Low Budget Build Help.

[Ophidio]

So it's getting out to a lot of people that my friends know that I'm fairly decent at making builds for people that are on a budget or helping them plan on what parts to get. Generally these people are also like I have $1000 help me build a pc that would be perfect for so on and blah blah blah. I can do those fairly easy because They all pretty much consist of the same parts, soetimes just changing things out like a cooler, or RAM, or storage for the system. But...

 

I am now being asked to help pick out the parts and build a $500 PC that will be able to run most games. Keyword, most. This kid isn't going to be playing Witcher 3, or any big titles like that on PC. He can't leave his sweet and precious PS4 alone long enough to actually try playing those games on pc. The most demanding game he's wanting to play that he's told me about it GTA 5. Which I looked at a website, sometimes a very inaccurate website, and these parts would be able to play GTA 5 meeting just the minimum requirements. Majority of games he wants to play is H1Z1, Skyrim with a  few mods, CS:GO, Garrys Mod,and The Sims 4. So... I'm coming to you, the people of LTT, to help me maybe make this thing better somehow or someway without going over $500. Yes, I already know it's like $22 over but I'm a very kind a generous person so if I have to I'll buy the cooler for him.

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/hVQ8cf

 

Would this system be decent enough for him to play all of those games on at least medium settings (excluding GTA 5), mayber higher on some at a stable 60fps reolution at 1080p?

 

Please and thank you, Phid.

[SkywardKkalox]

Easy, brb in a sec.

@Ophidio follow your topics aswell.

[SkywardKkalox]

480$ without OS.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($108.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($40.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Memory: Crucial 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($34.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($49.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 280 3GB Dual-X Video Card  ($172.98 @ Newegg) 

Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($32.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($39.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Total: $480.92

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-05 08:04 EDT-0400

[Guest]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($107.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97M-HD3 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($69.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($44.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($43.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 270X 2GB Dual-X Video Card  ($129.99 @ Newegg) 

Case: Fractal Design Core 1300 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($43.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($39.95 @ NCIX US) 

Total: $480.89

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-05 08:05 EDT-0400

[Ophidio]

 

480$ without OS.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

Thank you both!

 

Skyward, I don't know if you've used Western Digital Caviar Blue HDD's before but I don't trust them for shit. Maybe it's just me but I've had two and I've never had a good experience with them. Might be because they were both in my personal rig and I run my pc on medium to medium-high load non stop, but they've both been shit and just crapped out on me after like 6-7 months of use. Oh and I should have mentioned I want 2x4GB sticks because I wanted to run the RAM in dual channel, but I did go with the crucial sticks because they were still more inexpensive in the long run. 

 

DatSpeed, Thank you for making it to where I could afford a better GPU. Do you think it will be able to run GTA 5 though with that CPU though? That was my only worry when choosing an i3 because they aren't quad core and I've noticed both minimum required CPU's for the game are quad core so I didn't know if a dual core would even be able to run it. Let alone the lower clocked dual cores.

 

As for both builds I still decided to stick with the Silverstone PSU because it's a very good brand. Yes I know I'm mostly paying for the brand when choosing that system but I think quality is kind of worth it in this build with everything that's being chosen. Also don't really need the extra wattage that the other PSU's offered. Don't even really need the Wattage in the Silverstone but I figured eh, why not. it was only $5 more than the wattage below it.

 

Thank you both again for the help though. I really appreciate it. Now I just need to run it by the person buying and hopefully he approves. (Thank god he doesn't know much about components in the first place)

[mata-pombos]

Thank you both!

 

Skyward, I don't know if you've used Western Digital Caviar Blue HDD's before but I don't trust them for shit. Maybe it's just me but I've had two and I've never had a good experience with them. Might be because they were both in my personal rig and I run my pc on medium to medium-high load non stop, but they've both been shit and just crapped out on me after like 6-7 months of use. Oh and I should have mentioned I want 2x4GB sticks because I wanted to run the RAM in dual channel, but I did go with the crucial sticks because they were still more inexpensive in the long run. 

 

DatSpeed, Thank you for making it to where I could afford a better GPU. Do you think it will be able to run GTA 5 though with that CPU though? That was my only worry when choosing an i3 because they aren't quad core and I've noticed both minimum required CPU's for the game are quad core so I didn't know if a dual core would even be able to run it. Let alone the lower clocked dual cores.

