$550 Mid-end PC Build with integrated graphics

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DaDiRa

DaDiRa

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Hello everyone. Before I start my topic, I want to point out that everything I know about computers is from what I read on the internet, and this is the first time I attempt building a PC, so just because I know some terminology, doesn't mean I know how to handle stuff in a real system.

So, I was said about a building which costs $550, has no GPU but can run Battlefield 4 pretty well. The building is this and I have three simple questions:
1) Will it run without a problem (bottleneck or whatever else I may miss)?
2) The original building was with a Corsair VS Series VS550, but I was said that it doesn't support Haswell (which by the way I'm not sure what it means), so I found the one which I have now on the building and is 100% Haswell compatible. Was that a wise choice?
3) I'm planning on upgrading later with an SSD and a GPU. Which is the better GPU my system can handle without causing a bottleneck? Also, what about the space? The case is for mini-ITX and micro-ATX motherboards, but can it fit all the GPUs?
4) Would it be a bad decision, if I started buying the parts now and finish (in the worst scenario possible)in one year from now? I don't have the money to buy it right now, so either I buy it as a whole when I can, or I buy each part whenever I have the money (which would be more easier for me) and complete it gradually. But can this cause any problem?

I'm pretty sure I have some more questions, but I first need to make these clear.
Thanks in advance.
 
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i7Baby

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BF4 wants - http://bf4central.com/battlefield-4-system-requirements/ - pretty high for integrated graphics.

The best integrated graphics come from AMD with their A series FM2 apu's. The best of these is the AMD A10 7850K 4-Core Processor

You'd need to run this on a good motherboard eg Gigabyte GA-F2A85X-UP4

The apu uses the pc ram to run on. Get at least 8gb in total and at least 1866 MHz. The faster and more you've got, the better iit will run.

You need to get a good power supply to run it eg Seasonic 350W

And you need a case to put it in eg Corsair 200R

Put this isn PartPicker and see what it prices to. Post the link.
 
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DaDiRa

DaDiRa

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You're basically telling me this build is useless? Because I see you suggest a whole new CPU as well as a new motherboard, a case and a PSU.
Also, you talk about a Seasonic 350W psu, while the one I chose is 600W.
I actually came here to answer my questions, I didn't expect someone will suggest me a whole new build.

Now, Battlefield 4 was just an example, I don't even play this game. Just want make it clear.
 
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jaraldo

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Hi, that link doesn't work as you did not include the permalink in it so no one else can see it but you.

Integrated graphics will be quite bad in all "serious" types of gaming imo.

A PSU that is not Haswell certified simply means it won't be as efficient, not that they are non-compatible.

I'm not sure what parts are available to you, I am assuming because of the VS550 you are from india.
You can take a look at this build, as it is upgradeable and will give you pretty good performance for the time being.
If you have a site you are using for parts, please provide a link to it

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Pentium G3220 3.0GHz Dual-Core Processor ($54.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock B85M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston HyperX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($69.99 @ Micro Center)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.92 @ Amazon)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R7 265 2GB Video Card ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Xion XON-560 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $532.82
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-09 05:25 EDT-0400)

The 1150 socket will be "dead" in 1 to 1.5 years, but this gives you that much time to upgrade to an i5-i7, which will be powerful enough for quite some time as far as CPU and gaming go.

This build can also handle a stronger GPU like an r9 280 when you choose to upgrade. The g3220 won't bottleneck the r7 265 much if at all
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2042472/270-pentium-g3220.html

The performance of the r7 265 is quite impressive compared to other cards near the same price range.
BF4 GPU benchmarks
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-r7-265-review,3748-3.html

Sorry I could not answer more of your original questions, but until I can see what build you have in mind it's not worth it for me to just guess :)


 
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DaDiRa

DaDiRa

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Haha, ok, it was really early in the morning, sorry :p
To begin with, I'm not from India, I'm from Greece. Now that you can access the full build, please answer me.
Also, I'm going to check the build you're suggesting, jaraldo, but I don't think the prices will be the same. I'll let you know.
 
