Budget Gaming PC at $400, can it be done?

[VampD]

Hey guys, a friend of mine wants an affordable gaming PC that game run MW2 and more importantly Bad company 2 semi decently, I'm thinking at least a 9800 GTX+/GTX 250 for the video card and a modern day semi decent processor. Definitely have to skimp as cheap as possible on the case and many of the other components to come under the $400 budget. Thanks in advance guys!

 

[aliasaid]

I'm guessing an OS is not in that budget...?

 

[orihS ‪‪‪Shiro]

Tell us all that is needed?
Monitor?
Keyboard? Mouse?
Operating System?
Optical Drive?
Hard Drive?

 

[aliasaid]

Newegg.com - POWERCOLOR AX4850 512MD3-PH Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, LED LCD TV, Digital Cameras and more!
Newegg.com - AMD Athlon II X2 240 Regor 2.8GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops
Newegg.com - Rosewill R223-P-BK 120mm Fan ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases
Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER Elite 460 RS-460-PSAR-J3 460W ATX12V V2.31 Power Supply - Power Supplies
Newegg.com - SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD253GJ 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

i think these components come out to exactly $400 including shipping. But no optical drive.. see if you can get one from somewhere else. And of course no monitor, keyboard, mouse, or OS.

 

[orihS ‪‪‪Shiro]

Newegg.com - Rosewill Blackbone Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases
Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Newegg.com - BIOSTAR A785G3 AM3 AMD 785G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - AMD Motherboards
Newegg.com - POWERCOLOR AX4850 512MD3-PH Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards
Newegg.com - hec HP585D RETAIL 585W ATX12V Power Supply - Power Cord Included - Power Supplies
Newegg.com - Kingston 2GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Desktop Memory Model KVR1333D3/2GR - Desktop Memory
Newegg.com - AMD Athlon II X2 240 Regor 2.8GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops

This comes to $390~ after shipping.
The main differences between this build and Aliasaid's are the 500Gb Caviar Blue, and having 2Gb of RAM vs 4Gb of RAM.


Also, could you tell us what resolution your friend plans to play those games on?
As a cheaper graphics card can play MW2 smoothly and BC2 smoothly at low enough resolutions.

If your friend is playing at a resolution LOWER than 1680x1050 -> I.E. (1600x900, 1440x900, 1280x1024, 1280x720, 1024x768) then a 4670 could handle those games for him.

Cite:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETCST1UlHIo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGwhnOyPXw4

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131179&cm_re=4670-_-14-131-179-_-Product

In which case you can swap that in for the 4850 and save some $$.



Also the GT 240 can run BC 2 and MW 2 pretty well.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814261059&cm_re=gt_240-_-14-261-059-_-Product

CITE:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/battlefield-bad-company-2_7.html#sect0
http://www.techspot.com/review/223-gainward-geforce-gt-240-review/page5.html


And lastly the 5570 looks like a viable card for this purpose as well at lower resolutions.

Performance wise it's like 4850>GT 240>4670>5570
At least for MW 2 and BC 2 overall.

 

[VampD]

sorry I forgot to mention not to include OS, monitor, mice, keyboard in the price, great builds so far. Also he just needs 1 optical drive and a limited hard drive with at least 300 gb. I thought AMD would be a better choice for the low end spectrum in terms of processor

 

[Muffin Man]

Newegg.com - AMD Athlon II X2 240 Regor 2.8GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, LED LCD TV, Digital Cameras and more!
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, LED LCD TV, Digital Cameras and more!
Newegg.com - POWERCOLOR AX4850 512MD3-PH Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards
Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Blue WD3200AAKS 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Newegg.com - ASUS Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - CD / DVD Burners(included optical drive *gasp* )

totals $418 + shipping.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

+1 for Muffin Mans build.

 

[orihS ‪‪‪Shiro]

+1 for Muffin Mans build.

I would have said the same thing if he hadn't gone with Antec.
bleh...

Here's a build that's a combo of Muffin Man's and mine.
Because Antec is icky. <---My opinion, don't take this as fact.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.356940
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103688
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817339012
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131162
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136073
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147023
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151192


$414+Shipping
Comes to about...
$422~

Includes a DVD burner, 500Gb HDD, 4Gb DDR2 RAM, Athlon II X2 240, ATI 4850, Rosewill Blackbone Case, 585w PSU

 

[Puddle Jumper]

I would have said the same thing if he hadn't gone with Antec.
bleh...

Here's a build that's a combo of Muffin Man's and mine.
Because Antec is icky. <---My opinion, don't take this as fact.

Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, LED LCD TV, Digital Cameras and more!
Newegg.com - AMD Athlon II X2 240 Regor 2.8GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops
Newegg.com - hec HP585D RETAIL 585W ATX12V Power Supply - Power Cord Included - Power Supplies
Newegg.com - POWERCOLOR AX4850 512MD3-PH Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards
Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Newegg.com - Rosewill Blackbone Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases
Newegg.com - SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA CD/DVD Burner - CD / DVD Burners


$414+Shipping
Comes to about...
$422~

Includes a DVD burner, 500Gb HDD, 4Gb DDR2 RAM, Athlon II X2 240, ATI 4850, Rosewill Blackbone Case, 585w PSU

Antec power supplies are much better quality than Hec's. While the case is largely personal opinion the Antec 200 is very well made, has a bottom mounted power supply which is preferable imo, and offers good cooling ability for the price.

I stand by my original pick.