Sub $300 "Gaming" PC

[Emanbaird]

So i want to build my little cousin a PC, I have pretty good experience with building craigslist PC's, but we are going to be limited to online websites (ebay/taobao/aliexpress)

 

I always used to pick a cheap higher end x58 or x79 board, and then a matching Xeon with an unlocked multiplier. But i've noticed those respective platforms have skyrocketed in value, especially good x79 boards. I have caught myself looking at cheaper generic boards, but i'm worried about quality/reliability. I have noticed a lot of them can either only do BCLK overclocking, or can't overclock at all.

 

What would you guys recommend for us? 

 

I'm pretty resourceful so i would say around $100 for the GPU, then $200 for the ram/cpu/board. I can make a case if i have to, and i probably have a leftover PSU/hdd

 

The goal is basically just gaming/homework at 1080p/60

 

 

[Slottr]

Get a used optiplex system off eBay and throw in a low power gpu

 

I did that for my cousin and it actually works awesome. Got a 4770 with 8gb of memory, threw in an SSD and a used gtx 745 I found on kijiji all for under 200 CAD.

 

This was a pretty good score, but hopefully you can catch a similar deal

[Emanbaird]

1 minute ago, Slottr said:

Get a used optiplex system off eBay and throw in a low power gpu

 

I did that for my cousin and it actually works awesome. Got a 4770 with 8gb of memory, threw in an SSD and a used gtx 745 I found on kijiji all for under 200 CAD.

 

This was a pretty good score, but hopefully you can catch a similar deal

Yeah, I wonder if the old xps's have unlocked multipliers.

[Eastman51]

I built my brother a gaming PC for $150

A friend of mine grabbed some old 500GB HDDs from his workplace (they were ok with it), and he gave me some; one of which I put in this system.

I grabbed an ancient HP DC900 (I think) from my university for $45 + $10 for 4GB of RAM ($5 per 2GB stick). The HP had an i5-2500 in it.

Then I purchased a used EVGA 750Ti SC off eBay for ~$100 (a little overpriced, but my brother paid me back for all of it).

 

It does 1080p 60fps on low to medium, 720p on medium to high. Overall, not bad. 

I'd try to do something along these lines if you can. Get a Dell Optiplex or something, and a GPU.

[Slottr]

Just now, Emanbaird said:

Yeah, I wonder if the old xps's have unlocked multipliers.

Usually not, at least in my experience