Not building; looking for a pre-built gaming rig for $400-450 :)

[Doppel]

*UPDATE*

Thanks very much for the input. I have taken it and thus used it to change my approach now: I am strongly inclined now to drop this notion of pre-built, if its graphics card is not good enough. If I'm going to be out $500+ anyway (and I will look at that ipower desktop), I may just build one. The more I spend thinking about this the more I am leaning that way. I have an old DVD drive and a very old 320 GB drive I could use. Possibly shoe in a good card when a good game comes out.

-------

I put a in title because it's a possibly tough task.

1) $<450 for the PC minus monitor
2) General purpose use, but must play latest games acceptably even on lower details
3) United States
4) No brand preference, but I am pretty settled on this having an I3 processor
5) I have no parts
6) Overclocking I"m fine with but expect it's unlikely on prebuilt/brand machines
7) 1600X1200 max resolution
8) Now

I have not built a PC in years and although it would be fun, I'm not sure I have the interest yet.

What I do need is a general purpose PC for home, but I don't want it to be totally horrendous for gaming. Therefore, in terms of pre-built I was looking at something such as the $450 Asus at Bestbuy (4th gen I3, 4GB, 8350 graphics).

For lazy newbs is there a go-to option? I know what I"m getting into: Max settings are off the table. I do want something at least capable of the latest games, though.

I'd be open to a pre-made with a crap graphics card and buying one on the side, but it seems so many pre-made are just not well upgradeable, either it's a case problem or power supply issue or mobo.

 

[corkyg]

Would it not make more sense to move this to the Pre-Built Forum?

 

[Charlie98]

Check out Dell Outlet.

FWIW, I ran MW1 & 2 and some other games with my 2500K's HD3000 iGPU for a while until I could afford a decent GPU... it wasn't great but sufficed about 90% of the time. My suggestion is to get a decent prebuilt with your choice of processor, run it with the iGPU, and save your pennies for a reasonable GPU.

 

[Doppel]

Would it not make more sense to move this to the Pre-Built Forum?

Crap, probably!

 

[mfenn]

i3 plus gaming isn't going to happen in a $450 pre-built, at least not new. Your best bet would be to look for something with a higher-end APU like an A10-5800K or A10-6800K.

 

[Ken g6]

I had to look up 8350 graphics - that's a number i normally associate only with AMD CPUs.

Radeon HD 8350 (OEM) is an entry-level GFX still based on the Cedar Pro Chip and therefore a renamed Radeon HD 5450/6350/7350.
It offers 80 Shader Processing Units, 4 ROPs and 8 TMUs. It can be either paired with DDR3 or DDR2 - both on a 64-bit memory interface. The frame buffer can have up to 1GB and the max power drawn is of 25 Watts.
As a rename of Radeon HD 5450/6350/7350, it offers very limited performance - even beneath today's APUs and Intel Integrated GPUs.

In other words, don't get that system - at least not for its graphics card.

If you want to buy a system and add a graphics card, you probably want a 7750: No external power requirements, many are single-slot, and some are low-profile. If you absolutely must have low-profile - meaning your selected computer's case is "slim" - you could get this card, but it's $140. If you can find a computer that's not so slim, I'd suggest this card, for $85AR with shipping.

Also note that using a 1GB graphics card with your large monitor means you'll have to turn down game settings more than people with a standard HD monitor would. Unless you lower the resolution in the game, which is also turning down a game setting. But I don't see a way of fitting a better card in your budget.

Looking at desktops in the <$365 range, I see Mfenn is probably right: You can't get an i3 for that price, from Newegg anyway. But you can get a Pentium G2020 from Acer.

 

[Fox5]

Steam machines might be an option.

Alternatively, buy a prebuilt and add a video card.

In your price range, one of AMD's IGPs might be best for now.

Even then, it's a bit out of your price range.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16883227508

This one has a dedicated card.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16883258067

 

[Doppel]

*UPDATE*

Thanks very much for the input. I have taken it and thus used it to change my approach now: I am strongly inclined now to drop this notion of pre-built, if its graphics card is not good enough. If I'm going to be out $500+ anyway (and I will look at that ipower desktop), I may just build one. The more I spend thinking about this the more I am leaning that way. I have an old DVD drive and a very old 320 GB drive I could use. If I throw something together now with a good power supply and guts (mobo, cpu), then when the time comes I can move off integrated graphics and get a real card.

Titanfall, I'm talking to you. Don't disappoint me.

 

[cbn]

*UPDATE*

Thanks very much for the input. I have taken it and thus used it to change my approach now: I am strongly inclined now to drop this notion of pre-built, if its graphics card is not good enough. If I'm going to be out $500+ anyway (and I will look at that ipower desktop), I may just build one. The more I spend thinking about this the more I am leaning that way. I have an old DVD drive and a very old 320 GB drive I could use. Possibly shoe in a good card when a good game comes out.

-------

I put a in title because it's a possibly tough task.

