$470 Console Killer (Featuring The i3 8100 and RX 570) PLUS 2 Free Games *Updated Tier 3 PSU*

[jerubedo]

Hey everyone. I figured I'd post this since this is a pretty great build for the price. Note that prices are from Microcenter (there are a few around the country) so if you have one near you, you can build this for the same price. The pricing is likely pretty time-dependent though because very soon the i3 8100 will be replaced with the i3 9100 at probably a higher price point. Anyway, below are the parts:

 

Motherboard: Gigabyte B360M DS3H (https://www.microcenter.com/product/506065/B360M_DS3H_LGA_1151_mATX_Intel_Motherboard) - $34.99 when the i3 is also in your cart

CPU: Intel Core i3-8100 (https://www.microcenter.com/product/483772/Core_i3-8100_Coffee_Lake_36_GHz_LGA_1151_Boxed_Processor) - $114.99

RAM: 8GB Crucial Ballistix Sport LT @2666MHz (https://www.microcenter.com/product/5002815/Crucial_Ballistix_Sport_LT_8GB_-_Bundle_of_two_4GB_DDR4-2666_PC4-21300_CL16_Memory_Modules) - $49.98

GPU: PowerColor Red Dragon AXRX Radeon RX 570 (https://www.microcenter.com/product/478703/red-dragon-axrx-radeon-rx-570-dual-fan-4gb-gddr5-pcie-video-card) - $129.99

SSD: Crucial MX500 250GB (https://www.microcenter.com/product/502353/MX500_250GB_3D_NAND_SATA_III_6Gb-s_M2_2280_Internal_Solid_State_Drive) - $49.99

PSU: Corsair CX550M (https://www.microcenter.com/product/460287/cx550m-550-watt-80-plus-bronze-semi-modular-atx-power-supply) - $69.99

Tower: PowerSpec WN-91U3C mATX Mid-Tower (https://www.microcenter.com/product/507687/WN-91U3C_mATX_Mid-Tower_Computer_Case_-_Black) - $29.99

 

Some notes:

1) The RX 570 also includes 2 free games. You choose between: Resident Evil 2 (Remake), Devil May Cry 5, and The Division 2

2) The SSD is only 250GB. For the same price you can get a 1 TB HDD. Obviously it's slower, but will hold much more. I personally prefer having less space but much faster booting and loading. 250GB is enough to hold a few games at a time.

3) The tower can be a placeholder. Any ATX/mATX tower will work for the same price or less, so go with whatever suits you.

4) The PSU is indeed a tier 3 PSU, which is absolutely fine for lower powered parts such as these. If, however, you'd like a PSU that will allow you to upgrade to more high-end parts down the line, it's definitely worth investing in a tier 2 or 1 PSU instead for an extra few dollars.

5) Speaking of which, the total comes to $469.87, so if you're trying for a $500 budget there's a few things you can do:

    a) You can spend the extra to get a better PSU as noted above

    b) You can spend the extra to upgrade the SSD to a higher capacity drive (you can get the MX500 500GB drive for $20 more)

    c) You can spend the extra on a better tower

    d) You can spend the extra to add an optical drive if you need one for one of various reasons

 

EDIT: The Power supply has been updated to a tier 3, and the video card has been replaced by a $129.99 variant of the same card, making this an even more solid build.

[dizmo]

The GTX 1050Ti is a horrible card at that price. The RX570 beats it by a wide margin in pretty much everything.

[jerubedo]

9 minutes ago, dizmo said:

The GTX 1050Ti is a horrible card at that price. The RX570 beats it by a wide margin in pretty much everything.

Actually, that's a fair point. I'd forgotten about the RX 570 completely. Plus you get 2 games with the purchase of it for the same price! I'll update my post now.

[r2724r16]

22 minutes ago, jerubedo said:

Hey everyone. I figured I'd post this since this is a pretty great build for the price.

To be honest, this isn't the greatest build. 

 

Instead of the build you made above, you should just grab a Dell Optiplex with an i7 2600 and 8GB of RAM for less than $250, throw in an SSD, a cheap PSU like a CX450/M, and a graphics card (like a used 970, R9 390, new RX 570, 580) and you'll be set.

[jerubedo]

24 minutes ago, Geography said:

To be honest, this isn't the greatest build. 

