It never hurts to set new challenges and today we wanted to go a step further to complete our “Building a gaming PC series”, opting this time for a very small budget.
Is it possible to build a gaming PC for 300 Dollars? At first glance it might seem impossible, but the truth is that yes, you can, and in fact we can build one capable of running most games, keeping the resolution and quality levels within limits, of course, so that the rate of frames per second is acceptable.
We will not lie, in this day and age saving is very important and you have to watch very carefully what you buy. So without further ado, let’s begin.
1 – PROCESSOR AND GPU : AMD A10- 5800K; 109 dollars.
With such a tight budget, AMD’s APUs become the best choice, no doubt.
The A10-5800K is just one step behind the 6000 series, but the performance difference between them is not justified to pay more for the A10-6800K.
The A10 -5800 features a 4-core CPU running at 3.8 GHz in normal mode and 4.2 GHz in turbo mode. Its basis is the Piledriver architecture, superior to Bulldozer in every regard. The lack of L3 cache is sad, but for this money you can’t really find anything better.
Graphics-wise, it features a Radeon HD 7660D which supports DirectX 11, enough to run all current games at medium-high, depending on the game, and resolutions of 1366 x 768.
2 – MOTHER BOARD : MSI FM2A75 Motherboard; price 61 dollars.
A very complete and affordable solution based on the AMD A75 chipset. This impeccably-made mother board has a wide range of advanced features and also allows us to expand in the future to CrossFire X configurations, i.e. mount two GPUs.
It comes with the Realtek ALC892 sound chip solid, making it and affordable but solid choice.
3 – RAM: Kingston HyperX Blu 8GB DDR3 1600; price: 70 dollars.
8 GB is more than enough for gaming, there’s no need for more, as well as installing a lower amount to save some money can bring negative consequences in the future.
This model offers a very attractive working frequency and performance, all at an affordable price.
Installing a single module of RAM means we have space to add more in the future.
4 – CASE AND PSU: Cooler Master Elite 350 with 500W power; price: 53 dollars.
A simple and small case, but enough to accommodate our components. Its value is indisputable as it comes with a 500W power supply unit.
The PSU is kind of generic, but more than enough to power our system and each one of our components.
We can’t obviously use a large graphics card, but given the budget that’s not something that should worry you. You can’t always have everything.
5 -HDD : WD Caviar Blue 500 GB SATA 3; price 58 dollars
This was the obvious choice: this model offers enough capacity for all of our files (games, music , movies) and also delivers a good performance, thanks to its 16 MB cache and speed of 7,200 RPM.
For about 10 dollars more it may be possible to get the 1TB model. I opted for the 500GB to keep the budget as close as possible to 300 Euros, however.
6 – DVD RECORDER LG 24X GH24NSB0; price 17 dollars.
Affordable but reliable solution that allows us to burn DVDs at up to 24X .
Of course, you can do without this element, especially if you’re an avid Steam user, but given the strength the physical format still has I preferred to include it.
Summary :
Well, we have assembled a very decent and capable gaming PC. With a total price of 360 Dollars, this computer can run most current games. I attached a summary of some titles that you can enjoy with this machine and, as always, I encourage you to comment.
- Batman: Arkham Origins: 1,366 x 768 with 40 FPS average quality.
- Battlefield 4: 1,366 x 768 with 30 FPS average quality.
- FIFA 14: 1,920 x 1,080 ultra at 87 FPS quality.
- DOTA 2: 1,366 x 768 at 51 FPS average quality.
- Starcraft 2: 1,366 x 768 high quality with filters at 38 FPS.
- Tomb Raider: 1,366 x 768 at 39 FPS average quality.
- Diablo III: 1,920 x 1,080 ultra at 35 FPS quality.
- Call of Duty Black Ops 2: 1366 x 768 at 50 FPS average quality.