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Budget rig under $400 for 8 year old

bigbadburgers
By bigbadburgers
in New Builds and Planning
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Looking to build a rig for my son for christmas but only have about $400us to spend on it. Will be used for school and light gamin.  Not really sure where to go from here new to the PCMR just built my first PC about 3 months ago so dont know a whole lot about older CPUs and what will work together any help would be much appreciated.

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2 minutes ago, bigbadburgers said:

Looking to build a rig for my son for christmas but only have about $400us to spend on it. Will be used for school and light gamin.  Not really sure where to go from here new to the PCMR just built my first PC about 3 months ago so dont know a whole lot about older CPUs and what will work together any help would be much appreciated.

Willing to buy used or looking for new only? 4th gen Haswell stuff on eBay is great value right now, coupled with a new PSU and SSD, gives you some room for a 1050.

I WILL find your ITX build thread, and I WILL recommend the SIlverstone Sugo SG13B

 

Primary PC:

i7 8086k - EVGA Z370 Classified K - G.Skill Trident Z RGB - WD SN750 - Jedi Order Titan Xp - Hyper 212 Black (with RGB Riing flair) - EVGA G3 650W - dual booting Windows 10 and Linux - Black and green theme, Razer brainwashed me.

Draws 400 watts under max load, for reference.

 

How many watts do I need? ATX 3.0 & PCIe 5.0 spec, PSU misconceptions, protections explained, group reg is bad

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You can always go the older i7 route, 2nd or 3rd gen and something like an RX 580. That's actually what I would go with, and it's worked well for me in the past.

 CPU: I9-7900X RAM: 64GB (16X4) DDR4-2933 GPU: RTX 3080 MOBO: ASUS X299 Deluxe PSU: Corsair RM850 SSD: ADATA XPG SX8200 PRO 1TB HDD: Seagate Barracuda 2TB Case: Corsair iCUE 465X Cooler: Corsair 280 AIO

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PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/jdHsP3
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/jdHsP3/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 3 2200G 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($98.49 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: MSI - B450M MORTAR Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($94.99 @ B&H) 
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2800 Memory  ($67.98 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Team - L5 LITE 3D 480GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($62.89 @ OutletPC) 
Case: Cooler Master - MasterBox Q300L MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($33.09 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: Corsair - CXM (2015) 450W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($41.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $399.43
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-10-29 22:09 EDT-0400

 

pretty good mobo. Can prob squeeze in a 2400g if you only go with 240gb ssd, a slightly worse mobo, and a slightly worse psu.

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and old xeon workstation with a 1050 dropped in it would be pretty sweet for around 400

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I'd recommend buying used RAM, GPU, and CPU, but you'll want to buy the case and storage new. As for PSU and CPU cooler, that's up to you.

 

I totally agree with @Firewrath9's list. You, however, could opt for a slightly cheaper motherboard and buying used parts to save some.

 

Fan Comparisons          F@H          PCPartPicker         Analysis of Market Trends (Coming soon? Never? Who knows!)

Designing a mITX case. Working on aluminum prototypes.

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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
Type Item Price
CPU Intel - Core i5-4570 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor $80.00
Motherboard Asus - H87M-Plus/CSM Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  
Memory G.Skill - Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory $50.00
Storage Mushkin - Source 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive $44.99 @ Amazon
Storage Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive $45.89 @ OutletPC
Video Card EVGA - GeForce GTX 1050 2GB SC GAMING Video Card $90.00
Case Cooler Master - MasterBox Q300L MicroATX Mini Tower Case $33.09 @ Amazon
Power Supply Corsair - CXM (2015) 450W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply $21.99 @ Newegg
  Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts  
  Total (before mail-in rebates) $385.96
  Mail-in rebates -$20.00
  Total $365.96
  Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-10-29 22:14 EDT-0400  

along with

 

 

 

 

 

I WILL find your ITX build thread, and I WILL recommend the SIlverstone Sugo SG13B

 

Primary PC:

i7 8086k - EVGA Z370 Classified K - G.Skill Trident Z RGB - WD SN750 - Jedi Order Titan Xp - Hyper 212 Black (with RGB Riing flair) - EVGA G3 650W - dual booting Windows 10 and Linux - Black and green theme, Razer brainwashed me.

Draws 400 watts under max load, for reference.

 

How many watts do I need? ATX 3.0 & PCIe 5.0 spec, PSU misconceptions, protections explained, group reg is bad

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just keep in mind if you do not upgrade the build in the future it will be a terrible value , so long as you do eventually it will not be money wasted

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@emosun i have a 1060 that will be going in it somepoint early next year when i upgrade my own 

 

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14 hours ago, bigbadburgers said:

Looking to build a rig for my son for christmas but only have about $400us to spend on it. Will be used for school and light gamin.  Not really sure where to go from here new to the PCMR just built my first PC about 3 months ago so dont know a whole lot about older CPUs and what will work together any help would be much appreciated.

