While they’ve already been out a few years Minecraft and League of Legends are still two of the most talked about and played games right now. If you’re new to the PC genre, the most popular games are those which are mostly free-to-play. This includes the likes of Hearthstone and DOTA 2 as well.
Just look at Twitch.tv where viewership for even new release AAA title games can’t exceed the popularity of these already established games. Riot reports that as many as 67 million people spend time on LOL each month. To give you an idea of scale that’s like saying that the entire population of the United Kingdom logs in each month. So, if you’re like me and mostly play these types of games, why spend a fortune on a gaming PC that will hardly make them look any better than the one we’re about to recommend?
Recommended Tech Specs for MineCraft and League Of Legends
 |  |
|---|---|
| 2GHz CPU | i3 or Athlon II 2.8GHz |
| 2GB Ram for Vista and Newer | 4GB |
| 8GB Hard Drive Space | 1GB Hard Drive Space |
| Shader Version 2 capable GPU | GeForce 2xx Series or AMD Radeon HD 5xxx Series |
| Support for DirectX 9 | Windows XP or better |
Even if you’re trying to record, the various builds I show below should be somewhat capable of doing so if you use the right settings.
So, if you can build a good Minecraft or League of Legends computer for $150 why have 3 builds? Options. I think a lot of you plan on branching out from these types of games and may want the opportunity to play CSGO or even AAA titles like the Witcher 3. Going with a higher-end graphics cards should allow you to play even these types of games in 1080p when you adjust the settings. I’ll talk about what you can expect from each build as we go along.
Budget $150 to Under $200 Minecraft or League of Legends Gaming PC
For those of you who doubt that a $150 gaming PC is possible, let me reassure you. It is, and I’ve done it. You can check out that post and even see the benchmarks I’ve made for it. In fact, I liked that little PC so much I actually kept it as a media center. Now that it’s been a few months I thought I’d update you on the type of PC I’d build in this price range.
CPU and GPU
You’re basically looking at an APU here which combines decent CPU performance along with decent graphical performance for a budget price. An A4-7300 or A6 6400k are ideal here so that you have enough money for the rest of your build. An A6-7400k will put you about $15 over budget, but is probably the right move because it gives you a Kaveri-based CPU core along with updated R5 vs the older HD 8470D graphics. So because it’s what I’d actually do rather than meeting a budget like I did with my build
So because it’s what I’d actually do rather than meeting a budget, like I did with my build, expect for the overall price to be more like $165.
Motherboard
For the motherboard, I like the Asus A68HM-e here. I was able to find it as low as $39, but you may pay as much as $50 or as low as $35 depending on when you buy it. In addition, it’ll handle faster Ram. A lot of the cheaper FM2+ motherboards do not.
Ram
Using Dual channel memory is ideal when going with an APU. For that reason, go with 2x2GB or 2x4GB here with at least speeds of 1600MHz and, if possible, 1866MHz. The 4GB of DDR3 should cost you as little as $22 while the 8GB will cost around $32. The 8GB might be the more practical purchase here, but it isn’t in the budget so we’re going with 4GB. Still, keep that in mind as you go forward.
Case
Case prices vary so much month to month that I hesitate in recommending a specific case. If you want a recommendation, I used the Xion XON-310 MicroATX case for my build and it typically sells between $20 and $30. That’s a good place to start, but you may find a better deal around $20 if you’re willing to look for rebates.
Power Supply
We could go even cheaper here, but why do so when power efficiency, as well as the longevity of your parts, are at risk here. We’re going with the 500W EVGA power supply. It’s far more power than we actually need but it’s cheaper than the 430W version this month.
Hard Drive
We’re going with the 320GB WD Caviar Blue 7200RPM drive here. It’s fast, efficient, and cheap at around $25. Still, it’s hard to ignore that for around $10 more you could get a 120GB solid state drive instead. For $35 more you could go with a 240GB solid state drive or even 1TB drive. Again, something to keep in mind when we talk about budgets.
Final Thoughts:
If you do your shopping right here, you should be under $200 for the entire build. That even includes the A6 processor. If you go with additional ram and a 1TB hard drive, you’ll still be well under $250.
