HTPC (MadVR,Relock)/Light Gaming/Steam In-Home

khaedar · December 22, 2014

Hey guys,

So I want to build a cheap system to use as an HTPC using MadVR and ReClock, a light gaming machine (LoL at most otherwise I'll stream with in-home) as well as a Steam In-Home (Streaming) computer.

I came up with these two builds and I was wondering which one was the most suited for this kind of use or if you guys had some better suggestions to make.

The prices or where I buy the parts from is irrelevant. I want to stay under 500 for sure though.

There is no optical drive or anything else because I already have some parts at home.

Build 1

PCPartPicker part list: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/4Yh7nQ

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($74.14 @ DirectCanada)
Motherboard: ASRock H81M-ITX Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($68.00 @ Vuugo)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($46.13 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($109.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GT 630 2GB Video Card ($38.50 @ Vuugo)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced (Black) Mini ITX Tower Case ($46.99 @ Canada Computers)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Memory Express)
Total: $443.73

PCPartPicker part list: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/LpRVZL

CPU: Intel Core i3-4150 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($129.50 @ Vuugo)
Motherboard: ASRock H81M-ITX Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($68.00 @ Vuugo)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($46.13 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($109.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced (Black) Mini ITX Tower Case ($46.99 @ Canada Computers)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Memory Express)
Total: $460.59

I am thinking the first build with the g3258 will give me better performance with the discreet graphic card but it's the cpu that I am not sure of.

I will NOT overclock this as I want something kinda low power and that doesn't output much heat or noise. I can consider buying a cpu cooler later on but again, it won't be for OC.

Let me know if I missed something.

Thanks!