G3258 Anniversary Edition + R9 270X Sapphire 4GB

[Dr_Curry_MONSTER]

Hey guys,

 

So recently my budget cut down by to $700 AUD. So I need to change my build, the CPU that I will be using is G3258 Anniversary Edition with an R9 270X Windforce 4GB (Got a hard drive laying around). So I need your help with with these parts:

Motherboard

Case

PSU (Just wondering, will a 400W do, got one from an old HP build)

Ram

 

So the you have the remaining money to spend on these parts, I don't really care about the cosmetics of the build. So a below-average case wouldn't change much. I would prefer a motherboard that I can do some decent overclocking with, as most of you know the G3258 Anniversary Edition is a beast when you overclock. Ram wise, I would prefer a 8GB, if you find a solid 16GB offer I will take that too. I can go over my budget a bit, NOT A LOT. Please give your opinion on the build and anythings that you would change. 

 

Budget Table:

R9 270X (4GB) $250

G3258                $80

__________________

 

Remaining budget: $370 (ALL PRICES IN AUD)

[improbablepants]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($63.00 @ Centre Com) 

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($78.00 @ IJK) 

Storage: Kingston Fury 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($78.00 @ Centre Com) 

Case: Fractal Design Core 1100 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($58.00 @ CPL Online) 

Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($72.00 @ CPL Online) 

Total: $349.00

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-05 22:27 AEST+1000

 

1 stick of 8GB for a later upgrade

Threw an SSD in there.

[Silyy097]

PSU (Just wondering, will a 400W do, got one from an old HP build)

 

Please do not use that PSU. Since its already from a prebuilt, it probably will not be of good quality. Especially if you are going to overclock.

[Sauron]

I strongly advise against the 4gb 270x. That card is simply not capable of making use of more than 2gb, and getting the 4gb version for more equates to wasting your money. On top of that, the 270x in general makes no sense over a 270 because the only difference is a slightly higher clock speed. The pentium is also not that exceptional, with your budget I think we can easily fit in a core i3, which would be significantly better. DON'T use old hp psus. Never use any PSU that is not at least 80+ bronze rated.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($149.00 @ PCCaseGear) 

Motherboard: ASRock B85M-PRO3 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($79.00 @ Umart) 

Memory: Kingston Fury Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($79.00 @ Centre Com) 

Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($69.00 @ PLE Computers) 

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($70.00 @ IJK) 

Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 270 2GB DirectCU II Video Card  ($159.00 @ Centre Com) 

Case: Zalman ZM-T4 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($39.00 @ Mwave Australia) 

Power Supply: Silverstone 400W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($65.00 @ Scorptec) 

Total: $709.00

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-05 22:29 AEST+1000

[Dr_Curry_MONSTER]

Please do not use that PSU. Since its already from a prebuilt, it probably will not be of good quality. Especially if you are going to overclock.

 

That build has hardly been used though, barely 20hrs~ spent on that computer. Is it still unsafe though? 

But my other question is, will it be enough to manage both cards? @Silyy097

[Rolling Potatoe]

http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/fJ2yrH

 

260 $

 

Could you post the wattage info of the psu so that we can determin that is is ok?

If the max 12v load is 350w or so it should be fine even with some oc., but you might want a 600w bronze psu or so later on because of noise and upgrade capability.

The case depends on what you like of course, but you gonna need a z board for proper oerclocking.

 

Also, maybe consider getting a 280x or so instead of the 270x.

[Silyy097]

That build has hardly been used though, barely 20hrs~ spent on that computer. Is it still unsafe though? 

But my other question is, will it be enough to manage both cards? @Silyy097

Both cards? You have 2 cards?

About the time spent, it does not matter. I can get a 500W PSU and use it for 1 minute, 1 hour, 1 day or a week, it will still be rated 500W (Or below, if you torture it and cause it to fail?) In most cases it will not go about its rated wattage by more than 50Ws. 400W will not really be enough for a Overclocked chip + Graphics card. Minimum 500W if possible. It also isnt good to run it at near its 100% usage all the time. Especially when you are gaming and if the GPU boosts its clock speed, your PSU might just fail altogether.

