Budget PC for birthday

[Digital]

Hey! I have not been so keen on new PC hardware technology releases, so I am asking for your help on to getting parts for my brothers birthday. The PC will be used mainly for gaming, little if any content creation will be done. Basically I am trying to get as much performance for as little money as possible. However, if there is some upgrades, i.e. 1060 over 1050 - do recommend them, the budget is not that strict.

 

I was myself thinking something like pentium 4560 processor and GTX 1050 or 1060. Which GPU is more worth it? As the game titles are now just mainstream games, the 1060 would be better off when upgrading (do tell your opinion).

 

I don't really know which motherboard & ram would be best to go for - there is not  really any need for wireless networking or usb type-c, so the budget ones will do, right? I also would like some help with choosing the most reliable PSU or PSU brand at least. The case I will pick with my brother depending on what he aesthetically likes, but if you want to go for a certain color scheme, i'd think something like (legendary) black&red or silver/white.

 

Thanks beforehand for your time, I'll be responding as I have time to!

[Digital]

Also the PC will probably be used with 1080p BenQ monitor with 144hz response time. So accordingly it would be nice if it atleast got to those marks on main titles. Understandably 60fps in 1080p GTA5 is fine for this kind of price range.

[Techstorm970]

What is your budget, exactly?

[Digital]

1 minute ago, techstorm970 said:

What is your budget, exactly?

Well there is no exact budget. I'm aiming under 500$/€, but around that is the budget. As I have seen some "350$ gaming pc" youtube videos, I'm kind of doing that but with little bit more kick. I think the pentium processor describes the best the pricerange I'm aiming for.

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, Digital said:

Well there is no exact budget. I'm aiming under 500$/€, but around that is the budget. As I have seen some "350$ gaming pc" youtube videos, I'm kind of doing that but with little bit more kick. I think the pentium processor describes the best the pricerange I'm aiming for.

where do you live

[Techstorm970]

3 minutes ago, Digital said:

Well there is no exact budget. I'm aiming under 500$/€, but around that is the budget. As I have seen some "350$ gaming pc" youtube videos, I'm kind of doing that but with little bit more kick. I think the pentium processor describes the best the pricerange I'm aiming for.

Alright.  I'll figure something out.

 

Just to throw it out there, Corsair and EVGA are the best power supply brands.  I would put either of those two in any PC build all day, every day.

[TheNuzziNuzz]

6 minutes ago, Digital said:

Well there is no exact budget. I'm aiming under 500$/€, but around that is the budget. As I have seen some "350$ gaming pc" youtube videos, I'm kind of doing that but with little bit more kick. I think the pentium processor describes the best the pricerange I'm aiming for.

You could go for a Pentium but your going to be pushing it when trying to achieve higher frame rates in 1080p.

[Techstorm970]

9 minutes ago, TheNuzziNuzz said:

You could go for a Pentium but your going to be pushing it when trying to achieve higher frame rates in 1080p.

G4560 = i3-6100, pretty much, so I wouldn't worry too much.  

[Techstorm970]

22 minutes ago, Digital said:

Well there is no exact budget. I'm aiming under 500$/€, but around that is the budget. As I have seen some "350$ gaming pc" youtube videos, I'm kind of doing that but with little bit more kick. I think the pentium processor describes the best the pricerange I'm aiming for.

Ok...actually, an i3-6100 is the better way to go simply because motherboards compatible with Kaby Lake are expensive AF.

[Techstorm970]

39 minutes ago, Digital said:

Well there is no exact budget. I'm aiming under 500$/€, but around that is the budget. As I have seen some "350$ gaming pc" youtube videos, I'm kind of doing that but with little bit more kick. I think the pentium processor describes the best the pricerange I'm aiming for.

SSD or no SSD?

Any need for an optical drive?

Should I include cost of Windows?

[stconquest]

This does not leave any money for a case though:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G4560 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor  (€61.84 @ Mindfactory)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B250M-D2V Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  (€71.60 @ Mindfactory)
Memory: G.Skill NT Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  (€57.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (€51.74 @ Mindfactory)
Video Card: MSI Radeon RX 480 4GB GAMING X Video Card  (€201.00 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  (€46.20 @ Mindfactory)
Total: €490.37
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-03-07 19:10 CET+0100

[Aereldor]

7 minutes ago, stconquest said:

This does not leave any money for a case though:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G4560 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor  (€61.84 @ Mindfactory)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B250M-D2V Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  (€71.60 @ Mindfactory)
Memory: G.Skill NT Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  (€57.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (€51.74 @ Mindfactory)
Video Card: MSI Radeon RX 480 4GB GAMING X Video Card  (€201.00 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  (€46.20 @ Mindfactory)
Total: €490.37
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-03-07 19:10 CET+0100

There should be a €20 Nanoxia case, or you could cut back to an RX 470.

[stconquest]

1 minute ago, Aereldor said:

There should be a €20 Nanoxia case, or you could cut back to an RX 470.

Meh, the 470 is 191 euro... not worth the loss of performance.

 

Maybe a cheaper HDD:  https://de.pcpartpicker.com/product/rd7wrH/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd3200aajs

[Aereldor]

This should suit your needs. However, do you have a monitor, keyboard, mouse, and Windows key? You'll need all of those to start gaming, or you could run with unactivated Windows.

The case is quite excellent functionally and aesthetically. It mirrors the aesthetic of something like the Fractal Design Define R4, and comes with noise-insulating foam, which is unheard of at such a ridiculously low price. 