 

Instead of the build you made above, you should just grab a Dell Optiplex with an i7 2600 and 8GB of RAM for less than $250, throw in an SSD, a cheap PSU like a CX450/M, and a graphics card (like a used 970, R9 390, new RX 570, 580) and you'll be set.

 

That's right around the same price ($490 according to my math). The i3 8100 should outperform the i7 2600 in almost every game just because of IPC and clock speeds alone.

 

I usually hate linking YouTube videos comparing hardware, but this is the only direct comparison I found: 

 

The i3 8100 wins by 10-15% across the board.

[r2724r16]

42 minutes ago, jerubedo said:

That's right around the same price ($490 according to my math). The i3 8100 should outperform the i7 2600 in almost every game just because of IPC and clock speeds alone.

More like $400... You can get Dell Optiplexes (with i7 2600s) for like U$200. The CX450M is like $50, an SSD is around $50, and a used GTX 970 is around $100. 

 

And GTX 970 > RX 570 > 1050 Ti so ya.

 

EDIT: And you have to pay sales tax for your build, bringing the price up even more (not sure how sales tax works in the US). 

[hello_there_123]

oof

 

that psu is garbage

[jerubedo]

24 minutes ago, hello_there_123 said:

oof

 

that psu is garbage

No it's not. It's a tier 4 PSU, which is not threatening to hardware. It won't last as long as Tier 1/2, but it is a great performer in budget builds. Moving up to better hardware I would move on up to tier 3 at the minimum. Jayz2Cents uses this same PSU in his extreme budget builds as well. Also this is a good site that explains what each tier actually means:

 

https://www.gamingscan.com/psu-hierarchy/

 

From that article:

 

Tier 4: Mid-Range Affordability

 

With tier 4, we approach, without quite reaching, the more questionable models on offer among the seemingly endless catalog of PSUs on sale. They work, but without any additional bells and whistles.

Efficiency takes a hit without being too dire. Bottom line: midrange through and through, not great, not bad, but a healthy, resounding acceptable.

 

Here's Jayz2Cents using this PSU in his build:

 

 

[jerubedo]

29 minutes ago, Geography said:

More like $400... You can get Dell Optiplexes (with i7 2600s) for like U$200. The CX450M is like $50, an SSD is around $50, and a used GTX 970 is around $100. 

 

And GTX 970 > RX 570 > 1050 Ti so ya.

 

EDIT: And you have to pay sales tax for your build, bringing the price up even more (not sure how sales tax works in the US). 

I assume you mean used or refurbished for $200?? I would never buy used or refurbed parts myself, especially after the cryptocurrency craze just ended and you can wind up with parts that have been OC'd and ran hot in a dirty warehouse God knows where. But if people want to go that route, that's cool. But that's a whole different ball game at that point.

 

It's common practice in the US to not include sales tax in the final cost of a build since sales tax varies from state to state wildly (and in some states like NH there is no sales tax). In states where there are taxes it can vary from 3% - 10%

[hello_there_123]

32 minutes ago, jerubedo said:

https://www.gamingscan.com/psu-hierarchy/

I've never heard of that site, but 

 

32 minutes ago, jerubedo said:

No it's not. It's a tier 4 PSU, which is not threatening to hardware. It won't last as long as Tier 1/2, but it is a great performer in budget builds. Moving up to better hardware I would move on up to tier 3 at the minimum. Jayz2Cents uses this same PSU in his extreme budget builds as well. Also this is a good site that explains what each tier actually means:

 

https://www.gamingscan.com/psu-hierarchy/

 

From that article:

 

Tier 4: Mid-Range Affordability

 

With tier 4, we approach, without quite reaching, the more questionable models on offer among the seemingly endless catalog of PSUs on sale. They work, but without any additional bells and whistles.

Efficiency takes a hit without being too dire. Bottom line: midrange through and through, not great, not bad, but a healthy, resounding acceptable.

 

Here's Jayz2Cents using this PSU in his build:

 

 

Bottom line: that website is garbage. Crap units like the S12II and MWE Lite are considered "acceptable" in 2019? They belong in nothing but the lowest of office units. Also you're assuming Jay actually knows a thing or two about PSUs which is stretching it a lot. 

 

 

All the issues with the S12II (protections and group regulation) also apply to the MWE Lite (not to mention that because of its double forward topology it doesn't like GPU transient spikes). 