 

 

 Never use any PSU that is not at least 80+ bronze rated.

 

I have a VS650 from corsair, Not even 80+ standard rated, and I fold for about the whole day (when im awake) with it. How do you feel now.

 

EDIT: @OP please do not learn from me. When I got the PSU, I wasnt planning on doing folding yet.

[Rolling Potatoe]

Please do not use that PSU. Since its already from a prebuilt, it probably will not be of good quality. Especially if you are going to overclock.

In my experience psus from large oems are usually good quality and will provide exactly what is on the label.

If they were to put crappy time bombs in there to save 5 bucks theyd have to pay alot for warrenty replacements.

[Dr_Curry_MONSTER]

The thing is, after the video Linus uploaded on the G3258 compared to the i7 4790k, I was in disbelief. The only way I can get that kind performance in a budget build (in games) is with a G3258 overclocked. @Sauron

[Dr_Curry_MONSTER]

Both cards? You have 2 cards?

 

 

Ooops, was supposed to write will it be able to manage both the G3258 and R9 270X @Silyy097

[Silyy097]

The thing is, after the video Linus uploaded on the G3258 compared to the i7 4790k, I was in disbelief. The only way I can get that kind performance in a budget build (in games) is with a G3258 overclocked. @Sauron

Yes but you do have to remember that a G3258 is a dual core chip while compared to the 4790k's 4C8T monster. Single threaded performance (may) be the same, but when you come to multi threaded workloads, it just buckles under the load. Games which are GPU optimised, no problem. Games which are CPU optimised however, you might have a problem. For example. FC4 wont even start with a dual core CPU. 

[Goldensapling]

Don't get the 270x 4GB. I have the 270x, and believe me, the VRAM isn't the limitation.

[Silyy097]

Ooops, was supposed to write will it be able to manage both the G3258 and R9 270X @Silyy097

It might. But you most likely will be using it up to its almost 100% all the time and as I stated above, that isnt really healthy for your PSU. Its like, say asking you to run at 100% for 4 hours VS some marathon runner running at 60% of his energy for 4 hours. Get what I mean?

[flibberdipper]

 

I strongly advise against the 4gb 270x. That card is simply not capable of making use of more than 2gb, and getting the 4gb version for more equates to wasting your money. On top of that, the 270x in general makes no sense over a 270 because the only difference is a slightly higher clock speed. The pentium is also not that exceptional, with your budget I think we can easily fit in a core i3, which would be significantly better. DON'T use old hp psus. Never use any PSU that is not at least 80+ bronze rated.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($149.00 @ PCCaseGear) 

Motherboard: ASRock B85M-PRO3 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($79.00 @ Umart) 

Memory: Kingston Fury Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($79.00 @ Centre Com) 

Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($69.00 @ PLE Computers) 

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($70.00 @ IJK) 

Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 270 2GB DirectCU II Video Card  ($159.00 @ Centre Com) 

Case: Zalman ZM-T4 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($39.00 @ Mwave Australia) 

Power Supply: Silverstone 400W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($65.00 @ Scorptec) 

Total: $709.00

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-05 22:29 AEST+1000

 

While I do agree with you on HP PSUs being flaming piles of dog shit (my grandma's is from 2013, not even 80+, and has horrendous coil whine), my old Dell PSU from 2003 is a tank, and even it is almost capable (or is, can't remember) of being 80+. It's actually closer than the PSU in my grandma's computer.

[Sauron]

While I do agree with you on HP PSUs being flaming piles of dog shit (my grandma's is from 2013, not even 80+, and has horrendous coil whine), my old Dell PSU from 2003 is a tank, and even it is almost capable (or is, can't remember) of being 80+. It's actually closer than the PSU in my grandma's computer.

 

well, old psus are a bit different - 80+ ratings are becoming a lot more common recently, so while now psus that are not at least bronze have a high chance of being of extremely poor quality, years ago that wasn't necessarily the case.

[Sauron]

The thing is, after the video Linus uploaded on the G3258 compared to the i7 4790k, I was in disbelief. The only way I can get that kind performance in a budget build (in games) is with a G3258 overclocked. @Sauron

 

that can be deceiving, while in some occasions it WILL perform very close to an i7, in others it will perform like crap. An i3 is a much better rounded solution, and while its peak performance in low threaded games may be a bit lower, it is much more consistently a good cpu.