You could try the going for a pre-built Dell, Acer or HP and then add graphics card and better PSU depending on what games you play. There's a lot of videos about that in YouTube: https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=budget+optiplex&FORM=AWVR

 

This formula was quite popular before the crypto mining bubble burst where video cards were sold for ridiculous prices.

 

By the way when you say light gaming as in like eSports titles or something even simpler?

 

Also what resolution do you game at.

CPU: Sempron 2500+ / P4 2.8E / P4 2.6C / A64 x2 4000+ / E6420 / E8500 / i5-3470 / i7-3770
GPU: TNT2 M64 / Radeon 9000 / MX 440-SE / 7300GT / Radeon 4670 / GTS 250 / Radeon 7950 / 660 Ti

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22 minutes ago, grss1982 said:

before the crypto mining bubble where video cards were sold for ridiculous prices.

You mean during the crypto mining bubble?

I WILL find your ITX build thread, and I WILL recommend the SIlverstone Sugo SG13B

 

Primary PC:

i7 8086k - EVGA Z370 Classified K - G.Skill Trident Z RGB - WD SN750 - Jedi Order Titan Xp - Hyper 212 Black (with RGB Riing flair) - EVGA G3 650W - dual booting Windows 10 and Linux - Black and green theme, Razer brainwashed me.

Draws 400 watts under max load, for reference.

 

How many watts do I need? ATX 3.0 & PCIe 5.0 spec, PSU misconceptions, protections explained, group reg is bad

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1 minute ago, fasauceome said:

You mean during the crypto mining bubble?

I mean before the crypto mining bubble burst. Sorry. Edited. :)

CPU: Sempron 2500+ / P4 2.8E / P4 2.6C / A64 x2 4000+ / E6420 / E8500 / i5-3470 / i7-3770
GPU: TNT2 M64 / Radeon 9000 / MX 440-SE / 7300GT / Radeon 4670 / GTS 250 / Radeon 7950 / 660 Ti

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Just now, grss1982 said:

I mean before the crypto mining bubble burst. Sorry. Edited. :)

I am all about pointless semantics

I WILL find your ITX build thread, and I WILL recommend the SIlverstone Sugo SG13B

 

Primary PC:

i7 8086k - EVGA Z370 Classified K - G.Skill Trident Z RGB - WD SN750 - Jedi Order Titan Xp - Hyper 212 Black (with RGB Riing flair) - EVGA G3 650W - dual booting Windows 10 and Linux - Black and green theme, Razer brainwashed me.

Draws 400 watts under max load, for reference.

 

How many watts do I need? ATX 3.0 & PCIe 5.0 spec, PSU misconceptions, protections explained, group reg is bad

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15 hours ago, bigbadburgers said:

Looking to build a rig for my son for christmas but only have about $400us to spend on it. Will be used for school and light gamin.  Not really sure where to go from here new to the PCMR just built my first PC about 3 months ago so dont know a whole lot about older CPUs and what will work together any help would be much appreciated.

Build something like this instead....

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 3 2200G 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($98.49 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350 Pro4 ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($66.66 @ Newegg) 
Memory: Team - Vulcan 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($70.98 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Team - L5 LITE 3D 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($37.99 @ Newegg Business) 
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($58.89 @ OutletPC) 
Case: Cooler Master - MasterBox MB510L ATX Mid Tower Case  ($28.23 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: Corsair - CXM (2015) 450W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($21.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $383.23
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-10-30 13:19 EDT-0400

SSD TIER LIST

 

 

CPU - Ryzen 7 3700X

Mobo - ASRock X470 Taichi

Memory - G.Skill Trident Z RGB (8x2 3200MHz) 

Storage - Sabrent Rocket 1TB - Seagate Barracuda 2TB - WD Black 1TB

GPU - MSI GeForce GTX 980Ti LIGHTNING

Case - Fractal Design Meshify C

PSU - Super Flower Leadex II Gold 650W

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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
Type Item Price
CPU AMD - Ryzen 3 2200G 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor $96.99 @ SuperBiiz
Motherboard MSI - B450M PRO-M2 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard $64.99 @ Amazon
Memory G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2800 Memory $67.98 @ Newegg
Storage Samsung - 860 Evo 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive $55.99 @ Amazon
Storage Seagate - BarraCuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive $44.89 @ OutletPC
Case Thermaltake - Versa H15 MicroATX Mid Tower Case $34.44 @ Amazon
Power Supply Corsair - CX (2017) 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply $44.90 @ OutletPC
  Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts  
  Total $410.18
  Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-11-01 00:34 EDT-0400  

 

Rest In Peace my old signature...                  September 11th 2018 ~ December 26th 2018

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But if you can find a deal on a 2400G, or 8thread CPU, that'd be a great choice too.

8Threads is already the minimum preference for Many Games getting "Optimal Performance" where as 4Core4Threads can easily see High->100% loads already and GPU usage drops under demand.

 

But its likely the budget won't allow for it...

Maximums - Asus Z97-K /w i5 4690 Bclk @106.9Mhz * x39 = 4.17Ghz, 8GB of 2600Mhz DDR3,.. Gigabyte GTX970 G1-Gaming @ 1550Mhz

 

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