A $240 USD very light/basic gaming PC.

[Darts401]

My friend Hunter has a $240 USD budget and I would like to know if the part list I put together is good enough http://pcpartpicker.com/p/JPwh4D .

[IAcKI]

That is pretty good for 240 aha.

I'd maybe look preowned.

[IAcKI]

That way you'll be able to get a better PSU than that probably god awful one in that Case PSU bundle.

[NumLock21]

Get used Intel parts say from the socket 775 or later. They'll cream that new AMD build.

[Mohenjo]

2 minutes ago, Darts401 said:

My friend Hunter has a $240 USD budget and I would like to know if the part list I put together is good enough http://pcpartpicker.com/p/JPwh4D .

Is he in the US? Honestly Ebay and craigslist hunting might be his best choice 

[Jack Kaye Pc Gamer]

I'd reccommend going owned as this system will probably be bottleneck by the cpu, use ebay as they have payment protection

[Darts401]

Just now, IAcKI said:

That is pretty good for 240 aha.

I'd maybe look preowned.

I could even remove the HDD he has one apparently, and upgrade the RAM to 8gb, but I do not know yet.

[Aereldor]

If he can wait a while until he has about $100 more to spend, he'll get a lot more value for his money.
 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($62.99 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H-A Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($49.98 @ OutletPC) 
Memory: Team Elite 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($31.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($46.89 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card  ($99.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: Xion XON-310_BK MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($26.98 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: EVGA 430W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply  ($23.98 @ Newegg) 
Total: $342.80
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-11 10:53 EST-0500

Linus has talked about this before, but at certain price points ($240 being one of many examples) you aren't getting nearly enough value for your money. A Pentium G3258 + GTX 750 Ti build like this will damn near double the performance of a similarly priced AMD A10 7850k- a slightly cheaper but far weaker alternative.

Then there's used parts, but there's no telling when those will die on you, and you can't exactly RMA them.

 

[Cpt Buzzkill]

20 minutes ago, Aereldor said:

If he can wait a while until he has about $100 more to spend, he'll get a lot more value for his money.
 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($62.99 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H-A Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($49.98 @ OutletPC) 
Memory: Team Elite 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($31.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($46.89 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card  ($99.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: Xion XON-310_BK MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($26.98 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: EVGA 430W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply  ($23.98 @ Newegg) 
Total: $342.80
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-11 10:53 EST-0500

Linus has talked about this before, but at certain price points ($240 being one of many examples) you aren't getting nearly enough value for your money. A Pentium G3258 + GTX 750 Ti build like this will damn near double the performance of a similarly priced AMD A10 7850k- a slightly cheaper but far weaker alternative.

Then there's used parts, but there's no telling when those will die on you, and you can't exactly RMA them.

 

I had this build and i can back it up! this thing played everything butter smooth in 1080p OBV not new new games but CSGO , LOL, heck even games liek arma 3 i could play medium! rocket league. i can name games all day and to be honest the g chip allthou its dual core its makes everything snappy and quick... loved that machine.

[Johntheawesomeguy]

it's a pretty good build for the price, but I would recommend used parts at that price range, if you want to build a gaming pc with new components that would actually last, you're going to want to spend more. if you go used you will get much more for your money

[Aereldor]

Just now, Cpt Buzzkill said:

I had this build and i can back it up! this thing played everything butter smooth in 1080p OBV not new new games but CSGO , LOL, heck even games liek arma 3 i could play medium! rocket league. i can name games all day and to be honest the g chip allthou its dual core its makes everything snappy and quick... loved that machine.

I'd actually recommend a 1440x900 monitor for the GTX 750 Ti. Bump down the resolution to that and it'll max out almost anything you throw at it. I also think the 16:10 ratio is great for gaming and productivity alike, and if you get a 19" monitor, it looks pretty damn sharp, as the pixel density is close to what you'll get with a 27" 1080p display.

