Suggestions for new BUDGET build

bonehead123

bonehead123

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Nov 27, 2011
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1. What will you be doing with this PC: (1) A 12 YO's first Gaming machine (he has had a chromebook for 2 yrs), (2) Web browsing, (3) email

2. Will you be overclocking: NO

3. What's your budget: $400- tax and shipping included. Cost IS a driving factor in component selection

4. Where do you live: Northeast. Only B&M nearby is BustBuy. I prefer Newegg/Amazon/Tiger Direct etc anyways :)


5. What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, Case, PSU, HDD, Video card (unless I use an APU or on-board Intel graphics)

6. What parts will you be reusing? I have case fans, power/sata/video/misc Cables, Monitors, keyboards & rodentia out the whazoo...

7. What specific features do you need in a motherboard?
USB 2/3: 4-8 total, SATA 6Gb/s- 4 max. 4GB ram min, possibly with room for 8GB later on. Required

8. I would prefer to keep the size of the system in the moderate range ie.. mini-mid sized.

9. What resolution output do you need? 1600 x 1200 MAX

9. Does this system need to fit into a particular space ? system will be setting on a Childs corner desk with/under a 20" flat panel monitor...No Optical drive needed

10. How comfortable are you with custom case design/modification and electrical wiring? Been there, done that several times over :)

11. How important is the noise/silence of this sytem? Not an issue.

12. How mobile does this system need to be? Notta--- see #9 above.

13. Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? I have discs and keys for both W7 Pro & W8 Pro

14. When do you plan on building/buying the PC? within the next 3 months

Obviously I am NOT looking to build a super-duper nuke'em dead powerhouse here but just want something that will get my son thru his1st year or 2 of mild gaming at moderate resolutions. He is not the real demanding, gotta have the latest & greatest type but I do feel he is ready for something way better than his chromebook :)

Any/all thoughts, suggestions, links etc greatly appreciated !
 
I think you're better off scouring ebay for something second hand with a budget that limited.
 
OP, I would hunt for a refurb desktop like one of these, and throw in something like a GTX 750 Ti (something you know that won't blow the psu up) and maybe even a quad core cpu upgrade if the board supports it. Performance should be in the acceptable range of your expectations.

$400 is just not enough of a budget to do much of anything good with, seeing how a CPU/Board/Ram alone will run you 2/3 of that right off the bat. To make it work, you really need a CPU/Mobo combo deal at Fry's or MC.
 
If your kid is up for it, you could introduce him to the classics first. Half-Life, Fallout, Diablo, Deus Ex, Thief, System Shock II, Baldur's Gate...
The Chromebook with an external HDD should do the trick.

Should your boy be media aware enough to not accept these old-school games, you could start him off a generation later. Half-Life 2 and episodes, Portal, Mass Effect, Witcher, Bioshock, Dragon Age: Origins, Oblivion...

400 dollars buys you this system:

Asus H81I-PLUS ... $67.07
Intel Celeron G1840 Dual-Core 2.8GHz ... $46.99
G.Skill NS 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1333 ... $35.99
Gigabyte Radeon R7 250X ... $99.99
Western Digital WD Blue 1TB ... $54.99
Enermax ENP450AST 450W ... $49.99
Cooler Master Elite 110 Mini-ITX ... $39.99

Total: $395.01

Dragon Age: Inquisition or Far Cry 4 may tax the system a little too much, but the games I mentioned would run beautifully on it.

What would I give to be 12 again and ready to play all these great games for the first time. Damn, I'm jealous of your boy...
 
Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. I know $400 is a low budget & doesn't allow for much, but I'm just wanting to build him a starter machine that would tide him over until he learns the ins & outs of basic gaming. At that point, he will inherit my current machine, which is considerably more powerful, and DAD gets to build a new screamer machine to play with :)

I've found some refurb small HP/Dell machines at the 'Egg & Amazon that are within my budget, most of which don't seem too bad, I just have to make sure I get one with a PCI-e Slot for a discrete graphics card....

Good new is that I found some extra Ram & 1TB HDD in my parts cabinet, so me thinks I will reallocate that money towards an SSD for the boot drive.....
 
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