Gaming PCs On A Budget


I am sick and tired of people asking for a gaming computer and others responding that it will cost a thousand or more dollars to get one. Bullshit. It will cost almost three hundred to get one that can run almost any game at an ok frame rate (usually around 30fps or more). Here im going to walk you through it part by part, where to get them, general warnings/info and notes. No bullshit, I built my current PC for around three hundred a year or two ago, I still play everything on it without a problem.


Base Start Point

You need to get a hold of a pre-configured whole pc, something with an ok cpu. Im not going to get into the amd/intel fight, or try to explain whats good, whats not instead ill just give you basic guidelines on what your looking for (btw, EBAY is great spot for used whole PCs for cheap).

What Your Looking For
ebay category search here (more specific search below)
-3ghz dual core or better cpu (intel i3 are good cheap gaming cpus)
-4gb or more or ddr3 ram (4gb is a bit low, but easy and cheap to upgrade ddr3 ram search here)
-Size of case (needs to be a tower, not a mini/thin size desktop)
-Expect to spend about 100-170 here, as its everything you need minus the gpu (unless you need a different power supply).
NOTE: Keep in mind, your PSU needs to be around 500w to power your gpu.
Tip: Learn to use ebay. Check the auctions, arrange to show ending soonest. Then check buy it now, and arrange to show lowest price first! Pre-made link to screen for above items here

GPU


For a budget gpu, you go amd all the way, no doubts about that. Again, not going into specifics or anything.
I am using a now super cheapo GTX 460 (here) which runs about 50 dollars right now on ebay (some placed as low as 30) but I recommend something a bit beefier like the R9 270x (here which will run about 120 dollars. You can always look for your own using mine as bookmarks for performance here. On that page you can choose the standard tier of graphics card, on the far right of each bar in the graph you will see a dollar value, thats the price last reported for the graphics card (you can assume price will be lower on ebay). Just use your trusty "CTRL+F" and search for GTX 460 or the 270x and see whats close to it that and do your search/shopping.

The bigger problem is whether or not the pc you picked in the first step has a PSU (power supply) that supports your graphics card.

Power Supply

Now, if your graphics card needs a better power supply, maybe because your pc came with stock PSU and thus it doesn't have have enough power, or maybe not the right cables, then we need to shop for a cheap decent 500w PSU (500w should handle everything without a problem, but larger will allow for more upgrade room in future).

Ok, So What Do I Do??
Don't worry, or feel a shamed, we have all been here, and best of all if you know what graphics card you plan to get, others have done the work for you.
To find a good PSU for your graphics card, all you need to do is google "cheap good PSU" with the name of your graphics card, for example "cheap good psu r9 270x", yea, simple, but you wont believe the number of people who don't know how to use google out there. With that you should find a post somewhere where someone asked a question about your GPU and PSU needs and got answers.

This PSU should cost you about 40-50 dollars on ebay.


That's it people, with that you have a gaming rig, for about 300 dollars depending on your luck/choices.
Its not water cooled, it doesn't glow (if yours does your one lucky *****), and it might look horrible, but hey, you can play some awesome games and still have enough cash to buy those fancy games.

No comments:

Post a Comment