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DaDiRa

DaDiRa

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I edited my first post. It's there now

Edit: As I said, jaraldo, with the parts you suggested the price goes up to almost 650 with the prices here, without including the optical driver and the operating system.
 
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jaraldo

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no worries :)

1. Since you don't really have a GPU, you won't be able to game very well, i mean, there is really nothing to bottleneck with. The intergrated graphics of many of the AMD APUs are betters than the Intel's; for gaming especially. In general, it is better for a system to have a great GPU and an "ok" CPU, instead of the other way around.

2. As I mentioned, Haswell compatible is just about efficiency for the most part. Some power supplies could be compatible but they simply haven't been verified yet. The VS is a bad brand, worse than the CX even. Antec/seasonic/XFX/EVGA are better PSUs to go with. The CX will do if you are limited.

3. Well, as I mentioned in my link, the g3220 can handle a r7 265 reasonably well. So I would expect something like an i3-4xxx to be fine with an r9 280. As for space, you chose a mid tower for your build, there is close to 100% chance it will be able to fit anything you want in it.

4. Nothing wrong with upgrading later. This is how a build works in my mind, you either chose to go for the cheapest temporary build possible that you can upgrade with a better CPU/GPU later, or you can build the cheapest strongest possible system but have very limited upgrade paths. Or sometimes the better option, wait until you have more $ :)

If you went with my build for example, which has a strong GPU and weak CPU, you could upgrade the CPU first to an i5 and you would still have the same decent FPS in games because it's a good mid range GPU. Then you could upgrade to the r9 280 next and have your complete build.

With your build, you have a very weak GPU and a decent CPU. Your gaming experience would be pretty bad until you got the money to get a good GPU. Once you got a r9 280 though, you would have very nice FPS in games and then just need to upgrade your CPU whenever possible to complete your build.

I just prefer my build because you don't suffer as much as you would with trying to play on integrated graphics.

Example, that youtube you linked showed settings on low and it was only 26fps, the r7 260/265 can play ultra settings on BF4 at 40fps average..

 
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DaDiRa

DaDiRa

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So right now I have two options:
I buy my build, and upgrade with a GPU later or, I buy the one you send me, which is cheaper and more powerfull for gaming.
Since the price goes really high when it comes to prices here, I would have to buy the from the stores that partpicker suggests.
Its says "Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.", but I want to know how accurate this is. I live in a small town in Greece, so, the parts would first go to Athens, and then be sent to me. Is the "two-Day free shiping" valid? Also, what about the sites that don't have free shipping? Is the extra charge and taxes included in the total price in the link you send me?
 
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jaraldo

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Hehe it's ok, I am from rural Canada and I suffer from the same shipping/tax problems.
I am not sure about the main site for Greece. I can say that today I helped an Irish person build a HTPC and she was ordering parts from a german site...hehe
www.hardwareversand.de
You will have to do some research I guess :) but yes, parts will be more expensive in EU, but at the same time I can use a different case/mobo/GPU and bring the price down some. A r7 260, even an r7 250 is going to be worlds ahead of integrated graphics.

Also, if you do choose your build, i7Baby is correct in saying that integrated graphics greatly benefit from 1866 or higher ram.
 
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DaDiRa

DaDiRa

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Oh, too bad. So I go for my initial build. Anything else I should know before I start buying the parts?

Okay, I might do my research, but I'm not quite sure, I'll see. Thanks for the help, anyway, I'll come back when I have more question, no matter which build I choose. :D
 
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jaraldo

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^Yup that's true. The AMD APUs will be far better for gaming than Intels iGPU.

I've seen quite a few budget builds this week and that build I posted is pretty decent I think compared to iGPU.

