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Thanks for the links. This would be for my son and he does want to get a good machine, but not spend an arm and a leg.
Dan
 
Yep, and Tom's Hardware is a great resource. If you go into their forums and list your budget and preferences they will tell you exactly what parts to buy and link each one to a website with a good price.

Most die hard PC gamers will say you need an Intel CPU like the i5. It's true that Intel makes the best CPUs for gaming but they are significantly more expensive than an AMD alternative. When I built my first gaming PC last year I went with an AMD FX6300 6 core processor. Its a 3.5GHz but it's a beast for overclocking. I was able to get it up to 4.3GHz and have it stay stable and relatively cool in benchmarks. I mostly did this to see what the limits would be for the future when games start to require more speed. I put it back to stock for now because paired with my AMD Radeon 7850 and 8GB of ram I can play everything I have tried at high settings and 1080p resolution.

I'm not saying not to use Intel CPUs and Nvidia GPUs if you want the best available components. By no means do I have the best available. I'm sure a few people on this site have gaming PCs that would put mine to shame. I did use AMD parts to save some money and still build a solid PC that is always hooked up to my main TV and surround sound via HDMI. I am very happy with my setup and like I said, I have been able to run all of my games at high settings with smooth framerates so far.
 
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CPLGGXM/?tag=satell01-20

One more thing... Most people would recommend a CPU and a separate GPU. They would be right. However, AMD's new APUs (accelerated processing unit) are supposed to be pretty good for a budget gaming PC. The one I linked at the top of this post is the A10. It's a 4.1GHz quad core processor with a Radeon HD8670D GPU built into the same chip for $130.

It's not going to give you the same performance as the beefier GPUs but apparently they have ok gaming performance. They are supposed to be a lot better than intel HD integrated graphics for gaming.
 
When I rebuilt my PC, I got the i5 2500k and the nVidia 460 SEv2. At the time they were rated best bang for buck, although not the most powerful. A year later they're still running great, and I haven't even overclocked the processor yet. If you decide to do the separate CPU/GPU here's a few suggestions:

1. Make sure you have enough fans. A standard PC case likely won't have enough and you may run hot. I'd recommend adding 1 extra fan to the interior of the machine to circulate more air.

2. Make sure you have enough power. You'll probably need at least 700 Watts, and make sure you add up what all your components need or else your computer won't start.

3. Although it's not as fun of an OS to use, apparently Windows 8 is best in terms of gaming performance versus 7.
 
yourbeliefs said:
When I rebuilt my PC, I got the i5 2500k and the nVidia 460 SEv2. At the time they were rated best bang for buck, although not the most powerful. A year later they're still running great, and I haven't even overclocked the processor yet. If you decide to do the separate CPU/GPU here's a few suggestions:

1. Make sure you have enough fans. A standard PC case likely won't have enough and you may run hot. I'd recommend adding 1 extra fan to the interior of the machine to circulate more air.

2. Make sure you have enough power. You'll probably need at least 700 Watts, and make sure you add up what all your components need or else your computer won't start.

3. Although it's not as fun of an OS to use, apparently Windows 8 is best in terms of gaming performance versus 7.
Click to expand...

I put Windows 8 on my gaming build last year. It was a little strange at first but now I barely even notice the OS. I almost always just boot up and go straight into Steam. Outside of the initial setup, I haven't spent much time screwing around in the OS.

I would still recommend a separate GPU but if he is on a limited budget he could always go with an A10 APU now and then add a discrete GPU later when he has more money. I recently put an A4 APU in a computer I was building specifically to be a DVR and serve media to the rest of the devices around my house. I was going cheap and it packed a CPU and graphics into a $45 package. It seems to be plenty for the purpose I built it for.

Anyways, the reason I mention that is that the APUs come with a list of AMD GPUs they can be paired with for dual graphics support. When he has some money saved up for a better GPU he could get one on that list and have even better performance. You can always use a GPU that isn't on that list and have it take over all the graphics duties but it's another thing to consider. The more I think about it the more appealing APUs seem for budget builds.

If he has extra money laying around and wants to get into the tinkering part of the hobby he can skip the APU and go with an Intel i5 or something in the AMD FX series. Those are much better for overclocking and things like that. If he wants to overclock the i5 model number needs to end with a K and the AMD FX CPU should be a black edition.
 
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avg1joe said:
I have an A8 in my laptop. It has run all the games I've thrown at it but I don't play the latest and greatest.
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Which games have you run on it? These APUs are supposed to be somewhere between Intel HD integrated graphics and a stand alone GPU. I'm just curious what exactly that means in terms of which games you can play. I would assume it can handle most indie/smaller games and older games without breaking a sweat. My 2 year old i3 laptop can even do that.

What about newer games though? I'm guessing games like Battlefield 4, Skyrim, Borderlands 2, etc would probably at least be playable on low settings. I don't personally know anyone who is using these for gaming on PC so I'm curious what kind of performance people are getting.
 
Ok, thanks to all. My son ended up buying an Asus with A10 6700 with HD8670d 16g ram, also an Asus monitor 23.6". He only plays rFactor, and was stunned at how much better the performance is compared to a late model Toshiba laptop. I cautioned him that if he was to get a separate card he would need to upgrade his power supply, and add more cooling.
Dan
 

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