$1.2k AUD Build

gamma032 · November 22, 2015

Hey!

My little brother has saved up $1.2k and wants a computer to (wait for it) record Minecraft on. He'll probably want to play other games later on though, too - he's shown interest in some Steam games like Terra Tech. But, there's a few things I should mention:

I'd prefer to stick to two stores: CPL and pccasegear. CPL usually beats any prices that pccasegear has though. You can access the prices through http://au.pcpartpicker.com/, going to your profile and just ticking the two stores.
I'm going to upgrade my own dual crossfire 270x's to something else, so I can contribute those.
A headset (with a mic) as well as a monitor and keyboard has to be in the build.
I need an ethernet cable.

As such, I've picked out this stuff, but it'd be nice to drop the price down a bit, but I don't know where to start cutting back.

PCPartPicker part list: http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/kxzQkL

Price breakdown by merchant: http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/kxzQkL/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor ($152.00 @ CPL Online)

Thermal Compound: Noctua NT-H1 3.5g Thermal Paste ($11.00 @ CPL Online)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97-D3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($149.00 @ CPL Online)

Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($79.00 @ CPL Online)

Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($135.00 @ CPL Online)

Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 270X 2GB DirectCU II Video Card (Purchased For $0.00)

Case: NZXT S340 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($109.00 @ PCCaseGear)

Power Supply: SeaSonic G 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($122.00 @ CPL Online)

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home Full (32/64-bit) ($155.00 @ CPL Online)

Monitor: BenQ RL2460HT 60Hz 24.0" Monitor ($139.00 @ CPL Online)

Keyboard: Corsair Raptor K40 Wired Gaming Keyboard ($65.00 @ CPL Online)

Headphones: Kingston HyperX Cloud Pro Headset ($95.00 @ CPL Online)

Other: CAT6A Ethernet Cable ($6.00)

Total: $1217.00

Thanks!

sunil6512 · November 22, 2015

You could save a little by not buying windows , Microsoft lets you download insider builds of windows 10 legally and for free. If you want the final build you can torrent it

leadeater · November 22, 2015

An intel i5 6400 is slightly cheaper, $27, and very similar performance. Slightly lower single core but OC will push it past easy, not that you would even need to.

gamma032 · November 22, 2015

You could save a little by not buying windows , Microsoft lets you download insider builds of windows 10 legally and for free. If you want the final build you can torrent it

I've always just kinda gone for the legitimate copies, and I'm gonna move out in the next few years, so using the insider builds with the issues is something I'm not so keen on.

leadeater · November 22, 2015

You could save a little by not buying windows , Microsoft lets you download insider builds of windows 10 legally and for free. If you want the final build you can torrent it

Think you misunderstand the term legally. Its is available for download and use subject to the terms and conditions you agree to, use outside of these would not be legal.

NookulearTacoEXE · November 22, 2015

It's mostly pretty good but I think an ssd is too overkill for Minecraft. The headset is kinda ok but still kinda meh. Just get him some cheap headphones and put a modmic on it.

Sepody · November 22, 2015

You probably can get away with a stock CPU cooler because you won't be overclocking that CPU so that saves you about $75. Also maybe consider getting a HDD instead of a SSD because 250GB probably won't be enough if your brother puts any movies, photos or larger games on it. A hybrid drive can work well, especially if your brother doesn't want to have the hassle of an SSD with a HDD. For the power-supply the CX series uses cheaper components and doesn't have the quality of other PSU's like those from SeaSonic (see this one). That being said, if the computer is only ever going to be used very casually for playing minecraft, browsing the web etc. then there's not real problem with it.

Also for the OS, I'd recommend spending the extra $14 and getting the full retail version rather than the OEM, which can be a pain if he ever switches MOBO.

If you still need to save a bit of cash, get a less powerful CPU and cheaper MOBO.

Finally, if he's only ever going to be playing games like MC, which don't require hardware as powerful as this, then maybe consider spending more on things which actually impact the playing experience, such as a better monitor.

gamma032 · November 22, 2015

You probably can get away with a stock CPU cooler because you won't be overclocking that CPU so that saves you about $75. Also maybe consider getting a HDD instead of a SSD because 250GB probably won't be enough if your brother puts any movies, photos or larger games on it. A hybrid drive can work well, especially if your brother doesn't want to have the hassle of an SSD with a HDD. For the power-supply the CX series uses cheaper components and doesn't have the quality of other PSU's like those from SeaSonic (see this one). That being said, if the computer is only ever going to be used very casually for playing minecraft, browsing the web etc. then there's not real problem with it.

Also for the OS, I'd recommend spending the extra $14 and getting the full retail version rather than the OEM, which can be a pain if he ever switches MOBO.

If you still need to save a bit of cash, get a less powerful CPU and cheaper MOBO.

Finally, if he's only ever going to be playing games like MC, which don't require hardware as powerful as this, then maybe consider spending more on things which actually impact the playing experience, such as a better monitor.

Sounds good. I tuned down the CPU, upgraded to Windows full, changed the PSU and removed the CPU cooler: