Super dirt cheap build for friend

[gus6464]

My friend is looking for a super dirt cheap build to play pretty much 3 games:

League of Legends (main one)
Starcraft 2 (secondary)
Guild Wars 2 (occasionally)

He already has a 1080p monitor, keyb, mouse, windows 8, doesn't need cd drive. Doesn't care to play in extreme settings just wants it playable at 1080p with no slowdown while looking decent.

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.

Gaming 3 specific games

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread

As cheap as one can possibly get it to be

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.

USA

4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc.

No fanboy-ism

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.

1080p monitor
keyboard
mouse
windows
doesn't want cd drive
*

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.

Whatever is cheapest

8. What resolution will you be using?

1080p

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?

ASAP

He also wants an SSD (128gb or so)

 

[dmoney1980]

when you say "cheap", do you have a ballpark? $300? $400?

 

[gus6464]

when you say "cheap", do you have a ballpark? $300? $400?

He didn't really say, just told me "cheapest that it can possibly be" so I am guessing something around that range (~$400).

 

[dmoney1980]

do you have a Micro Center near you? see top website for store location selection
http://www.microcenter.com/

 

[Durvelle27]

if cheap i say look around for some nice used parts from here like a i3-2100 & HD 6950

 

[gus6464]

do you have a Micro Center near you? see top website for store location selection
http://www.microcenter.com/

We live in San Diego, nearest one is in OC about 1.5 hours away. Taking into account insane cost of gas in CA right now, would the amount of money saved offset the gas cost?

 

[DesiPower]

I guess for a cheap build like ~400, the parts would be pretty standard.. i5, 6XXX, 8 GB RAM cheapest case and PSU. The real decision maker IMO will be the Mobo, which one can deliver performance and still be cheap and reliable...

 

[dmoney1980]

We live in San Diego, nearest one is in OC about 1.5 hours away. Taking into account insane cost of gas in CA right now, would the amount of money saved offset the gas cost?

never mind then...

here are some options:
Motherboard $55 Asrock b75 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157335

CPU $110 intel i3 2120 (with coupon code) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115077

RAM $35 Samsung 8GB - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820147096

GPU - not 100% sure on this one, maybe one of the other members here can chime in, but this looks ok??? - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161402

Power supply $60 Season 430w - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817151074

Case $40 - NZXT source- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811146075

The reason I asked about Micro center is that they offer combo deals on CPU's and motherboards. you can pick up a quad core AMD plus a decent motherboard for $120, or an i3 CPU plus motherboard for about the same.

 

[Durvelle27]

never mind then...

here are some options:
Motherboard $55 Asrock b75 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157335

CPU $110 intel i3 2120 (with coupon code) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115077

RAM $35 Samsung 8GB - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820147096

GPU - not 100% sure on this one, maybe one of the other members here can chime in, but this looks ok??? - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161402

Power supply $60 Season 430w - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817151074

Case $40 - NZXT source- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811146075

nice build

i would get this psu instead as it cost less

CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 V2 $34.99 AR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139026

and check around the forums for a SSD and video card

 

[dmoney1980]

Durvelle is right, you may need to look at the for sale forum to grab a video card and SSD. not possible to get all that new for $400

 

[T_Yamamoto]

I've seen plenty of motherboards and CPUs (i3s and i5s) going for cheap lately. Look deeply

 

[Durvelle27]

I'v seen some 120GB SSD's on here go for $80 and and i3s go for $90 and boards $60 and i have a perfect condition HD 6950 2GB i'm trying to get rid of if you want it

 

[Ken g6]

OK, I see a couple of useful benchmarks in Bench:
- Starcraft 2 CPU
- Starcraft 2 GPU

LoL doesn't seem to take much. SC2 doesn't like hyper-threading, and it doesn't appear to help GW2 much either. That's useful.

