lowest possible budget mini itx build for Everquest

[Tech Enthusiast]

Looking for a very specific piece here.

All it has to do is run Everquest, a 17 year old MMO, on a 1080p monitor.

 

Since i am usually building 1500ish budget PCs this is new ground for me. My first idea was to just use an integrated GPU since the game runs fine on my HP Elite X2 Tablett which has a HD 515 and a core m processor only.

Then again, i am not sure if going for an older CPU and a cheap GPU would actually save money and / or improve performance.

 

I don't need any periferals or OS. The Case will be a Fractal Design Node 202 with power supply, so you can ignore these two parts as well.

Here is a partpicker link with a first try. Pretty sure it can go cheaper and faster somehow (AMD for integrated GPU maybe?)

 

Edit to stress the most important point: I already know the system below has more power then i need. So i am really looking for something cheaper that still fits the criteria, not more power needed.

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://de.pcpartpicker.com/list/T2DpGf
Price breakdown by merchant: http://de.pcpartpicker.com/list/T2DpGf/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor  (€118.89 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-ITX Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard  (€71.04 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Memory: Crucial 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  (€29.99 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Storage: Zotac 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (€37.41 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Case: Fractal Design Node 202 HTPC Case w/450W Power Supply 
Total: €257.33
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-22 15:17 CEST+0200

[skimmilk5]

Why not use the Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 (which is UNLOCKED) or the Intel Pentium G3258 (which is ALSO UNLOCKED) and a compatible motherboard? Actually, the Pentium is a GREAT processor (and you can hear Linus brag about it below). Pair that with a cheap GTX750, an R7 360 or similar card and you have performance through the roof.

 

[Tech Enthusiast]

I don't question the performance improvement with that picks, but it would at least run 80 Euro more expensive. Will update my OP a little. Since i am SURE that thing already has more power then i need, i am looking for a setup that is CHEAPER then my listed one for about the same performance. Or SAME price with better performance. 

 

Really not looking to spend more on this, since it has more then enough power for its intented use.

[Herman Mcpootis]

42 minutes ago, kimsejin5 said:

Why not use the Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 (which is UNLOCKED) or the Intel Pentium G3258 (which is ALSO UNLOCKED) and a compatible motherboard? Actually, the Pentium is a GREAT processor (and you can hear Linus brag about it below). Pair that with a cheap GTX750, an R7 360 or similar card and you have performance through the roof.

 

Q6600? This is 2016, not 2006. Its too horribly ancient to recommend anymore. The g3258 will cause heavy stuttering in games, 2 cores isn't enough anymore.

[Tech Enthusiast]

22 minutes ago, herman mcpootis said:

Q6600? This is 2016, not 2006. Its too horribly ancient to recommend anymore. The g3258 will cause heavy stuttering in games, 2 cores isn't enough anymore.

Everquest does not even use two cores, it uses one. Also a 1999 game ;-)

This machine is not going to be build for anything BUT that one game, so very specific components are fine here. They just have to be cheaper then what i put up in the OP and still match the speed.

[Herman Mcpootis]

3 minutes ago, Rattenmann said:

Everquest does not even use two cores, it uses one. Also a 1999 game ;-)

This machine is not going to be build for anything BUT that one game, so very specific components are fine here. They just have to be cheaper then what i put up in the OP and still match the speed.

Still, the q6600 is ancient; no store has it. The pentium g4400 should be more than enough.

[Quaker]

Since you are not using a discrete graphics card, I'd suggest you'd be a lot better off with an AMD APU than an Intel i3. The CPU portion of even an A4 should be good enough to handle Everquest and the graphics portion would be much better than the Intel IGP.

Here's an option I stumbled on:

https://www.amazon.de/ASRock-QC5000-ITX-PH-Motherboard-M-ITX/dp/B00Q5ZEOCO/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1469198704&sr=1-1

Motherboard plus APU with low-profile passive cooling.

 

You can get that, plus 8Gig (2x4G) RAM for the price of the I3 alone. 8gigs is more than enough for what you want, so you don't need to worry about using up both RAM slots.

