Is it possible to create a gaming rig for under $400 that can moderately handle games like crysis and etc. Also what would that set up look like? I hear that all I need is an ok processor like a Phenom II X2 or X4 or the cheapest i5 and that if you get a nice graphics card it compensates for everything.
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Budget Gaming Rigs
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Dangman
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Depends exactly what parts you need for that $400 budget, resolution of the monitor, whether or not you live near a Microcenter, and your level of settings need/want.
But if you need a full build, i.e CPU, mobo, RAM, GPU, HDD, DVD, PSU, and case, for $400, you won't get a good gaming build at all.
If you want further help, please answer the stickied "ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS FIRST!" so that we can help you better.
But if you need a full build, i.e CPU, mobo, RAM, GPU, HDD, DVD, PSU, and case, for $400, you won't get a good gaming build at all.
If you want further help, please answer the stickied "ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS FIRST!" so that we can help you better.
Not really. Assuming you want to game at medium settings at a 1920x1080 resolution, the bare minimum that we would recommend for a video card is the $200 1GB GTX 460 or the HD 6870. Crysis is also one of many games that benefit from a quad-core processor, so you may also want to consider one of the ~$100 Athlon II quad-cores. That's $300 of your $400 budget, and it's spent on only two parts!
The only way I could see you achieving your goal is to buy everything used, and you need a few sweetheart deals to pull that off.
The only way I could see you achieving your goal is to buy everything used, and you need a few sweetheart deals to pull that off.
hmm... Well so far I got a nice OCZ psu for 30$ on sale, I bought a phenom II x4 955 cpu for 120 at newegg. I'm looking for a motherboard and some ram now and a good graphics. I'm planning on reusing an old 90s era computer case, because its all I have on hand and re-using the sata drives and dvd-rs and etc.
Jimi_Shuffler
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you can get a basic no-frills mobo for around $50-$60 new online, video card.. you can save money if buying from the FS/FT section of [H].. you can get a 8800gt for like $50, gtx 260 for about $90 and a gtx 275 for $115ish or so. ddr3 ram prices are pretty low right now (especially since newegg also has promos on them often), good time to buy. you can get mid tower atx cases as low as $40-50 online too.
Dangman
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Yeah not a good idea. That 90's era computer case could be in the AT form factor which means it's incompatible with current ATX motherboard. Even if it was an ATX style case. it still wouldn't be a good case for modern hardware since the majority of those cases have crap airflow and crap cable management by current standards. So you're gonna have to get a new case as well. Thats about $40 to $50 right there:
$45 - Thermaltake V3 Black Edition VL80001W2Z ATX Case
PSU wise, which OCZ PSU did you get? A lot of OCZ's PSUs are indeed shitty or low quality. Which means thay're not suitable at all for current gaming PCs or GPUs.
Several other questions you didn't answer:
6) Will you be overclocking?
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
its a stealthxstream 2 ocz 600w psu. I will not be overclocking yet anytime soon, I've never overclocked and want to study up on it first before I blow up my house or something. I plan on buying a 19inch monitor later on. And I am currently building my pc part by part and home to finish within the next 2 months.
Dangman
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Yeah that PSU is pretty much limiting you to the HD 5770 1GB. And oustide of a really awesome deal, it's a really bad idea to buy and build the PC part by part. It saddles you with old and overpriced hardware as a result. It's best to save up all your money and buy the parts all at the same time.
Dangman
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I'm holding off on any recommendation until you actually have all of the cash on hand for your PC. Any part we recommend today will more than likely not be the same a month from now let alone two months from now.
Jimi_Shuffler
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I believe the 5770 runs for $90-$120 used. I use a powercolor 5770 1gb, runs games well at 1920x1080 it can do medium settings for all the the games I threw at it and sometimes high/max on some games, also make sure you are using a quad core processor too. then you should have a pretty sweet, budget gaming rig.
very true, then for now I'll save up cash till I have enough to buy the rest of everything. I guess I'll check back in 2 weeks when I have 280 in my pocket.