 

As for both builds I still decided to stick with the Silverstone PSU because it's a very good brand. Yes I know I'm mostly paying for the brand when choosing that system but I think quality is kind of worth it in this build with everything that's being chosen. Also don't really need the extra wattage that the other PSU's offered. Don't even really need the Wattage in the Silverstone but I figured eh, why not. it was only $5 more than the wattage below it.

 

Thank you both again for the help though. I really appreciate it. Now I just need to run it by the person buying and hopefully he approves. (Thank god he doesn't know much about components in the first place)

gta 5 runs fine on i3

[Ophidio]

gta 5 runs fine on i3

Really? Sweet. I didn't know none of my friends have anything lower than an FX-8350 or i5 4460 in their system other than our scrub friend that's still running a Core 2 Duo with a R7 260 with 4GB of DDR2 RAM. Like what a scrub... He manages to run GTA 5 though even if he does have invisible roads and no texture in the city so I give him credit for that.

[mata-pombos]

Really? Sweet. I didn't know none of my friends have anything lower than an FX-8350 or i5 4460 in their system other than our scrub friend that's still running a Core 2 Duo with a R7 260 with 4GB of DDR2 RAM. Like what a scrub... He manages to run GTA 5 though even if he does have invisible roads and no texture in the city so I give him credit for that.

only problem with the i3 is some newer games like far cry 4 dont even run with 2 phisical cores but GTA5 is not one of them

[jimakos234]

Here is my suggestion, with r7 370 and seasonic psu.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($107.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($57.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($43.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R7 370 2GB Video Card  ($153.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Corsair 100R ATX Mid Tower Case  ($37.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($58.50 @ Newegg)
Total: $505.44
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-05 08:54 EDT-0400

[Ophidio]

Here is my suggestion, with r7 370 and seasonic psu.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($107.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($57.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($44.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($43.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Video Card: MSI Radeon R7 370 2GB Video Card  ($153.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Case: Corsair 100R ATX Mid Tower Case  ($37.99 @ Micro Center)

Power Supply: SeaSonic 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($58.50 @ Newegg)

Total: $505.44

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-05 08:54 EDT-0400

Only problem with that is it would put my budget over $5 more with the cooler. I'm not dropping the cooler. yeah it may not be needed but with this guy he'll probably play his pc with a blanket over it and space heater right next to it.

[SkywardKkalox]

Thank you both!

 

Skyward, I don't know if you've used Western Digital Caviar Blue HDD's before but I don't trust them for shit. Maybe it's just me but I've had two and I've never had a good experience with them. Might be because they were both in my personal rig and I run my pc on medium to medium-high load non stop, but they've both been shit and just crapped out on me after like 6-7 months of use. Oh and I should have mentioned I want 2x4GB sticks because I wanted to run the RAM in dual channel, but I did go with the crucial sticks because they were still more inexpensive in the long run. 

 

DatSpeed, Thank you for making it to where I could afford a better GPU. Do you think it will be able to run GTA 5 though with that CPU though? That was my only worry when choosing an i3 because they aren't quad core and I've noticed both minimum required CPU's for the game are quad core so I didn't know if a dual core would even be able to run it. Let alone the lower clocked dual cores.

 

As for both builds I still decided to stick with the Silverstone PSU because it's a very good brand. Yes I know I'm mostly paying for the brand when choosing that system but I think quality is kind of worth it in this build with everything that's being chosen. Also don't really need the extra wattage that the other PSU's offered. Don't even really need the Wattage in the Silverstone but I figured eh, why not. it was only $5 more than the wattage below it.

 

Thank you both again for the help though. I really appreciate it. Now I just need to run it by the person buying and hopefully he approves. (Thank god he doesn't know much about components in the first place)

WD drives are basically the best ones on the market. Low failure rate and very reliable. dual channel vs single channel makes absolutely 0 difference in gaming. If it were for other tasks like rendering then yeah, dual channel would be better. EVGA's psus are incredibly reliable. Here is a thread of GOOD PSUs and what PSUs to stay away from

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/404921-strmfrmxmns-psu-whitelist/

[Ophidio]

WD drives are basically the best ones on the market. 

Maybe the rest of them, like the Black. That's what I use now and I love it. Blue's though... never again will I use one in a system for gaming. For just everyday casual use yeah i'd probably use it. To me though, they aren't meant for gaming. 

