Trying to build a cheap, SOLID 400$ gaming computer

Shamrock

Shamrock

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My friend wants to build a 400$ computer that can run L4D on high and most games he throws at it, but he doesn't want to spend much money, and he said he'll spend up to about 400.

Anyway, I need some suggestions on what he can buy because to be quite honest with you, I haven't been keeping up to date with what's the newest and best hardware. Also, I told him I'll sell him my old HD2900XT to him for 40$ so the videocard is out unless he can get a better one that handles power better so he can get a smaller wattage PSU.

So please HL2, if you could try and help me build a cheap computer, I would be grateful. I'm going to sleep now, and I will be looking tomorrow for cheap parts on Newegg. So I'll catch you guys in the morning to see what's happening in this thread then.
 
Does he need to buy a monitor? That alone is probably the most expensive part if he doesn't already have one or wants to replace it. If he does, then it might be problematic, because the cheapest LCD monitors are around $150.

It's not particularly hard to run L4D on high settings, but if he wants to run shadows on high and 6x MSAA and 16x Anisotropic filtering then you need a beefier system.

A decent dual core CPU will set you back around the same amount as a monitor, i'm thinking. I've heard good things about Intel Wolfdale. Apparently very good for overclocking and stable as well.

I'll think about some more later.
 
Well, here's my attempt. It's a little over, and there are a few areas where you might be able to squeeze out a few dollars, but not much more than 40-50 at the most, and these are all decent components:

Case - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042 - 49.95

PSU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371019 - 39.99

Mobo - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138075 - 79.99

CPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116063 - 69.99

Memory - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148160 - 39.99

Hard Drive - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136098 - 49.99

Optical Drive - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106228 - 19.99

OS - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116488 - 99.99

XP can be had for 10 dollars less, so that is entirely up to him whether he wants XP or vista, if using 4gb ram then Vista 64-bit can use all of it. You could substitute the 4gb ram for 2gb for a little less, but ram is so cheap at the moment that it seems silly not to grab 4gb. The intel CPU is a Core 2 Duo that has been given the "Pentium" branding, it's a Core 2 Duo in all but name, and one of the best bang per buck chips out there, and ripe for a decent overclock with minimal effort.

I hope this is of some help.

:)

edit:

2gb ram would knock 20 dollars off - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231108 - 19.99

Xp another 10 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116511 - 89.99

Which would squeeze the price down close to 400 dollars. This is without the graphics card though, i don't know whether you are including your card in this 400 dollar budget or what ?
 
I'd get what 3ssence suggested, except go for a cheaper more powerful AMD processor, and better ram (and obviously an AMD motherboard that is in stock).

Gigabyte Motherboard, $79.99: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128370

AMD Athlon 64 x2 5000+ 2.6ghz, can be easily overclocked to at least 3.0ghz, $52.99: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103211

G.SKILL 4gb DDR2 1066 RAM, $44.99: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231226


edit: And if you need a monitor, here's a good 19" widescreen LCD monitor for $119: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009151
 
I avoided the AMD route, as although they are cheaper, they are quite some way off the performance of the Intel chips, although in games you don't necessarily notice so much. Faster memory is good for overclocking, but you can always use memory dividers or slacken the memory timings on lower rated ram for a little more overclocking headroom (and save a few pennies, hehe).

Tbh, either route, Intel or AMD would provide a good solid gaming platform !

:)
 
I can't comment on that PSU because i know nothing about it ! To be honest 550W of quality power is probably enough for all but the most high end of systems. Mind, PSU's have seriously improved in the power efficiency stakes of late, so if you are building a new rig then it is probably worth getting a new one. Also, modular cables make life easier, and your PC nice and tidy inside !

:D
 
No XP please, Vista is better on RAM and 64 bit and XP is very outdated.
 
Tyguy said:
would this be a good buy if im upgrading from a 8800GT?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16814150314
Click to expand...

Nope, not that large a performance increase. Not a bad card, don't get me wrong, but nowhere near a large enough jump to be shelling out good money for.

For example, for a little bit more one of these would pee all over it:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161236

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102796

G(ordon)-man said:
No XP please, Vista is better on RAM and 64 bit and XP is very outdated.
Click to expand...

I agree, not to mention the meagre 10 dollar price difference.
 
Nitre said:
Does he need to buy a monitor? That alone is probably the most expensive part if he doesn't already have one or wants to replace it. If he does, then it might be problematic, because the cheapest LCD monitors are around $150.

It's not particularly hard to run L4D on high settings, but if he wants to run shadows on high and 6x MSAA and 16x Anisotropic filtering then you need a beefier system.

A decent dual core CPU will set you back around the same amount as a monitor, i'm thinking. I've heard good things about Intel Wolfdale. Apparently very good for overclocking and stable as well.

I'll think about some more later.
Click to expand...
I'm pretty sure he won't want to hit 6x and 16x, but he doesn't need a monitor I know that.

3ssence said:
Well, here's my attempt. It's a little over, and there are a few areas where you might be able to squeeze out a few dollars, but not much more than 40-50 at the most, and these are all decent components:

Case - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042 - 49.95

PSU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371019 - 39.99

Mobo - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138075 - 79.99

CPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116063 - 69.99

Memory - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148160 - 39.99

Hard Drive - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136098 - 49.99

Optical Drive - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106228 - 19.99

OS - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116488 - 99.99

XP can be had for 10 dollars less, so that is entirely up to him whether he wants XP or vista, if using 4gb ram then Vista 64-bit can use all of it. You could substitute the 4gb ram for 2gb for a little less, but ram is so cheap at the moment that it seems silly not to grab 4gb. The intel CPU is a Core 2 Duo that has been given the "Pentium" branding, it's a Core 2 Duo in all but name, and one of the best bang per buck chips out there, and ripe for a decent overclock with minimal effort.

I hope this is of some help.

:)

edit:

2gb ram would knock 20 dollars off - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231108 - 19.99

Xp another 10 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116511 - 89.99

Which would squeeze the price down close to 400 dollars. This is without the graphics card though, i don't know whether you are including your card in this 400 dollar budget or what ?
Click to expand...
Actually, I'm going to be including it in this as well. I'm going to see if he wants to have a cheap case or what he thinks we can skimp out on for the build. Also, Thank you for putting that system together. It looks great thus far except for that motherboard is out.


Sir Phoenixx said:
I'd get what 3ssence suggested, except go for a cheaper more powerful AMD processor, and better ram (and obviously an AMD motherboard that is in stock).

Gigabyte Motherboard, $79.99: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128370

AMD Athlon 64 x2 5000+ 2.6ghz, can be easily overclocked to at least 3.0ghz, $52.99: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103211

G.SKILL 4gb DDR2 1066 RAM, $44.99: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231226


edit: And if you need a monitor, here's a good 19" widescreen LCD monitor for $119: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009151
Click to expand...
I'll definitely look at this as well, and see which system he'll prefer and whether AMD or Intel really matters to him.
 
Shamrock said:
I've substituted the case for a Rosewill 25$ one, and I was thinking of this motherboard instead:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128347

It looks pretty good, and I've owned numerous Gigabyte boards and have always had solid performance so I might suggest this one to him.
Click to expand...

Check the shipping on the case - its really easy to get bit in the ass with case shipping. Cheapest case with free shipping is this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811121071

$40 ... so see how much shipping is on your rosewill. Also the case I linked is for MicroATX, so if you go with it, choose your motherboard accordingly.
 
With a wise budget, and some patience, I hope to be getting a GeForce 9800GX2 soon.

Anybody can afford this card. ANYBODY. All you need is,


patience
patience
patience
patience
patience

Oh, and a decent job to boot.

On that note, good luck building a gaming PC under $400 that can play today's games on high settings.

EDIT> Sounds like to me your friend is better off buying a 360 or PS3 instead imo with a budget that tight Shamrock.
It's either that or tell him to save up his dough until he can afford to build a half-way decent PC. Again, it all boils down to,

patience
patience
patience
patience
patience
 
Oh! For crying out loud, how do you cook a humming bird?

I'll observe and see what you all come up with $400.00.
 
Again, if you cook a humming bird you won't have a duck for dinner. Where is the performance? :p
 
Given what the OP asked for, what can you get for $400, what do you expect ? Nevertheless, for $400 or so you can get a system that will play a lot of games new and old at decent settings. Granted it won't play Crysis or Stalker: Clear Sky etc maxxed out, but the point of the thread wasn't "build me a pimpin' rig beyond my wildest dreams"

:p
 
Saturos said:
With a wise budget, and some patience, I hope to be getting a GeForce 9800GX2 soon.
Click to expand...

Why one of those? You can spend your money on something cheaper than gives much better performance. IIRC, the 9800GX2 has very uneven framerates. You can be going from 60 fps to 10 then back to 60 for no reason whatsoever.
 