I've decided to go with the radeon HD 5770
yea i'm using the phenom II x4 955. Thanks for the estimates.
Please answer my question about the resolution. The 5770 can't handle many of the newer games at 1920x1080 with high resolutions or AA/AF active. And if you're looking towards newer games like Crysis 2 and TESV: Skyrim, keep in mind that their predecessors tortured ALL of the top video cards during their time.
I'm only looking to play the games at medium settings at 1920x1080 resolution.
What part of idaho. I have an antec soho that's too heavy to ship that you can have for a 12 pack of dr. shasta and a drive to kuna.
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Edit.. Its an Antec SLK3700-BQE with no fans or PSU.
Posted via Mobile Device
Edit.. Its an Antec SLK3700-BQE with no fans or PSU.
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Dangman
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Then the HD 5770 1GB is simply not a good choice for you. Minimum for medium settings is the $180 HD 6850. However, as tiraides noted, the $210 to $230 HD 6870 1GB would be a better choice. Again, this is for MEDIUM settings at 1920x1080.
xfx 6870 shipped for 190 last week from newegg (plus a MIR after that)..
Best video card for the money is to be honest something that you cant really plan for. As a generalization the 68x0 series are typically better for the money then the 460's, but thepending on the day the deals fluctuate ALOT.
I Do agree though a 5770 isnt really enough. I had one & it wouldnt cut it. The 6850 is a pretty damn good card (I have one & am very happy with it). But for there going price compared to some of the recent deals on the 6870's the 6870 is a great deal. Also sometimes the evga B stock goes for GREAT prices.
Edit: & I will have to look for it, but if the OP is here in the boise area there was a GTX 285 for 130 on craigslist the other day. Bang for buck that would be a hell of a card.
PoopsMacClaude
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Hope I'm not too late to this, but yes it is extremely possible to build a gaming computer for around $400.00. It's not even that hard, but it does take looking around and some time.
One thing about this forum is almost every price and hardware link is directed at Newegg. You don't have to buy everything there.
The first place you should always start is going to be slickdeals.net - check that website and check it often. You will find deals on parts there all the time.
You will probably need a new case though, but you can get those extremely cheap. Try directron.com, which specializes in selling cases, or Amazon, as you can get free shipping on all orders over $25 or so. Cases usually cost $10-15 to ship, even from Newegg, so that's always a nice perk.
Obviously you're going to have to go with an AMD processor. I'd just keep checking slickdeals for that, possibly the FS/FT section of these forums, but TBH the deals here for the used goods are pretty lukewarm unless you lowball someone.
You'll have to go with a very basic mobo that "just works" and tries to do nothing more than that. You can find those for $40-50. Same thing with the RAM.
I'd also recommend checking eBay, sometimes you can find cheap used hardware there as well.
I'd also check pricewatch.com and shopping.com - those can be pretty useful as well.
The 5770 you mentioned isn't a bad idea at all. It will run Crysis on medium because my 4890 does it on high @ 1920x1200 and they are both pretty much the same in performance. Everything else will play fine on a 5770. There just aren't that many games that have really pushed the limits of hardware. And really, most of them are pretty bad anyways. If you like multiplayer games, I can't think of any 5770-busting titles that are out there and worthy of any mention. Battlefield 3 is the only thing I see looking good on the horizon.
That's about it really, try getting a decent used 5770 for $50-75 and/or keep checking slickdeals.
One thing about this forum is almost every price and hardware link is directed at Newegg. You don't have to buy everything there.
The first place you should always start is going to be slickdeals.net - check that website and check it often. You will find deals on parts there all the time.
You will probably need a new case though, but you can get those extremely cheap. Try directron.com, which specializes in selling cases, or Amazon, as you can get free shipping on all orders over $25 or so. Cases usually cost $10-15 to ship, even from Newegg, so that's always a nice perk.
Obviously you're going to have to go with an AMD processor. I'd just keep checking slickdeals for that, possibly the FS/FT section of these forums, but TBH the deals here for the used goods are pretty lukewarm unless you lowball someone.
