$400 budget

[pikkur]

I want to build a gaming computer and I have only $400 budget. Can somebody help me with which parts to buy?

[shadowpr]

it might be hard to acually build a computer with only a $400 budget. do you have anything already that wouldn't need to be bought?

what kind of games are we talking about?

you might actually be better off with just trying to save up a bit more then building, or looking at a pre-built computer from dell or something.

[pikkur]

Well maybe I can use my old harddisk and I mean games like Civilization IV...

[gadgeteer99]

Motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131178
$100
Processor:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116048
$100
Ram:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231088
$55
Video Card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130035
$136

do you need a case, power supply, optical drive, or monitor?

keep in mind, I was trying to stay under $400 so that system isn't the best out there. I'd just wait like Shadowpr suggested and save up just a few hundred more for a system.

[pikkur]

I need case, power supply, and monitor too. And an AMD would be Ok for me..

[pikkur]

I think I'll add $100 to the budget. Would you help me how to use it?

[gadgeteer99]

dear lord, $500 for the works.....

Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811128025 $31

Monitor: you'll be better off buying a cheap crt from wal-mart or a like store. also, check your newspaper.

switching to an AMD would more than likely not change anything at this price level.


actually, go here: http://stores.ebay.com/OnlinePC-Computers

do configure your own AMD or Intel and set it up how you want...you do need to save some money for your monitor though.

[Gen.Ben]

Wow, even $500 is an extremely tight budget including a monitor, I'll see what I can put together though :)

Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130122 $44

CPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116036 $95

Memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231088 $55

Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150185 $120

Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147074 $16

Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817104935 $50

DVD Burner/Reader
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827152079 $34

Hard Disk

Use the one you have - $0


Monitor
Maybe you can chip in a few more dollars and get a nice 15 or 17 inch LCD

The total without the monitor would be $414 if you used your current hard disk.

[pikkur]

Thanks guys for helping me but I have to leave now. I'll be back in a few hours so any other suggestions would be nice

[flanzig1]

Another cost to consider is the OS, XP Home OEM is around $90. If you have XP on a prebuild PC like Dell or HP, you can't reuse it in a home built PC.

[Cricket]

$500 for a gaming rig with everything included (monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers and operating system)? Can't be done unless you buy really cheap crappy parts. My suggestion is to keep saving until you have at least $800 to a $1000 to build with. The more money you can spend on the computer the better it will be.

:) Cricket

[blue60007]

Agreed - it'll be tough to build even a basic office computer for $500. The OS and a decent video card will take up half the budget.