Build advice?

[Begley95]

Hi all,

 

After looking at some prebuilt "gaming" PCs online, I've decided to come to my senses and build my own rig. Specifically, I have my eye on Linus' "Ultimate Value Gaming Build," http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/281756-ultimate-value-overclocked-build-guide/. 

 

What I'm wondering is, do you all have any advice, recommended changes to the build (possibly quad core?), or anything else you feel I should know for my first real build? I'll take whatever I can get at this point. I'm dealing with a pretty low budget so nothing too crazy

 

Thanks in advance!

 

EDIT: My goal is to run Sims 3 (because Sims 4 is disappointing at best) on full settings @ 1080p with no lag or stuttering. Don't judge me... I already know I need a life

[Tedster]

Hi all,

 

After looking at some prebuilt "gaming" PCs online, I've decided to come to my senses and build my own rig. Specifically, I have my eye on Linus' "Ultimate Value Gaming Build," http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/281756-ultimate-value-overclocked-build-guide/. 

 

What I'm wondering is, do you all have any advice, recommended changes to the build (possibly quad core?), or anything else you feel I should know for my first real build? I'll take whatever I can get at this point. I'm dealing with a pretty low budget so nothing too crazy

 

Thanks in advance!

What games are you wanting to play?

What's your overall budget?

Assuming USD because you're in Miami?

 

While the G3258 does well in a lot of games, a quad core makes a lot of sense (like you were suggesting) because a lot of newer games simply don't run well (if at all without hacking them) on dual threaded CPUs.

[Begley95]

What games are you wanting to play?

What's your overall budget?

Assuming USD because you're in Miami?

 

While the G3258 does well in a lot of games, a quad core makes a lot of sense (like you were suggesting) because a lot of newer games simply don't run well (if at all without hacking them) on dual threaded CPUs.

 

The most demanding title at the moment is The Sims 3, a lot of my other games are older ones I grew up playing that I just can't let go of I only get paid every two weeks so I will be buying parts incrementally but Ideally less than $1,000 USD. 

[Tedster]

The most demanding title at the moment is The Sims 3, a lot of my other games are older ones I grew up playing that I just can't let go of I only get paid every two weeks so I will be buying parts incrementally but Ideally less than $1,000 USD. 

Okay, I'm gonna see what I can get for $900 ish.

[Tedster]

Okay, I'm gonna see what I can get for $900 ish.

This is probably going to be slightly overbudget when Black Friday/Cyber Monday-esque sales are over, but:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($189.99 @ Micro Center) 

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($19.99 @ Newegg) 

Motherboard: MSI Z97-GAMING 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($109.99 @ Newegg) 

Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Red 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($44.99 @ Amazon) 

Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($79.99 @ Amazon) 

Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 390 8GB Video Card  ($294.98 @ SuperBiiz) 

Case: Fractal Design Define R5 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($89.99 @ Newegg) 

Power Supply: XFX TS 650W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply  ($39.99 @ Newegg) 

Total: $869.91

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-24 08:17 EST-0500

[Begley95]

Okay, I'm gonna see what I can get for $900 ish.

 

Awesome, thanks a million! Like I said I really do like that ultimate value build, so I was hoping to base it around that. But any other suggestions are greatly appreciated and I will definitely consider them!

[Begley95]

 

This is probably going to be slightly overbudget when Black Friday/Cyber Monday-esque sales are over, but:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($189.99 @ Micro Center) 

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($19.99 @ Newegg) 

Motherboard: MSI Z97-GAMING 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($109.99 @ Newegg) 

Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Red 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($44.99 @ Amazon) 

Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($79.99 @ Amazon) 

Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 390 8GB Video Card  ($294.98 @ SuperBiiz) 

Case: Fractal Design Define R5 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($89.99 @ Newegg) 

Power Supply: XFX TS 650W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply  ($39.99 @ Newegg) 

Total: $869.91

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-24 08:17 EST-0500

 

 

Hmmm... I like it! The GPU might be a little overkill for me but I'd much rather have too much than not enough. 

[Tedster]

Awesome, thanks a million! Like I said I really do like that ultimate value build, so I was hoping to base it around that. But any other suggestions are greatly appreciated and I will definitely consider them!

With the Ultimate Value Build I'm pretty sure you can get a lot better in terms of performance for your budget, which is why I went with what I did for that quick and dirty example.