[Aereldor]

Just now, valdyrgramr said:

There's also downscaling.

Stuff is never going to look as good downscaled as it does at the native resolution of a lower-resolution monitor.

Besides, if you're in the market for one, 1440x900 is downright cheaper.

[Aereldor]

Just now, valdyrgramr said:

True, but if they upgrade then they might want it.

Perhaps. It would depend on what OP's friend is looking for. If he just wants to get a gaming setup that lasts as long as possible, then a 750 Ti will play triple-A titles at 1440x900 far longer than it'll play them at 1080p. If he plans to upgrade soon, then his GPU will be overkill for the measly resolution, and 1080p is a better idea.

[Mr.Meerkat]

34 minutes ago, Aereldor said:

If he can wait a while until he has about $100 more to spend, he'll get a lot more value for his money.
 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($62.99 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H-A Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($49.98 @ OutletPC) 
Memory: Team Elite 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($31.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($46.89 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card  ($99.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: Xion XON-310_BK MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($26.98 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: EVGA 430W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply  ($23.98 @ Newegg) 
Total: $342.80
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-11 10:53 EST-0500

Linus has talked about this before, but at certain price points ($240 being one of many examples) you aren't getting nearly enough value for your money. A Pentium G3258 + GTX 750 Ti build like this will damn near double the performance of a similarly priced AMD A10 7850k- a slightly cheaper but far weaker alternative.

Then there's used parts, but there's no telling when those will die on you, and you can't exactly RMA them.

 

It is indeed true but the second you realise that it's only a dual-core CPU...with no HT...

[Josephdalepi]

an a10 apu with cheap as hell mobo and everything else kinda whatever will probably be the best best

yes, the a10 can game

my brother uses one and its just fine

[Cpt Buzzkill]

11 minutes ago, Aereldor said:

I'd actually recommend a 1440x900 monitor for the GTX 750 Ti. Bump down the resolution to that and it'll max out almost anything you throw at it. I also think the 16:10 ratio is great for gaming and productivity alike, and if you get a 19" monitor, it looks pretty damn sharp, as the pixel density is close to what you'll get with a 27" 1080p display.

to be honest with you, with thouse specs i was playing on 1080 samsun 22" monitor and i must say for example League of legends maxed was 250 fps, Counterstrike MAXED was around 120 FPS ssoooo i mean, for that price. i would not complain , i could play gta5 Min-Medium and get 60 fps.... ssooo i mean there is that  just play around with settings like good old days and magic will happen.

 

but yeh if he goes with 900p as you said he will be maxing out LOADS of things

[cleb]

Maybe consider core 2 quads? Q6600 on eBay can be found for like $20 

[Aereldor]

47 minutes ago, Cpt Buzzkill said:

to be honest with you, with thouse specs i was playing on 1080 samsun 22" monitor and i must say for example League of legends maxed was 250 fps, Counterstrike MAXED was around 120 FPS ssoooo i mean, for that price. i would not complain , i could play gta5 Min-Medium and get 60 fps.... ssooo i mean there is that  just play around with settings like good old days and magic will happen.

 

but yeh if he goes with 900p as you said he will be maxing out LOADS of things

I daresay without NVidia GimmickWorks and other simlarly silly features, he can get a solid 60FPS on any title and make it look damn close to ultra by playing around with settings. 

Also, lower settings and lower resolution textures look better at lower resolutions. In The Witcher 3, I can't tell the difference between Ultra and High textures at 1080p. At 900p, it should be that way for medium and high (which are 512p and 1k respectively).

[Darts401]

22 hours ago, Josephdalepi said:

an a10 apu with cheap as hell mobo and everything else kinda whatever will probably be the best best

yes, the a10 can game

my brother uses one and its just fine

It doesn't perform as good for video as a 750ti

[Josephdalepi]

2 hours ago, Darts401 said:

It doesn't perform as good for video as a 750ti

but the processor in there will bottleneck it hardcore