Budget pc to compete with consoles

john675

Reputable
Apr 6, 2014
6
0
4,520
Hi, for my financial management class we need to do a short presentation on the time value of money. I was planning to do it on a more interesting topic than the generic suggestions. So I will compare initial cost and the long term costs and savings for consoles and pc. I need to make its as powerful for as cheap as possible. I came up with this but I'd like to get it cheaper or more powerful. Price has to be in Canadian $ and I can include the OS for free since we can get it from the university for free.
Overclocking isn't necessary since it's a budget build and I just need to have a pc that will be able to get similar performance. Thanks for any suggestions.

http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/3m8xZ
 
Gt 2x4gb 1600mhz RAM.

I would also get win 8.1 as it is simple better. For gaming and everything else. It also has better support.

Use the money saved from buying the OS to get a better GPU.

Also, don't expect to do much overclocking on that low end motherboard. It has poor power phases.
 
PCPartPicker part list: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/3n83x
Price breakdown by merchant: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/3n83x/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/3n83x/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor ($129.99 @ NCIX)
Motherboard: MSI B85M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($73.75 @ Vuugo)
Memory: Crucial 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($69.59 @ NCIX)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.79 @ DirectCanada)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card ($159.99 @ Memory Express)
Case: Zalman ZM-T1 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($29.89 @ DirectCanada)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($65.99 @ NCIX)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer ($15.99 @ Canada Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($97.88 @ DirectCanada)
Keyboard: Microsoft JWD-00046 Wired Standard Keyboard ($11.35 @ Amazon Canada)
Mouse: Microsoft Optical Mouse 200 for Business Wired Optical Mouse ($4.89 @ DirectCanada)
Total: $714.10

Slightly cheaper, not quite as graphically powerful as yours.

Pros: CPU is better for gaming and the mobo will accept an i5 down the road for a big upgrade.
The GPU isn't as powerful, but still better than consoles and is extremely energy efficient.

Cons: GPU not as powerful.