1) $<450 for the PC minus monitor
2) General purpose use, but must play latest games acceptably even on lower details
3) United States
4) No brand preference, but I am pretty settled on this having an I3 processor
5) I have no parts
6) Overclocking I"m fine with but expect it's unlikely on prebuilt/brand machines
7) 1600X1200 max resolution
8) Now

I have not built a PC in years and although it would be fun, I'm not sure I have the interest yet.

What I do need is a general purpose PC for home, but I don't want it to be totally horrendous for gaming. Therefore, in terms of pre-built I was looking at something such as the $450 Asus at Bestbuy (4th gen I3, 4GB, 8350 graphics).

For lazy newbs is there a go-to option? I know what I"m getting into: Max settings are off the table. I do want something at least capable of the latest games, though.

I'd be open to a pre-made with a crap graphics card and buying one on the side, but it seems so many pre-made are just not well upgradeable, either it's a case problem or power supply issue or mobo.

If a low profile HD7750 is sufficient for your needs (and it should be if you only want lowest settings at 1600 x 1200 max), I would look into getting this $348 Lenovo Core i3 SFF desktop:

http://www.frys-electronics-ads.com...-PC-with-4th-Gen-Intel-Core-i3-4130-Processor

Add the HD7750 low profile video card in and you should be under $450.

Alternatively, and probably a better idea, would be to look for a Core i3 full tower on sale. These come with the benefit of typically having a more powerful PSU (usually 300 watt) while being able to take a regular dual slot video card.

 

[cbn]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...&amp;SID=u00000687

This $99.99 low profile HD7750 card has a protruding heatsink, but the Lenovo H530s has its PCI-E x16 slot positioned in such a way that even a dual slot low profile card can fit.

 

[cbn]

Another video card to consider for around $100:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150682

Too bad there aren't more choices in low profile cards. One thing I have consistently noticed that for any given Intel Desktop CPU (Core i3, Pentium, etc), buying it in the form of a prebuilt SFF (Slim) desktop usually lowers the price down considerably compared to buying it in the form of a pre-built full tower desktop. In fact, it wasn't too long ago Fry's was selling a Gateway SX (SFF desktop ) third generation Core i3 for $298--> http://www.frys-electronics-ads.com...-Desktop-PC-with-Intel-Core-i3-3240-Processor.

 

[monstercameron]

get any desktop with an amd a10-6800k and you'll be good for a while...or
get a kaveri system...
http://community.amd.com/community/.../07/pre-order-amd-s-next-generation-apu-today

 

[cbn]

get any desktop with an amd a10-6800k and you'll be good for a while...or
get a kaveri system...
http://community.amd.com/community/.../07/pre-order-amd-s-next-generation-apu-today

Cheapest A10 I could find on Newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16883265700

Regular width (non slim) tower, A10-6700, 8GB RAM, 2TB HDD for $499.99 plus $12.99 shipping.

Although it does come with 8GB RAM (DDR3 1600), a Core i3 plus HD7750 will beat that both in CPU power and GPU power as gamer (even in highly threaded games like Crysis 3).

Hopefully Kaveri will help AMD become more competitive on desktop, but I am concerned with at least two thiogs:

1. While Core i3s can usually be found at bargain prices, AMD pre-builts for some reason don't seem to have that much discount.

2. Since the A10 Kaveri has larger iGPU, it stands to benefit from faster speed RAM.....but will the OEMs ship the pre-builts with this faster RAM?. (Currently DDR3 2400 2 x 4 GB kits are a bargain on Newegg, but I am not convinced will will see this translate into a better spec for pre-built A10 desktops.)

 

[Doppel]

Another video card to consider for around $100:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150682

Too bad there aren't more choices in low profile cards. One thing I have consistently noticed that for any given Intel Desktop CPU (Core i3, Pentium, etc), buying it in the form of a prebuilt SFF (Slim) desktop usually lowers the price down considerably compared to buying it in the form of a pre-built full tower desktop. In fact, it wasn't too long ago Fry's was selling a Gateway SX (SFF desktop ) third generation Core i3 for $298--> http://www.frys-electronics-ads.com...-Desktop-PC-with-Intel-Core-i3-3240-Processor.

Good gawd that is cheap, how do they even do that.

It seems more or less with a pre-built the OS is free, if one breaks out the price of parts otherwise. And I don't have an OS (I do, but it's OEM and married to a particular PC mentioned below) so it is meaningful.

The recent interest in this I came upon an Optiplex 780. It's got 4 GB and an E8400 CPU. With a fresh Windows 7 install it actually boots to logon in 33 seconds. Apparently despite its age this is not a terrible CPU, but the main drawback is getting any graphics card in it for modern gaming. It is thin. Some guy online has this same PC and just runs it with the case off and a card sticking out plus a totally separate power supply for the card. It could be a plausible solution.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I just turned a Lenovo i3-3240 pre-built into a gaming rig. Added 8GB Gskill kit, 500GB WD Black, 350W Enermax PSU, and an HIS 7790 1GB.