Is it possible to have a good gaming pc on a budget of about $400-550 (au)? If so what would be some recommended parts and websites to go to?

Also windows 8 or 7?  

To be honest, I'd recommend putting in AT LEAST 850 in Australian Currency.

Newegg is a pretty good site, but I'm not sure where they cover shipping. I can throw together a 550 Dollar PC and tell ya if it's worth it.

Windows 8 works wonders with a touch screen moniter, but using a mouse is torture. Windows 7 is a must.
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http://pcpartpicker.com/p/6Xv3WZ

This is the best I could do, without an OS, case, or Network Card. Yet it's still past your range.

Sadly I'm not the best when "more for your money" is a factor. I go for the pretty parts.

Hopefully someone who's better can help.  

Are APUs even worth it if you're getting a dedicated GPU? I always thought people got APUs for the built in graphics.

Also Newton's built is overpriced. There's no reason you need 16 GB of RAM for gaming. I use 8 GB and run into no issues, even with a dozen chrome tabs open and several background programs. You could probably even get away with 4 GB or 6 GB if you wanted.

If you're looking to make a budget gaming PC for that price, keep in mind it won't run games maxed out, and only on low-medium.

Anyways, here's my suggestions to change with his build:

-Keep the CPU
-Only get 8 GB of RAM, not 16.
-Don't bother getting a video card now if you can't afford it, save for a potential future upgrade. Don't buy a cheap one for less than $100, you won't see much of an improvement over the APU.
-Get a Case/Dvd RW drive, you'll need it to build it.
-You'll either need a wireless PCI card or a USB adapter if you want to use wifi and not ethernet(wired internet)
-if you're planning to use a lot of usb ports, get an ATX fm2 Motherboard, not Micro-atx


Windows 8 vs windows 7 is mainly preference based, however I'd say windows 8 is more future proof, and it only windows 8 supports directx12 when it comes out.  

Pretty sure I chose 2 sticks of 4 gigs.



I don't know what you're looking at.

If the Motherboard I chose has an integrated Graphics Card, then obviously don't get the Graphics Card I picked out unless you can invest, as Skill mentioned.  

Posted by Newton

Pretty sure I chose 2 sticks of 4 gigs.



I don't know what you're looking at.

If the Motherboard I chose has an integrated Graphics Card, then obviously don't get the Graphics Card I picked out unless you can invest, as Skill mentioned.

Not only is that 16GB, but the speeds dont match.  

I have no idea how that got there.  

Suggestion:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: *Intel Pentium G3420 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($79.00 @ CPL Online)
Motherboard: *ASRock H81M-DGS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($57.00 @ CPL Online)
Memory: *Patriot 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($46.00 @ CPL Online)
Storage: *Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($61.00 @ Centre Com)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R7 260X 2GB Video Card ($145.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Case: Silverstone PS08B (Black) MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($45.00 @ CPL Online)
Power Supply: *Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.00 @ CPL Online)
Optical Drive: *LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer ($19.00 @ CPL Online)
Total: $521.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-09 03:42 EST+1000

You will have to find a copy of Windows:

http://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/com..._8_as_a_trial/  

Thanks guys for you help  

I just don't see getting away with a dual core processor, but that's my problem when it comes to picking parts.  

Posted by Newton

I just don't see getting away with a dual core processor, but that's my problem when it comes to picking parts.

The Pentium G3240 has the same Haswell cores as the Haswell i3/i5/i7 just there's only two of them. For a budget gaming build they work absolutely fine and it leaves you open to upgrading to an i5/i7 down the line.

Pentium Benchmarks:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...ce,3849-4.html

The Pentium has no trouble beating or matching the performance of AMD's "quad cores". For games that benefit much beyond 2 cores the Pentium absolutely kills AMD in every regard.  

It's possible to get a good PC for that price, here in the states that is. AU I don't know since AU charges alot more on everything. lol I don't even think y'all have a dollar menu yet you say you get paid "$17 an hour" for minimum wage. ANYWAYS

I would consider just picking up some used parts on eBay, NewEgg is pure sh*t, they overcharge everything and everyone just bites the dust so they can say "I bought it on NewEgg". lol like anyone cares...

My first gaming laptop I bought on Craigslist for $100, yes...$100 for an i7 3.4GHz, 4GB, Nvidia GT505, 500Gb laptop. Guy tried ripping me off by selling me a laptop with Windows 8 "trail". He didn't know how to get it back to Windows 7 after realizing that Windows 8 wasn't free.

Best laptop I had, sold it for $400 and bought a watercooled desktop on Craigslist yet again from some kid that was going to college and didn't want to take it with him. Sold that 5months later for a Surface Pro + Keyboard and $100. Played with Surface pro, showed off to everyone at school that I own such a costly new device (back when it was new and costed a ton). lol then sold it for $500 and started building my own PC part by part.

Ended up spending $650 for everything I have now.

So yea I would consider bumping up your price margin since you're in sh*tty AU. Cause you're not going to get anything cheap out of that country.

Lastly, if you plan on ever getting Windows 8 for gaming...enjoy your lag and "Not supported". Anyone that says Win8 is good for gaming only plays Minecraft while fapping to midget porn all day.  

Bought an HP 2000 laptop and installed an 8GB RAM upgrade and I can run really any game fine, albeit a bit of frame drops when your playing bigger games, but reducing the quality a bit fixes that right up.

Also HP computers make windows 8 so much more bearable  

Based on what I've experienced, don't bother wasting a lot of money on a gaming laptop. Buy a laptop for school/whatever and buy a desktop for gaming.  

Posted by Jaredish

Is it possible to have a good gaming pc on a budget of about $400-550 (au)? If so what would be some recommended parts and websites to go to?

Also windows 8 or 7?

Absolutely!

Check out Austin Evans, videos about electronics and how to build a variety of different P.C.s

Sorry can't post a link, but his channel is Austin Evans@YouTube
Windows 7; It's mostly preference, in the future Windows 8 will have more updates but Windows 7 Is easier to use and runs a bit smoother currently.  

I made this PC: