Edit: Updated for March 2012!

Edit: Added DVD and HDD to the total price.

Edit: Added Windows 7 64-bit special deal at bottom.

 

This is a challenge to all other SWTOR players to help put together the best budget gaming PC capable of playing Star Wars: The Old Republic. I've put this thread together for budget conscious players. The economy is really tough right now, so I thought that a thread about building the best performing PC for the lowest dollar might be really helpful. My suggestions assume you're a U.S. resident and that you have a Microcenter computer store (or at least a store that will match their price.) They have a killer deal if you buy both a motherboard and CPU as a bundle.

 

This PC is the best price to performance ratio I could come up with. It includes an Intel i5 2500K microprocessor. This CPU has the BUS multiplier unlocked so it can be overclocked. The bundle also includes a Radeon HD 6770, and for the price, it is the best budget video card on the market. This machine should (conservative estimate) let you play Star Wars: The Old Republic at high settings on a typical 1080p display. With two video cards in a Crossfire configuration, you should be able to play at maximum settings on a typical 1080p display. Now includes ASUS GEN3 Motherboard; supports Ivy Bridge CPU and PCIe 3.0!

 

Don't forget that mail in rebates expire on the postmarked date. So you have up to and including the date of the expiration to mail out any rebates. As far as prices are concerned, I've put the earliest rebate expiration date as the cutoff. So these prices are valid until posted date.

 

I've included two prices. One is how much you pay to buy each item, and the second is how much it will cost you in end after you get all your rebates. Keep in mind rebates can take anywhere between 1 and 6 weeks, so don't spend any money you don't have.

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Local: Yes. [Any Microcenter location]

Region: United States

Valid: 03/14/2012

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Now for the details:

 

ASUS P8Z68-V GEN3

* GEN3 Motherboard, Supports Ivy Bridge and PCIe 3.0

* DDR3 2200 Dual Channel, 32GB Max

* SATA 6Gb/s

* Quad-GPU SLI & Quad-GUP CrossFireX

* PCIe 3.0 x16 [2]

* PCIe 2.0 x16 [1]

* PCIe 1.0 x1 [2]

* PCI [2]

* USB 3.0

* 10/100/1000 Ethernet

* Digital Optical Audio

* $50 instant rebate with CPU purchase

 

129.99 [$179.99 - $50 IR; exp 03/31/2012]

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0378096

 

Intel Core i5 2500K

* 3.3 GHz; 3.7 GHz Turbo

* 4 Cores

* 6MB L3 Cache

* Unlocked BUS Multiplier; Overclock

 

$179.99

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0354589

 

XFX HD-667X-ZWF4 Radeon HD 6670

* 1GB 128-bit GDDR5; 1200MHz [4.8Gbps]

* 800MHz Core Clock

* PCIe 2.1 x16

* Eyefinity

* Crossfire

 

$74.99 [$99.99 - $25 MIR; exp 03/15/2012]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150577

 

Pareema 8GB [2x4GB]

* DDR3 1333 PC3 10600

* Dual Channel

 

$34.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820576006

 

OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W

* Modular

* SLI & Crossfire Certified

 

$39.99 [$74.99 - $10 IR - $25 MIR; exp 3/14/12]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341017

 

Cooler Master Elite 430 Case

* Mid Height ATX

* 6 Fan Mounts

 

$46.71

http://www.nothingbutsoftware.com/catalog_type.asp?ProductCode=132104&ai=1550

 

Samsung 24X SATA DVD+/-RW

* DVD-RAM/±R/±RW

* 24x DVD

* 48x CD

 

$20.49

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-SH-222AB-BEBE-Internal-Writer/dp/B004W3J7F0/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1331247815&sr=1-3

 

Seagate Barracuda ST500DM002 500GB 7200 RPM

* 500GB

* SATA 6.0Gb/s

 

$84.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148767

 

================================================

 

Total Price for the PC before Rebates: $662.14 [$60 in Instant Rebates]

Total Price for the PC after Rebates: $612.14 [$60 in Instant Rebates, $50 in Mail In Rebates]

 

=================================================

 

 

Windows 7 Professional 64-bt $82.99! - Free shipping, No Tax.

 

Windows 7 Professional 64-bit

 

$82.99

http://snaggstuff.com/microsoft-windows-7-professional-64-bit-full-oem-branded-fqc-00765-brd.html

Edited March 8, 2012 by Wreckcenter
Updated prices.

great suggestion. Sticky-worthy

This was something I got into until tax season hits. It was a last minute build due to an electrical system blowing out my gaming computer system.

 

AMD A8-Series Quad-Core A8-3850 APU - 2.9GHz, Socket FM1, Radeon HD 6550D (400 Cores)

 

Tiger Direct Price: $134.99

Newegg Price: $139.99

 

GIGABYTE GA-A75M-UD2H AMD A Series Motherboard - Micro ATX, Socket FM1, AMD A75 Chipset

 

Tiger Direct Price: $84.99 (after $10 rebate and $15.00 Instant Savings)

Newegg Price: $84.99 (after $10 rebate)

 

Kingston HyperX Genesis 8GB (2 x 4GB), PC3-12800, DDR3-1600MHz, 9-9-9-27 CAS

 

Tiger Direct Price: $49.99

Newegg Price: $49.99

 

 

Totals: $269.97 at Tiger with rebates......$274.97 at Newegg with rebates

 

I did not include shipping as with some states you have tax to pay which your shipping is also taxable in some states (like FL).

 

Now what most people are going to do is finish off the system with the rest of the components which will add about 400 bucks to this "budget" system. AMD as also just released the BE's for thes APU's just last week, so they're unlocked as compared to their original generations. Don't be fooled by the on-die video. Unlike the Sandybridge comparible, these 6000 series on die video chipsets are pretty decent and do quite well considering what they are. Recommended RAM for these chips is 1600 MHz, anything more doesn't garner much more improvement on the "speed" of the video (less than 2%).

 

To complete this system (as if you were building the rest and needed the rest of the components):

 

Aerocool Qx-2000 Computer Case - MicroATX ($89.99)

 

Coolmax M-500B ATX Power Supply - 500W, 120mm Fan ($34.99)

 

Western Digital WD2500AAKX Caviar Blue Hard Drive - 250GB, 3.5", SATA 6Gbps, 7200 RPM, 16MB (79.99)

 

(OPTIONAL DRIVE) Corsair CSSD-F120GBGT-BK Force GT Series Solid State Drive - 120GB, 2.5", SATA III, 6Gbps (166.99 after $30.00 rebate)

 

Lite-On IHAS124-04 Internal DVD Writer ($17.99)

 

(OPTIONAL DVD) Lite-On iHBS112-29 12X 3D Internal Blu-Ray Writer ($99.99)

 

(OPTIONAL Discreet) XFX HD-667X-ZWF4 Radeon HD 6670 Video Card - 1GB, DDR5 ($74.99 after $25 rebate and $10 instant savings) This card is the highest you can pair with the on-die graphics before you're going into running from the discreet card itself.

 

And I'm not pricing in keyboard/mouse combo's because everyone has different needs. Also didn't price in a monitor as you may have one or plan to upgrade to whatever size.

I'm seeing 40FPS average in SWTOR (across the board, populated and non-populated areas) with no shadows and grass turned off (who needs grass), everything else is set to high.

 

Total system build minus KB/Mouse/Monitor: $492.93

 

Total optional system build minus KB/Mouse/Monitor: $736.92

 

Tiger Direct Prices.

 

I'm sure between Tiger, Newegg, and Amazon, you could undercut these prices, but this gives you an idea. No, you're not going to see 120 FPS with this system, and you may not ever break 50 FPS, but 40 FPS avg is a decent enough playable setting for this game and many more.

Excellent, keep the suggestions coming. If anyone is outside the U.S. and has suggestions, that would be helpful.

 

I didn't include a hard disk drive or copy of Windows in my build, or a display. Often these are things you can transfer over from your old computer. Also, a new hard disk drive right now is pretty expensive because of the flooding in Thailand, so be wary of the prices.

 

If you want to upgrade to a new copy of Windows, your best bet is an OEM copy of 64-bit Windows 7 Home from the usual places (NewEgg, TigerDirect, etc.) You probably don't need Windows 7 Professional.

I think Val has it locked in more, the one issue I found with the first setup was the lack of accounting for a hard drive and dvd drive (yes I know for swtor specifically you don't need one, but it's still 30-40 bucks you should account for).

 

 

Doesn't bump things up tremendously, but figure an extra $100-$150 for the two items.

 

 

 

Built one myself just after Christmas that had the hard drive and power supply pirated out of an old machine, but when I accounted for the equivalents I could find online made the total price about $400.

