Gaming computer for under $500?

[Pirakahunter788]

I've been trying to find a decent desktop, or maybe even laptop, that I can use to play higher tier games like ArmA 2, Team Fortress 2, Nuclear Dawn, and whatnot, without my FPS wading into the single digits. While I know that a custom built computer can end up being cheaper and be more effective than a pre-built, I don't have the motivation to make one myself. Can anyone suggest some models that can run the above games decently, for up to or less than 500 bucks?

 

[Pirakahunter788]

Traditionally, any computer less than $500 that's prebuilt will have a terrible integrated graphics card which will not do justice to ARMA 2, the most demanding of the games you mention. Indeed, my old GeForce 8800 GTS G80 didn't even do justice to ARMA 2. You need a hefty system to play it adequately, and an even better one to play it comfortably. That means that at the $500 range, you pretty much have to prebuild it.

This, of course, concerns desktops rather than laptops, and with laptops, you have an even harder time with ARMA 2. The graphics card on my desktop is an ATI Radeon HD 4890, and runs ARMA 2 comfortably at 1280x1024, albeit not at top graphical standards. You'll probably want to match that, and doing that with a laptop requires money to be spent.

I see your points. However, I do not care for graphical quality. I usually run games at the lowest quality possible even if I can play them on the highest fine. If i'm looking for visually pleasing games, I'll buy them for my PS3, since I have a top tier HD television. When it comes to my PC, it's all about FPS for me. The smoother the game runs, the better. Ya know?

Also, kudos on the what looks like Dwarf Fortress avatar.

 

[Beautiful Tragedy]

that's gonna be tough..even a low end video card is gonna cost 75 tp 100 bucks... cpu, mobo, ram... adds up quick. check new egg or cyberpower... but i wouldn't hold my breath.

 

[Pirakahunter788]

I see your points. However, I do not care for graphical quality. I usually run games at the lowest quality possible even if I can play them on the highest fine. If i'm looking for visually pleasing games, I'll buy them for my PS3, since I have a top tier HD television. When it comes to my PC, it's all about FPS for me. The smoother the game runs, the better. Ya know?

A peculiar philosophy, if I do say so myself. A high-end PC can get far superior graphical performance, including frame rates, resolution, view distance, anti-aliasing and all the rest to a PS3, given that the PS3 has outdated graphics card technology and a processor architecture which is notoriously difficult to optimise for. If I had a top-tier television, I'd be plugging my desktop into it to get the best graphical performance that I could.

Again, though, even if you're looking for the lowest quality possible, ARMA 2 still requires a hefty graphics card, beyond that of what a prebuilt desktop or laptop typically comes with for $500. Increase your budget by about $100, and we might be getting somewhere; until then, you'd be stuck with Intel dedicated graphics, which suck.

Oh no, you don't have to tell me. I know full well a computer can get far higher performance than a console, and that the PS3 is hard to code for. But unlike with a PC, you don't have to compare parts to figure out what is the best for your money. The PS3 has a benchmark, and it does pretty damn well for what it cost me, which was $260. Considering all the other features it has, I'd say that's a plus.

Hmm. That might be problematic. Considering I don't really have more than 500 to spend on a new computer. However, let's say I did have about $600 to spend. Where can we go with that?

 

[Pirakahunter788]

that's gonna be tough..even a low end video card is gonna cost 75 tp 100 bucks... cpu, mobo, ram... adds up quick. check new egg or cyberpower... but i wouldn't hold my breath.

Yeah, that's the problem. I'd really like to play some of these really good games, DayZ in particular, but the highest end computer we have in the house is a Windows 7 laptop with family chipset graphics. It can barely run the game, needless to say.

 

[number2301]

I've had a quick look on Newegg and the cheapest thing I can find with a proper graphics card is this - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229285

AMD 4100
8GB RAM
6670 GPU
$540

That will just barely manage stuff like ARMA. So if you insist on buying pre-built, and buying at that budget, that machine may just about do what you want.

But you really want to spring a bit more. Even at $600 nothing seems to have a decent GPU.

 

[the doom cannon]

newegg often has deals on older gfx cards and processors, especially the amd athlon x2 processors and 8800 gfx series. The old 88-98 or the 200 series cards will play most current games, if only on minimum settings. I say find the lowest you're willing to go for performance for the games you want to play, then look for sales on parts around that performance level. It may not be the fastest way to do things, but it is by far the cheapest.

 

[Pirakahunter788]

I've had a quick look on Newegg and the cheapest thing I can find with a proper graphics card is this - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229285

AMD 4100
8GB RAM
6670 GPU
$540

That will just barely manage stuff like ARMA. So if you insist on buying pre-built, and buying at that budget, that machine may just about do what you want.

But you really want to spring a bit more. Even at $600 nothing seems to have a decent GPU.

This actually holds a lot of the stuff that I already had on my list for components. I might just end up going with this if I can't find anything better. Thank you.

 

[AWAR]

You might want to check out a Llano setup because you can have crossfire by adding one mid range AMD graphics card. Also, ARMA II is a horribly optimized game. I wouldn't consider it a benchmark for anything really.
Be careful on new Phenom FX CPUs. They need expensive motherboards with bios updates because they have BSOD problems with steam and previous generation six cores have higher performance at identical prices.

All things considered I think you should have a Llano-crossfire setup: AMD A8-3870K - AMD 6670 graphics.

 

[Vaishnav Reddy]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/build-gaming-pc-overclock,3159.html ( CHECK IT OUT ! )

The build you see above costs approximately $650 , but you can cut a lot of corners by getting a cheaper GPU like the HD 6850 , GTX 560 SE , HD 6770 and getting a cheaper case , and power supply if you decide to get a cheaper card ( which is recommended ) , and reusing your harddrive ( if you have one ).

Hell , you could use this build to play on your HDTV. It would be helpful if we could know what your monitor's native resolution is.

This is a DIY kit from newegg , you just take all these parts plus a video card to your local computer shop and ask them to put them together.