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Planning Sims Themed Build for My Wife

Mr Ben

I'm looking for help with this build both in what hardware to select as well as aesthetic design ideas.

 

Location: USA

Budget (system hardware only, not peripherals or OS):  $550-$700 USD

Display:  I will get a single 1080p or 1440p 22-24" monitor

Peripherals:  Theme appropriate suggestions welcome but don't really need much help here.  Definitely getting a mechanical keyboard though cause she likes the clicky!

 

At the moment, the Sims 4 would probably be the most taxing thing she'll probably be doing with this.  The rest will be general light productivity, internet, youtube, office suite, etc.  She gets impatient with technology and computers so even though this won't be some gaming monster, I want it to feel snappy and responsive for normal tasks.  I'm thinking about a Ryzen 3 or 5 (mostly because I want to do a Ryzen build as my own current system is a 6th gen Intel).  I'm not really sure if the Sims is more GPU or CPU intensive.  For the GPU, at 1080p I'm assuming a gtx 1060 would be sufficient, but it would be nice price wise if I could get away with a 1050.  Maybe an RX 560 would work also? (looks like the 570s and 580s are still over priced cuz mining...)  Ram I'm thinking 8 Gb(ish) depending on price, or 4 min and throw some more in down the road if the price ever goes down.  She won't need much storage, so I'll probably start with a ~256 Gb SSD boot drive and add hard disk drives later if needed.

 

Aesthetics-wise, my ideas at the moment are to start with a white case as the base, hopefully with a side window, and use the bright blue and green as a theme.  These don't seem to be super popular hardware colors, so I'll use things like the fans and such to add the color, and maybe even paint some stuff.  I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty and experiment a little.  I also want to add some decals of our family as Sims either on the front or the right panel.  That's as far as I have and it seems a tad underwhelming, so let me hear your ideas!  I don't play the Sims really at all and I'm not super creative so I'm coming to you guys.

 

Addition:  I will also mention the park she likes most about Sims is the building aspect and designing house layouts and decorating them.  If this could be incorporated in some way that'd be neat.

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6 minutes ago, Mr Ben said:
6 minutes ago, Mr Ben said:

I want it to feel snappy and responsive for normal tasks.

e Sims 4 would probably be the most taxing thing she'll probably be doing

SSD like you mentioned GTX 1050 Ryzen is kind of overkill for what you're describing but If you want to go for it go for the Ryzen 3 or the APUs DDR4 is also expensive so going with and older platfrom like Haswell might save you a decent amount. 

 

9 minutes ago, Mr Ben said:

start with a white case as the base

try the NZXT s340 

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I also included a nice keyboard and Sims mouse with monitor

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 3 1200 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($109.99 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350 Pro4 ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($73.98 @ Newegg) 
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2666 Memory  ($67.68 @ Amazon) 
Storage: SK hynix - SL308 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($77.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($65.25 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB ARMOR OCV1 Video Card  ($278.89 @ OutletPC) 
Case: Phanteks - ECLIPSE P400 TEMPERED GLASS ATX Mid Tower Case  ($87.98 @ Newegg) 
Monitor: Acer - G257HU smidpx 25.0" 2560x1440 60Hz Monitor  ($219.99 @ Amazon) 
Keyboard: EagleTec - KG011 Wired Gaming Keyboard  ($41.99 @ Amazon) 
Mouse: SteelSeries - Sims 4 Wired Laser Mouse  ($35.47 @ Newegg Marketplace) 
Total: $1059.21
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-10-01 22:17 EDT-0400

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4 minutes ago, Daniel Z. said:

I also included a nice keyboard and Sims mouse with monitor

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 3 1200 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($109.99 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350 Pro4 ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($73.98 @ Newegg) 
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2666 Memory  ($67.68 @ Amazon) 
Storage: SK hynix - SL308 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($77.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($65.25 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB ARMOR OCV1 Video Card  ($278.89 @ OutletPC) 
Case: Phanteks - ECLIPSE P400 TEMPERED GLASS ATX Mid Tower Case  ($87.98 @ Newegg) 
Monitor: Acer - G257HU smidpx 25.0" 2560x1440 60Hz Monitor  ($219.99 @ Amazon) 
Keyboard: EagleTec - KG011 Wired Gaming Keyboard  ($41.99 @ Amazon) 
Mouse: SteelSeries - Sims 4 Wired Laser Mouse  ($35.47 @ Newegg Marketplace) 
Total: $1059.21
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-10-01 22:17 EDT-0400

did you also include being way past the pricepoint?

