Building a budget gaming computer

One of the most often asked questions I get from customers in my retail electronics job is “what kind of computer would you recommend for games “? Honestly, none of the ones we sell. The prebuilt desktop systems while most have a good CPU and nice amount of RAM, they lack severely on the GPU (graphics processing unit or video card) mostly using integrated Intel or Nvidia options that are old and not up to the task of running modern graphically intensive games. Like Crysis, World of War Craft, or Starcraft 2.

It is with this in mind that I am writing this article on PC gaming systems. I am starting with this budget build I'm looking to get under $700 USD for this build. Most people assume building a computer it a difficult task, it’s not. The hard part is researching the different parts to find that sweet spot of price to performance ratio. That having been said, let’s get on with the builds!

For the entry level or casual gamer the price will be as cheap as possible, but not so cheap as to be un-useable. This system will focus on bang for your buck. So AMD based is probably the way to go.

First and foremost, in my opinion is the case. Some people don’t realize how important a case is to a computer. It is the body, just like your body it helps regulate heat, and protects the internal parts. While this is a budget build I would not cheap out to much here. So I am going to suggest using a mid-tower with good reviews and ventilation. This can be found in the NZXT Gamma Classic for $35.99 plus shipping. While there are cheaper cases, this one comes with a 120mm case fan and provides for 5 more, as well as water cooling and has been designed for the lengthier gaming oriented graphics cards. Not bad for a sub $50 case. I paid much more than that for my current case and it has lesser fans.

Next up we need to establish the base of the system, the motherboard and CPU (central processing unit or processor). If the case is the body, the motherboard is the central nervous system, and the CPU is the brain. Some will argue that the new Intel core i3 is a good base for a budget minded gaming system. Its only real drawback is that it’s a dual core and $20 minimum over the AMD Phenom II x4 925 which is a quad core at almost 3GHz per core.(2.8GHz x4 vs the i3 at 3.1 x2) At this stage in computing I almost don’t really see a reason for dual core, when quad core is cheaper and offers the same or better overall every day performance. So we’ll be using the AMD based solution. To keep that CPU from overheating we will use the COOLER MASTER Hyper N 520 RR-920-N520-GP at right around $30 it has a dual fan push/pull setup this will provide adequate cooling for our purposes.

Now for the motherboard, as I said before, think of it as the central nervous system of your PC. For this I have selected the BIOSTAR A870U3 it supports USB 3.0 SATA 6Gbs, and 16GB of RAM all for under $70. Speaking of ram G.Skill G.SKILL F3-10666CL9D-4GBNQ is what I have selected for this build up. I have used their RAM in the past and for $39.99 and 4 Gigabytes of DDR3 1333Mhz for a very nice price.

The next item to consider is the video card. This being a very budget minded build we will use the MSI R5770 Hawk for $139 it is direct X 11 compliant which is the new standard for most all new games. The overall performance of this card is acceptable for most casual gamers, it should play almost any game at moderate graphics settings.

To install games you will need a CD/DVD-ROM drive, not much to really say on this one so we’ll just use this standard LITE-ON CD/DVD Burner at under $20 bucks it’s a steal. Now what about something to install those games onto? That would be the hard drive.

The hard drive is a critical part of a system, it not only is your storage space but also the medium from which you games load. The faster the hard drive the faster that the games can load. The best are Solid State drives, but they are also the most expensive and can easily be over the budget of this system for a single drive. We will focus on a standard SATA drive. The best I have come across is the Western Digital Caviar Black WD5002AALX. It is a 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s with an average seek time of 4.2ms (that’s milliseconds folks) and the best part at roughly $60 bucks you get a 5 year warranty! If you find yourself short on storage space down the line you can always upgrade to a second drive.

We are nearing the end of this journey, the only thing left would be the PSU (power supply unit) this is another critical component, it supplies to power to every part of your new system. (except the monitor or externally powered devices like printers) For this system a good 550-650 watt will be more than enough and should cover a few upgrades later on down the road. After much though and my personal experience with the brand, Antec BP550 Plus 550W PSU is as good as will be needed for this build. And at $54.99 not a bad price either. That covers the hardware needed to make a budget gaming tower.

The last thing to get is a copy of windows. Windows 7 home premium OEM is $99 bucks. That brings our total price to under $650 dollars. This does not include a mouse, monitor, keyboard, or speakers. I could have made this build cheaper using a lower quality case, RAM, PSU, smaller hard drive, etc. But that would not be an entry level gaming computer in my mind. This is my take on a decent entry level system. Thoughts and comments are welcomed and encouraged. I will bring out a mid-level system build up soon, and a top of the line after that. I plan on also just for fun making a over the top no limit on price system too. Keep an eye out for them. You'll notice that all my links are from newegg.com that is because they are the only place I get my computer parts from 90% of the time. I get no financial compensation from newegg.

*edited 22-jun-2011 changed suggestion for case.