 

 

AMD Phenom II 3.2 Mhz Dual Core Unlocked to four (admittedly from everything I've read you really only have about a 60% chance of success getting both additional cores succesfully unlocked) ($70-$80)

 

 

Asus HD 5450 (radeon 5450 with 1 gig ddr3-- Yes a weak point but at the mercy of the power supply I used and figure I'll upgrade both later on down the road ($40)

 

 

Foxconn A88GMV Motherboard (fairly run of the mill budget atx mobo but still had the core unlock capacity) ($68)

 

 

500 watt power supply (a bit low for any significant graphics card but suits this setup) ($30)

 

250 GIG Sata Hard drive (pirated off an old machine, but $70ish for equivlant)

 

2X 4gig Kingston HyperX Blu ddr3 1333 mhz Ram (19.99 each or $40 total)

 

 

I don't really think cases warrant listing because for these I would say 'the best case that happens to be on sale at the time". I happened upon an $80 case that was being clearanced down for $29.97 from tigerdirect (mid-tower atx with 4 built in case fans, three front usb slots, a front esata connector, four 5.25'' drive bays, six 3.5'' drive bays).

 

 

DVD ROM-- Pretty Generic Asus brand DVDRW for $32

 

 

That one isn't there anymore but a bit of digging and several similar equivalents can be found.

 

 

 

Also bear in mind if you will be able to hardline your machine or need a wifi card/adapter for it, which will run you $25-$30.

 

 

 

 

This machine would probably run crying from a seriously heavy-duty graphic-intensive game, but after a week of playing with my unlocked cores proving stable and my overclocked GPU (650 mhz up to 750) running consistently between 40 and 50 degrees Celsius I can play the game with mostly high settings (shadows turned down) with no framerate issues (not necessarily the full 60 but averages about 52 fps in low traffic areas, somewhere in the 30's in higher traffic spots).

 

 

 

The initial outlay of the machine was kept modest (hard to justify a big outlay when we also picked up a new TV during the after christmas sale-ing) but it functions just fine for the game now, with plenty of modality to improve the weaker points like power supply and GPU down the road perhaps come tax-return time.

Edited January 11, 2012 by paul_preib

Wanted to add one other thing-- sometimes it also pays to look at a package deal before jumping because they won't always be of best value.

 

 

You can sometimes see a case/Power supply combo for $100 where if you purchased basically those same two pieces by themselves would run $60-$80

 

 

The two four gig sticks of RAM I purchased individually because tigerdirect had them for $19.99 each or an "8 gig" package that was just the same two sticks for $44.99, just five bucks but still cheaper is cheaper.

Good tips. If I could offer one regarding power supplies, it's that you should never skimp on the power supply. Stick to major brands. There's an important difference between "cheap" and "good value." A cheap power supply can cause your entire investment to literally go up in smoke. Motherboard, CPU, video card, memory... kiss it all good bye. Edited January 11, 2012 by Wreckcenter

I'd also like to recommend monoprice.com for any adapters, cables, or mounts that you might need. Their prices are unbelievable and the quality is pretty darn good. Also, if you live in California like I do, their overnight shipping is only $5 (might also be available for Arizona, Nevada, and Oregon.)

 

Order an HDMI cable, get it tomorrow for super cheap. It's crazy.

Edit: now included in the 1st post.

 

I thought I'd update the prices a little bit on some deals I've found. These are decent prices for a had disk drive, Blu-Ray drive, and Windows 7 OEM to round out my budget PC. I'll keep my eye out on a better deal on Windows, sometimes you can find it for as cheap as $70. Blu-Ray is a bit excessive, especially for a budget PC. You'd do better with a generic DVD drive for under $20.

 

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LG N1A1DD1 3.5" Network Attached Storage - 1TB

* 1TB

* SATA II

 

With the instant rebate, it's cheaper than a HDD by itself. Think of it as a free networked storage case with your HDD.

 

$89.97 [$149.99 - $60.02 Instant Rebate]

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=500755&CatId=2671

 

LG Black 12X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 12X DVD-RAM 10X BD-ROM

* Blu-Ray and DVD read, write, and playback.

 

$64.99 [$6.99 shipping]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136239

 

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

* Includes free Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 3500 GMF-00046 Gold

 

$99.99

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

Edited February 8, 2012 by Wreckcenter

Great pickup, my desktop is out in my living room with the computer desk literally 5 feet from the T.V. so I had been debating picking up a blu-ray writeable drive since already set up audio and video cables to go into the receiver and TV anyway.