- APU – A6-7400k (See It)
- Motherboard – Asus A68HM-e (See It)
- GPU – APU R5 Graphics
- RAM – Crucial 2x2GB (See It)
- Hard Drive – WD Caviar Blue 320GB
- Case – Xion XON-310 (See It)
- EVGA 500W 80+ PSU (See It)
Good $300 LOL Gaming Computer 2017
Now that our budget has been extended by over 30% to a $300 gaming PC, it’s time to go for CPU and graphics card rather than an APU. Even a basic level CPU GPU combination trumps the performance you get out of an APU. For that reason, we’re going with the Intel Pentium G3258 here along with the GTX 750 Ti.
Graphics Cards Around $100
The 750 Ti is affordable and a good performer for even AAA games on medium to high settings in 1080p. On rebate, I was able to find this at just under $100. You’ll want to choose the 750Ti over the R7 360 if they’re in the same price category. If the 750 Ti and the R7 370 you’re looking at happen to be in the same price range, go with the R7 370.
Taking Advantage of a Good Motherboard CPU Combo Under $100
Other than going with a dedicated CPU and GPU this build is fairly similar to the one above except that we’ve added 8GB of memory. I was able to get the price down at just under $300 with a combo deal from Newegg with the G3258 and Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H. The total price for that combo amounted to $105 and had a $10 rebate as well to bring it down to $95.
- CPU – Pentium G3258 (See It)
- Motherboard – Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H
- GPU – GTX 750 Ti (See It)
- RAM – G. Skill Ripjaws 2x4GB
- Hard Drive – WD Caviar Blue 500GB
- Case – Xion XON-310
- Power Supply – EVGA 500W 80+
$400 Console Killer Gaming PC for League of Legends and Minecraft 2017
There really is an amazing performance jump when you go from the $300 rig to the $400 Console Killing Gaming PC. This particular machine should handle the likes of Battlefield 4 with a framerate of around 44 FPS in Ultra 1080p with your standard GTX 950 and as much as 52 FPS with an overclocked FTW card. Changing the settings to high in that same game should net you around 80FPS. In other words, the performance of this machine is not only a little better than its $400 console equivalent, it’s a lot better.
CPU
We’re going with the i3-6100 here. This Skylake CPU is very capable in games and in 2017 simply does a better job than any of AMD’s offerings at the price point. While this may change later on in the year, for now, go with the i3.
Graphics Card
As I mentioned above we’re going with a GTX 950 here. I was able to find one for $130 (after rebate) at Microcenter online in Asus model GTX950-M-2-GD5.
Final Thoughts:
Overall, I’m more than pleased with where PC hardware is right now. If you avoid the hype and stick with the parts you actually need, you get incredible performance for the money you spend. The final price for this machine ended up being $431. To be fair, a new Xbox One comes in at around $300. Still, with cheaper games and no Xbox Live subscription, you’ll make up that money quickly.
- CPU – Intel i3-6100 (See It)
- Motherboard – Gigabyte GA-H110M-A
- GPU – GTX 950 (See It)
- RAM – G. Skill Ripjaws V Series 2x4GB DDR4 (See It)
- Hard Drive – WD Caviar Blue 1TB
- Case – Xion XON-310
- Power Supply – EVGA 500W 80+
List of All 3 Minecraft and LOL Computer Builds
| Part | $150 to $200 | $300 | $400 |
|---|---|---|---|
| CPU / APU | A6-7400k | Pentium G3258 | Intel i3-6100 |
| Motherboard | Asus A68HM-e | Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H | Gigabyte GA-H110M-A |
| GPU | APU R5 Graphics | 750 Ti | Asus GTX 950 |
| RAM | 2x2GB | G. Skill Ripjaws X 2x4GB | G. Skill Ripjaws V Series 2x4GB DDR4 |
| Hard Drive | WD Caviar Blue 320GB | WD Caviar Blue 500GB | WD Caviar Blue 1TB |
| Case | Xion XON-310 | Xion XON-310 | Xion XON-310 |
| Power Supply | EVGA 500W 80+ PSU | EVGA 500W 80+ PSU | EVGA 500W 80+ PSU |
Keep in mind that this article is updated as of the date of the article. So, as prices change throughout the year, you may have to modify it to meet the budget.