Opinions on this "budget" portable pc

Demorthus · May 10, 2014

Hello, I'm thinking about building a small, portable pc that looks great. My uses for it are gaming, streaming, and multimedia. It's purely for fun & the ability to take it to places like a friend's house and game. Open to suggestions! Also, am I better off with just a 6300 so I can overclock it?

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3HDBm

RookieOfTheYear · May 10, 2014

Are you against laptop gaming?

Demorthus · May 10, 2014

RookieOfTheYear :

Not at all, but I find that they are very, very expensive & I much prefer a standard mechanical keyboard & mouse.

Remixex · May 10, 2014

http://www.game-debate.com/cpu/index.php?pid=1879&pid2=1146&compare=core-i3-4330-3-5ghz-vs-fx-6300´

In my opinion, if you won't spend money again, you should buy an FX 6300 and with the money you save there buy a better PSU, the one you have chosen is good quality but too low wattage i would go with 550w at least, a Corsair for example
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139048

woltej1 · May 10, 2014

you have a fairly small SSD running with a HDD, you should be getting a H87 mobo and take advantage of SSD caching. I would stick with the intel build as it can be upgraded to an i5 if needed which is much better than a 6300.

Liquid cooling is a bit overkill.

Should get a hitachi HDD instead, the barracuda sucks.

Should get more power, 400W is pretty small with no upgrade options.

dottorrent · May 10, 2014

That cooler is far too excessive for a core i3. However, here is a better build, keeping in the $850 - $900 range -

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($109.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($47.91 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($49.99 @ Micro Center)
Memory: AMD Radeon R9 Gamer Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($71.72 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Plextor M5S Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($79.99 @ Micro Center)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.43 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 760 2GB Dual Superclocked ACX Video Card ($239.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Silverstone PS07B MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($99.99 @ NCIX US)
Case Fan: be quiet! SilentWings 2 85.8 CFM 120mm Fan ($24.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $858.99
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-10 21:02 EDT-0400)

This is a faster system, just as silent, better built and will run cooler. The problem with the Prodigy M is the strange airflow options they use. They suggest the air to come from the top of the case and out the bottom. This will be a better fit.

RookieOfTheYear · May 10, 2014

Well then in contrast to woltej1, I think you should go with a 6300 because you can upgrade to the 8320/8350 in the future, which would be significantly better than an i5. The 6300 would be better performance for $15 less than the i3. Also you can get a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo for $30 and have about 5 degrees Celsius warmer temp than with that water cooling unit, and not have to worry about frying your components if it breaks.

AMD is the way to go if you are on a budget. Woltef1 is correct in my opinion, that the barracuda drive is not that great. I do however believe that 120GB SSD is plenty unless you have an excessive amount of large programs. Also I would say go with a 500Watt PSU.

EDIT: dottorrent's build looks pretty nice in my opinion.

woltej1 · May 10, 2014

How is an 8xxx cpu better for gaming than an i5? and without a supporting mobo OCing an 83xx is terrible, at which the cost of the CPU/mobo combo advantage goes to intel. Games won't be utilizing more than 4 cores for a long time, and there's plenty of benchmarks showing negligible differences between dual and quad cores in most games.
For SSD storage, the usable storage is about 24% of the stated capacity as you need to take into account formatting and also that you need to keep space on a SSD for it to work well. With an OS taking up 10gb and modern games at 30GB a pop now, you don't have much room on a 120gb. If I went with a 120 over my 240gb then I'd be screwed with just my OS and 2 games by now.

RookieOfTheYear :

Remixex · May 10, 2014

woltej1 :

Assume he won't spend money in a while, 900 USD is a lot of money, future proof is a myth, he can get a much better performing PC with the FX 6300

Demorthus · May 10, 2014

Many thanks to all of your guys'/gals' input! I've update the build accordingly: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3HHwo
I opted for a 120GB SSD as it will mainly only be for the OS and maybe 1 game.
The reason behind why I chose the AIO Water cooler is because it keeps a very small footprint while the radiator can be put on the side vent of the case. Another reason for it, is for easy cleaning, I can set the fan in push and every once in a while just come by with compressed air and blow out dust without having to remove something like 212 EVO entirely to make sure the dust that's caked in-between the aluminum fins are out (This system will be on the ground for most of the time- and I know dust will be a big annoyance)

I bumped up the PSU to a XFX 550W & a Hitachi HDD

With this system I'm not looking for any top of the line specs, it's just a little project I want to do on the side for fun, I have my own big rig at my desk. This will just be for fun & to be able to take anywhere after throwing it in the back of a car and heading somewhere to play

Link: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3HHQP

Remixex · May 10, 2014

Wait wat, an A4? no don't get that D:

Demorthus · May 10, 2014

Remixex :

What would you recommend?

RookieOfTheYear · May 10, 2014

We were referring to the AMD FX-6300.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113286

I don't think you would be very pleased with that A4. But with the FX6300, I think you will be impressed, especially with that water cooler on it. You will probably be able to overclock that thing up to around 4.5Ghz. And its a very good price for the performance you get.

CTurbo · May 10, 2014

This is exactly what I would do

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3HJGt
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3HJGt/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3HJGt/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i3-4330 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($134.97 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-D2V Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($57.79 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial M500 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($66.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($83.97 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card ($239.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: BitFenix Prodigy M Midnight MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($98.97 @ OutletPC)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($47.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus BC-12B1ST/BLK/B/AS Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($57.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $858.65
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-10 23:45 EDT-0400)

Yes I would choose the i3 4330 over the FX6300 all day every day. I would rather have the two very strong cores with hyperthreading than the six weak cores.

Remixex · May 11, 2014

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-1880696/4330-amd-6300.html

in that thread you said 6300...what made you change your mind?

CTurbo · May 11, 2014

That was 6 months ago. I used to recommend the FX 6300 and FX8320 back when they were more competitive with Intel. I recommended them all the time over all the 2nd and 3rd gen i3s and i5s but the K models. Now I just don't feel like they're competitive with Haswell, and the AM3+ platform is long in the tooth, and in serious need of replacing.

The i3 4330 was pretty new then and came with a $150-160 price tag. I didn't seem like a very good bargain, and I was unfamiliar with it's performance.

ahmedkhalifa1999 · May 11, 2014

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($109.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master GeminII M4 58.4 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($34.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($49.99 @ Micro Center)
Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: PNY XLR8 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital WD Green 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($84.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: HIS Radeon R9 280X 3GB IceQ X² Video Card ($299.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Thermaltake ARMOR A30i MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($95.26 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Enermax NAXN ADV. 550W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($63.24 @ Amazon)
Total: $863.42
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-11 02:26 EDT-0400)
what about this build ?
A good looking case with a very strong GPU can play any game and you can buy an external DVD writer to save space

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