Gaming PC that competes with some of the top tier but is...UNDER $470 USD?

[BowserGaming]

There is a computer build out there...

 

One that sound's too good to be true...

 

One that consists of *mostly* new parts...

 

It is called...

 

The Budget Bowser Machine. This thing chews up and spits out low end PC's, gets a knock-out in the 2nd round with mid-tier PC's,

and can go toe-to-toe with some of the high end PC's.

 

Built from necessity. This build gives me a tickle in my no-no parts.

 

Without further ado, lets begin. 

 

The CPU. Good place to start. It may only be an AMD FX 8310 3.4 Ghz 8 core CPU. But it packs quite a punch. - $114.99

 

The motherboard. I'm not one for micro ATX, but this little board is pretty sweet, especially for the price. Gigabyte 78LMT-USB3 - $49.99

 

The RAM. Okay, I like me some good RAM. And good looking too. 8GB 2 (x4GB) Kingston HyperX Fury RED 1866MHz CL10 - $74.99

 

The Hard Drive. So I stuck with a regular run of the mill 7200RPM 1TB HDD. Why? Well, cost. And It works well. WD BLUE 1TB HDD - $ 44.99

 

The Power Supply. So I was REALLY scared to try this one out. But I've seen some good reviews for it and decided to try it out. 

ULTRA LSP series V2 550 Watt (Dont shun me just yet. It has a 3 year warranty so i figured it has to be okay. No issues with it yet!) - $ 44.97

 

The Case. I really liked the look of this Mid case. It was sleek, and had a pretty good style to it for the price. And I have never seen temps so low before. 

The Cougar Solution Black Steel case. Comes with two USB's on the front, Audio, Mic, power button, HDD light and a case fan on the back. - $44.99

 

The CD/DVD Drive. Okay so this I didn't buy. I just pulled it from an old computer that I had and it works. You will probably need one though. 

There is an HP Internal drive that goes for $29.99 right now which is probably a good bet. Of course if you can use one that you already have

then that is a great bonus. 

 

The GPU. Okay. Here it is. The final part in all of this. An MSI R9 270 OC Gaming edition. - $81.00 Wait. What? $81??? But How? Easy. Ebay.

It was used kind of. The guy used it for a week then got a 290. So I happily became the owner of this card. 

 

Time to add it all up!

 

114.99

  49.99

  74.99

  44.99

  44.97

  44.99

  81.00 +

-----------

$455.92 USD

 

Okay so $455 is a pretty attractive number for a computer that you claim can take on dual 980's or dual 290's. So how does this machine actually perform?

 

Well I am glad you asked!

 

INGAME STATS:

Elder Scrolls V: SKYRIM: *note a 4k texture pack was used. If using the regular ingame textures, you will have higher performance* 

1080p: MIN(53fps) MAX (72fps)

 

MASS EFFECT 3:

1080p: MIN(55fps) MAX(80fps)

 

FALLOUT NEW VEGAS:*note a 4k texture pack was used. If using the regular ingame textures, you will have higher performance* 

1080p: MIN(49fps) MAX(63fps)

 

MINECRAFT:

1080p: MIN(94fps) MAX(248fps)

 

STARCRAFT II:

1080p: MIN(58fps) MAX(88fps)

 

LEAGUE OF LEGENDS:

1080p: MIN(120fps) MAX(290fps)

 

TOMB RAIDER:

1080p: MIN(40fps) MAX(58fps)

 

Keep in mind that All but tomb raider were run in Ultra. Tomb Raider was run on High. Why? Because I forgot to change the setting.

 

Okay Branden so it can run some pretty heavy games well enough. It also has a good cost. What is the downside?

 

Well you cant run SLI/Crossfire. But that is about all. It is a great place to start if you want to run some serious games. 

 

[Aniallation]

Could have gotten an EVGA 500B/600B or Corsair CX500 for the price of whatever the heck that "Ultra LSP" PSU is...

[Gofspar]

It's not going to chew up high-end but ok.

[juretrn]

Almost new R9 270, used for mining only for 6 months. JK man, JK

[RazrLeaf]

I agree with @Aniallation. There's even XFX TS 550 PSU for $25 after MIR every month or so. But good scavenging otherwise. Glad you're happy with your build.

[MikeTz]

I don't know the reason behind posting this but I guess good finds and good build...

[BowserGaming]

It's not going to chew up high-end but ok.

Never said it would chew up high-end pc's. It "can go toe-to-toe" with them. My brother has a $2,100 PC Intel based and we get pretty close to the same stat's in games. His of course is higher but for ~$450 this is a pretty mean PC for the money. 

[blackadder]

about time someone used a cougar case, i love their fans, good looking build. Welcome to the forum

[BowserGaming]

about time someone used a cougar case, i love their fans, good looking build. Welcome to the forum

It really is a nice solid case with enough room to do some cable control. The PSU cables are a tad bit short so the 8 pin CPU has to run awkwardly over the GPU. But I really was impressed with the build quality of the case. The access panels are a little tricky to get back on but all in all Cougar has some nice budget cases. 

[blackadder]

It really is a nice solid case with enough room to do some cable control. The PSU cables are a tad bit short so the 8 pin CPU has to run awkwardly over the GPU. But I really was impressed with the build quality of the case. The access panels are a little tricky to get back on but all in all Cougar has some nice budget cases.

nice to know they make solid low priced cases, i just bought 4 of the fans that come with your case, they seem legit. i will have to start to recommending people have a look at this case, future cooling options seems very good too. also your build plays most those games just as well as much 970 skyrim and fallout, that could be because of mods.... damn you Thomas the Train.   

[Gofspar]

Never said it would chew up high-end pc's. It "can go toe-to-toe" with them. My brother has a $2,100 PC Intel based and we get pretty close to the same stat's in games. His of course is higher but for ~$450 this is a pretty mean PC for the money. 

Heres my middle-high-end rig. glhf.

 

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/6117316

[Raudi_]

Never said it would chew up high-end pc's. It "can go toe-to-toe" with them. My brother has a $2,100 PC Intel based and we get pretty close to the same stat's in games. His of course is higher but for ~$450 this is a pretty mean PC for the money. 

Toe to toe m8 you make me giggle when I saw that. 

650ti Boost Game Benchmarks(1319 Boost/1775 Memory):

BF4- Avg: 53.771 - Min: 33 - Max: 84

Bioshock Infinite- Avg: 41.451 - Min: 44 - Max: 117

Dirt 3- Avg: 81.460 - Min: 46 - Max: 105

GRID 2- Avg: 70.591 - Min: 49 - Max: 155

Metro 2033- Avg:17.00 - Min: 5.02 - Max: 59.94

 

Single GTX 770 Game Benchmarks(1371 Boost/ 2000 Memory):

BF4- Avg: 98.446 - Min: 50 - Max: 143

Bioshock Infinite- Avg: 52.499 - Min: 58 - Max: 156 

Dirt 3- Avg: 159.198 - Min: 116 - Max: 223

GRID 2- Avg: 127.837 - Min: 82 - Max: 279

Metro 2033- Avg: 39.67 - Max: 90.01 - Min: 3.65

 

SLI 770 Game Benchmarks(1371 Boost/2000 Memory):

BF4- Avg: 106.715 - Min: 38 - Max: 145

Bioshock Infinite-  Avg: 129.769 - Min: 58 - Max: 216

Dirt 3- Avg: 172.560 - Min: 58 - Max: 282

GRID 2- Avg: 180.683 - Min: 133 - Max: 337

Metro 2033- Avg: 46.67 - Min: 9.94 - Max: 484.03

[DildorTheDecent]

Is that IDE?