help! building a pc

[Sir Launcelot]

hello!
I am new to pc building. I have a little knowledge about the system parts. However I would like to build my own computer with i3 7100 processor. I am not quite familiar with product specifications but I currently have this set of components for my system unit:
Intel i3-7100
Gigabyte H110M-DS2
Adata memory 4gb DDR4-2400
Toshiba Harddisk Drive 1tb Sata
Thermaltake Versa H15- window Micro ATX Casing
Deepcool De500 Psu 500w

these parts are the parts I have connected using a component list from a nearby pc shop, so some parts could be only available here in Philippines. I am not quite familiar with SSD, what I understand is it cost more than HDD but it gives less data storage, however faster, should i get one SSD? I would like to use my system as gaming or for my studies at least. what other improvements could I make? This is a pc i would use while earning for upgrades.
I am also looking into the Asrock Fatal1ty b250 gaming k4 motherboard, is it worth it?
I am also considering adding more ram sticks in the future as well as a gpu.
Is it possible to build a gaming unit using 500 USD or less? Can I play GTA V in an i3 7100 unit?

[Guest]

I suspect you will want a good internet connection, to download moar ram. Because 4 gb doesn't really cut it anymoar, especialy when you want to game on this pc.

 

And I would definately get an SSD for the boost in speed and responsiveness of your system.

[Sir Launcelot]

Just now, Dutch-stoner said:

I suspect you will want a good internet connection, to download moar ram. Because 4 gb doesn't really cut it anymoar, especialy when you want to game on this pc.

 

And I would definately get an SSD for the boost in speed and responsiveness of your system.

I will upgrade ram once I got a hold of my wallet. is it ok if i will have 1 ssd and 1tb hdd? 

[Riesling]

2 minutes ago, Sir Launcelot said:

I will upgrade ram once I got a hold of my wallet. is it ok if i will have 1 ssd and 1tb hdd? 

yup.

[Riesling]

If you're going to game on this, you should prolly consider getting a dedicated GPU.

[Guest]

Yes. You will usually do fine with 1 SSD to put your windows/programs and some games on.

 

Btw, not all games will benefit from an SSD, but there are still plenty who like it alot. Load times and all, especially with your amount of memory.

 

Another side note about memory... You don't have an videocard, so you will be using the videocard part of your CPU. It will need to get some memory (ram), so you will lose even more for regular operation. And if I remember correctly, GTA5 will need at least 2 gb of videocard memory. Which will only leave 2 gb memory for the rest of your system. Not sure, but I highly doubt this system can even start the game.

[Sir Launcelot]

1 minute ago, Riesling said:

If you're going to game on this, you should prolly consider getting a dedicated GPU.

what gpu would be compatible to my system to play games like gta v? I am not quite sure about the motherboard too.

[Sir Launcelot]

thank you mates. now my only concern is about the motherboard and power supply

[Guest]

I'm not really that familiar with GPU's. But I would suggest to increase the amount of memory to 8 gb, and add an 1050 ti to the system. I'm pretty sure the game will then run smooth enough with medium settings.

 

*PS: the game did work when I tryed to play it with my A8 5600k APU, where I had my iGPU set to 2 gb, and 14 gb of extra ram. But it did have massive fps drops. Considering your APU is alot better then mine, I would think GTA 5 would run fine with LOW settings and at least 8 gb of ram. (where you would put 2 gb to your iGPU)

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, Sir Launcelot said:

thank you mates. now my only concern is about the motherboard and power supply

I would also be concerned with the motherboard...

 

I can only spot an VGA connector to hook up your monitor. And that's rather outdated. Make sure your desired monitor can connect to it, and you will be fine. (although it just has very little stuff you can connect to it due to limited amount of USB ports, but hey. It's micro ATX)

 

Power supply: with the components you've picked, the power supply will be fine. Almost any PSU will do I think. (although there are loads of people which would call an no-brand PSU an fire hazzard... Just ignore them)

[Sir Launcelot]

6 minutes ago, Dutch-stoner said:

I'm not really that familiar with GPU's. But I would suggest to increase the amount of memory to 8 gb, and add an 1050 ti to the system. I'm pretty sure the game will then run smooth enough with medium settings.