Overall, this build presents incredible value and will be able to crunch any triple-A title without breaking a sweat, although your CPU may start to give in more CPU-intensive titles like Ashes of the Singularity or Watch Dogs 2. Both games will still be more than playable, but performance won't be as good as, say, Rise of the Tomb Raider or Doom.

It costs about the same as my PC did a year and a half ago, but it's way faster, quiter, , nicer-looking, and has a better upgrade path.

 

@stconquest- only 6 euros over budget here.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G4560 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor  (€61.84 @ Mindfactory) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B250M-D2V Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  (€71.59 @ Mindfactory) 
Memory: Team Elite 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  (€54.74 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (€51.74 @ Mindfactory) 
Video Card: MSI Radeon RX 480 4GB GAMING X Video Card  (€201.00 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Case: Nanoxia DS1WIB ATX Mid Tower Case  (€19.66 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  (€46.20 @ Mindfactory) 
Total: €506.77
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-03-07 19:21 CET+0100

[Techstorm970]

Ok, so here's a USD build.  If you need a Euro build, Aereldor's build is good, too.  You'll need to boot with the newest version of the motherboard's BIOS in order for it to work with the Pentium.  Thought I'd say this, as people gave this particular motherboard bad reviews simply because they didn't know what they were doing.

 

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/bBsND8
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/bBsND8/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Pentium G4560 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($64.99 @ Newegg) 
Motherboard: Asus H110M-E/M.2 Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($46.98 @ Newegg) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory  ($50.98 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($49.99 @ Newegg) 
Video Card: XFX Radeon RX 470 4GB Triple X Video Card  ($148.98 @ Newegg) 
Case: Apevia X-EnerQ-WHT MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($49.99 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: Corsair CXM 450W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($64.00 @ Amazon) 
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit  ($0.00) 
Total: $475.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-03-07 13:30 EST-0500

[Digital]

1 hour ago, deXxterlab97 said:

where do you live

I live in Finland. I'll be buying my parts from either Finland or somewhere else from Europe, so that there are no custom fees.

57 minutes ago, techstorm970 said:

G4560 = i3-6100, pretty much, so I wouldn't worry too much.  

Does the pentium/core i3 sweat too much with mainstream and triple a titles?

44 minutes ago, techstorm970 said:

SSD or no SSD?

Any need for an optical drive?

Should I include cost of Windows?

I only need SSD. I have old hard drives lying around so no 1TB hard drives are needed. However the SSD should be at least 250GB so that even bigger titles can be installed to it.

 

 

Sorry  for late response, I was unexpectedly busy this evening.

[Digital]

Also I have a monitor, keyboard and mouse, and plenty of Windows licenses. Just the PC will be upgraded.

 

EDIT: What are the core differences between 480 and 1060? Is it just a personal preference? Also what about those 8GB 1060 cards? Are those any good, those are priced around 289€ here locally.

[Techstorm970]

13 minutes ago, Digital said:

Also I have a monitor, keyboard and mouse, and plenty of Windows licenses. Just the PC will be upgraded.

 

EDIT: What are the core differences between 480 and 1060? Is it just a personal preference? Also what about those 8GB 1060 cards? Are those any good, those are priced around 289€ here locally.

No GTX 1060 cards are 8GB.  Only 3GB and 6GB models of those.  The RX 480 comes in 4GB and 8GB variants.

[Digital]

5 minutes ago, techstorm970 said:

No GTX 1060 cards are 8GB.  Only 3GB and 6GB models of those.  The RX 480 comes in 4GB and 8GB variants.

Oh yes I meant 6GB. Do you recommend 480 over GTX variants?

[Techstorm970]

2 minutes ago, Digital said:

Oh yes I meant 6GB. Do you recommend 480 over GTX variants?

RX 480 performance is on par with the GTX 1060 for a slightly lower price (at least in the U.S.).  The 1060 3GB isn't worth it, period.  Always buy an RX 480 over a GTX 1060 3GB.  Otherwise, just pick whichever one is cheaper.  

[Techstorm970]

Here's a Euro build I threw together.  The GTX 1050 Ti is just enough to run GTA V at 1080p, 60 fps.

 

PCPartPicker part list: https://de.pcpartpicker.com/list/vK3pRG
Price breakdown by merchant: https://de.pcpartpicker.com/list/vK3pRG/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Pentium G4560 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor  (€61.84 @ Mindfactory) 
Motherboard: ASRock B250M-HDV Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  (€71.89 @ Mindfactory) 
Memory: Crucial 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  (€55.24 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (€95.94 @ Mindfactory) 
Video Card: Palit GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB StormX Video Card  (€146.99 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Case: Nanoxia DS1WIB ATX Mid Tower Case  (€19.66 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Power Supply: Corsair VS 450W ATX Power Supply  (€40.84 @ Mindfactory) 
Total: €492.40
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-03-07 20:28 CET+0100

[stconquest]

35 minutes ago, Digital said:

Oh yes I meant 6GB. Do you recommend 480 over GTX variants?

The GTX 1060 6GB is not the same GPU as the 3GB.  The 3GB version has a cut down GPU, so you lose about 10% performance.

 

If the RX 480 4GB/8GB is cheaper, go with it.  Try not to get a reference cooler or a Gigabyte model.

[Techstorm970]

8 minutes ago, stconquest said:

Try not to get a reference cooler or a Gigabyte model.

Yeah...Gigabyte RX 480 cards are GARBAGE.