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possible to build a gaming rig for under 600?
i been gone from gaming for a bit and wanted to try out some of the new games but i dont want to spend a bunch to see if ill still like it.
i am way behind on hardware and basically clueless what it takes anymore.
would it be better to buy a cheap gaming system or buy parts and os?
any help would be appreciated 
Comments
This configuration on www.ibuypower.com comes out to $670 without shipping, but it does include Windows 7 pre-installed. A true gaming desktop for under $600 sounds very unlikely to me unless you were to buy all of the parts individually and on sale. Two big factors in terms of price are the Processor and Graphics Card. The AMD FX-4300 CPU is a low-mid level gaming capable CPU, and the Nvidia 640 GPU is low-mid grade as well, but still capable of playing most games on lower settings. If you are not looking to spend a fortune then this is a good place to start.
Case
AZZA Armour Gaming Case - Blue
Processor
AMD FX-4300 CPU (4x 3.80GHz/4MB L2 Cache)
Processor Cooling
Certified CPU Fan and Heatsink
Memory
8 GB [4 GB X2] DDR3-1600 Memory Module - Corsair or Major Brand
Video Card
NVIDIA GeForce GT 640 - 2GB
Motherboard
Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3 -- AMD 970
Power Supply
500 Watt - Standard
Primary Hard Drive
1 TB HARD DRIVE -- 32M Cache, 7200 RPM, 6.0Gb/s - Single Drive
Optical Drive
24X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive - Black
Sound Card
3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard
Network Card
Onboard LAN Network (Gb or 10/100)
Operating System
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium + Office Starter 2010 (Includes basic versions of Word and Excel) 64-Bit
Sure, it's possible, at least if you don't also need new peripherals.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113280
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130662
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1224797.20-231-455
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147153
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151117
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151256
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136769
That comes to $533, including shipping and before rebates. I was trying to stay under $600, but that leaves room for some faster components, so here's something a little more expensive:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113327
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1224799.13-130-679
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820161452
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161403
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147153
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151256
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136769
That comes to $599, including shipping and before rebates. So it does stay inside of $600, but barely. The second build doesn't get you as good of memory or a power supply as the first, though the memory difference doesn't matter if you're not using integrated graphics. The second build makes room for a faster processor and a decent enough discrete video card, which is why it costs more.
Not only do you go way over budget even without shipping, but the power supply is worthless junk, so you'd need to spend even more to replace that. If you're not going to get a discrete video card that is faster than integrated graphics by enough to actually have a point, then you might as well save some money and go with integrated graphics instead.
thanks Quiz. Would the vidcard be the thing to upgrade further for better performance?
For strickly gaming yes in the case of that system a video cards upgrade would be the place to look first. HOWEVER any meaningful upgrade to the video card would almost certainly need to accompanied by an upgrade to the power supply. If you are considering buying a $600 gaming system with the thought of upgrading you will need to spend a little more on the power supply to begin with. And I'm not talking about a LOT more wattage as people are building overclocked Intel i7-3770k and Nvidia Titan based system on a 450 watt power supply. The power supply in question however is an 80 Plus Gold made by a very reputable OEM. I would suggust looking into a Seasonic 520 or 550 watt 80 Plus Bronze PSU if you want to upgrade later.
This.If you get a prebuilt rig then it's almost certain you will get a power supply that only barely covers the power needs of it's default parts.So Power Supply is the first thing you should upgrade to prepare for serious upgrades in the future.
If you're willing to spend more to get something better, then you should start with a bigger budget. Don't ask for a $600 build and then try to swap out a few pieces to make an $800 build out of it. Look how much changed above to go from a $533 build to a $600 build, for example.
This is good advice.
You may want to stretch the budget just a little ( $20-$40 ) more and get a power supply now that will handle a future graphics card upgrade. A good 500-550w PSU will allow for the gpu to be upgraded in the future. I personally use a Seasonic 550w in two systems and they work fine. It may cost a little more on the front end, but whenever you do get ready to buy a new GPU the power supply wont be an issue.
My 2cp
Not to sound like a dick or anything but a simple answer to your question is no.
If you only have 600 buck to work with, my suggestion is forget about PC gaming and just use that loot to buy yourself a
PS3/360/WiiU with some nice controllers and a headset and call it a day.
PC gaming is an expensive habit, sure you can play in mediocrity if you like, but most of us have GPU's that run close to what you are trying to build and entire pc for. I understand budget building, really I do, and I also understand most people aren't made of money, but then again like a crack addict you also need to be able to support your habit.
Being able to constantly keep up with PC gaming is a chore, every year they advance graphics and system requirements required to keep up. My fear is you are going to dump 600 bucks on low-mid grade crap and in 6 months time that pc you just paid for isn't going to keep up.
Like i said, go get yourself a nice console and save yourself the headache.
I would have to somewhat agree with this. If all you need a PC for is gaming then a console may be the way to go. The new PS4s should be coming out late this year.
If you want a PC to use for PC stuff ( excel, streaming, work related projects, ect ) then it is possible to build a decent PC that can also play games for around $600. A $600 pc will lose out to the new consoles tho. But it will play games at middle of the road settings.
If you already have a PC around that does what you need it to do except game on then I personally would consider waiting and buying a next gen console. You stated you were not sure if you were going to get back into gaming. If casual gaming is what you aim is more so than a PC then consider the option of a console. For casual games they are hard to beat IMO.
