Sub 200$ USD PC (Already have a CPU)

[downinthemorgue]

Budget (including currency): <200 USD

Country: United States

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Team Fortress 2, Terraria, Minecraft, Left 4 Dead 2, Ark Survival Evolved, Doom 2016, Doom Eternal, Saints Row 2, 3 and 4, Skyrim.

Other details: Hello Everyone, I am currently building a PC for a friend. My budget is 200$ or less and I already have a CPU (A Core i5 6400) and some 120mm Fans. I am hoping for a sub 200$ system that can run games at 1080p 60fps consistently. My friend currently is gaming on a laptop with integrated graphics which you can imagine isn't Ideal. I also need the motherboard to have Wi-Fi. I have no idea what parts to choose for my CPU and need recommendations. Thanks.

 

[PC HEROES]

16 minutes ago, downinthemorgue said:

Budget (including currency): <200 USD

Country: United States

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Team Fortress 2, Terraria, Minecraft, Left 4 Dead 2, Ark Survival Evolved, Doom 2016, Doom Eternal, Saints Row 2, 3 and 4, Skyrim.

Other details: Hello Everyone, I am currently building a PC for a friend. My budget is 200$ or less and I already have a CPU (A Core i5 6400) and some 120mm Fans. I am hoping for a sub 200$ system that can run games at 1080p 60fps consistently. My friend currently is gaming on a laptop with integrated graphics which you can imagine isn't Ideal. I also need the motherboard to have Wi-Fi. I have no idea what parts to choose for my CPU and need recommendations. Thanks.

 

I am very sorry.

 

I have been doing this a long time and there is no way to do this in both the new and used market.

 

The only hope you have is to find a old Workstation PC from like Dell, HP, or Lenovo. You can find these on eBay for less than $200 and often with a really bad Dedicated GPU in them like a GT 710, 730. But even these GPUs will not be enough for the games that you want to play.

 

I would say to find a Workstation PC for around $50-$75 and then try and get a used RX580 or something.

 

I have been building PCs for 30 years so if you have any other questions please ask.

[RVRY]

Just so you know, you'll have a lot of trouble building anything with that kind of budget unless you cut a ton of corners. 

You can probably snag an RX 480 and a cheap b150 board for $100 off Ebay.

Buy a 120GB SSD for $20 off Amazon.

Then drop the other $80 on a case with a built-in PSU and an 8GB stick of DDR4. 

Use a version of Linux like POP OS or use the cash you have left over on a grey market Windows key.

 

Voila, you got yourself an okay $200-ish gaming PC. 

[tkitch]

you can't build a PC for 200 bucks.  full stop.

 

Your best bet is to stalk ebay for a PC like this one for the 100-ish range

https://www.ebay.com/itm/404381471121

 

And then stick in a low-medium powered GPU.  

[Agall]

24 minutes ago, downinthemorgue said:

Budget (including currency): <200 USD

Country: United States

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Team Fortress 2, Terraria, Minecraft, Left 4 Dead 2, Ark Survival Evolved, Doom 2016, Doom Eternal, Saints Row 2, 3 and 4, Skyrim.

Other details: Hello Everyone, I am currently building a PC for a friend. My budget is 200$ or less and I already have a CPU (A Core i5 6400) and some 120mm Fans. I am hoping for a sub 200$ system that can run games at 1080p 60fps consistently. My friend currently is gaming on a laptop with integrated graphics which you can imagine isn't Ideal. I also need the motherboard to have Wi-Fi. I have no idea what parts to choose for my CPU and need recommendations. Thanks.

 

You're probably not finding a 6th generation Intel compatible motherboard for sub $200, let alone a whole system. I'd ditch the CPU because its practically worthless in 2023 without a motherboard.

 

An i5 6400 is going to struggle to hold 60 fps in any multiplayer game, so something to keep in mind. Minimum price for a new GPU in 2023 for a system that old is the RX 6600 8GB, being sub $200 and only requiring a 500W power supply and 8 pin VGA connector. There's even smaller models that are sub 200mm in length.

 

Best case scenario, you find an OEM Dell, HP, etc system with that generation's i3, drop in upgrade the i5 6400 into it, then buy a GPU that won't require a PSU upgrade.

[downinthemorgue]

11 minutes ago, Agall said:

You're probably not finding a 6th generation Intel compatible motherboard for sub $200, let alone a whole system. I'd ditch the CPU because its practically worthless in 2023 without a motherboard.

 

An i5 6400 is going to struggle to hold 60 fps in any multiplayer game, so something to keep in mind. Minimum price for a new GPU in 2023 for a system that old is the RX 6600 8GB, being sub $200 and only requiring a 500W power supply and 8 pin VGA connector. There's even smaller models that are sub 200mm in length.

 

Best case scenario, you find an OEM Dell, HP, etc system with that generation's i3, drop in upgrade the i5 6400 into it, then buy a GPU that won't require a PSU upgrade.

What GPU would you suggest that wont require a PSU upgrade?

[Agall]

2 minutes ago, downinthemorgue said:

What GPU would you suggest that wont require a PSU upgrade?

That's a hard question, since it'll come down to a GPU most consider the 'e-waste tier' like the RX 6400, Intel Arc A380, etc. Most of which require PCIe 4.0 to get the most performance, which is a recent two generation's only feature.

 

Most of those OEM systems come with impressively low wattage PSUs, some even 180W. That's where the RX 6400 comes in, which is far far better than an iGPU, but far off from something like the RX 6600 for $50 more.

 

Your best option might be a A520 or B550 system with an R5 5600g running the iGPU, however, that's hard to get even below $300.

[downinthemorgue]

12 minutes ago, Agall said:

That's a hard question, since it'll come down to a GPU most consider the 'e-waste tier' like the RX 6400, Intel Arc A380, etc. Most of which require PCIe 4.0 to get the most performance, which is a recent two generation's only feature.

 

Most of those OEM systems come with impressively low wattage PSUs, some even 180W. That's where the RX 6400 comes in, which is far far better than an iGPU, but far off from something like the RX 6600 for $50 more.

 

Your best option might be a A520 or B550 system with an R5 5600g running the iGPU, however, that's hard to get even below $300.

I think going with an oem system might be the only option then. That or to just save some more. Thanks for the advice!

[Agall]

30 minutes ago, downinthemorgue said:

I think going with an oem system might be the only option then. That or to just save some more. Thanks for the advice!

If it helps regarding saving up for a new system, the 'practical' minimum is about $600 USD for new parts within the current or last generation. That's basically an i3 13100f and RX 6600, which is a plenty capable 1080p system. Obviously the used market exists, but I tend to stay away from that personally so I won't speak on that in depth, since it can be drastically different based on region.

[Queen Chrysalis]

Go on facebook marketplace and look for selling a whole system with an rx 580 or the likes.  Those systems might be getting close to $200.  

Just sell the CPU you have on eBay and use that money to fund buying a whole system.  If you're dilligent, you'll find someone.