Suggestions on places to build budget PC's?

[Brooke]

I have been a fan of Dell Inspirons as budget AH computers because they are $500 and just fine for AH3 (as long as you add a graphics card, of course).  An Inspiron for $500 includes:
-- i5-6400
-- Intel motherboard
-- 8 GB RAM
-- Windows 10
-- 1 TB hard disk
-- DVD+/-RW

However, Dell recently changed Inspirons so that they all have proprietary power supplies, so Inspirons are no longer suitable as budget gaming machines.

Are there any "build to order" places out there that can deliver the above for less than $700?  (I don't want an AMD CPU, but I'm OK with a non-Intel motherboard, although I prefer an Intel motherboard.)

ibuypower and cyberpowerpc (and several others) that don't go that low.

I can get a Dell XPS with the above stuff for $700, so that would be my non-Inspiron choice if there aren't any "build to order" places that come in cheaper.

I sure wish Dell hadn't changed the Inspirons.  $500 Inspiron plus $40 for a larger PSU plus $109 GTX 750 Ti does 60 fps in AH3 with the slider at none.  It was a great value at the budget end for playing the game.

[flyndung]

https://pcpartpicker.com/

[DaddyAce]

Build your own, you'll find about all you need to know at this site:  logicalincrements.com and lots of good help on AH related details from this community of course.

[DaddyAce]

I've got about $700 worth of parts here now, hope to assemble them into a functional machine Thursday, and will get out more specific specs and how it works...basically 1060 GTX 3 GB, Intel i3-6100, 8 GB DDR4, 400 W PSU, MSI B-150 Gaming M3 motherboard, case, fan, etc.  I expect it will run AH3 easily with full graphics on, we'll see.

[Brooke]

I've been working with microcomputers since the late 1970's (Ohio Scientific with tape drive, Tandy TRS-80, Heathkit with CPM, Apple II's, Lisa, Macs, early PC's, PDP's, Amdahl mainframes with punch cards  , Sun, HP, and Apollo workstations, NeXT computers, CPM, DOS, Unix, OS/2, all versions of Windows).  I've also done a large amount of IT stuff.  I'm totally comfortable with building a PC, but doing it these days is to me drudgery, *especially* installing Windows.

I don't want to do that especially for other people if I want to get them a computer.  I don't want to buy the parts, build it, install the OS, test it, box it, and ship it.  I prefer to order it and have it shipped.

[Brooke]

https://pcpartpicker.com/

That's a cool site.

They should make a deal with a place so that a visitor can click a button for "build it and ship it to me for $X extra".

[Bizman]

Brooke, you did notice that they give the prices from various vendors, didn't you? The site also allows you to choose one specific vendor who may have the option you wish.

What I find most useful in pcpartpicker is that it allows you to design a computer by filtering incompatible, out of range or out-of-budget components, leaving you with a shopping list and an estimated price. With that list it's easy to go to the local builder shop and let them do the tedious job of installing and testing.

[Brooke]

Brooke, you did notice that they give the prices from various vendors, didn't you?

Yep.2

The site also allows you to choose one specific vendor who may have the option you wish.

That might do it, then.

[Brooke]

superbiiz.com seems to have low prices.  That was one of the vendors listed from pcpartpicker.com as I started to select items.

I'm exploring more on pcpartpicker.

[Brooke]

Assuming superbiiz.com is reputable -- and reviews on it seem very positive -- it looks like a very good place to configure what you want and have them build and ship it, all for excellent prices.

For example, I could configure a machine with:
-- i5-6400
-- Gigabyte motherboard
-- 8 GB RAM (DDR4-2133)
-- Windows 10
-- 1 TB HD
-- DVD+/-RW
-- 520 W Seasonic PSU
-- a case
-- all put together

for $566

That is nearly spot-on price competitive with the great value that was the Dell Inspiron (before they ruined it for gaming).

Sweet! 

When it's time for me to get another computer, I might very well give superbiiz.com a try.

Thanks for the suggestions, guys! 

[Brooke]

This means a budget PC for playing AH3 (that gives you 60 fps with the environment slider at none) is now still $700 ($566 for the computer and $110 for a GTX 750 Ti card).

In fact, you could probably drop the i5-6400 to an i3-4160 and the HD to a 500 GB from 1 TB, and no DVD+/-RW, and you'd be at $440 for the computer, plus $110 for the 750 Ti, and you are at under $600 for a machine that will probably deliver 60 fps with environment slider set to none.

[flyndung]

http://www.tweaktown.com/news/54177/nvidia-geforce-gtx-1050-ti-pcie-power-connector/index.html a great replacement for the 750ti option

[Bizman]

http://www.tweaktown.com/news/54177/nvidia-geforce-gtx-1050-ti-pcie-power-connector/index.html a great replacement for the 750ti option

That will be a great alternative.