Escape said:
Why one of those? You can spend your money on something cheaper than gives much better performance. IIRC, the 9800GX2 has very uneven framerates. You can be going from 60 fps to 10 then back to 60 for no reason whatsoever.
Click to expand...
Maybe a 9800 GTX then. :) The multi-GPU thing is indeed still a little quirky.
 
3ssence said:
Given what the OP asked for, what can you get for $400, what do you expect ? Nevertheless, for $400 or so you can get a system that will play a lot of games new and old at decent settings. Granted it won't play Crysis or Stalker: Clear Sky etc maxxed out, but the point of the thread wasn't "build me a pimpin' rig beyond my wildest dreams"

:p
Click to expand...

I'm not gonna cock-fight you like your avatar says. And a $400.00 system won't even get your mule moving ... Take that!
 
I did, indicating that humming bird is not a duck. He'll be pretty lucky to launch source on medium settings with $400.00. Coming up with $600.00 more, yeah but definitely not $400.00.
You can buy a $39.00 PSU or RAM and a $50.00 MB but, you must know that games are stressful and only enduring hardware can withstand the demand; they'll need something definitely not cheap in quality.
Not to mention the 2GB Cheap-ass RAM, a low-rated, high on DOA/compatibility/BIOS MB (Which isn't on stock to begin with,) a Pentium (For God's sake,) and a Vista (Which will utilize all, but 6MB of the cheap $40.00 you called RAM,) which YOU, Sir have selected.
I will assure you sir that if the OP takes your "Useful advice" he will come back here in couple of months with other issues, then we'll have to tell him that "He needs to upgrade."

Now, is my post helpful to OP? I don't know, it is entirely up to him, but what I do know is that: I have been building in many years, and the original concept has always been: Build, and build decent; $400.00 will not build you decent. ;)

Good Day.
 
Barney Fife said:
a Pentium (For God's sake,)
Click to expand...

If you know as much as you say you do about computers you will know that this "Pentium" is a Core 2 Duo, with low cache, branded as a Pentium, and one of many overclockers budget favourites and "Cheap ass ram" is the best you are going to do at that price, and has little relative outcome on the gaming performance of a system at the low end of the market. If the motherboard is no good then recommend another to the OP, i'm sure he would appreciate the advice.

All i have done is try to oblige the OP with some decent advice on what he can get for $400, not have a laugh at how little said person has to spend. It doesn't matter what yours or my philosophy on building computers is (i spend a fair amount on my rigs), money doesn't grow on trees, if someone has $400 to spend than that may be that ! I don't know about you but my usual response to a question is to try and help, and if i think someone is offering the wrong advice i'll let them know politely.

:)
 
Barney Fife said:
I did, indicating that humming bird is not a duck. He'll be pretty lucky to launch source on medium settings with $400.00.
Click to expand...

Try (nearly) all max settings (at whatever resolution he uses). You act as if Source is a demanding engine nowadays. And with what I suggested, he gets better RAM and a more powerful processor for even less.

Barney Fife said:
Coming up with $600.00 more, yeah but definitely not $400.00.
Click to expand...

$600 more? Or do you mean $600 OR more? Because you don't need any where near $1000 to run any new game on all high with at least decent/good FPS. $500-600 is enough for a decent gaming computer (the OS, ATX tower, everything inside and shipping).
 
The question here guys is: Can anyone build a $400.00 setup which can play recent games on high settings, and the answer is (Honestly) No.
A $400.00 will buy you low budget stuff, inferior in quality. And since your wallet is against you, your options are pretty minimum to utter none.
Games are very demanding and stressful, they'll utilize components to the max; its not unusual for upper end gaming components to kick the bucket, let along lower end systems. Because, for that very reason, bottle-necking is also normal and expected in mediocre systems, that's why most OEM systems hardly run recent games.
I know this from experience, and I'm not trying to be a buzz-killer. A year ago when I hard my own business, building gaming rigs for people, the ones that spent under $1000.00 were the usual callers for troubleshooting, and hardware failure has always been the problem.
I would advice the OP to save more money and be wise. The only thing $400.00 will buy you is under-rated and outdated system components, and you'll be up for upgrades before you can say "Shekolokobaangooshee!"

Then again, its $400.00. Go and knock yourself out, but do review thoroughly on what it is you're buying.

Good Luck.
 
Barney Fife said:
I did, indicating that humming bird is not a duck. He'll be pretty lucky to launch source on medium settings with $400.00. Coming up with $600.00 more, yeah but definitely not $400.00.
Click to expand...
I can run source games on high on my three-year-old laptop, with a 6800go. Pull your head out of your ass.
 
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