Rate my Medium budget Computer build!

[Fatboi1]

My recent build came up to about $300 and some change and it can play Far Cry 3 with everything high at 720P in 45-60fps. My PC is connected to my HDTV so 720P is it's default resolution. My desktop settings though is at 1920x1080i. If I put FC3 on that res it runs at 30fps which is still better than console performance but 720P with 60fps>1080i at 30.

If I had the receipt I'd post it but Microcenter be having some nice deals.

I already had a case, dvd drive and the SSD HD already but here it is.

ASUS M5A78L-M LX PLUS Socket AM3+ 760G mATX AMD Motherboard 075911 - Micro Center

AMD FX 4100 Black Edition 3.6GHz Quad-Core Socket AM3+ Boxed Processor FD4100WMGUSBX - Micro Center

Thermaltake TR2 Series 500 Watt ATX Power Supply TR-500 - Micro Center

Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB DDR3-1333 (PC3-10600) CL9 Dual Channel Desktop Memory Kit (Two 4GB Memory Modules) 649528755926 - Micro Center)

A open box GTX 550TI 1GB DDR5 for like $95

OCZ Technology Vertex 4 VTX4-25SAT3-64G 64GB 2.5" SATA 6.0Gb/s Internal Solid State Drive with Indilinx Everest 2 Controller VTX4-25SAT3-64G - Micro Center

Toshiba 1TB 7,200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive DT01ACA100 - OEM 965038 - Micro Center


ASUS XONAR_DS PCI 7.1 Audio Card XONAR_DS - Micro Center

I bought everything for a total of $287 because they had sales and discounts(I got the motherboard for $10 with the CPU.) Almost everything I bought I got it cheaper than the price online because of combo discounts and price matching.

I then bought the sound card and 1TB HD refurbished for about $100.

Basically if you take out the 1TB HD and sub for a 500GB and skip the SSD and sound card your looking at less than $300 gaming machine.

I OC'd the CPU to 4.1GHZ from 3.6ghz. It's running on an aftermarket cooler but i've heard reports of overclocks to 4.5ghz on stock cooler.

The sound card I bought for was because I couldn't get 5.1 DTS sound from games through the optical out. I had to get the sound card that had Dolby Digital Live.

My PC can play any game I through at it on high with 50-60FPS. I can play PCSX2 emulator in 3-4x the resolution full speed.
planetside 2 runs fine on my PC as well has the Hawken beta I tried. Sleeping Dogs demo looks amazing.


That was just an impulse PC build too. Like I just did it randomly. Had I checked out some more I would've went with an Intel build. I'm waiting until next gen consoles are announced and see what the next gen games run like on my build before I upgrade.

 

[Liquid]

Like you said, depends on what you want, but I wouldn't be too cheap with a gaming computer.


The box I'm on right now only cost me about $300 to build and I have a 64GB SSD with my OS on it (whenever the computer boots I'm like ), but I didn't bother with a graphics card since I'm not a PC gamer. Plus I already had a spare keyboard/mouse/speakers and some old hard drives.


If I ever do decide to game I'll probably throw another 4GB stick in and find a decent GPU.

Everything on that list is quality parts tho (except for the case, but that doesnt matter)

I can build an absolutely no compromise pc for about $550 that will max out everything

 

[winb83]

Like you said, depends on what you want, but I wouldn't be too cheap with a gaming computer.


The box I'm on right now only cost me about $300 to build and I have a 64GB SSD with my OS on it (whenever the computer boots I'm like ), but I didn't bother with a graphics card since I'm not a PC gamer. Plus I already had a spare keyboard/mouse/speakers and some old hard drives.


If I ever do decide to game I'll probably throw another 4GB stick in and find a decent GPU.

after the splash screen for my mobo windows 8 is up and running within 6 seconds. this SSD thing in mindblowingly fast. i think i got a larger drive than needed cause i'm only using 40GBs on the 120GBs but whatever. i guess unnecessary writes shorten the life of the drive for what its worth so i turned the pagefile off but with with enough ram that shouldn't be an issue.

i want this computer to at least 5 years but i know in 5 years this thing will be a dinosaur.

 

[winb83]

[ame=http://youtu.be/ezKlcoeTtz4]Final Fantasy X Intro PCSX2 1.0.0 - YouTube[/ame]
bout to start playing some of the PS2 games in full HD. Final Fantasy X looks lovely in HD and runs at a solid 60fps but since this is off an iPhone cam its hard to see here. tried to capture in in FRAPS but it dips back to the native resolution when i do. gonna rip Shadow of the Colossus to my PC and see how that runs since its a difficult game to run.

 

[CashmereThoughts]

Is 300 medium budget nowadays? I def thought that was low budget. That's the come cone up.

