Cheapest build imaginable. Any suggestions?

Thinking of finally upgrading my gaming PC (seriously, i game on this system).
But looking at what is available now, i have no idea what to buy.
My goal: as cheap as possible, cause i really can't afford anything good right now, and won't be able for quite some time.
Not interested in 4K or even 1080p, cause i only hava a 1680x1050 monitor.
I just need something to play some games on not so high resolution, and "acceptable" framerates. I'm used to console like FPS, so no big deal.
Planning on reusing the case, optical drive, hard drives, peripherals.
Any suggestions on what should i get?
Currently running:

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+
RAM: 4GB Single-Channel DDR2
MOBO: Gigabyte M55S-S3 (Socket AM2)
GPU: ASUS GeForce GT640

You may want to look at buying used if you trying to game as cheap as possible.

What games will you be playing?

I was looking at used PC's, but i live in quite shitty place, and mostly all you can get used is Core 2 Duo's without external GPU's for couple hundred bucks.
I mostly like older titles, but CS:GO is cool, and Cities: Skylines looks great, and i really would like to try out GTA V, and finally play GTA IV at higher than 20 FPS. :D

Have you looked at ebay? And besides as cheap as possible what is your hard spending limit.

while my current graphics card is in RMA process, i got a HD 6750 for about 40$ on ebay..

i can play GTA V and ESO @ 720p and its pretty decent

games like torchlight/diablo3/league of legends you can play high res no problem

so idk what your budget is but i would put it towards a graphics card, you dont need a crazy cpu or tons of ram to game..

here is a ebay link to a good looking Asus 7870 for 100$ or best offer,

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Asus-Radeon-HD-7870-2GB-256-Bit-GDDR5-P-N-HD7870-DC2-2GD5-/351405708360?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item51d1699448

throw a 70$ offer at it

edit: thats refurb, here is a sapphire one for 90$ no bids 1 day left

another edit:

here is a combo for a AMD FX6100 and 8GB Ram and Mobo for 300

or cheaper option for 240$

Now those combos look really interesting! Only shame that shipping costs 60 - 80$. Any previous experience with shipping parts over ocean?
I know that i don't need as much CPU and RAM as manufacturers would like me to think i do, but my current setup is ridiculously outdated.
Edit: The ASUS 7870 doesn't even ship to where i live, and Sapphire one new here costs 260$
Lucky bastards who live in US. :D

FX-6300 Six Core ~ $100
Asrock AM3 Mobo ~ $60
500W PSU ~ $60
4GB DDR3 1600 ~ $30
R9-270x ~ $120
1TB WD Blue ~ $50
Case ~ $30

$450. Will play any almost every game on 1080p on high.

I can reuse case and HDD, but that GPU costs nearly 200$ if i buy it localy. Anybody have some experience with sending CPU's and GPU's half way across the world from ebay?

did not realize you were out of country, cant help you with that :/

To my mind, the cheapest build imaginable is a Raspberry Pi in a small arcade cabinet case.

4 Likes

Sure, just find somebody who will sbip overseas, pay via.Paypal, thats it, as far as i know.

If you're looking to spend as little as possible, I'd suggest grabbing an Athlon X4 860k and an FM2+ mobo. Should be about $130 or less. A GT640 is by no means an incredible card, but my friend had one and it could play most things.

Perhaps consider getting an FX 4300 and AM3+ mobo used, as that would likely be cheaper.

Regardless, in my opinion you have a modern (if weak) GPU that should be able to play most games on a low resolution with 30 fps, but a pretty outdated CPU. Generally, I'd try and either get the Athlon 760k or 860k or an FX 4300 or 6300. An FX 4100 or 6100 would be an improvement, but since Bulldozer is generally much worse than piledriver (FX4300, for example), I would avoid entirely unless you get an incredible deal.

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My G3220/260x build cost me around $350, due to only paying $90 for used parts on Ebay. It can run most games at medium settings @1080p, with anywhere from 45-60 FPS. Look around for a better CPU though, because a G3220 is pretty weak.

What country do you actually live in? Kinda handy for pricing's sake.

A gtx750ti for your current rig.
Or save cash and buy a new cpu/mb/ram/gpu etc.

If your in to Cities: Skylines and gta, then get a better cpu and may i suggest the 750 ti, 100 bucks (assuming your american) and it can get great FPS in 1080p so in your requirements it will be fine

Latvia. This place kind of sucks if you are into electronics and stuff like that. :(

I got the 640 a couple of years ago, before that i had gigabyte geforce GT8500. Combine that with my CPU, and 2GB RAM i had at a time, and imagine what gaming was like for me. :D
Judging by specs FX 4300 is not that much slower than 6300, but costs only half the price.

Possibly FX-4300 with MSI 970a-g43 MOBO?

I'm not looking to spend as little per se. It's just that i can't afford anything expensive right now, and current rig is on the edge of dying. (I have about 5 blown capacitors on the MOBO, but it still works somehow.)

What is your actual budget? In Euro? How much can you stretch it? That'd help.

Budget may be approximately 200 EUR, i think. Thats for CPU, MOBO and if possible - RAM. Apparently GT640 isn't as bad as i thought so i could reuse it too.
I'm thinking FX-4300 with MSI 970a-g43 MOBO, couple gigs of RAM, and my GT 640, could be quite nice for now.