[Rolling Potatoe]

The thing is, after the video Linus uploaded on the G3258 compared to the i7 4790k, I was in disbelief. The only way I can get that kind performance in a budget build (in games) is with a G3258 overclocked. @Sauron

The G3258 can be a bit sucky if with games that use more than 2 threads a lot..... you cant even play far cry 4 with it.

If you dont plan of flipping the G3258 on ebay later on to get an i5 you should look into amds offerings, a fx 6300 @4.5 is gonna work well in any game

 

http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/DT96gs

 

if you already have a cooler you can throw in a ssd.

[Dr_Curry_MONSTER]

Not changing my mind now, sticking to a pentium. I only want to play CS:GO at stock and CoD4 maxed out. I will have to upgrade the CPU in a few months when I have some money but for now my mind is made. As for the GPU, alot of you have mentioned its a bad card, why so? I've seen heaps of reviews, and on top of that its a 4GB card it should be able to run new games at stock settings for another 2-3 years? (Am I right? ) Other than that if you have any suggestion please share them with me. As for the build, I will try my best to get the parts/build log up on July 14 (Birthday). @improbablepants, thanks for the response. Will be waiting for few a more to see the "variety".  @Silyy097 Will get that information as soon as possible, I'm actually on a vacation in Bali at the moment, will be going back to Australia on Sunday.  

@Sauron

@Rolling Potatoe Thinking about the CPU though.

[Silyy097]

-snip-

All right. Any changes to your PSU? The 270X will be okay for the games, just not at the maximum settings of course.

[Dr_Curry_MONSTER]

@Silyy097 Recommend me anything in my price range, I also lifted the budget to $750, I knew need to make adjustments to this build after reading this thread, lol.

[Silyy097]

@Silyy097 Recommend me anything in my price range, I also lifted the budget to $750, I knew need to make adjustments to this build after reading this thread, lol.

Take any PSU which the above members put into the mark up build. Anything about 500W should do fine.

[Dr_Curry_MONSTER]

Thanks for the help your, highly appreciated. Might use @improbablepants suggestion the EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze. Once again thanks for your help on my build, highly appreciated! @Silyy097 and @improbablepants!!!

[Sauron]

Not changing my mind now, sticking to a pentium. I only want to play CS:GO at stock and CoD4 maxed out. I will have to upgrade the CPU in a few months when I have some money but for now my mind is made. As for the GPU, alot of you have mentioned its a bad card, why so? I've seen heaps of reviews, and on top of that its a 4GB card it should be able to run new games at stock settings for another 2-3 years? (Am I right? ) Other than that if you have any suggestion please share them with me. As for the build, I will try my best to get the parts/build log up on July 14 (Birthday). @improbablepants, thanks for the response. Will be waiting for few a more to see the "variety".  @Silyy097 Will get that information as soon as possible, I'm actually on a vacation in Bali at the moment, will be going back to Australia on Sunday.  

@Sauron

@Rolling Potatoe Thinking about the CPU though.

 

it's not a BAD card, but it doesn't make sense to buy that over a 2gb r9 270. After a small overclock, there will be literally no difference in performance and you'll have spent 100 bucks less. Having 4gb in this case doesn't make a difference, because there's a lot more to a graphics card than vram. It could have 32gb of vram and still not perform any better, because the graphics core itself is not capable of running games at a high enough resolution or settings to actually use more than 2gb. It's like having spoilers on an entry level golf; you're not driving a ferrari, your performance won't increase in any way because the limiting factors are elsewhere. If you're dead set on the cpu, fair enough, but buying that card would be a complete waste of money. If you're willing to spend that much for a gpu though, consider buying an r9 280: it should be right around that price range and will perform MUCH better.

[Dr_Curry_MONSTER]

Hmm, not an R9 280, let me research that card, thanks for your help @Sauron, greatly appreciated. Will get back to you by Sunday, maybe before a bit busy at the moment. Once thanks for your contribution.