So, "cheapest it can possibly be" is under $400, but doesn't include an SSD. With an SSD, I get this:

CPU: Pentium G850 $70
Mobo: ECS H61 $30 AR
RAM: G-Skill 4GB $20
GPU: EVGA 650ti $155 AR XFX 7850 1GB $160AR
SSD : Crucial V4 128GB $80 (Hey, you didn't say a fast SSD!)
PSU: Corsair CX430 V2 $35 AR
Case: CM Elite 330 $30 AR
Total: $425

 

[Durvelle27]

OK, I see a couple of useful benchmarks in Bench:
- Starcraft 2 CPU
- Starcraft 2 GPU

LoL doesn't seem to take much. SC2 doesn't like hyper-threading, and it doesn't appear to help GW2 much either. That's useful.

So, "cheapest it can possibly be" is under $400, but doesn't include an SSD. With an SSD, I get this:

CPU: Pentium G850 $70
Mobo: ECS H61 $30 AR
RAM: G-Skill 4GB $20
GPU: EVGA 650ti $155 AR
SSD : Crucial V4 128GB $80 (Hey, you didn't say a fast SSD!)
PSU: Corsair CX430 V2 $35 AR
Case: CM Elite 330 $30 AR
Total: $420

i would suggest something other than a GTX 650 Ti

 

[dmoney1980]

there's a seller here with a 120gb intel ssd for $65 - http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2276070&highlight=ssd

nice build Ken, but i'd be leery of that ECS mobo

 

[Durvelle27]

there's a seller here with a 120gb intel ssd for $65 - http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2276070&highlight=ssd

nice build Ken, but i'd be leery of that ECS mobo

great deal on the SSD

HD 6950 peforms better than the GTX 650 Ti

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2255267

 

[Ken g6]

I would suggest something other than a GTX 650 Ti

HD 6950 peforms better than the GTX 650 Ti

Yeah, but 6950 also takes a bit more in the PSU department. If I were to suggest a different card, it would probably be this 7850 1GB, $160AR. In fact, that's so close, I think I'll just change it.

nice build Ken, but I'd be leery of that ECS mobo

Yeah, but he said cheapest possible. :\

 

[Durvelle27]

Yeah, but 6950 also takes a bit more in the PSU department. If I were to suggest a different card, it would probably be this 7850 1GB, $160AR. In fact, that's so close, I think I'll just change it.

Yeah, but he said cheapest possible. :\

for a low power system like this 400W would be plenty of power

 

[mfenn]

Yeah, but he said cheapest possible. :\

:thumbsup: You've gotta be very careful when throwing those words around. That's one reason why we usually like to get hard budgets around here.

Anyway, Ken's build looks pretty good given the requirements. In all honesty, you would be better off spending a little more to get the following:

ASRock H61-DGS +$15
Crucial M4 128GB +$10

 

[Eureka]

The 6950 will run on 430W, as long as it's a good power supply.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

OK, I see a couple of useful benchmarks in Bench:
- Starcraft 2 CPU
- Starcraft 2 GPU

LoL doesn't seem to take much. SC2 doesn't like hyper-threading, and it doesn't appear to help GW2 much either. That's useful.

So, "cheapest it can possibly be" is under $400, but doesn't include an SSD. With an SSD, I get this:

CPU: Pentium G850 $70
Mobo: ECS H61 $30 AR
RAM: G-Skill 4GB $20
GPU: EVGA 650ti $155 AR XFX 7850 1GB $160AR
SSD : Crucial V4 128GB $80 (Hey, you didn't say a fast SSD!)
PSU: Corsair CX430 V2 $35 AR
Case: CM Elite 330 $30 AR
Total: $425

Except from that ECS mainboard that looks just fine. I would recommend spending a little more on the mainboard and get something B75 based, that get you an Intel USB3 controller and a SATA3 port for the SSD.

my 2c...

 

[lenjack]

As always, if you build a computer for someone, you will be 24/7 tech support for that person forever.