Good luck with whatever you choose
I also do not want to sound like a dick but no. I would not consider any PC under $1000 a gaming rig. I been building computers since the late 90's I am also an IT guy. Yea you can use old PC parts that were considered gaming parts 3 or 4 years ago however that is not a gaming rig. A Gaming rig is much of todays top parts.
If you want to build yourself a gaming rig my suggestion is save $50 to $100 a month if possible and every 2 years build a new one. That is what I am use to doing, though now with having a 3rd kid on the way I am no longer going to gaming rigs. I can get away now with key components for MMO gaming. Like an SSD hard drive, 32 GB of memory, 1 High end card or 2 SLI cards. I am done with the days of overclocking and burning up a rig in 12 to 24 months.
Does it have to be a pc you built? If not why limit yourself to a new rig. You said its for a few games you would like to play. Newegg and Tigerdirect both sale refurbished computers. Why not buy a refurbished one? They usually come with the same repair/replacement guaranteee as new machines. The lap top i bought while no where near gaming able or top of the line was originally like $1200-$1400 and i got it used for $700. If you are concerned about the pc being used you can buy the extra year or two extended warantees on them as well.
Just another option to explore.
There are websites you can check out for ideas of what you want. Check out some fo their PC builder sites and see if anything strikes your fancy. Then after you know what you want and what's in your price range, search for the best prices and either have someone build it or do it yourself. That's what i did.
Now I don't have the best gaming rig, but it more than makes me happy. It will run most games, Skyrim, Guild Wars 2, The Secret World on High to Ultra High settings. The only thing it struggles with is anything using the CryEngine like Mechwarrior, but it will run it on Medium settings very well.
AMD FX(tm)-6300 Six-Core Processor
8-Gig RAM
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti BOOST
GIGABYTE GA-970A-D3 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
Cooler Master Elite 430 - Mid Tower Computer Case with All-Black Interior
WD Blue 1 TB Desktop Hard Drive: 3.5 Inch, 7200 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64 MB Cache
Win-7 64 bit
I bought the entire thing for less than 700 dollars, with all the rest thrown in, wi-fi card, DvD drive, USB card, power supply.
If you still can't find a decent system that you like in your price range, and I know I'll get flamed for this, but Wal-Mart actually has a PC builder on their website provided by cyberpowerpc.com. If you have them deliver to the store and then pick it up yourself you pay around 5$ for shipping. You can get a decent PC for around 500-600$, nothing mind blowing or anything, but serviceable.
A real gaming rig I doubt you can get for that kind of money, but it depends on what you want. If you just want a pc the can run modern games at low setting it can be done .. se examples above posts.
8G ram and a mediocro video card for gaming?, nah save up another half year and get a real machine for 1000$+
Also what is your definiton of a pc, is it inluding win7 (steer clear of win8), is it including a monitor (that will cost you) ?, including a decent gaming mouse ?
Anyways, I would recommend:
16g or 32g ram, 400+$ gfx, good quality power supply (don't be cheap on this part), and try to not buy some cheap-line complete solution that shows the same numbers as more expensive stuff, it is always lower quality or some other hidden technical features.
"I am my connectome" https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HA7GwKXfJB0
Would win7 be the better option over 8?
That is very much a personal opinion at this point. Windows 8 does have the advantage of using less overall system resources to perform the same functions as Windows 7 HOWEVER most people who use Windows 8 to play video games do so while using many aftermarket tools to get it to run like a Windows 7 environment in the first place.
Personally I just don't see the appeal of Windows 8 for a gaming PC at all. Why would I want to go through the hassle to make it perform like Windows 7 when I can just pick up Windows 7 for the same price anyway? Sure it's more efficient from a system resource standpoint but it's not significant enough to matter for most users. If you feel you might take advantage of the additional functions provided by Windows 8 over Windows 7 then in that case it would be the better option, be aware however those that fall into this category are in the minority but a pretty decent margin. To the extent that Microsoft will be adding back in a bunch a features from Windows 7 they removed in 8 due to customer complaints, when this will happen though I don't know.
That's a matter of opinion. They're really not that different from each other. Technically they're Windows NT 6.1 and 6.2, respectively. 7 and 8 are just marketing names.
A Radeon HD 7750 with GDDR5 is a decently capable video card. While it is the bottom of the line for the current generation apart from low end DDR3 stuff, that's partially because integrated graphics have gotten vastly more capable, so AMD and Nvidia don't feel any need to make new really low end cards anymore. A Radeon HD 7750 is roughly equivalent to a previous generation Radeon HD 5770/6770 or GeForce GTX 550 Ti. The current generation Nvidia equivalent is a GeForce GTX 650.
A Radeon HD 7750 will run most games at high settings and some even at max settings. You may be stuck playing a handful of games at moderate settings, but it would take inexcusably bad programming for a game to be unable to run smoothly on a Radeon HD 7750 even at low settings.
I agree.....I'd say if you want to build a gaming pc you would really have to start around $1k.
The system's price will revolve around a Good quality Power Supply, the CPU of your choice and the best video card you can fit into your price range.
using what ive already got i am looking at around 400-450
Exactly what parts are you looking at reusing? If you're going to reuse some old components that would normally be replaced upon buying a new computer, you should state that up front so we can build around it and know how much more room that makes in the budget. Or, in some cases, point it that you can't or shouldn't reuse the old parts.
i have a case, dvd drive and a hd i can probably use... i prefer to save the money rather than increase compoenent cost. I may still buy all new parts, i was just replying to the person who used their old stuff.
thanks agin for all the information