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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 3 1300X 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($127.69 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350M Pro4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($75.98 @ Newegg) 
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($75.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: SanDisk - Ultra II 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($88.49 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB Video Card  ($154.89 @ Amazon) 
Case: BitFenix - Phenom M Arctic White MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($85.99 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: Corsair - CXM 550W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($59.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $669.02
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-10-01 22:31 EDT-0400

 

quick draft, probably some room for improvement to be had here:

- ryzen 3 1300x

- fitting mobo, nothing special

- stock cooler to save some cash

- 8GB ram

- i have this very SSD, and i've been very happy with it for the past 2 years :P

- GTX 1050Ti, once again not much special

- a case without a sidepanel window, to allow for cash savings. i suggest putting a flower pot on top of it, thats how a lot of clients i work with pretty up their HP workstations :P

- a power supply within the #goodEnough bracket.

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12 minutes ago, manikyath said:

did you also include being way past the pricepoint?

its $761 without the extra stuff. OP said $700 without peripherals

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2 minutes ago, manikyath said:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 3 1300X 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($127.69 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350M Pro4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($75.98 @ Newegg) 
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($75.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: SanDisk - Ultra II 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($88.49 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB Video Card  ($154.89 @ Amazon) 
Case: BitFenix - Phenom M Arctic White MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($85.99 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: Corsair - CXM 550W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($59.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $669.02
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-10-01 22:31 EDT-0400

 

quick draft, probably some room for improvement to be had here:

- ryzen 3 1300x

- fitting mobo, nothing special

- stock cooler to save some cash

- 8GB ram

- i have this very SSD, and i've been very happy with it for the past 2 years :P

- GTX 1050Ti, once again not much special

- a case without a sidepanel window, to allow for cash savings. i suggest putting a flower pot on top of it, thats how a lot of clients i work with pretty up their HP workstations :P

- a power supply within the #goodEnough bracket.

I think this is better

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 3 1200 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($109.99 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350M Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($59.99 @ Newegg) 
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2666 Memory  ($67.68 @ Amazon) 
Storage: SK hynix - SL308 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($77.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB ARMOR OCV1 Video Card  ($278.89 @ OutletPC) 
Case: Fractal Design - Focus G (White) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($49.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: Corsair - CXM 550W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($39.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $684.52
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-10-01 22:38 EDT-0400

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5 minutes ago, Daniel Z. said:

I think this is better

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 3 1200 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($109.99 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350M Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($59.99 @ Newegg) 
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2666 Memory  ($67.68 @ Amazon) 
Storage: SK hynix - SL308 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($77.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB ARMOR OCV1 Video Card  ($278.89 @ OutletPC) 
Case: Fractal Design - Focus G (White) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($49.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: Corsair - CXM 550W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($39.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $684.52
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-10-01 22:38 EDT-0400

so.. you've skimped on everything else to fit in a GTX 1060?

 

also, i have promo's & rebates turned off, hence the price of the power supply ;)

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1 minute ago, manikyath said:

so.. you've skimped on everything else to fit in a GTX 1060?

 

also, i have promo's & rebates turned off, hence the price of the power supply ;)

not really. You can overclock and the SSD is way better. 

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4 minutes ago, manikyath said:

so.. you've skimped on everything else to fit in a GTX 1060?

 

also, i have promo's & rebates turned off, hence the price of the power supply ;)

happy now?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1400 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($155.49 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: MSI - B350 TOMAHAWK ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($70.98 @ Newegg) 
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2666 Memory  ($67.68 @ Amazon) 
Storage: SK hynix - SL308 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($77.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Storage: Hitachi - Ultrastar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($34.16 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB SSC GAMING ACX 3.0 Video Card  ($163.98 @ Newegg) 
Case: Cooler Master - MasterBox 5 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($59.99 @ B&H) 
Power Supply: SeaSonic - EVO Edition 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($51.98 @ Newegg) 
Total: $682.25
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-10-01 22:50 EDT-0400

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Wow guys, thanks for the different config recommendations.  I'm pleasantly surprised that I could fit a hard disk in there too.  Also the mouse and keyboard are just what I was thinking!  Looks like in my price range I can either go Ryzen 3 + 1060, or Ryzen 5 + 1050...  any thoughts on which would be preferable?

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