Building a low cost gaming system

Todd

New Member
I want to build a low cost Gaming system.
I play games Like: World of Warcraft , Swtor, CoD.

I am looking to build something for under $500 I have a Micro ATX tower already And a 500gig HD with Windows 7 loaded on it. I also have a 4gig ram stick(that i wish to upgrade) that i can use in the new build if needed.....


Im asking for help with a build as i dont really know where or how to start.
 
Your hard drive with windows 7 already installed on it will not work in the new build. You will have to install windows fresh with valid install media and key for activation.

You also have a micro atx case and would need a regular atx power supply for a gaming video card. Would recommend getting a mid tower case that supports an atx power supply. Unless you know for sure that the micro atx case you have supports a standard atx power supply.

MB - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131795 54.99

CPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113287 109.99

Ram - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231426 72.99

DVD - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135305 19.99

PSU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817494002 36.99

Video card - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202021 91.99

Without a new copy of windows and a new case you are at 386.94. A copy of windows and a new case would be around $140-$150 more.
 
Motherboard http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130659 - $50

2500K - CPU - http://www.computerforum.com/224580-sale-intel-i5-2500k.html - $125 (way way way better than than the AMD)

PSU Corsair 430M - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139049 - $30 (much better quality, similar 12V rail and modular).

DVD - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135305 - $20


Use the HDD and case you have. Use the RAM you have (gaming doesn't require any more than 4GB) - plus if you have a 32Bit OS, its a waste going higher anyway.

The 2500K will play most games at reasonable settings without a discrete GPU using the HD3000 onboard, particularly if you give it an overclock to say 4GHz (very very easy and safe to do).

If at that stage you don't like it, then get a GPU as the PSU will handle that too.

All in all for $225 above, it leaves you with a lot of room to plop in something like a 7950 for $230 and still have budget left over.

Plus the 2500K will absolutely RAPE the AMD CPU above.
 
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Looks pretty good, I'm assuming that you would get the 6570 for hybrid crossfire which would probably give you enough power to play most games at medium. I would normally criticize the psu for not being high quality, but it is 80+ certified so I would say that if you really want to save money then it might not be a bad idea to get it. The only thing that throws me back about it is that it has a really bad rating, but that's cause a bunch of guys got dead units and decided to put it in the comments to lower the rating.
 
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NO, coolmax units are junk. Don't care what there rating is. I mean a 700 watt psu for $50?? Not hardly. Should be closer to $90-100.
 
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