A 300$ budget build (Opinions needed)

[Jaok]

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/3PVckd

This is a build for my friend with a vudget of 300$.

He is going to play esport titles and gta v in 720p on a 60hz monitor.  

[NelizMastr]

That's really old stuff and poor value (bad PSU as well).

 

He should go for this instead, and upgrade the RAM later as 8GB is kinda needed, but will add $50 to the budget.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 3 2200G 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($94.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350M Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($54.99 @ Newegg) 
Memory: Crucial - Ballistix Sport LT 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR4-2666 Memory  ($45.74 @ B&H) 
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($26.95 @ Newegg Marketplace) 
Case: Rosewill - SRM-01 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($22.99 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: Corsair - CXM (2015) 450W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($52.55 @ Amazon) 
Total: $298.21
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-06-19 10:18 EDT-0400

[M.A.P]

I feel this is alot better and also future proof

 

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

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 3 2200G 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($94.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350 Pro4 ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($55.98 @ Newegg) 
Memory: G.Skill - Aegis 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($77.99 @ Newegg Business) 
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda ES 750GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($28.09 @ Newegg Marketplace) 
Case: Cougar - MX330 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($24.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: Corsair - CX (2017) 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($22.98 @ Newegg) 
Total: $305.02
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-06-19 10:16 EDT-0400

 

After researching about the ram most of the people are able to use it at 2933MHZ without any issues after few bios updates, some even OCed it to 3200 MHZ and this case bios is already updated to even support ryzen 2000 series you can save 5-7 $ by going with other board but the compatibility is not mentioned so you might face a problem if the board comes with outdated bios. This motherboard is guaranteed to support 2nd gen.  You asked for a 60HZ 720p gaming I gave you a one for 1080p 60-75hz gaming

 

[Jaok]

2 minutes ago, NelizMastr said:

That's really old stuff and poor value (bad PSU as well).

 

He should go for this instead, and upgrade the RAM later as 8GB is kinda needed, but will add $50 to the budget.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 3 2200G 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($94.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350M Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($54.99 @ Newegg) 
Memory: Crucial - Ballistix Sport LT 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR4-2666 Memory  ($45.74 @ B&H) 
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($26.95 @ Newegg Marketplace) 
Case: Cougar - MX330 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($24.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: Corsair - CXM (2015) 450W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($52.55 @ Amazon) 
Total: $300.21
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-06-19 10:16 EDT-0400

Thanks 

[M.A.P]

4 minutes ago, NelizMastr said:

Power Supply: Corsair - CXM (2015) 450W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($52.55 @ Amazon) 

I think you are paying a little bit more for psu. Don't get me wrong it is a very good PSU but there are other alternatives. I feel CX 450(2017) Gives very good value for the money and for half the price. 

[M.A.P]

@Jaok A small suggestion if you just want to game at 720p 300$ budget is useless 200-250 should be more than enough.

[TVwazhere]

3 minutes ago, M.A.P said:

I feel this is alot better and also future proof

 

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

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 3 2200G 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($94.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350 Pro4 ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($55.98 @ Newegg) 
Memory: G.Skill - Aegis 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($77.99 @ Newegg Business) 
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda ES 750GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($28.09 @ Newegg Marketplace) 
Case: Cougar - MX330 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($24.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: Corsair - CX (2017) 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($22.98 @ Newegg) 
Total: $305.02
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-06-19 10:16 EDT-0400

 

Definitely go with this one. Your friend will NEED 8gb of ram for GTAV especially since on the Ryzen APU's, you need to dedicate your RAM for VRAM for the integrated GPU (up to 2gb) meaning if you only had 4gb of ram, you'd only have at worst 2GB of usable ram for the rest of the system! GTAV alone I believe will use 4gb of ram

[GoldenLag]

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/v6Bckd
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/v6Bckd/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 3 2200G 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($94.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: MSI - B350M PRO-VD PLUS Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($49.99 @ Newegg) 
Memory: ADATA - XPG GAMMIX D10 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($84.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($43.90 @ OutletPC) 
Power Supply: EVGA - 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($19.99 @ B&H) 
Total: $293.86
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-06-19 10:24 EDT-0400

 

No case. Use the box the mobo came in or use the mobo standoffs and use it on the table. 

 

Much more value is at 400-500$

[M.A.P]

2 minutes ago, TVwazhere said:

you need to dedicate your RAM for VRAM for the integrated GPU (up to 2gb)

No you can leave it the smallest possible size. Hardware Unboxed proved that. Basically if needed the apu will automatically take the needed amount but if we allocated 2gb then the 2gb will stay reserved out of the total memory

[NelizMastr]

5 minutes ago, M.A.P said:

I think you are paying a little bit more for psu. Don't get me wrong it is a very good PSU but there are other alternatives. I feel CX 450(2017) Gives very good value for the money and for half the price. 