 

*PS: the game did work when I tryed to play it with my A8 5600k APU, where I had my iGPU set to 2 gb, and 14 gb of extra ram. But it did have massive fps drops. Considering your APU is alot better then mine, I would think GTA 5 would run fine with LOW settings and at least 8 gb of ram. (where you would put 2 gb to your iGPU)

would it be fine if i will have 1 4gb ram and another 8gb ram? will different type of ram would cause problems to the system?

[Guest]

I'm not 100% sure, considering you've got just 2 slots for memory. But I think it should be fine. Keep in mind that your memory will run on the slowest speed. And you might want to check up on compability. (AMD fan, not really sure how nice Intel will play)

[Sir Launcelot]

2 minutes ago, Dutch-stoner said:

I'm not 100% sure, considering you've got just 2 slots for memory. But I think it should be fine. Keep in mind that your memory will run on the slowest speed. And you might want to check up on compability. (AMD fan, not really sure how nice Intel will play)

how about another board? I am considering Asrock Fatality b250 gamin k4. I like it aesthetically. I can't understand some of the features tho

[Guest]

That Asrock board is way better, and has a lot more to offer. It can also have more memory in it, which makes it a cheaper board for upgrades.

 

However... It's ATX formfactor. And the case you picked, was micro ATX: things will most likely never fit.

[Sir Launcelot]

9 minutes ago, Dutch-stoner said:

That Asrock board is way better, and has a lot more to offer. It can also have more memory in it, which makes it a cheaper board for upgrades.

 

However... It's ATX formfactor. And the case you picked, was micro ATX: things will most likely never fit.

choosing a case would not be a problem. thank you for your help. my final concern would be changing the processor to i7 kabylake in the future as well as adding hdd or ssd. One of my relatives told me that changing the processor would cause problems like reformatting drives and bios problems, is it recommended to upgrade processor?

my concern about adding drives is about the setup. I absolutely have no idea if adding hdd and ssd could cause problems or would require more installation. could you enlighten me a bit about these things?

[Guest]

First off: I consider myself an AMD fanboy, so I don't really look to closely at Intel stuff. But if an i7 Kabylake CPU can fit into this motherboard, you should not have any issues later on in life. An CPU swap is the least problematic upgrade, when looking to the software. You might need to reset/clear your bios though, but after that you "should" not have any issues. Your main component (motherboard/chipset) didn't change. You should definately not have to reformat any drives after you switch CPU's. And with windows 10, it seems you could even put the disk with your windows on it, into an AMD system. It will try to update all drivers anyways.

 

If you can get an better CPU later in life for your computer, and if you want more horsepower: it's recommended to upgrade your CPU. When looking at used parts, it can sometimes be one of the cheaper and best upgrades. Depending on what you do with your pc ofcourse... (I bet lots of software would benefit from a quad core CPU vs a dual core CPU)

 

Unless you are using an older version of windows (windows 7, no SP and older) could get you in a bit of trouble when you try to install a disk larger then 2.2 terrabyte. (2200 gb) That has to do with GPT stuff. (how the disk is being read? Not sure, forgot, fixed the issue in my own situation) But you usually just plug in your fancy new drive, and it will just show up in windows. Sata drives are even hot swappable, which means you can even plug/unplug the drives without damage to your hardware. (I personaly wouldn't do it due to dataloss, but that's another story)

 

In adition: your first motherboard option (the gigabyte thing) can only have up to 4 SATA-3 disks. (HHD or SSD) The second motherboard (ASRock) can have 6 SATA-3 disks. (HDD/SSD) And it has even 2 slots for an m.2 drive. (don't ask about them, don't know much about them)

 

Long text, so I'll just make a TLDR:

CPU upgrades are awesome, you should do so when you can afford it (and you need it).

No formating is required after installing another CPU or disk.

There should be no issues with modifying your pc in the ways you asked about.

[Sir Launcelot]

Huge thanks to you dutch stoner. I really appreciate your effort typin that long text to answer my question. I am new to linus tech tips. i will definitely recomment this site to my friends. great community we have here