• Stumped trying to find a low budget desktop
    8 replies, posted
So recently after giving my laptop a tour on Shadow of Mordor I decided it's time to look into getting an actual desktop. I've gone between friends trying to find advice but everyone keeps contradicting one another and telling me to look for one thing when the next tells me that's not important, focus on this other thing. I know next to nothing about graphics cards and processors and motherboards and all that so my results are somewhat lackluster. I've really been trying to figure this out, it's just not working. I want to squeeze as much bang for buck as I can without going over my (strict) budget and without buying something less powerful than what I've got. With regards to a monitor, keyboard and mouse, they don't actually need to be included. 1080p 60hz monitors are kind of expensive from what I've seen, so I'm figuring if I don't buy a desktop+monitor bundle and just buy the desktop and hook it up to my TV I'm good. I hook my laptop up to my TV all the time. I've looked into building my own PC but after watching several videos of people doing it I've decided it's too intimidating and it's just not something I'm going to be comfortable with. I've found one desktop that I think looks good and is right on the line of my budget ($430 is the most I can spend, bottom line) but I'm not sure if it's powerful enough to fit my needs. [URL="http://www.amazon.com/M32BF-US005O-Desktop-A6-6400K-Processor-Windows/dp/B00LSRW8P4"](This is the desktop on Amazon.)[/URL] It doesn't come with built in Wifi but a Wifi adapter can be bought for $10 on Amazon so that's not as big of a deal. I don't know if that computer fits what I need, though. I'm looking to run modern titles at mid-to-high settings at 720p around the 60fps range. I'm not really huge when it comes to 1080p, I play 1080p on certain games on my Laptop when I hook it up to my TV and I play the same games in 720p when I'm not hooked up and it really doesn't make a difference to me. My current laptop (I'll post specs farther down of what I have right now) runs Shadow of Mordor at 30fps as long as I render at 33% native resolution with all settings on the lowest. It looks so pixelated it's hard to distinguish what's going on and I'm having a hard time actually playing the game. I played Metro 2033 at native on the normal setting and that was fine. Last Light I played on the lowest settings in DirectX11 and again, averaging 30-40FPS. I'd like to have Metro be games I can play on high or very high at 720p and keep up 60fps, and Shadow of Mordor is a game I'd like to play at 720p with at least 30 on medium settings. I have no idea how to tell if a computer's capable of any of this, specifically the one I was looking at. I don't know what to look for, I don't know where to look. I'm in America, to mention. I can't buy from England etc. My current system; [CODE]Processor Information: Vendor: AuthenticAMD CPU Family: 0x12 CPU Model: 0x1 CPU Stepping: 0x0 CPU Type: 0x0 Speed: 1597 Mhz 4 logical processors 4 physical processors HyperThreading: Unsupported FCMOV: Supported SSE2: Supported SSE3: Supported SSSE3: Unsupported SSE4a: Supported SSE41: Unsupported SSE42: Unsupported Network Information: Network Speed: Operating System Version: Windows 7 (64 bit) NTFS: Supported Crypto Provider Codes: Supported 311 0x0 0x0 0x0 Video Card: Driver: AMD Radeon HD 6620G DirectX Driver Name: aticfx32.dll Driver Version: 14.301.1001.0 DirectX Driver Version: 8.17.10.1315 Driver Date: 15 Sept 2014 OpenGL Version: 4.4 Desktop Color Depth: 32 bits per pixel Monitor Refresh Rate: 60 Hz DirectX Card: AMD Radeon HD 6620G VendorID: 0x1002 DeviceID: 0x9641 Number of Monitors: 1 Number of Logical Video Cards: 1 Crossfire Detected (2 GPUs) Primary Display Resolution: 1366 x 768 Desktop Resolution: 1366 x 768 Primary Display Size: 18.98" x 10.67" (21.73" diag) 48.2cm x 27.1cm (55.2cm diag) Primary Bus Type Not Detected Primary VRAM: 512 MB Supported MSAA Modes: 2x 4x 8x Memory: RAM: 5607 Mb[/CODE] It runs on AMD Dual Graphics. AMD Radeon HD 7400M Series (0x6760) and AMD Radeon HD 6620G (0x9641) according to RadeonPro's OverDrive page. (I don't use overdrive.) So all in all, is this computer I'm looking at something that'll last me well enough and run today's games on mid-to-high settings with 30-60fps? What should I be looking at when buying a new computer? If this is a horrible selection, why so? Does anyone have any better suggestions for a computer, as well? I've got next to no idea what I'm doing, honestly, and I'm worried about misspending my money. Budget is $430, buying from America, I just can't build my own.