 

[Brock Landers]

In terms of builds I always recommend going all-out, $300 is low-budget but to the brehs out there that try and make it work, it's an artform in itself to find and pick the right parts/deals.

 

[Liquid]

Is 300 medium budget nowadays? I def thought that was low budget. That's the come cone up.

nah its low budget...

Just trying to lead people the way...you can build a rock solid foundation and run games high/max with about $300

People are still out there thinking you need a $1,000 PC to run great games.

Hell give me enough time and I bet I can throw something together for less than $300...might have to take some extra steps to get the discounts, gift cards, and other parts tho. Craigslist is a good spot if you live in a big city and people just wanting to get rid of their old pc...that's a case, fans, and maybe even a hard drive right there.

 

[winb83]

Is 300 medium budget nowadays? I def thought that was low budget. That's the come cone up.

$300 is cutting yourself short unless you got components already. i just parted out my old build on our local craigslist. i'm hoping to get about $300 for it all combined but i'll see who bites on what on it.

Intel Q9550 Core 2 Duo Quad Core Processor $130
Full ATX Case $30
Power Supply 500 Watts $30
MSI P35 Neo2-FR $55
SAPPHIRE 100283-3L Radeon HD 5770 $60
3GB DDR2 800 RAM Desktop $25
ARCTIC Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 Aftermarket cooler $20

if i get all those prices for what i asked and after mail-in-rebates my new build should have a final cost of like $450 or so. wishful thinking but whatever.

 

[Mook]

$300 is cutting yourself short unless you got components already. i just parted out my old build on our local craigslist. i'm hoping to get about $300 for it all combined but i'll see who bites on what on it.

Intel Q9550 Core 2 Duo Quad Core Processor $130
Full ATX Case $30
Power Supply 500 Watts $30
MSI P35 Neo2-FR $55
SAPPHIRE 100283-3L Radeon HD 5770 $60
3GB DDR2 800 RAM Desktop $25
ARCTIC Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 Aftermarket cooler $20

if i get all those prices for what i asked and after mail-in-rebates my new build should have a final cost of like $450 or so. wishful thinking but whatever.

 

[winb83]

that's the going price for them on eBay right now. $120-$130.

 

[winb83]

Switched the i7 3770k for an i5 3570k and upped the graphics card from a gtx 660 to a gtx 670 for $20 more out of my pocket.

 

[Orbital-Fetus]

nah its low budget...

Just trying to lead people the way...you can build a rock solid foundation and run games high/max with about $300

People are still out there thinking you need a $1,000 PC to run great games.

Hell give me enough time and I bet I can throw something together for less than $300...might have to take some extra steps to get the discounts, gift cards, and other parts tho. Craigslist is a good spot if you live in a big city and people just wanting to get rid of their old pc...that's a case, fans, and maybe even a hard drive right there.

i hear what you're saying Liquid and i myself have been running my pc's on a shoestring budget for the last 15 years. this year i said fukk it and went all out starting with the case. i spent almost $150 on that alone. it will serve me well for the next 10 years and will accommodate just about anything i want to throw in it.

what put me over the edge was that my mobo only supported 2gigs of ddr2 ram and the socket was not able to hold the cpu i knew i wanted. so that's pretty much a fresh new build right there.

i threw the old pc on the tv and use it for netflix.
the new joint is for elite gaming.

 

[Fatboi1]

Final Fantasy X Intro PCSX2 1.0.0 - YouTube
bout to start playing some of the PS2 games in full HD. Final Fantasy X looks lovely in HD and runs at a solid 60fps but since this is off an iPhone cam its hard to see here. tried to capture in in FRAPS but it dips back to the native resolution when i do. gonna rip Shadow of the Colossus to my PC and see how that runs since its a difficult game to run.

I'm playing Persona 4 and KH2:Final Mix on PCSX2 and they are crispy as hell in HD. Make sure you use Sweetfx too so you can get even brighter and crispier graphics.

Here's how mines look.
No sweetfx applied.

Sweetfx on

 

[Liquid]

$300 is cutting yourself short unless you got components already. i just parted out my old build on our local craigslist. i'm hoping to get about $300 for it all combined but i'll see who bites on what on it.

Intel Q9550 Core 2 Duo Quad Core Processor $130
Full ATX Case $30
Power Supply 500 Watts $30
MSI P35 Neo2-FR $55
SAPPHIRE 100283-3L Radeon HD 5770 $60
3GB DDR2 800 RAM Desktop $25
ARCTIC Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 Aftermarket cooler $20

if i get all those prices for what i asked and after mail-in-rebates my new build should have a final cost of like $450 or so. wishful thinking but whatever.

I just put together a build for a bit over $300 and you are still saying no?

You are overpaying for that processor btw

 

[Liquid]

Btw I've got a local challenge that is trying to say that I cannot build a pc that will bench the highest end 27 inch imac at a fraction of the cost.

Any help would be appreciated

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