Helping my friend put a budget build together

[eman1000]

Hi, my friend is looking for a modest build that can run 1080p 60fps at medium settings. He doesn't have a defined budget but the lower the better. Thanks in advance.

[Lord Mirdalan]

What games does he want to play/what else will he do with it?

 

Also, we need a ballpark budget...

[eman1000]

1 minute ago, Lord Mirdalan said:

What games does he want to play/what else will he do with it?

 

Also, we need a ballpark budget...

He plays Rust and Rainbow. He really doesn't want anything fancy, he just wants to be able to play games without crashing and freezing. If a budget is necessary then around $500, but the lower the better.

[steelo]

I'd recommend a Ryzen 3 1200 or better yet a Ryzen 5 1600. As far as the graphics card, you can't beat the performance per dollar ratio of a RX 570 or an older but slightly more powerful RX 480, if you can find it. Those will give him the best bang for the buck and should easily handle most games at medium-high settings. As for the motherboard and RAM, the ASRock B450M Pro and G. Skill Ripjaws 3000 mhz DDR4 RAM is decent and cheap. I have a Vivo 'Smart' computer case and it looks really good with tempered glass on the side. I believe I got it for around $40 on sale.

 

 I am not confident recommending a 'budget' power supply, so I'll let the other users help you with that  

[Lord Mirdalan]

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD - Ryzen 3 2200G 3.5 GHz Quad-Core Processor	$83.99 @ Newegg
CPU Cooler	Cooler Master - Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler	$24.99 @ Newegg
Motherboard	MSI - B450M GAMING PLUS Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard	$79.99 @ Amazon
Memory	G.Skill - Aegis 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory	$64.99 @ Newegg
Storage	Kingston - A400 240 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive	$29.99 @ Amazon
Video Card	Gigabyte - Radeon RX 570 4 GB Gaming 4G Video Card	$119.99 @ Newegg
Case	Phanteks - P300 ATX Mid Tower Case	$55.98 @ Newegg
Power Supply	Corsair - VS 550 W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply	$38.98 @ Newegg
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$548.90
	Mail-in rebates	-$50.00
	Total	$498.90
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-06-14 15:41 EDT-0400

A good upgrade would be the Ryzen 5 1600, but that pushes you over $500. You could also spring for an 8GB video card, for about $20 more.

 

[steelo]

3 minutes ago, Lord Mirdalan said:

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD - Ryzen 3 2200G 3.5 GHz Quad-Core Processor	$83.99 @ Newegg
CPU Cooler	Cooler Master - Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler	$24.99 @ Newegg
Motherboard	MSI - B450M GAMING PLUS Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard	$79.99 @ Amazon
Memory	G.Skill - Aegis 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory	$64.99 @ Newegg
Storage	Kingston - A400 240 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive	$29.99 @ Amazon
Video Card	Gigabyte - Radeon RX 570 4 GB Gaming 4G Video Card	$119.99 @ Newegg
Case	Phanteks - P300 ATX Mid Tower Case	$55.98 @ Newegg
Power Supply	Corsair - VS 550 W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply	$38.98 @ Newegg
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$548.90
	Mail-in rebates	-$50.00
	Total	$498.90
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-06-14 15:41 EDT-0400

A good upgrade would be the Ryzen 5 1600, but that pushes you over $500. You could also spring for an 8GB video card, for about $20 more.

 

IMO, he really doesn't need 16 gb of RAM for this build and I'm curious why you selected a 2200g along with a RX 570? Why not a 1200, even though the clock speed is slightly lower?

[Lord Mirdalan]

Just now, steelo said:

IMO, he really doesn't need 16 gb of RAM for this build and why did you select a 2200g along with a RX 570?

Because 8GB would be a bit painful, and selecting the logical single stick would limit him to single-channel. The 2200G was because the R5 1600 pushed the cost above $500. If he is willing to spend another $40-50, that would be my recommendation. 

