Help on a $450ish build!

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dcsheehan

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Jul 28, 2013
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Hey guys, after skipping out on the new consoles, I'm ready to start in the computer gaming world. My dad is still skeptical that I am able to build a computer that can handle my games, and so I need to prove to him I can. Due to my low budget, I need to leave out a few things. I've decided to use Linux, as the only games I want to play are LoL, Starbound, Gmod, MineCraft, and use Skype, all of which are playable on Steam for Linux. Anyways, here are my needs:

Approximate Purchase Date: Probably sometime in the next few weeks.

Range: $450 max, with as few rebates as possible.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Internet surfing, Netflix

Are you buying a monitor: No, I have one.

Parts to Upgrade: Whole system

Do you need to buy OS: No, I'm using Linux

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Whoever has the cheapest parts :)

Location: City, State/Region, Country: Southern N.J (too far away from the Microcenter)

Parts Preferences: Whatever's best, I have no preference.

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: Probably not at this price

Your Monitor Resolution: My small one is 720p, large one is 1080p, and I'll be playing on both, so if it's slightly portable that'd be nice.

Additional Comments: I don't need this to do a whole bunch, as it will only be for light gaming and internet surfing. Also, I need this to have somewhat of an upgrade path, as I'll put better parts in later.

Why Are You Upgrading: My current laptop sucks for pretty much everything.


So there you are. If you need any more info, feel free to ask. Thanks!
 
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AshyCFC

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Oct 12, 2013
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I'd normally go for a 750k in a system like this one but it's not upgradeable at all.

The Pentium whilst not being the best processor will work fine and you can drop an i5, xeon or i7 into this build just by changing the CPU.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Pentium G3220 3.0GHz Dual-Core Processor ($65.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($42.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($57.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R7 260X 2GB Video Card ($125.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $462.90
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-06 20:25 EST-0500)

$12 over due to GPU choice but if that's too much go with this

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Pentium G3220 3.0GHz Dual-Core Processor ($65.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H87M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($79.99 @ Microcenter)
Memory: Kingston Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($57.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB Video Card ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $448.91
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-06 20:30 EST-0500)

With the lower GPU, I put in a stronger mobo.
 
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dcsheehan

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Jul 28, 2013
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Can a dual core really hold up? I'm somewhat new, so forgive me if I'm wrong. I would rather have a quad-core, unless the dual will really do the job until Christmas when I could upgrade it, as I might play some slightly more demanding FPS's at some point.
 
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AshyCFC

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Oct 12, 2013
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I would say atleast 70% or more of the PC world run on dual core or less based on who i know(not gaming of course, I mean general PC)

Core count is not important, AMD use lots of weak cores and Intel uses fewer stronger cores.

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD+Athlon+X4+750K+Quad+Core - You could have this AMD Processor but 0 upgrade path without changing motherboard.

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Pentium+G3220+%40+3.00GHz - Not too bad of a score for Dual core vs Quad huh?

Pentium can handle the games you want to play until at christmas you buy an i5 for example.

This i3 build is $10 over budget but comes with a very basic motherboard(Still perfectly fine for if you want to upgrade in the future)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor ($124.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($42.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($57.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB Video Card ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $460.92
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-06 23:50 EST-0500)

i3 stomps on the Athlon 750k in gaming (the i3 competes with fx-6300) even though the i3 is a dual core, it has the benefit of hyperthreading so can behave like quad core.

Remember, Core count is not important it is the quality of the cores.

 
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AshyCFC

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Oct 12, 2013
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Not really.

It's cheap because it has basic features not because it is poorly made.

It can use only upto 1600mhz RAM > 1600mhz is fine for gaming.
It can only use 2 RAM slots > 8GB RAM is fine for gaming
It has 2 Sata 6 Ports > You can use upto 2 HDD/SSD on sata 6 speeds (6gb/s transfer rate and if you need to add more there's 2 sata 3 slots)
It cannot run Crossfire/SLI (two or more graphics cards together) but you don't need that in your budget and 1strong card > two weaker in my opinion.

and it can handle any of the i5s ,e3 xeons or i7s that the h87 board i posted above can (just don't try to overclock on this board)
 
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