Yep. I disregard rebates in my searches so your option didn't show in my list  

[M.A.P]

2 minutes ago, GoldenLag said:

Power Supply: EVGA - 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($19.99 @ B&H) 

I think we can get better psu for 3-5 bucks more

[GoldenLag]

Instea of building new id suggest looking online to see if you can find someone selling their older build, or a cheap 100$ pentium/i3/i5 machine with 8GB of RAM.

 

Then add a gtx 1050 to the build and buy a new PSU

[M.A.P]

3 minutes ago, GoldenLag said:

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/v6Bckd
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/v6Bckd/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 3 2200G 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($94.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: MSI - B350M PRO-VD PLUS Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($49.99 @ Newegg) 
Memory: ADATA - XPG GAMMIX D10 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($84.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($43.90 @ OutletPC) 
Power Supply: EVGA - 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($19.99 @ B&H) 
Total: $293.86
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-06-19 10:24 EDT-0400

 

No case. Use the box the mobo came in or use the mobo standoffs and use it on the table. 

 

Much more value is at 400-500$

His list itself was 312$ so you can add a case in you list without any problem, there are decent cases for 20-25$

[GoldenLag]

1 minute ago, M.A.P said:

I think we can get better psu for 3-5 bucks more

Probably true. I just snagged something cheap. But at 400$ you will get a much better experience than at 300$. It gives wiggleroom for an SSD and a better board with some other perks

[M.A.P]

1 minute ago, GoldenLag said:

Instea of building new id suggest looking online to see if you can find someone selling their older build, or a cheap 100$ pentium/i3/i5 machine with 8GB of RAM.

 

Then add a gtx 1050 to the build and buy a new PSU

Yeah prebuilt is also a good one but.. the products are old like 2 or 3rd gen max 4th gen processors for i series and maybe 6-7th for pentium

[GoldenLag]

1 minute ago, M.A.P said:

His list itself was 312$ so you can add a case in you list without any problem, there are decent cases for 20-25$

Like the cougar case. Ive used it for many build but i didnt want to overstretch 300$. Im gonna create a value build at 400$. 

[M.A.P]

Just now, GoldenLag said:

Probably true. I just snagged something cheap. But at 400$ you will get a much better experience than at 300$. It gives wiggleroom for an SSD and a better board with some other perks

Agreed but according to his requirements all the lists we gave are overkill he mentioned that he'll play at 720p and all our lists are capable of 1080p

[M.A.P]

Just now, GoldenLag said:

Like the cougar case. Ive used it for many build but i didnt want to overstretch 300$. Im gonna create a value build at 400$. 

Oh cool

[GoldenLag]

1 minute ago, M.A.P said:

Agreed but according to his requirements all the lists we gave are overkill he mentioned that he'll play at 720p and all our lists are capable of 1080p

Some things just make a better experience. Its better to get a good brownie rather than a dry brownie

[M.A.P]

Just now, GoldenLag said:

Some things just make a better experience. Its better to get a good brownie rather than a dry brownie

Yep but these lists basically can do 720P 144Hz but yeah these are future proof

[GoldenLag]

4 minutes ago, M.A.P said:

Oh cool

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/NgPV4q
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/NgPV4q/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 3 2200G 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($94.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350 Pro4 ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($55.98 @ Newegg) 
Memory: ADATA - XPG GAMMIX D10 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($84.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Crucial - MX500 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($69.99 @ Adorama) 
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($43.90 @ OutletPC) 
Case: Cougar - MX330 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($24.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: Corsair - CX (2017) 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($22.98 @ Newegg) 
Total: $397.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-06-19 10:36 EDT-0400

 

Gives an good SSD for the OS and a game or two + an HDD for mass storage. Good RAM that can be re-used later. 

Can slot in a GPU later on and a better CPU for an upgrade path.

 

I would swap out the PSU later if you are adding top tier cards or CPU in the future. 450 watt is twchnically fine for a 8700k/1080ti system but i wouldnt recommend it

[M.A.P]

1 minute ago, GoldenLag said:

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/NgPV4q
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/NgPV4q/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 3 2200G 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($94.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350 Pro4 ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($55.98 @ Newegg) 
Memory: ADATA - XPG GAMMIX D10 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($84.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Crucial - MX500 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($69.99 @ Adorama) 
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($43.90 @ OutletPC) 
Case: Cougar - MX330 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($24.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: Corsair - CX (2017) 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($22.98 @ Newegg) 
Total: $397.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-06-19 10:36 EDT-0400

 

Gives an good SSD for the OS and a game or two + an HDD for mass storage. Good RAM that can be re-used later. 

Can slot in a GPU later on and a better CPU for an upgrade path.

 

I would swap out the PSU later if you are adding top tier cards or CPU in the future. 450 watt is twchnically fine for a 8700k/1080ti system but i wouldnt recommend it

It is good