Budget gaming build options/opinions

[stars]

I have older i3 2100, H67 motherboard, 4GB DDR3, CX430 PSU with a 500GB WD green and DVDRW drive in a MATX Lian Li case.

Should I buy one of the complete budget builds in this forum or could I get by with getting a video card for the time being? If so, which card would you suggest?

My goal is to be able to play Far Cry 4 and GTA5 on at least medium settings.

 

[Yuriman]

A video card would go a long way. A CPU upgrade and some extra RAM would go even further.

What are you looking to spend?

 

[stars]

I can spend around 500. It would be for my son - his birthday is coming in a few months.

Think I could get by with a video card between 100 - 200 for now with the current hardware? Then in a few months get a newer mobo/cpu/ram combo and a larger psu if needed?

 

[myocardia]

My goal is to be able to play Far Cry 4 and GTA5 on at least medium settings.

At what resolution?

 

[stars]

The monitor is an old Acer P236H. It's resolution is 1920x1080 but 1280x720 should be fine for the new demanding games.

I've never been a serious gamer so I haven't followed video cards etc closely.

 

[Ken g6]

It's looking to me like you could probably get away with that old i3 for awhile. So I'd suggest just GPU and RAM for now:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($27.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 2GB SuperSC ACX 2.0+ Video Card ($159.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $187.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-28 13:33 EST-0500

Edit: That's the first 960 card I've see that takes an 8-pin connector (or 2 6-pins.) You may need this too.

 

[daveybrat]

I'd probably go with this video card for $169.00 AR

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487093

It's smaller and only uses a single 6-pin power connector. Your 430Watt power supply will work just fine with it.

Also pair it up with Ken's 8GB ram suggestion.

 

[stars]

Thanks everyone for putting me in the right direction. I will order one of the video cards and bump the ram up to 8GB and see how it goes for him till his birthday.