How much will $300 get me in a desktop?

[Rukus.]

I was looking to get a pc soon. Not one that does super amazing graphics or anything. Just something that will play The Orange Box at medium-high settings with an average of over 60 fps. Is 300 enough or should I wait longer. I'm kind of pressed for time.

 

[reflex99]

Wait longer, 300 doesn't get you much. Windows alone costs $90 so that leaves you $210 to build a gaming rig.

Not happening.

 

[JunK]

what components are you able to salvage from other computers and such, like harddrive, OS, monitor, optical drive, case.
you won't be able to build a full rig for 300, just isn't really possible, but you would be able to get pretty close.
but just list what you have now and could keep and we can piece the rest together no probs

 

[reflex99]

For the lolz i made a $300 build

CASE/PSU:
Rosewill case+psu
Nothing much but it will do.

Motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186155
You could call it "ok"

GPU:
radeon 4650
It will work for valve games

RAM:
1 gig ram...
It will be fine for win xp

Processor:
Amd sempron 140
Single core EWWWWWWWWWW (budget wouldnt allow for better)

OS:
Win XP
An oldie but goodie

Total: $276.44 before shipping

if you ask me thats $276.44 worth of crap.


Oh yea forgot to say that this is assuming you can salvage your HDD and DvD drive

 

[shadows5631]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...e=amd_athlon_ii_x2_240-_-19-103-688-_-Product


Add this to Reflex's list and take away the Sempron

Whala, crap.

Actually...it really isn't too bad.

It'll play Source games just fine.

 

[phalanx]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...e=amd_athlon_ii_x2_240-_-19-103-688-_-Product


Add this to Reflex's list and take away the Sempron

Whala, crap.

Actually...it really isn't too bad.

It'll play Source games just fine.

I was going to post that same exact processor XD

 

[reflex99]

good call on that dual core

but that would put you over budget, need to remember that shipping costs money too (about $25)

 

[shadows5631]

I just wonder exactly why people buy the low end AM3 cpu's and still manage to throw in 4GB's of DDR3.

And shipping would barely put it over, so maybe he can cough up the little extra.

 

[Rukus.]

I can salvage a monitor, a hard drive, some speakers, a mid-tower case, and I might have a DVD drive laying around somewhere.

 

[shadows5631]

Well take out the case and you'll be good to go.

What about keyboard and mouse?

 

[Rukus.]

Well take out the case and you'll be good to go.

What about keyboard and mouse?

Good with those too. Taken I really don't have any super high DPi mice, but I do have a couple.

 

[shadows5631]

Oh...wait PSU was with the case.

Hmm.

Edit:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371029

The other only had a 20pin connector, not 24.

 

[bigredking]

If you can wait, hold off till the $800 mark. At that point tomshardware has some really good value builds that fit your needs really well

 

[FreakingHell]

Yeah honestly, a $300 rig is not worth it. Save up until you have at least $500.

This is my personal opinion of course.

 

[Bravo Company]

The thing about VALVe games is they really really like your CPU, if all you want is valve; you can skip on the GPU a little and invest into a betterish cpu.

 

[JunK]

so wait you'll need a mobo, cpu, psu, ram, gpu.
ok lets get crackin....

Motherboard:
Cheap: cheapest you can find
Upgradable: little more expensive, but you will be able to use it for longer. its a better base if you can upgrade again in the future.

CPU: Obvious choice

Memory: just enough and at a good speed.

PSU: Cheap but still good wattage and 43 amps on the 12v rails.

GPU: Tough decision. Any extra money should go here. For a little more you could get a 4770 which would be great, but this will do.

Total with cheap motherboard: $277.49 including shipping, excluding tax.
Total with asus motherboard: $290.92 including shipping, excluding tax.

 

[shadows5631]

Thank you Junk, for finding a PSU that was cheap and has a good amount of connectors. I looked and didn't find anything that were cheap enough.

But, like the other guys said, $500 should be around the minimal. $300 will get you a pretty fast system while browsing and whatnot, but with games, it's just not gonna keep up.