$350 Gaming PC Build, Is it good?

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Deleted member 1300495

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Hello guys, I have been researching the cheapest gaming build to play almost any game on high-ultra at 1080p. I recently came up with this build. Will it run BF4 and other games on high/ultra? Is there an alternative which is even cheaper? I will be using Steam OS and my HDTV will be my monitor.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3220 3.0GHz Dual-Core Processor ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-E33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($44.99 @ Micro Center)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($35.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($51.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R7 260X 1GB Core Edition Video Card ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Rosewill FBM-01 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Rosewill 450W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Keyboard: Microsoft Keyboard 200 Wired Standard Keyboard ($7.90 @ Amazon)
Mouse: Microsoft Optical Mouse 200 for Business Wired Optical Mouse ($4.73 @ NCIX US)
Total: $350.56
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-12 15:03 EDT-0400
 
Solution
Onus
Right now, EVGA is probably one of the cheapest, as are Rosewill. The Corsair "CX" is cheap, but not durable in a gamer or other high-stress application due to its use of inferior Samxon capacitors that degrade quickly when they get hot.
If you get a GTX750Ti, you could use one of the relatively inexpensive low-power (e.g. 350W) Seasonic 80+ bronze units. They don't have a PCIe power cable, but you won't need one for that card. Note that you'd be limiting your upgrade options that way.
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Brunostako

Brunostako

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Dec 16, 2013
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For a good 1080p mid settings experience go with a Core i3-4150 or Athlon 760K, 2x4GB RAM 1600MHz, GTX 750Ti or R7 265. The motherboard you choose don't matter much neither the HDD or SSD, but a good PSU is needed. 500W certified from good brand.
 
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Mike Friesen

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Apr 10, 2013
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Yeah, it looks great. It will play BF4 at ~40-45 fps on high @ 1080p, (using anandtech charts). I would try to set up a dual boot, Linux and steamOS, (actually i would scrap out a little more for a 265, and a hundred bucks for windows) because steamOS still seems like it needs to be polished a little more. Also, good luck playing BF4 without windows... TF2 ftw, haha... :(

EDIT: actually, spend another $30 and get 8 gigs of ram. That would be my change.

EDIT (again): If you don't want windows, that's fine but I'd recommend these upgrades. The unlocked pentium will be a ~20 to 35% increase in performance, a big deal at this low-end range. The 265 is $40 more so I didn't put it on there, but I might reach for it if I was also buying a windows license. Go for 8 gigs of ram. Or at least plan on upgrading soon. A single stick of 4 gigs will be a burden.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-E33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($35.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($35.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($51.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R7 260X 1GB Video Card ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Rosewill FBM-01 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Rosewill 450W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit) ($96.99 @ Best Buy)
Keyboard: Microsoft Keyboard 200 Wired Standard Keyboard ($7.90 @ Amazon)
Mouse: Microsoft Optical Mouse 200 for Business Wired Optical Mouse ($4.73 @ NCIX US)
Total: $503.54
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-12 15:33 EDT-0400
 
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Deleted member 1300495

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Have you ever seen benchmarks? Check out this vid:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfIyvY0MEpo&list=UUXGgrKt94gR6lmN4aN3mYTg, he's getting close to 80 FPS on 1080p at medium so ultra would be about 40 FPS on BF4
 
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Onus

Onus

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Jan 27, 2006
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A good 450W PSU (a Rosewill Capstone qualifies) is enough for a GTX750Ti or R7 265 (basically any card with a single 6-pin PCIe power cable, regardless of manufacturer recommendations). You do want dual-channel RAM (2 sticks rather than one).
 
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prit87

prit87

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Jun 16, 2014
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its not at all a bad build for the budget i will not trust the psu but except that its a good build and a r7 250 can run bf3 on ultra with 30 fps at 1080p turning of the vsync and 2x msaa i have seen that in a friends pc, though his processor was i5 3450....but r7 260x is a good card close to the gtx 750 ti....
 
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Onus

Onus

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Jan 27, 2006
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Although I have not seen the Rosewill ARC reviewed yet, all of their other recent offerings have been good. It's a risk (you might want something like the known-good 380W Antec Earthwatts instead), but is probably safe as long as it doesn't turn out to be another CWT unit with the bad caps in it.
 
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Brunostako

Brunostako

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Dec 16, 2013
2,349
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Sorry dudes, it's true I was wrong. I was underestimating the R7 260X, i rechecked many gaming benchmarks and it is a very capable card.

I still think he/she needs 2x4GB of RAM just for usage standards (for me, 4GB is not enough).

So, yes, this system is OK.
 
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Deleted member 1300495

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I know that 8GB is the gamer standard but for budgets 4GB should be enough. Most games don't use more than 2GB so 4GB is enough. i'll upgrade to 8GB later but right now I'm trying to go as low as possible. I trust CM PSUs as I've had some pretty good experience with them and this should be no exception.
 
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Onus

Onus

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Jan 27, 2006
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I don't see anyone suggesting a CM PSU, which is good as MOST of them (other than the new, Seasonic-built "V" models) are low quality. Corsair PSUs that are made by CWT (e.g. their "CX" line) have been cited for early failure of their inferior Samxon capacitors, which cannot take heat. Recent Rosewill offerings (anything since the RG series, including those) has been at least decent.
 
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Deleted member 1300495

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What would you reccomend that is really cheap but is still a quality PSU?
 
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Deleted member 1300495

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What would you recomend that is really cheap but still quality?
 
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Brunostako

Brunostako

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Dec 16, 2013
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That's a hard question. Quality has a price, but the PSU is so important that quality needs to be payed. I'm no expert in PSU, but i know that Corsair, XFX and Antec make very good PSUs. Look for certified PSUs.

I payed a higher price for using a cheap PSU. :(
 
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Onus

Onus

Titan
Jan 27, 2006
37,037
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89,965
Right now, EVGA is probably one of the cheapest, as are Rosewill. The Corsair "CX" is cheap, but not durable in a gamer or other high-stress application due to its use of inferior Samxon capacitors that degrade quickly when they get hot.
If you get a GTX750Ti, you could use one of the relatively inexpensive low-power (e.g. 350W) Seasonic 80+ bronze units. They don't have a PCIe power cable, but you won't need one for that card. Note that you'd be limiting your upgrade options that way.
 
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Solution
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Deleted member 1300495

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is this a good PSU?:http://pcpartpicker.com/part/rosewill-power-supply-arcm450
 
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Onus

Onus

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Jan 27, 2006
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I've not seen the ARC units reviewed yet, so I could not say with certainty.
Beginning with the RG units, everything Rosewill has offered since has reviewed well, which makes me optimistic (but not certain) about the ARCs. It will likely depend on who makes them, with what internals, and that will require a competent technical review (such as by jonnyguru, HardOCP, or HardwareSecrets) to determine.
 
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