 

Had just assumed I'd be dropping a touch over $100 when it came time to get the drive.

Pro-tip: make sure you pick up a Gen3 motherboard if you are buying a Sandybridge CPU now, as they will be compatible with both the new Ivybridge CPU's and also the new PCI-E 3.0 graphics cards coming out this year.

Updated for February 2012. Prices are higher now that the holiday specials are over, but I also included a more expensive GEN3 motherboard in the configuration per ShakeNBakeUK's excellent tip.

 

My brother picked up a Corsair Special Edition White Graphite Series 600T computer case. I just wanted to point out that it's a very Star Wars-ish case. The black and white accents remind me of a Stormtrooper, and its side panel is just begging for a cool vinyl decal.

I can't really add much to this as I live in the UK but I always find when building a computer to work from the processor you want and go from there.

Also, the prices of hard drives are higher than normal due to the recent flooding in Thailand which will pick up the price of any intended system build.

Actually, we could really use your help if you're in the UK. All my prices are US based.

 

You're absolutely correct about hard drives. Every time I update the PC build, the hard drive gets smaller, but the price stays the same.

 

Before the flooding in Thailand, I could get a 1TB 10k RPM HDD for $60. Now I can barely get a 500GB 7.2K RPM HDD for $80.

I get all my parts from scan.co.uk.

 

they are only a mile from my house and its were all the pc repair men go .

 

The guys there are all pc enthusiasts builders and can actually talk sense to you ,thats my experience anyhow ,I tried lots of places even e-bay and they still come out cheaper.

 

I think its a bit like a trade counter .

To the OP you left off a few things and I live over 200 miles from a microcenter. That adds $100 to the MB and CPU price, operating system anouther $100 CPU cooler and more case fans as that case only comes with one $50 more now were over $900.

This was something I got into until tax season hits. It was a last minute build due to an electrical system blowing out my gaming computer system.

 

AMD A8-Series Quad-Core A8-3850 APU - 2.9GHz, Socket FM1, Radeon HD 6550D (400 Cores)

 

Tiger Direct Price: $134.99

Newegg Price: $139.99

 

GIGABYTE GA-A75M-UD2H AMD A Series Motherboard - Micro ATX, Socket FM1, AMD A75 Chipset

 

Tiger Direct Price: $84.99 (after $10 rebate and $15.00 Instant Savings)

Newegg Price: $84.99 (after $10 rebate)

 

Kingston HyperX Genesis 8GB (2 x 4GB), PC3-12800, DDR3-1600MHz, 9-9-9-27 CAS

 

Tiger Direct Price: $49.99

Newegg Price: $49.99

 

 

Totals: $269.97 at Tiger with rebates......$274.97 at Newegg with rebates

 

I did not include shipping as with some states you have tax to pay which your shipping is also taxable in some states (like FL).

 

Now what most people are going to do is finish off the system with the rest of the components which will add about 400 bucks to this "budget" system. AMD as also just released the BE's for thes APU's just last week, so they're unlocked as compared to their original generations. Don't be fooled by the on-die video. Unlike the Sandybridge comparible, these 6000 series on die video chipsets are pretty decent and do quite well considering what they are. Recommended RAM for these chips is 1600 MHz, anything more doesn't garner much more improvement on the "speed" of the video (less than 2%).

 

To complete this system (as if you were building the rest and needed the rest of the components):

 

Aerocool Qx-2000 Computer Case - MicroATX ($89.99)

 

Coolmax M-500B ATX Power Supply - 500W, 120mm Fan ($34.99)

 

Western Digital WD2500AAKX Caviar Blue Hard Drive - 250GB, 3.5", SATA 6Gbps, 7200 RPM, 16MB (79.99)

 

(OPTIONAL DRIVE) Corsair CSSD-F120GBGT-BK Force GT Series Solid State Drive - 120GB, 2.5", SATA III, 6Gbps (166.99 after $30.00 rebate)

 

Lite-On IHAS124-04 Internal DVD Writer ($17.99)

 

(OPTIONAL DVD) Lite-On iHBS112-29 12X 3D Internal Blu-Ray Writer ($99.99)

 

(OPTIONAL Discreet) XFX HD-667X-ZWF4 Radeon HD 6670 Video Card - 1GB, DDR5 ($74.99 after $25 rebate and $10 instant savings) This card is the highest you can pair with the on-die graphics before you're going into running from the discreet card itself.

