss. My old system (Core 2 Duo E8600) had a no-name brand 300w power supply, that I threw a geforce 460 into, and it worked great (against my better judgement). Still works perfect to this day (sold it to a friend).

However, I'd usually never recommend such a setup to anyone, because a firecracker can go off at any time. It's better off spending an extra $20 and knowing your power supply won't randomly explode.

As far as CPU goes... On an extreme budget, yes, AMD's APU setup is great (though saying it's as strong as a 7770 is pushing it by a long shot). I wouldn't recommend it for higher budget, or people intending to upgrade later on, because you're locking yourself into a crippled format for higher end gaming.

I imagine someone who can only spend $300 though likely won't have a larger budget any time soon, so it ought to be fine.

[Fascinate]

Well if you guys followed the convo the person didnt feel safe about the case/psu i linked and was gonna try and find a old case they had lying around and put the corsair builder series into it.


And honestly guys, its not like i go around suggesting these low end PSU's to everyone but in this scenario i think its worth it to skimp on these areas to get a better CPU/GPU. A thing about low end psu's, the fear seems to be that they "blow up" and destroy your other hardware, well this is a myth to be honest. Pretty much every psu made has some sort of overcurrent/overpower/short circuit protection. What you are missing out on by going cheap on PSU is a warranty for one, less efficient, and not as clean power (higher ripple ususally). These things arent dangerous, but i dont blame someone for wanting a better known PSU in their system. When PSU's die they just go pop and thats it, usually a capacitor and there is no danger of it "taking out" your other components.

I have had this case for like...10 years? :
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811147010

Still works like a champ, sister is using it now powering a gt 240 and four core phenom machine.