Besides, with the CX 2017 550W being the same price on Amazon (while being far superior, with half bridge LLC for better transients and DC-DC regulation), why bother with trash like the MWE Lite?

[jerubedo]

41 minutes ago, hello_there_123 said:

I've never heard of that site, but 

 

Bottom line: that website is garbage. Crap units like the S12II and MWE Lite are considered "acceptable" in 2019? They belong in nothing but the lowest of office units. Also you're assuming Jay actually knows a thing or two about PSUs which is stretching it a lot. 

 

 

All the issues with the S12II (protections and group regulation) also apply to the MWE Lite (not to mention that because of its double forward topology it doesn't like GPU transient spikes).  

Besides, with the CX 2017 550W being the same price on Amazon (while being far superior, with half bridge LLC for better transients and DC-DC regulation), why bother with trash like the MWE Lite?

I agree that the CX 550w (2017) is better indeed (unfortunately they don't have any at Microcenter, and I was trying to source all parts from one place). At the end of the day, the tiers exist for a reason. If it were truly the fact that everything below tier 3 was useless garbage then there would only be 4 tiers (the first 3 and then tier 4 - "garbage"). But in reality tier 4 is middle of the road. It has flaws, yes, but it most likely won't kill other components using a typical user load with low end hardware. Hell even tier 5 and 6 PSUs have their uses. I'd put a tier 5 in an office-only PC and wouldn't be too worried about it. Tier 7 is the true garbage.

 

Also, you quoted Stefan. He also said this:

 

Tier S: The best of the Best, Sir.

Tier A: High End

Tier B: Lower High End/Entry Gold

Tier C : Mid Range, good value

Tier D : Higher System Integrator Level

Tier E : Lower System Integrator Level

Tier F : MEGUMIN! Class. Not worth lookin at.

(source: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/986897-psu-tier-list-30/)

 

Higher system integrator level would certainly fit this build for sure. It's a low power draw system overall with low-grade parts, which is exactly what system integrators like to use.

[Herman Mcpootis]

1 hour ago, jerubedo said:

No it's not. It's a tier 4 PSU, which is not threatening to hardware. It won't last as long as Tier 1/2, but it is a great performer in budget builds. Moving up to better hardware I would move on up to tier 3 at the minimum. Jayz2Cents uses this same PSU in his extreme budget builds as well. Also this is a good site that explains what each tier actually means:

IIRC in jonnyguru's website review, the masterwatt lite was out of spec in some tests, not a good idea when you can get other better units for similar prices. @jonnyGURU @Stefan Payne

[jerubedo]

51 minutes ago, Herman Mcpootis said:

IIRC in jonnyguru's website review, the masterwatt lite was out of spec in some tests, not a good idea when you can get other better units for similar prices. @jonnyGURU @Stefan Payne

 

Hmm, I seem to be having trouble finding that review. If that is indeed the case though, then this PSU should be no higher than tier 5 (out of spec should never qualify for tier 4).

[Herman Mcpootis]

Just now, jerubedo said:

 

Hmm, I seem to be having trouble finding that review. If that is indeed the case though, then this PSU should be no higher than tier 5 (out of spec should never qualify for tier 4).

the website is being updated.

[Stefan Payne]

4 hours ago, jerubedo said:

Hey everyone. I figured I'd post this since this is a pretty great build for the price. Note that prices are from Microcenter (there are a few around the country) so if you have one near you, you can build this for the same price. The pricing is likely pretty time-dependent though because very soon the i3 8100 will be replaced with the i3 9100 at probably a higher price point. Anyway, below are the parts:

 

Motherboard: Gigabyte B360M DS3H (https://www.microcenter.com/product/506065/B360M_DS3H_LGA_1151_mATX_Intel_Motherboard) - $34.99 when the i3 is also in your cart

CPU: Intel Core i3-8100 (https://www.microcenter.com/product/483772/Core_i3-8100_Coffee_Lake_36_GHz_LGA_1151_Boxed_Processor) - $114.99

I really don't get your preference on Intel and why you chose the i3-8100 when you can get at least 8 Thread for the same price on the other side and often even the 6 Core Versions.

And there is no viable upgrade path ever with Intel stuff.

There would be with AM4.