 

Btw, since, in any case, you'll be using integrated graphics, it's better to get 2 x 4Gigs of RAM rather than a single 8Gig. Dual-channel mode helps the performance of the integrated graphics. Faster RAM helps as well.

 

Disclaimer: While Everguest is an old game, I can't say for sure if an A4-5000 can actually handle it, although, if a tablet can, then ...?

If you think you might actually play some other games, an A6 or A8 APU may be a better choice.

 

Another BTW - since you are not using a discrete video card, you could use a smaller case than that Fractal Design one. Using the above motherboard plus RAM needs a lot less than 450watts as well. But, if you already have the case, or just like the look, go for it.

[Tech Enthusiast]

3 hours ago, Quaker said:

Since you are not using a discrete graphics card, I'd suggest you'd be a lot better off with an AMD APU than an Intel i3. The CPU portion of even an A4 should be good enough to handle Everquest and the graphics portion would be much better than the Intel IGP.

Here's an option I stumbled on:

https://www.amazon.de/ASRock-QC5000-ITX-PH-Motherboard-M-ITX/dp/B00Q5ZEOCO/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1469198704&sr=1-1

Motherboard plus APU with low-profile passive cooling.

 

You can get that, plus 8Gig (2x4G) RAM for the price of the I3 alone. 8gigs is more than enough for what you want, so you don't need to worry about using up both RAM slots.

 

Btw, since, in any case, you'll be using integrated graphics, it's better to get 2 x 4Gigs of RAM rather than a single 8Gig. Dual-channel mode helps the performance of the integrated graphics. Faster RAM helps as well.

 

Disclaimer: While Everguest is an old game, I can't say for sure if an A4-5000 can actually handle it, although, if a tablet can, then ...?

If you think you might actually play some other games, an A6 or A8 APU may be a better choice.

 

Another BTW - since you are not using a discrete video card, you could use a smaller case than that Fractal Design one. Using the above motherboard plus RAM needs a lot less than 450watts as well. But, if you already have the case, or just like the look, go for it.

 

Very nice find there! Thanks.

Also good idea on 2x4gb. Did not think about that. 

 

Won't be playing any other games on the rig since i have a pretty beefy monster right next to me for all modern games. My current EQ server just disallows boxing via VM, but i still wanna play a second account. Doing that on a tablett is quite sucky, so i thought id just build a cheap rig in a semi sexy case.

 

Will definitly look into the A4 and try to find some comparison benchmarks.

 

cheers

[Tech Enthusiast]

Checked performance from the A4-5000 chip and sadly it seems to be pretty damn slow for an AMD one.

It is about 40-50% slower then an I3-3217U, which in turn has HD Graphics 4000 in it. 

 

That puts the A4-5000 chip at aprox 1/3rd of the power my tablet has (HD 515).

 

Some Benchmarks suggest that it can do 30fps on skyrim (impressive), but i am unsure how relevant that is. It seems odd that 1/3rd of a tablett could dish out that kinda fps.

If it is true,.. that would certainly be enough for Everquest, no doubt. 

 

A pretty big jump tho. In both performance, but also money spend. So could be worth it.

 

Is there any way i could find out if that passive heat sink would actually be enough for prologed gaming sessions? 

[Quaker]

I would tend to think that that A4-5000 board is aimed towards HTPC use. I don't know how that compares to playing Everquest (I only played EQ briefly many years ago). The passive heatsink should do OK if the case has reasonable airflow.

In any case, I just though it was an interesting option. I'd suggest an A6 something to be more sure of it working well.

This should work very well:

https://www.amazon.de/A6-7470K-R7Series-FM2-AD747KYBJCBOX/dp/B01CIEBI88/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1469285396&sr=1-1&keywords=a6-7470

https://www.amazon.de/MSI-7913-014R-Motherboard-A88XI-AMD/dp/B00Y3328RS/ref=sr_1_4?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1469285512&sr=1-4

https://www.amazon.de/Ballistix-PC3-12800-240-Pin-Memory-BLS2CP4G3D1609DS1S00CEU/dp/B006YG94Y2/ref=sr_1_3?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1469285629&sr=1-3