Do you have some kind of medical reasoning as to why you can't build your own computer? You should also just wait and save up. Patience is not one of my virtues, either, but if you spent that 430 right now instead of saving up to like 600-700, you would simply be wasting it.
Seriously, building a computer saves you a bunch of money. It's the way to go if you're on a budget. I agree with Dan though, save up until you have a budget of 700 or so
The build the OP listed on amazon is actually a really good deal. To build it in equivalent parts, you'd have a hard time. I made a quick build with the same CPU, quantity of RAM, drive size and OS and came out about $15 over. I could go cheaper, but then I'd start sacrificing quality. It also looks like that machine has an additional discrete GPU but it doesn't say what it is. It'd be a good deal if you had nothing and you just needed something quick. BUT, it wouldn't be that much better than your current machine and it wouldn't do what you wanted really. I would save up at least $600-700 to build a good game rig that will last awhile.
Unfortunately my budget's pretty strict and it's not going to be shifting anytime soon, so the $700 range is too far for me to stretch for. As for building, I've spent time looking into it, but again it's not something I'm not personally comfortable with. Shadow of Mordor is somewhat the game I'm using as a sort of benchmark for comparing (probably not the best decision, though, for all I know). It seems to be more demanding than any other game I've picked up so far, and in the system requirements under processor it says it needs at least a 3.4GHz processor, with a 4.0GHz recommended. The suggested one has 3.9GHz, and that's mainly what I'm going off. I've got no idea how well it actually compares to my current laptop.
I was fucking terrified before my first build and then some a little into it but then I realised how easy it was ( it's rediculously easy.) don't be scared of it. It is almost easier than Lego because there is less parts. Also save up to 600-700$ [editline]15th October 2014[/editline] That amazon build won't give you much of a boost in Fps, if at all, sorry.
Right, I've been doing a bit more looking into actually building instead of getting a pre-built and I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it still, but it's looking like the best route, apparently. I did a bit of talking with a friend who's done this before and they gave me a suggested build to fit my budget and my requirements, I figured I'd pass it by here for extra opinions. (And I was told to ask someone else to make sure it's all compatible with one another, they haven't built a computer in two years.) My shopping list; [img]http://i.imgur.com/yq3ZRYe.png[/img] Is it good, or not? And if not, what's not good and why it's not good is always helpful, it allows learning. Links to the actual pages; [URL="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147023"]Rosewill Blackbone Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case [/URL] [URL="http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1901937"]ASUS A55BM-E FM2+ / FM2 AMD A55 (Hudson D2) Micro ATX AMD Motherboard[/URL] [URL="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127763"]MSI R7 250 2GD3 OC Radeon R7 250 2GB 128-Bit DDR3 PCI Express 3.0 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card[/URL] [URL="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104448"]HyperX Fury Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model HX316C10FK2/8 [/URL] [URL="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026"]CORSAIR CX series CX430 430W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply[/URL] (430W for maximum power) [URL="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236339"]Western Digital WD Blue WD10EZEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive - OEM[/URL]
I'd go for a super-beefy APU with really fast RAM, and then throw a proper GPU (R9 270X or R9 280) in later on.
[QUOTE=nikomo;46247330]I'd go for a super-beefy APU with really fast RAM, and then throw a proper GPU (R9 270X or R9 280) in later on.[/QUOTE] Yeah. If you're on a budget, ditch the graphics card and grab a Kaveri for now. [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113359[/url] They will definitely handle 720p, but also 1080p depending on the game/settings. Haven't played SoM, but I imagine this could run it with the settings dialed back. [editline]16th October 2014[/editline] There's a bundle deal for the 7850K with just about everything you need, for 376$: [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1705017[/url] [editline]16th October 2014[/editline] And there are other combos if you'd like to look through them: [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductCombos.aspx?Item=N82E16819113359&SubCategory=343&SortField=0&PageSize=10&page=1[/url]
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