So it makes double no sense to choose the more expensive i3 over the Ryzen 3 wich is way cheaper and also offer only 4Cores/Threads, while beeing 30€ cheaper - wich you can invest in a better Powersupply. And the potential for upgrade is also there with the Ryzen 3000 series.

4 hours ago, jerubedo said:

PSU: Cooler Master MasterWatt Lite 500 (https://www.microcenter.com/product/479133/MasterWatt_Lite_500_Watt_80_Plus_ATX_Power_Supply) - $39.99

 

I'd never ever consider a group regulated unit ever.

Especially since like 5€ more for the PSU gives you soo much more that it doesn't make sense to save too much on it!

You get better, longer living fans.

You get better voltage regulation

You lose the potential to force the PSU out of spec with normal load.

4 hours ago, jerubedo said:

4) The PSU is indeed a tier 4 PSU, which is absolutely fine for lower powered parts such as these. If, however, you'd like a PSU that will allow you to upgrade to more mid-range or high-range parts down the line, it's definitely worth investing in a tier 3 or 2 PSU instead for an extra few dollars.

No, its not fine.

Its not acceptable if avoidable.

It is avoidable.

So its not acceptable

It is a potential for a desaster to happen, especially if you replace the

 

 

1 hour ago, Herman Mcpootis said:

IIRC in jonnyguru's website review, the masterwatt lite was out of spec in some tests, not a good idea when you can get other better units for similar prices. @jonnyGURU @Stefan Payne

Well, obviously.

That's an inherent design problem with all group regulated units. So yeah, obviously it goes out of spec.

ALL group regulated units go out of spec!

 

There is no way around that - well except maybe limiting the 5V Rail to like 5A and not care for regulation on that rail and regulate only 12V...

 

Or do it like the old days and put minimal load resistors inside.

[Herman Mcpootis]

9 minutes ago, Stefan Payne said:

Well, obviously.

That's an inherent design problem with all group regulated units. So yeah, obviously it goes out of spec.

ALL group regulated units go out of spec!

Well, so sorry for not remembering every single detail there is about power supplies

[jerubedo]

20 minutes ago, Stefan Payne said:

I really don't get your preference on Intel and why you chose the i3-8100 when you can get at least 8 Thread for the same price on the other side and often even the 6 Core Versions.

And there is no viable upgrade path ever with Intel stuff.

There would be with AM4.

So it makes double no sense to choose the more expensive i3 over the Ryzen 3 wich is way cheaper and also offer only 4Cores/Threads, while beeing 30€ cheaper - wich you can invest in a better Powersupply. And the potential for upgrade is also there with the Ryzen 3000 series.

 

So the i3 8100 is $115, and the Ryzen 5 2600 is $160. The goal is to have a console killer for under $500, so that would push the build over budget. As for the 2200g, which is $99, the i3 8100 out-performs it in gaming loads by a decent margin for $15 more, so there's no reason not to have it as the CPU for this build.

 

At this price range the upgradability doesn't matter much. The total price of the i3 8100 AND the motherboard is $150. The motherboard is $35, so if and when you'd want to upgrade you'd only be "wasting" $35, and if you want to quantify that, I guess you can say that the intel build is $50 more (the $15 plus the $35, IF you upgrade later on). That's a stretch, though. But even at that, you are getting $50 more worth of performance I'd say.

 

As I stated in the notes as well, there's already an additional $30 to throw into the build (since it comes to $470), be it for a better PSU, a better SSD, a better tower, or an optical drive. Most people seem to want to avoid the PSU, so throw the extra $30 at the PSU and you still have an awesome consoler-killer rig.

[jerubedo]

1 minute ago, Herman Mcpootis said:

Well, so sorry for not remembering every single detail there is about power supplies

I know right!? lol.

[Stefan Payne]

3 minutes ago, Herman Mcpootis said:

Well, so sorry for not remembering every single detail there is about power supplies

No, why?
That's what I am here for

1 minute ago, jerubedo said:

So the i3 8100 is $115, and the Ryzen 5 2600 is $160. The goal is to have a console killer for under $500, so that would push the build over budget. As for the 2200g, which is $99, the i3 8100 out-performs it in gaming loads by a decent margin for $15 more, so there's no reason not to have it as the CPU for this build.

the R3-1200 is 75€.