[steelo]

6 minutes ago, Lord Mirdalan said:

Because 8GB would be a bit painful, and selecting the logical single stick would limit him to single-channel. The 2200G was because the R5 1600 pushed the cost above $500. If he is willing to spend another $40-50, that would be my recommendation. 

Hmmm, but he still can have dual channel with (2) 4gb sticks with a 1200? Just don't see the point of a 2200g in this case. 1200 isn't far behind and shouldn't bottleneck a RX570. He could use the extra money for an extra HDD. Just my 2 cents  

[Lord Mirdalan]

1 minute ago, steelo said:

Not arguing with you, but he still can have dual channel with (2) 4gb sticks with a 1200?

Sure, but that leaves a not-great upgrade path. 

[steelo]

3 minutes ago, Lord Mirdalan said:

Sure, but that leaves a not-great upgrade path. 

I believe he still would be able to upgrade to the Zen 2 in the future if he were to flash the UEFI?

[Oalei]

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD - Ryzen 3 1200 3.1 GHz Quad-Core Processor	$64.89 @ OutletPC
Motherboard	ASRock - B450M Pro4-F Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard	$68.99 @ SuperBiiz
Memory	Team - T-Force Vulcan 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory	$69.99 @ Newegg
Storage	ADATA - XPG SX6000 Pro 512 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive	$58.99 @ Amazon
Video Card	XFX - Radeon RX 570 8 GB Video Card	$159.99 @ Amazon
Case	Cooler Master - MasterBox MB511 ATX Mid Tower Case	$33.98 @ Newegg
Power Supply	Corsair - CX (2017) 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply	$49.99 @ Newegg
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$541.82
	Mail-in rebates	-$35.00
	Total	$506.82
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-06-14 15:55 EDT-0400

Something like this maybe if you want a exact 500 get the 450W model or cheaper ssd like SU800 or something.

[steelo]

6 minutes ago, Oalei said:

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD - Ryzen 3 1200 3.1 GHz Quad-Core Processor	$64.89 @ OutletPC
Motherboard	ASRock - B450M Pro4-F Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard	$68.99 @ SuperBiiz
Memory	Team - T-Force Vulcan 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory	$69.99 @ Newegg
Storage	ADATA - XPG SX6000 Pro 512 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive	$58.99 @ Amazon
Video Card	XFX - Radeon RX 570 8 GB Video Card	$159.99 @ Amazon
Case	Cooler Master - MasterBox MB511 ATX Mid Tower Case	$33.98 @ Newegg
Power Supply	Corsair - CX (2017) 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply	$49.99 @ Newegg
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$541.82
	Mail-in rebates	-$35.00
	Total	$506.82
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-06-14 15:55 EDT-0400

Something like this maybe if you want a exact 500 get the 450W model or cheaper ssd like SU800 or something.

Agree, but this RX 570 listed above is $30 cheaper  edit: just realized it's the 4 gb version, not the 8 gb

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/tyNypg/gigabyte-radeon-rx-570-4gb-gaming-4g-video-card-gv-rx570gaming-4gd

[Oalei]

Just now, steelo said:

Agree, but this RX 570 listed above is $30 cheaper

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/tyNypg/gigabyte-radeon-rx-570-4gb-gaming-4g-video-card-gv-rx570gaming-4gd

well i like 8gb but you can change it idc just giving reference anyway there is a lot of other things to change just like you mention gpu or some i mention

Quote

Something like this maybe if you want a exact 500 get the 450W model or cheaper ssd like SU800 or something.

 

[steelo]

13 minutes ago, Oalei said:

well i like 8gb but you can change it idc just giving reference anyway there is a lot of other things to change just like you mention gpu or some i mention

 

Ah, okay... just realized you listed the 8 gb version. It's up to him, but it may not make much of a difference if he wants to be able to play medium detail on some games. I have the 4 gb version and it seems to run everything I throw at it at 1080 high settings at 60 fps. (Division 2, Resident Evil 2, Assassins Creed Unity)

 

Anyways, that looks like a good build to me.