[geohet]

@Ophidio

 

Best i could do given the budget with an i5. Be a good friend and gift the Hyper 212 to your friend 

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($166.95 @ SuperBiiz) 

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-GAMING 3 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($59.88 @ OutletPC) 

Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Blue 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($38.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($43.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 270X 2GB Dual-X Video Card  ($129.99 @ Newegg) 

Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($29.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply  ($34.49 @ SuperBiiz) 

Total: $504.28

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-05 09:31 EDT-0400

[jimakos234]

Only problem with that is it would put my budget over $5 more with the cooler. I'm not dropping the cooler. yeah it may not be needed but with this guy he'll probably play his pc with a blanket over it and space heater right next to it.

Made some small changes. This cooler is ok.

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/mvJvGX

[SkywardKkalox]

Maybe the rest of them, like the Black. That's what I use now and I love it. Blue's though... never again will I use one in a system for gaming. For just everyday casual use yeah i'd probably use it. To me though, they aren't meant for gaming. 

Almost 9  years on my wd blues and they still haven't failed.

[SkywardKkalox]

 

@Ophidio

 

Best i could do given the budget with an i5. Be a good friend and gift the Hyper 212 to your friend 

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($166.95 @ SuperBiiz) 

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-GAMING 3 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($59.88 @ OutletPC) 

Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Blue 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($38.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($43.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 270X 2GB Dual-X Video Card  ($129.99 @ Newegg) 

Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($29.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply  ($34.49 @ SuperBiiz) 

Total: $504.28

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-05 09:31 EDT-0400

 

GPU > CPU on budget builds. Also the B1 > W1 from evga.

[SkywardKkalox]

Maybe the rest of them, like the Black. That's what I use now and I love it. Blue's though... never again will I use one in a system for gaming. For just everyday casual use yeah i'd probably use it. To me though, they aren't meant for gaming. 

Also, there is nothing classified as a "gaming" drive. The term "gaming" is overused and annoying when it's assosiated with hardware.

[msvelev]

only problem with the i3 is some newer games like far cry 4 dont even run with 2 phisical cores but GTA5 is not one of them

Far cry 4 runs fine on i3. It won't run on a dual core without HT, but i3s are seen as 4 core CPUs by the OS/FC4.

[geohet]

GPU > CPU on budget builds. Also the B1 > W1 

Thank you for telling me what i already know. I just gave my opinion on what he could get for his budget. I didn't say he has to get it...

[Prysin]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 860K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A88M PRO3+ Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard  ($48.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($39.49 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($43.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 960 2GB Video Card  ($164.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($32.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($39.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $440.42
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-05 12:12 EDT-0400

 

Before Rebates: 494 USD

 

 

This build will work just fine, the 960 and Athlon may be weaker then the i3 and 280. However, due to Nvidias CPU overhead, and the Athlons ability to OC (albeit you need a better CPU cooler to OC), you should be able to get as good, or better performance then an i3 + 280 (280 is marginally weaker then 960).

 

 

That being said.

To the rest of you. For any CPU below i5. please use Nvidia, unless you are aiming for the 750Ti range, in which case 270X is superior in every way. The reason i say "get GTX 960" when you got a weak ass CPU, is because the CPU overhead in Nvidias drivers will help the CPU much more. This overhead almost never see the light of day in reviews, as most reviewers test GPUs with a overclocked X99 or 4790k, thus the CPU is almost never the bottleneck. However at lower ends, the CPU can quickly become the bottleneck, and any little bit that helps it, will be noticed by the user

[Ophidio]

Also, there is nothing classified as a "gaming" drive. The term "gaming" is overused and annoying when it's assosiated with hardware.

I wasn't really saying that a specific drive was better for gaming. I was more trying to state that WD Blue doesn't perform under heavy system load very well for me. WB Black performs just fine with no problems and hasn't given me any problems. Like I'm pretty sure I said before, it could just be because I put a lot of stress and load on my system all the time. I've had WD Blues in systems before but they were also systems that were just used for the casual gamer and the typical web browsing mom that bought an $800 PC just to get on facebook.

 

But you and I both know that some drives can handle load better than other drives can. That's mainly what I was saying with the whole gaming thing It was just what, like 7am? I had been awake for 36 hours I wasn't paying attention to what I was saying I was just trying to get my point across that'd I'd rather not use a WD Blue in a system that's going to be used for gaming, especially by a kid that knows nothing about computers.

 

As for everyone else that has posted here, thank you for replying and I think I'm going to go with a i3 4160 and a 270x or 280x gpu. He's not going to be doing anything hardcore gaming wise, GTA 5 is where he stops and it'll probably be the only thing he'll ever play on there that demanding on hardware. So that decision is really going to be based on Heat and whether or not he likes the case. 

[geohet]

Definitely the R9 280X if your choice is the i3. Glad to be of help.