The 2200G is abit faster

But the difference between the two is negligable, 

The Ryzen 5/1400 is around 110 and in some games it totally rapes the 8100.

The 1600 is 130€ here right now.

Why would you ever consider the Intel over that?!

 

Especially with Ryzen 3000 coming up and beeing a potential upgrade path for that.

 

1 minute ago, jerubedo said:

As I stated in the notes as well, there's already an additional $30 to throw into the build (since it comes to $470),

Yes, and?!
That is not enough reason to chose the worse choice in the long run.

The 4 Core/4 Thread CPUs is something I'd avoid alltogether.

 

And with Intel, look at how many people here are using i3-6100 or up to i5-7400 and are rather unhappy with the System as it makes no sense to upgrade them with anything...

 

1 minute ago, jerubedo said:

and you still have an awesome consoler-killer rig.

No, not really as consoles are very small and your rig is not.

Even with SFF Builds like Silverstone RVZ-01, you are far from console level.

And a Killer it is also not as the games make the plattform. THe Plattform itself is rather unimportant (and in the past the shittier consoles seem to almost always have won the war because of the games).

 

3 hours ago, jerubedo said:

Also, you quoted Stefan. He also said this:

Yes, but also look at how I use it and see "System Integrator" in general.

While there are some good, "ethical" system integrators, many are not and want the PSU to explode and kill your PC after the warranty is over.

 

I used it as an Euphemismus because of that as that is something that no enduser should ever touch...

[jerubedo]

9 minutes ago, Stefan Payne said:

the R3-1200 is 75€.

The 2200G is abit faster

But the difference between the two is negligable, 

The Ryzen 5/1400 is around 110 and in some games it totally rapes the 8100.

The 1600 is 130€ here right now.

Why would you ever consider the Intel over that?! 

 

Especially with Ryzen 3000 coming up and beeing a potential upgrade path for that.

In what games does the Ryzen 5 1400 beat the i3 8100?? This video compares 7 games with both of those processors and it does not win in a single one:

 

 

And again, the upgradability really doesn't matter at this price point:

Quote

At this price range the upgradability doesn't matter much. The total price of the i3 8100 AND the motherboard is $150. The motherboard is $35, so if and when you'd want to upgrade you'd only be "wasting" $35, and if you want to quantify that, I guess you can say that the intel build is $50 more (the $15 plus the $35, IF you upgrade later on). That's a stretch, though. But even at that, you are getting $50 more worth of performance I'd say.

 

[jerubedo]

13 minutes ago, Stefan Payne said:

No, not really as consoles are very small and your rig is not.

Even with SFF Builds like Silverstone RVZ-01, you are far from console level.

And a Killer it is also not as the games make the plattform. THe Plattform itself is rather unimportant (and in the past the shittier consoles seem to almost always have won the war because of the games).

 

The size isn't what matters here. It's the raw performance. And I would say the platform absolutely matters: Consoles target 30 FPS, dynamic resolution, heavy motion blur, etc. PC offers 60 FPS, low or no motion blur, and consistent resolution (and no cheating with checkerboarding!!). That is why I buy every game I can on PC and not on consoles (except of course for exclusives).

[jerubedo]

22 minutes ago, Stefan Payne said:

The 1600 is 130€ here right now.

Why would you ever consider the Intel over that?!

As for the 1600, the cheapest here is $150, and the cheapest motherboard is $50, which puts the total cost at $200 vs $150 for the i3 build. $50 more is still over budget. PLUS the 1600 and 8100 seem to trade blows and are pretty much dead even in gaming scenarios.

[Stefan Payne]

7 minutes ago, jerubedo said:

In what games does the Ryzen 5 1400 beat the i3 8100?? This video compares 7 games with both of those processors and it does not win in a single one:

Assasin's Creed Odyssey or other heavily multithreaded games for example.

Then again, the Ryzen 5/1600 is like 20€ more, why ignore THAT?!

Quote

And again, the upgradability really doesn't matter at this price point

That's not for you to decide but the people buying this thing.

 

Especially if you don't have the money, wich is what this is probably for, the upgradebility is a huge thing to consider and not to just discard because for the last 10 years without any real competition there wasn't anything you could upgrade to that would make sense, when we now have something that would make sense to upgrade to...

 

Yeah, no...

4 minutes ago, jerubedo said:

The size isn't what matters here.