[Tedster]

Hmmm... I like it! The GPU might be a little overkill for me but I'd much rather have too much than not enough. 

Overkill? Nah!

[Bazilias]

The most demanding title at the moment is The Sims 3, a lot of my other games are older ones I grew up playing that I just can't let go of I only get paid every two weeks so I will be buying parts incrementally but Ideally less than $1,000 USD. 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($209.99 @ Newegg) 

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($19.99 @ Newegg) 

Motherboard: MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($89.99 @ Newegg) 

Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury White 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($41.99 @ Amazon) 

Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($79.99 @ Amazon) 

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($58.65 @ SuperBiiz) 

Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 390 8GB Video Card  ($294.98 @ SuperBiiz) 

Case: NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($56.10 @ SuperBiiz) 

Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($79.99 @ NCIX US) 

Total: $931.67

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-24 08:23 EST-05000500

[Nena Trinity]

PC Build Guide – Budget Kaveri: (480$)

*CPU: AMD Athlon X4 860K (OCing needs a better cooler!)

*Mobo: MSI A88X-G45 Gaming FM2+

*RAM: Patriot Viper 3 (4x4) DDR3-2133MHz / Patriot Viper 3 (4x4) DDR3-2400MHz (OC)

*GPU: MSI Radeon R9 370 2GB (860K should not have a GPU better than R9 285 or GTX 960!)

*PSU: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W

*480$ Budget: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/7KmWkL

 

PC Build Guide – Budget Vishera: (575/577$-612$)

*CPU Option 1: AMD FX-6300 + Cooler Master 212 Evo (212 Evo will not cool of the VRMs)

*CPU Option 2: AMD FX-6350 (OCing needs a better cooler also it is very loud!)

*Mobo: MSI 970 Gaming AM3+ (990FX version only have more features and a better heat sink on the board)

*RAM: Patriot Viper 3 (4x4) DDR3-2133MHz

*GPU: MSI Radeon R9 380 2GB / MSI Radeon R9 380X 4GB

*PSU: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W

*575/577$ Budget: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/HYjLGX

*612$ Budget: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/dkH699

 

PC Build Guide – Budget Haswell: (574$-x749$)

*CPU: Intel Core i5-4460

*Mobo: MSI H97 PC Mate LGA1150

*RAM: Patriot Viper 3 (4x4) DDR3-1600MHz

*GPU: MSI GeForce GTX 950 Gaming 2GB / MSI GeForce GTX 970 Gaming 4GB

*PSU: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W

*574$ Budget: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/PzFhf7

*749$ Budget: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/vMT7Vn

 

PC Build Guide – Budget Skylake: (590$-770$)

*CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 / Intel Core i3-6300

*Mobo: MSI H170A PC Mate LGA1151 / MSI H170 Gaming M3 LGA1151

*RAM: Patriot Extreme Performance (4x4) DDR4-2133MHz / Patriot Viper 4 (4x4) DDR4-2666MHz (2666MHz needs the Gaming board)

*GPU: MSI GeForce GTX 950 Gaming 2GB / MSI GeForce GTX 970 Gaming 4GB

*PSU: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W

*590$ Budget: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/xDssTW

*770$ Budget: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/XPq7Vn

 

Why RAM matters!

[Begley95]

What about this? http://pcpartpicker.com/p/HMnsTW

[Tedster]

What about this? http://pcpartpicker.com/p/HMnsTW

You can probably get the Q6600 and the motherboard cheaper used and I think you can probably find a better cooler that will allow you to push for higher overclocks without breaking the bank or too much effort. The 8400 GS is ancient though and I wouldn't recommend using it for anything more than retro games at this point, though it might get you through some older games or older indie games on low settings. With the case, I can't comment on it but that power supply, I've been running it in my main rig for a while and in a different rig that's much less demanding for a while longer. I'm not sure it's the best but it hasn't done anything bad for me yet which i guess is a good sign.

 

I would go for a slightly higher end DVD drive, that one might be obnoxiously loud, and I think you should get your Windows key from /r/microsoftsoftwareswap because it's probably going to be much much cheaper.

 

For the RAM I don't think you'll be able to run at near the rated speed for those DIMMS and I don't think that you're going to benefit with having that much on an older system.

 

I definitely don't think you should be spending that much on those components.