[Syaoran]

1 hour ago, Lord Mirdalan said:

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD - Ryzen 3 2200G 3.5 GHz Quad-Core Processor	$83.99 @ Newegg
CPU Cooler	Cooler Master - Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler	$24.99 @ Newegg
Motherboard	MSI - B450M GAMING PLUS Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard	$79.99 @ Amazon
Memory	G.Skill - Aegis 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory	$64.99 @ Newegg
Storage	Kingston - A400 240 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive	$29.99 @ Amazon
Video Card	Gigabyte - Radeon RX 570 4 GB Gaming 4G Video Card	$119.99 @ Newegg
Case	Phanteks - P300 ATX Mid Tower Case	$55.98 @ Newegg
Power Supply	Corsair - VS 550 W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply	$38.98 @ Newegg
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$548.90
	Mail-in rebates	-$50.00
	Total	$498.90
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-06-14 15:41 EDT-0400

A good upgrade would be the Ryzen 5 1600, but that pushes you over $500. You could also spring for an 8GB video card, for about $20 more.

 

He doesn't need an after market cooler, he can save the $25 and get an R5 1600

He also doesn't need an SSD and that's a really low amount of storage you put there, he wont be able to do a lot with that. A 1TB WD blue is all he needs

[VEXICUS]

8 hours ago, eman1000 said:

Hi, my friend is looking for a modest build that can run 1080p 60fps at medium settings. He doesn't have a defined budget but the lower the better. Thanks in advance.

Build something like this instead....

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($109.99 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: ASRock - B450M Pro4-F Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($68.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: Team - Vulcan 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($40.98 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Crucial - BX500 240 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($28.95 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($44.89 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: MSI - Radeon RX 570 8 GB ARMOR MK2 Video Card  ($119.69 @ Newegg) 
Case: SAMA - Maxcool-W-15 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($37.65 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: Corsair - CX (2017) 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($41.89 @ OutletPC) 
Total: $493.03
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-06-15 00:01 EDT-0400

[ahmad13610]

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 3 2200G 3.5 GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($83.99 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: MSI - B450M BAZOOKA V2 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($79.18 @ OutletPC) 
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR4-2800 Memory  ($38.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($44.89 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: MSI - Radeon RX 570 8 GB ARMOR MK2 Video Card  ($119.69 @ Newegg) 
Case: Cougar - MX330 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($36.13 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: EVGA - 500 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($48.89 @ OutletPC) 
Total: $451.76
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-06-15 01:25 EDT-0400

[jerubedo]

Two options:

 

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel - Core i3-9100F 3.6 GHz Quad-Core Processor	$104.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard	ASRock - B365M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard	$79.99 @ SuperBiiz
Memory	Team - Vulcan 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-2666 Memory	$59.99 @ Newegg
Storage	Intel - 660p Series 512 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive	$59.89 @ OutletPC
Video Card	MSI - Radeon RX 570 8 GB ARMOR MK2 Video Card	$119.69 @ Newegg
Case	Thermaltake - Versa H17 MicroATX Mini Tower Case	$29.99 @ Newegg
Power Supply	Corsair - CX (2017) 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply	$41.89 @ OutletPC
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$546.43
	Mail-in rebates	-$50.00
	Total	$496.43
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-06-15 01:42 EDT-0400

 

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2 GHz 6-Core Processor	$109.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard	ASRock - B450M PRO4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard	$75.61 @ OutletPC
Memory	OLOy - 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory	$61.99 @ Newegg
Storage	Intel - 660p Series 512 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive	$59.89 @ OutletPC
Video Card	MSI - Radeon RX 570 8 GB ARMOR MK2 Video Card	$119.69 @ Newegg
Case	Thermaltake - Versa H17 MicroATX Mini Tower Case	$29.99 @ Newegg
Power Supply	Corsair - CX (2017) 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply	$41.89 @ OutletPC
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$569.05
	Mail-in rebates	-$70.00
	Total	$499.05
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-06-15 01:42 EDT-0400

 

I'd personally use the first one for the listed games.

 

A third option that goes even cheaper at the expense of less RAM and storage and a cheaper tower:

 

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel - Core i3-9100F 3.6 GHz Quad-Core Processor	$104.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard	ASRock - B365M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard	$79.99 @ SuperBiiz
Memory	Patriot - Viper Elite 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR4-2666 Memory	$39.99 @ Amazon
Storage	Team - MS30 256 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive	$28.99 @ Newegg Business
Video Card	MSI - Radeon RX 570 8 GB ARMOR MK2 Video Card	$119.69 @ Newegg
Case	Rosewill - FBM-X1 MicroATX Mini Tower Case	$19.99 @ Amazon
Power Supply	Corsair - CX (2017) 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply	$41.89 @ OutletPC
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$475.53
	Mail-in rebates	-$40.00
	Total	$435.53
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-06-15 01:46 EDT-0400

Ignore the compatibility errors on the 9100F builds. It does come with a stock cooler. 

[Herman Mcpootis]

22 minutes ago, ahmad13610 said:

Power Supply: EVGA - 500 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($48.89 @ OutletPC) 

Not a good PSU, get a CX450/M instead.

[ahmad13610]

1 hour ago, Herman Mcpootis said:

Not a good PSU, get a CX450/M instead.

my bad sry

[Herman Mcpootis]

20 hours ago, eman1000 said:

Hi, my friend is looking for a modest build that can run 1080p 60fps at medium settings. He doesn't have a defined budget but the lower the better. Thanks in advance.

if you're gonna get the builds on the one you marked as the answer, get the 1600 build.

 the 9100F will get it's ass handed to it by the 1600. that's a 7600k but there isn't much of an IPC increase from kabylake to coffeelak and it's still the same core count.

[eman1000]

31 minutes ago, Herman Mcpootis said:

if you're gonna get the builds on the one you marked as the answer, get the 1600 build.

 the 9100F will get it's ass handed to it by the 1600. that's a 7600k but there isn't much of an IPC increase from kabylake to coffeelak and it's still the same core count.

Thanks for the input. I was looking into it and found that the 9400f actually outperforms the 1600 in gaming benchmarks.

Granted the 1600 surpassed intel in productivity work, but my friend has no use for this capability.

[Herman Mcpootis]

18 minutes ago, eman1000 said:

Thanks for the input. I was looking into it and found that the 9400f actually outperforms the 1600 in gaming benchmarks.

Granted the 1600 surpassed intel in productivity work, but my friend has no use for this capability.

I was referring to the 9100f, not the 9400f. Also, the vid you linked looks sketchy as hell, no voice commentary or anything, just some unprofessional looking graphs and there's barely any views at all.

[eman1000]

5 hours ago, Herman Mcpootis said:

I was referring to the 9100f, not the 9400f. Also, the vid you linked looks sketchy as hell, no voice commentary or anything, just some unprofessional looking graphs and there's barely any views at all.

Yeah, I meant 9100f, sorry.

 

This channel does a lot of benchmarks with CPUs and I've seen it being referred here a lot. No commentary is necessary as the numbers speak for themselves. I've never even seen a benchmark video with commentary to be honest.

 

Either way, the trend that's been observed (or at least what I've observed by coming to this forum and by looking at benchmarks) with Intel vs AMD is that AMD excels in productivity, while Intel excels in gaming.

[jerubedo]

9 hours ago, Herman Mcpootis said:

I was referring to the 9100f, not the 9400f. Also, the vid you linked looks sketchy as hell, no voice commentary or anything, just some unprofessional looking graphs and there's barely any views at all. 

That data isn't wrong. It's corroborated by other sources. I will say it is Intel biased, though. The games they chose to show pretty much all favor Intel except for Shadow of the Tomb Raider (which is shown as a loss). This video is far more fair, and it shows that they really do trade blows depending on the game:

 

 

And it isn't necessarily old games vs new games, as the 9100F wins in Rage 2, which was only just released a few weeks ago. The same goes for Metro Exodus, which again, was a very recent release. @eman1000 did state that the priority games are Rust and Rainbow Six, both of which perform better on the Intel CPU.