Personally, if you aren't willing to do an APU fm2+ build or do a 1150/g3220/r7 250/260 build then you should probably save up, because doing an intel integrated graphics based build is the worst option out of these 3.
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2013/11/27/battlefield-4-performance-analysis/3
A 7770 will even get you 42 FPS in low settings... :) All these cards will do better than 30FPS.
http://de.pcpartpicker.com/parts/video-card/#c=115,164,79,131,162,149,168&sort=a7

Anyways, just some more food for thought :p Feel free to ask more questions.
 
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DaDiRa

DaDiRa

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Actually, this PC build was suggested to me on a Greek forum after I asked for a "Mid-end PC Build, under 400€, basically for series/movies watching and surfing the net and maybe some gaming". So, my expectations weren't that high, until someone sent me the video of the battlefield 4.
I'll try making a build with the components you sent me, jaraldo, and if the price is not higher than I'm willing to pay, I'll go for it.
 
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jaraldo

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Ahh, well it would depend on what games you want to play, but a 300 euro computer can do the rest of what you asked.

In the end, as long as you figured out based on your own research what is the best for you, I'm happy regardless :p

I just enjoy giving people options they didn't know they had :)
 
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DaDiRa

DaDiRa

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Okay, here I am again.
I found MSI Radeon R7 265 2GB OC at 141€, while XFX Radeon R7 265 2GB Core Edition costs 161€.
Should I go for it? Isn't it better?
I send the links, it's a Greek site which compares the prices from many Greek e-shops and shows the items from cheaper to more expensive. Just to see what cards I'm talking about.
http://www.skroutz.gr/s/4833529/MSI-Radeon-R7-265-2GB-OC-V305-017R.html
http://www.skroutz.gr/s/4904216/XFX-Radeon-R7-265-2GB-Core-Edition-R7-265A-CNF4.html
 
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Alpha3031

Alpha3031

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go MSI

and get the G3258 here
http://www.mgmanager.gr/intel_pentium_g258_20_ghz__mb_cache_dual_core_intel_hd_graphics_socket_1150_anniversary_edition_box_bx80646g258/el/pid/18773/
cpu 67
http://www.visionstudio.gr/prodinfo.asp?id=38961&cat=5
gpu 143
http://www.techstores.gr/product/39141/motherboard-1150-asrock-z97-pro3-atxz97
MB 100
http://www.eworld.com.gr/products/details/2595
Cooler 32
http://www.techstores.gr/product/25981/hda-1000gb-seagate-st1000dx001-deskt.
SSHD 74

416 Euros so far
still needs case and OS
 
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DaDiRa

DaDiRa

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I have found the CPU at 45€. You also forgot about the PSU. Is the cooler essential?



Well, I usually play whatever makes me have fun, nothing specific. It may be an indie like Super Meat Boy, They Bleed Pixels or Hotline Miami, but it also may be Global Offensive, Tera or Grand Theft Auto :p
Actually, now I limit what I like to what my laptop can run, so I guess if I had a better computer, I'd play a lot more different games.
 
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DaDiRa

DaDiRa

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So I searched and found this build, which costs 380€ now. It was build last October, so it may be a bit old. What is your opinion?
(Sorry again, the links are from a greek e-shop)
http://www.visionstudio.gr/prodinfo.asp?id=36091&cat=1
http://www.visionstudio.gr/prodinfo.asp?id=35766&cat=2
http://www.visionstudio.gr/prodinfo.asp?id=35741&cat=3
http://www.visionstudio.gr/prodinfo.asp?id=32821&cat=4
http://www.visionstudio.gr/prodinfo.asp?id=35905&cat=17
http://www.visionstudio.gr/prodinfo.asp?id=31888&cat=5
http://www.visionstudio.gr/prodinfo.asp?id=35741&cat=3
http://www.visionstudio.gr/prodinfo.asp?id=21736&cat=6

I'm also thinking of changing the RAM from 2x2GB to 2x4GB.
 
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