You'll have to go with a very basic mobo that "just works" and tries to do nothing more than that. You can find those for $40-50. Same thing with the RAM.
I'd also recommend checking eBay, sometimes you can find cheap used hardware there as well.
I'd also check pricewatch.com and shopping.com - those can be pretty useful as well.
The 5770 you mentioned isn't a bad idea at all. It will run Crysis on medium because my 4890 does it on high @ 1920x1200 and they are both pretty much the same in performance. Everything else will play fine on a 5770. There just aren't that many games that have really pushed the limits of hardware. And really, most of them are pretty bad anyways. If you like multiplayer games, I can't think of any 5770-busting titles that are out there and worthy of any mention. Battlefield 3 is the only thing I see looking good on the horizon.
That's about it really, try getting a decent used 5770 for $50-75 and/or keep checking slickdeals.
Dangman
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He apparently already bought one.
This is where you start losing a lot of credibility. The HD 5770 is as fast as the HD 4890? Really? You sure that you're not confusing the HD 5770 with a different card? There are plenty of games out there that stresses the HD 5770 1GB like BFBC2, GTA 4, and Arma 2, Dead Space, Assassin's Creed 2, etc.
I'm from Nampa, and I might just take you up on that.
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yea that would be a hell of a bang for the buck.
what would be the next best resolution besides 1920x1080 if I'm on a budget? because from what I'm told all the newer games are for more of a widescreen experience. and by playing 1280x1024 like I did on my last computer I'm missing out on about 1/3 of the field of view. Thats sorta why I said I'd be gaming at 1920x1080. Whats the lowest resolution before I start missing out on 1/3 the field of view?
thanks for the websites, yea I kinda forgot there were other websites out there besides newegg and tigerdirect.
but yea some quick help on the graphics card would be nice, because theres a guy selling me a gigabyte hd 5770 1gb ddr5 for 80 shipped. would that be a good bang for the buck and fit the system? I don't wanna end up buying a card and then find out that I can't run any new games on it.
what would you say is a good price range for them used?
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At 1440x900 (19" monitor), the 5770 should be enough for medium at that resolution. I would look into getting an xfx 5770 mainly because of the lifetime warranty. Looks like you might be keeping this setup for a good bit. I'm not sure what resolution you're wanting to play at because you said 19" in the beginning then said 1920x1080. Anything 1920x1080 is usually in the 23" and up range.
Price for it used hovers around 80-100. New can be bought for 120 after rebate last I checked.
Ok, yea I'm gonna be using a 19inch so 1440x900 should be good. and xfx 5770 you say.
If your looking for a deal you cant be too picky for the brand. XFX normally carry's somewhat of a premium because of the warranty. & Yea at 1440x900 you should be fine with a 5770
Well so far this is what the computer looks like, ASUS M4A88T-V EVO/USB3 AM3 AMD 880G USB 3.0 HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard, 2gb 1333 geil ram, Phenom II x4 955 cpu, stealthxstream 2 600w psu. hard drive is one I'm reusing from an older comp same with dvd and cd drives. Case is a beige early 2000s case with 8 fans in it (6 in front, 1 on right side, 1 in back).
If you can take advantage of bastage's offer on the case, I recommend that you do so. You should also jump on that $80 5770 offer, as I can't find a better one for your situation.
I know that you're on a relatively fixed budget, but I suggest that you buy a second 2GB stick of RAM at your first available opportunity.
If you start to have problems with your current optical drives, the good news is that you can now buy a good DVD burner for under $30 shipped.
I know that you're on a relatively fixed budget, but I suggest that you buy a second 2GB stick of RAM at your first available opportunity.
If you start to have problems with your current optical drives, the good news is that you can now buy a good DVD burner for under $30 shipped.
Yea, I already messaged bastage's and he's agreed to let me have it for a 12 pack of dr. shasta. So far I've spent $292 on the build. Haven't added in the price of the 12 pack of dr. shasta though.
And there we have it the total cost thus far is $294.58