I'm currently looking to get a new PC for my kids.  My oldest just hit 13 and is getting into online gaming with friends, youngest wants to play terraria online.  Looking for something cheap, around $300 (how about $500?).  I haven't built a cheap computer in a long time and just wanted to get some feedback.  I will most likely be shopping at newegg.com.  Any information would help.  As far as gaming needs go I need something that could handle WoW/SW:TOR (depending on which he decides to play), Starcraft 2, Diablo3 (when it comes out), terraria (a calculator would do I guess), and whatever random crap I get talked into buying for them.

I have all the accessories such as a monitor, mouse, etc.  

Thanks in advance.

I hate to say it but do not go cheap. It will just give you and your kid a headache. Spend around $500 at least unless you have seen a deal you are found of, then let us know

Sorry for not giving examples but I know someone will chime in soon who does a better job :) His name starts with a Q

$300, wow not much for a gaming PC at 300, hell a good power supply alone is over $100, and thats bad to cheap out on or you can have all sorts of headaces.

Best best tho for you is to check out www.newegg.com

All parts are reviewed so you will know which to stay away from, and which give you the best bang for your buck.

Might want to go AMD tho for your CPU since they tend to be cheaper then Intel.

Well, I guess I could go a bit higher.  Really just want some info.  Checked newegg.  nothing good for under 1000, at least nothing with good reviews.  any other good sites to buy from?

Newegg is one of the best for pre-built models. My GF bought a

HP - Pavilion Laptop / AMD A-Series Processor / 15.6" Display / 8GB Memory / 640GB Hard Drive - Dark Umber

from best buy for $600 bucks and it plays Sims 3 very well.

With that budget you're better off buying a console.

Originally posted by stealthbr

With that budget you're better off buying a console.

This makes good sense except social services and mmo's are almost non-existent on consoles

If you like Dell, I would look at there site. They have pretty solid medium build gaming machines under 500.00 and if you don't mind referbish you may save even more money.

I've bought through Dell a few times for friends and even for myself a few years back.  Sometimes you can save hundreds of dollars off a pretty sweet machine, you just need to check out what they have.

Also, for your 13 year old, maybe ask him what games he's interested in playing, thiscould be a good way to find out the kind of rig you may have to get him or something close to what he may be playing or wanting to play  in the future.

If you already have periperhals that you can keep from an old computer and can assemble parts yourself, then functional gaming computers that with some cut corners start around $500, or around $600 if you want to avoid the obviously cut corners.  Add $100 if you can't assemble parts yourself and need someone else to do it for you.  Don't buy a prebuilt computer; if you can't build it yourself, get something built to order.  $300 will get you something that works albeit unreliably (i.e., could die any day) for word processing and e-mail, is dicier for watching videos or web browsing, and is a complete failure for gaming.

If you can assemble parts, but the problem is picking the parts, then I can help with that.  Can you assemble the computer?  And if so, do you do rebates, and count those in the budget?

yeah I can put a computer together, considering the parts only go in their specific places its pretty easy.  realistically I can do about $500.  that is the funds i would have available.  so if its $500 then I can get rebates that make it less than that, it would work.

actually if anyone new of the best, low cost components to get i would appreciate a list, even if the total is over $500.  I may have access to some other computer parts I could frankenstein together and upgrade it over the next couple months.

thanks for all the replies so far.

Originally posted by Sepulcher

yeah I can put a computer together, considering the parts only go in their specific places its pretty easy.  realistically I can do about $500.  that is the funds i would have available.  so if its $500 then I can get rebates that make it less than that, it would work.

actually if anyone new of the best, low cost components to get i would appreciate a list, even if the total is over $500.  I may have access to some other computer parts I could frankenstein together and upgrade it over the next couple months.

thanks for all the replies so far.

   Good choice, but now comes they long part, picking out all that stuff. Although 500 bucks narrows your options, especially if you got to buy an OS, there is still a ton to choise from

The cheapest I have been able to come up w/ for anything decent that will last a few years is in the $750 range.  Then if you have to buy an OS on top of that.  The problem w/ buying anything name brand is that the upgradability is usually very limited. 

Originally posted by Sepulcher

I'm currently looking to get a new PC for my kids.  My oldest just hit 13 and is getting into online gaming with friends, youngest wants to play terraria online.  Looking for something cheap, around $300 (how about $500?).  I haven't built a cheap computer in a long time and just wanted to get some feedback.  I will most likely be shopping at newegg.com.  Any information would help.  As far as gaming needs go I need something that could handle WoW/SW:TOR (depending on which he decides to play), Starcraft 2, Diablo3 (when it comes out), terraria (a calculator would do I guess), and whatever random crap I get talked into buying for them.

I have all the accessories such as a monitor, mouse, etc.  

Thanks in advance.

You know, probably $300 computer would run WoW decent. I know I was able to run WoW pretty good on a non gaming laptop. It did not have a graphics cards.

This is good config

Intel i5 2500k

8GB of Memory PC1333 you could do 4GB

Geforce 460GTX 1.0GB GDDR5

500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA III

The rebate question is more a matter of, would you rather have a part that is $60 with no rebate, or $70 before a $20 rebate?

If you want to scavenge parts from elsewhere and even a low end machine would be an upgrade for you, then there probably won't be much you can get.  The optical drive is a notable exception, as those haven't changed in a long time.  Still, a single SATA CD/DVD combo drive is only $20 or so, so that doesn't save you much.

Another possibility is a hard drive.  The problem is that flooding in Thailand in October shut down much of the world's hard drive production.  That means a severe shortage, and that means that everything costs maybe $50 more than it normally would.  That means you're stuck getting a severe budget model even if you buy something new.

One severe budget gaming computer coming right up, with most of the parts basically a step above cheap junk.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.778314

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371034

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145299

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820576003

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151252

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131342

Total price tag:  $510 before rebates.  The case is actually reasonably nice; I was planning on picking a lower end case for you, but that's a very nice sale price on it.

Originally posted by DarkGremio

This is good config

 

Intel i5 2500k

8GB of Memory PC1333 you could do 4GB

Geforce 460GTX 1.0GB GDDR5

500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA III

That's also a $1000 build once you fill it out.  You have to respect the budget.  Besides, the GeForce GTX 460 was discontinued near the start of this year.

Don't forget you can get a Llano instead.  They run about the same price as Athlon II and have a decent GPU for watching movies and playing low end games.  However, with a $300 budget there is not alot you can work with.  Processor, Mobo, and Windows you are already meeting your budget.  Might be better to save for something that will actually suffice for a gaming PC.

If you get a Llano A8 system, then you get less performance for about the same price.  If you make it an A4 or A6 system, you run the risk of having a system that will seriously struggle with some games.  I didn't realize that the lower end Llano chips had come to desktops, so I guess you could save some money by getting one, but you give up a lot of performance.