The "console killer" kinda does imply the size...

 

4 minutes ago, jerubedo said:

It's the raw performance.

...wich could be soo much better for only a couple of bucks more...

 

Right now here the 8100 is 115€

The Ryzen 5/1600 is 127€

1600x is 5€

 

Difference is 12€uro

4 minutes ago, jerubedo said:

heavy motion blur, etc. PC offers 60 FPS, low or no motion blur,

That is a setting thing, doesn't have anything to do with Consoles and so on...

4 minutes ago, jerubedo said:

and consistent resolution (and no cheating with checkerboarding!!).

That seems like a serious bias against consoles without any reason

I don't get it...

4 minutes ago, jerubedo said:

That is why I buy every game I can on PC and not on consoles (except of course for exclusives).

yeah and support shit like Integrating Gameworks and the Epic Store shit??

Because that was a reason for me to not buy some games on PC and stuck with it on consoles...

 

5 minutes ago, jerubedo said:

As for the 1600, the cheapest here is $150, and the cheapest motherboard is $50, which puts the total cost at $200 vs $150 for the i3 build. $50 more is still over budget. PLUS the 1600 and 8100 seem to trade blows and are pretty much dead even in gaming scenarios.

...and better upgrade path, not a dead end plattform that will be replaced with a new socket for no reason whatsoever...

 

At least be honest and mention the lack of upgradability and that it is better on the other side, that they might be able to upgrade to Ryzen 3000 series wich will be released in a couple of months...

 

And in the video you provided about the Ryzen and i3, you've shown that the difference is not worth talking about. If one is shit, the other one is equally shit.

[jerubedo]

1 hour ago, Stefan Payne said:

Assasin's Creed Odyssey or other heavily multithreaded games for example.

Then again, the Ryzen 5/1600 is like 20€ more, why ignore THAT?!

That's not for you to decide but the people buying this thing.

 

Especially if you don't have the money, wich is what this is probably for, the upgradebility is a huge thing to consider and not to just discard because for the last 10 years without any real competition there wasn't anything you could upgrade to that would make sense, when we now have something that would make sense to upgrade to...

 

Yeah, no...

The "console killer" kinda does imply the size...

 

...wich could be soo much better for only a couple of bucks more...

 

Right now here the 8100 is 115€

The Ryzen 5/1600 is 127€

1600x is 5€

 

Difference is 12€uro

That is a setting thing, doesn't have anything to do with Consoles and so on...

That seems like a serious bias against consoles without any reason

I don't get it...

yeah and support shit like Integrating Gameworks and the Epic Store shit??

Because that was a reason for me to not buy some games on PC and stuck with it on consoles...

 

...and better upgrade path, not a dead end plattform that will be replaced with a new socket for no reason whatsoever...

 

At least be honest and mention the lack of upgradability and that it is better on the other side, that they might be able to upgrade to Ryzen 3000 series wich will be released in a couple of months...

 

And in the video you provided about the Ryzen and i3, you've shown that the difference is not worth talking about. If one is shit, the other one is equally shit.

You're not getting what I'm saying, though. The i3 costs a total of $150 (CPU AND Mobo). The Ryzen 5 1600 costs $200 (CPU AND Mobo). That's a $50 difference. SO if you do want to upgrade on the intel platform you just buy a new motherboard for $50 or so and you are BREAKING EVEN. The upgrade cost is the same for both. That still means the i3 wins because it's lower cost up front. It only evens out WHEN YOU UPGRADE. The Ryzen, therefore, is no better for upgradability. Makes sense? And again, the gaming performance between the two is even. And another thing: First gen Ryzen chips are also VERY RAM dependent. So to be able to actually trade blows with the i3 8100 you'd need to pair the Ryzen 5 1600 with more expensive 3000+ MHz RAM.

 

Quote

That is a setting thing, doesn't have anything to do with Consoles and so on...

No, because you can't change those settings on console. They are locked to 30 FPS. They automatically use dynamic resolution and checkerboarding and you can't change that. Most console games don't let you change motion blur settings. So no, it's not a setting thing, since you can't change it. You CAN on the PC, which is why it is objectively better from a technical standpoint.

[jerubedo]

I've updated the build again. One of the RX 570s has dropped in price to $129.99. I put the $30 saved into a better tier 3 PSU.