400 Dollar Gaming Budget?

[Dubesta11]

I don't know how long I have been out of the loop, but what is the best computer build for 400 dollars (500 with Windows)? I was thinking an i3/950 or so but that is still over budget. Any suggestions for my friend will be helpful.

[Bananasplit_00]

used parts can get you far with that amount of cash, atleast here in Sweden, you could get an I5 and a Titan used here if you are lucky...  its insaine how cheap some people sell there old titans

[XxproxXXD]

You should not go with the 7750,its old and isnt that good

[zehao39]

Go used, i52400 and gtx770. Build that for myself few month ago. Btw Windows only cost you 20 bucks for oem key

[Dubesta11]

1 minute ago, alppekun said:

You should not go with the 7750,its old and isnt that good

Thats my personal build in my signature. I'm building a new computer for a friend.

 

2 minutes ago, zehao39 said:

Go used, i52400 and gtx770. Build that for myself few month ago. Btw Windows only cost you 20 bucks for oem key

Any ideas where to get that online?

[zehao39]

2 minutes ago, Dubesta11 said:

Thats my personal build in my signature. I'm building a new computer for a friend.

 

Any ideas where to get that online?

Here is the link https://www.kinguin.net/category/19429/windows-10-professional-oem-key/

i5 2400 on eBay is around 70$ and gtx770 is around 150$ ,

[Kiol]

If you search hard and persistently enough for good deals, you could build a pretty decent/good computer with $400. That's if you're willing to wait for some time between starting to purchase parts and actually finishing the build. I made this over the course of a few months with the motherboard being the only used part. http://pcpartpicker.com/list/jzW8KZ
You could save a good chunk of money if you buy a used motherboard with bent pins and realign them yourself.

[Herman Mcpootis]

you can get this for $380 after rebates.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 845 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($66.00 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A68M-DG3+ Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard  ($44.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: Mushkin Silverline 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($27.49 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Hitachi Deskstar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($43.90 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 380 4GB Video Card  ($144.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: BitFenix Nova ATX Mid Tower Case  ($22.99 @ NCIX US) 
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($29.99 @ NCIX US) 
Total: $380.35
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-27 07:40 EDT-0400

[Dubesta11]

29 minutes ago, herman mcpootis said:

you can get this for $380 after rebates.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 845 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($66.00 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A68M-DG3+ Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard  ($44.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: Mushkin Silverline 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($27.49 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Hitachi Deskstar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($43.90 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 380 4GB Video Card  ($144.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: BitFenix Nova ATX Mid Tower Case  ($22.99 @ NCIX US) 
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($29.99 @ NCIX US) 
Total: $380.35
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-27 07:40 EDT-0400

That CPU seems very weak. What would relative gaming performance be for something like gta5 on medium/low settings at 1080p?

[Herman Mcpootis]

Just now, Dubesta11 said:

That CPU seems very weak. What would relative gaming performance be for something like gta5 on medium/low settings at 1080p?

should be fine at high 1080p. the cpu is just enough for the r9 380, but i wouldn't put it with more than a 380x.

[Dubesta11]

Just now, herman mcpootis said:

should be fine at high 1080p. the cpu is just enough for the r9 380, but i wouldn't put it with more than a 380x.

Alright I looked into it a little and it might be fine.

[CosmicButterGuy]

I'm guessing you already have some form of storage (but I included one just in case). Wait for the RX 470 (or RX 460) as it should be available next month. There is no windows, because linux is free. 

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($110.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: MSI B150M BAZOOKA Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($64.98 @ Newegg) 
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($39.89 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($47.49 @ OutletPC) 
Case: Corsair SPEC-01 RED ATX Mid Tower Case  ($39.98 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: SeaSonic 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($65.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Other: RX 470 ($149.99)
Other: Linix (Mint, Ubuntu, ect) ($0.00)
Total: $519.31
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-27 10:49 EDT-0400

[Dubesta11]

1 hour ago, CosmicButterGuy said:

I'm guessing you already have some form of storage (but I included one just in case). Wait for the RX 470 (or RX 460) as it should be available next month. There is no windows, because linux is free. 

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($110.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: MSI B150M BAZOOKA Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($64.98 @ Newegg) 
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($39.89 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($47.49 @ OutletPC) 
Case: Corsair SPEC-01 RED ATX Mid Tower Case  ($39.98 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: SeaSonic 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($65.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Other: RX 470 ($149.99)
Other: Linix (Mint, Ubuntu, ect) ($0.00)
Total: $519.31
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-27 10:49 EDT-0400

I understand that linux is free, but windows is required, which is why I have the 400 dollar budget.