 

And I'm not pricing in keyboard/mouse combo's because everyone has different needs. Also didn't price in a monitor as you may have one or plan to upgrade to whatever size.

I'm seeing 40FPS average in SWTOR (across the board, populated and non-populated areas) with no shadows and grass turned off (who needs grass), everything else is set to high.

 

Total system build minus KB/Mouse/Monitor: $492.93

 

Total optional system build minus KB/Mouse/Monitor: $736.92

 

Tiger Direct Prices.

 

I'm sure between Tiger, Newegg, and Amazon, you could undercut these prices, but this gives you an idea. No, you're not going to see 120 FPS with this system, and you may not ever break 50 FPS, but 40 FPS avg is a decent enough playable setting for this game and many more.

 

That is a really bad CPU for gaming a i3 2100 is better.

http://budget-gaming-computers.com/gaming-cpu-ranking-chart.html

To the OP you left off a few things and I live over 200 miles from a microcenter. That adds $100 to the MB and CPU price, operating system anouther $100 CPU cooler and more case fans as that case only comes with one $50 more now were over $900.

I would replace the paste on a none K series CPU and use the stock cooler but not on a K series.

Updated for February 2012. Prices are higher now that the holiday specials are over, but I also included a more expensive GEN3 motherboard in the configuration per ShakeNBakeUK's excellent tip.

 

My brother picked up a Corsair Special Edition White Graphite Series 600T computer case. I just wanted to point out that it's a very Star Wars-ish case. The black and white accents remind me of a Stormtrooper, and its side panel is just begging for a cool vinyl decal.

 

I prefer the Corsair Carbide 500r White version, found it on gamersnexus.net

 

Looks just as, if not sleeker, most of the same features and a lower price.

building one is always an option. but for a truly budget computer i think buying a store bought pc is cheaper. I purchased a pc from a local retailer about 2 weeks ago for $519.

 

HP AMD A6-3620 quad core, 8 gig RaM , win7 , AMD Radeon HD 6530D onboard graphics

 

this setup runs the game surprisingly well , i get between 20-50 fps depending what im doing, wz's fp's all very playable, with a power supply upgrade and graphics card i think it will do quite well.

Edited February 28, 2012 by Loggin

I built my own with Newegg parts. My total build was just over $300 total. I kept case and power supply so I got a motherboard, processor, memory, disk drive, and video card.

 

It's not a high power system but it plays SWTOR just fine; it's an Athlon dual core. I found expanding the memory from 2G to 4G made an enormous difference, and memory's cheap.

Updated for March. Sorry it took so long, I'm in the process of moving.

To the OP you left off a few things and I live over 200 miles from a microcenter. That adds $100 to the MB and CPU price, operating system anouther $100 CPU cooler and more case fans as that case only comes with one $50 more now were over $900.

 

The trick is to find a store that'll price match. I just use Microcenter out of convenience. I've added Windows 7 64-bit Professional to the options below, but many people transfer their Windows license when they upgrade. If you have at least Windows Vista, it should be fine. I recommend against XP 64-bit, it's too cumbersome.

 

I find that the stock Intel CPU cooler is fine if you don't overclock, if a bit noisy. This is a budget PC afterall. You can, of course, upgrade the cooler if you like and add more fans. I welcome suggestions for good deals on coolers and fans. Please post your finds in the thread.

This is just an awesome thread for new comers looking to play this game

Very useful info!

 

I am about to build my system up, my current rig is getting into it's 4th year, and let me tell you TOR runs good in a low budget. How low?

 

My current rig is an old Abit MOBO with a dual core E6700, 4Gb ram and an Nvidia 9700 GT card, none overclocked. All can be had for a song, none is a late model item. Regular 1TB hard drive (no SSD etc). I run at high settings 12 hours at a time no crashes no issues very smooth. Oh, Win7 64 b (I really think the OS has to do a lot with the stability).

 

I am sure there are value pre-built system with i3 and i5s that can handle it no problem. Just leave a few bucks aside for the video card upgrade. If you have at least 4GB ram (as stated, memory is cheap these days), even flat screens are on sale these days at $139. :-O

 

Quick search : here is an i3 pre built with OS included : http://www.compusa.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1890478&CatId=4928 budget in your favorite video card and a nice monitor, you are ready to go.