How good of a build would this be for budget gaming?

Guest · Dec 12, 2014

Hi! I've been asking a lot of questions here lately and the answers to those helped me learn more about building computers. So, I'm on a budget and would like to ask if the following parts are good enough, reliable and will allow me to do a modest GPU overclock if I ever need to. The parts:
-the cheapest ATX case I could find
-Gigabyte H81M S1 motherboard
-Intel Core i5 4440
-Gigabyte G1 GTX 970 GPU
-1x8GB 1600 MHz RAM
-Antec True power Classic 550w 80+ Gold PSU
As you can see, it's obviously a gaming build. Any opinions?

SproutSchon · Dec 12, 2014

That is a great strategy.
This will perform perfectly gaming wise, while being reasonable moderately priced.
You will be able to OC your GPU very well, just make sure you still get a budget case with a good airflow.
You can always add fans later but I would suggest that at least two case fans should be included (1 front and 1 rear).

Some people would argue that dual channels RAM will perform better (maybe 10% tbh) but your mobo should have only two RAM slots.
Keeping one for future upgrade might a good strategy, although as of now no games will require more than 8GB.

Guest · Dec 12, 2014

That's why I didn't go with 2x4GB, the ability to upgrade in the future and get dual channel, too.

herrwizo · Dec 12, 2014

^^Spot on. Both comments. A very solid and cost-effective build there.

iron8orn · Dec 12, 2014

Really featureless motherboard for a gtx 970 but I guess it works and you should really get a 4gbx2 kit with cas 7 for best performance

iron8orn · Dec 12, 2014

guess it kinda makes since but some of the memory experts around here would argue that ram can be discontinued or the same stick may not actually be the same overtime

Guest · Dec 12, 2014

Yeah but if I just buy another 8GB 1600 MHz stick down the road wouldn't it work in dual channel regardless of brand?

iron8orn · Dec 12, 2014

leads to issues more often then not

Guest · Dec 12, 2014

Something I forgot: a 1TB HDD (7200 RPM). Will add an SSD for the OS in the future.

Guest · Dec 12, 2014

Issues?

herrwizo · Dec 12, 2014

As long as it has the same timings and voltage, more often than not it works. The way you can partially solve this "issue" is - buy a very popular brand-name RAM module which you will most likely easily purchase later, either new or second-hand.

Guest · Dec 12, 2014

Well is Geil considered popular?

SproutSchon · Dec 12, 2014

I agree with iron8orn, the only way to make sure that you won't run into any problem is to pick the exact same memory model. But you should be fine with same clock, timing and voltage.

Regarding the mobo, why would you pay the price premium for features you don't need?
Mobo has absolutely 0 effect on system performance, you only need to make sure it is a reliable product and you have the features you need.
I am seeing a lot of people buying 150-200 $/£/€ Z97 4-way SLI ready mobo to use with a locked i5 and one single GPU.

herrwizo · Dec 12, 2014

Geil is a reputable manufacturer, yes, although not quite as popular as Corsair Vengeance series and G.Skill Ripjaws series lately. For best chances, get either of them, looks like there will be plenty of them available in the future as well.

iron8orn · Dec 12, 2014

Will the h81 even raid with a ssd?

SproutSchon · Dec 12, 2014

No RAID but I am not sure that was his intention.
He will more likely have a single HDD for some time.

Guest · Dec 12, 2014

Sadly, neither of those are available here in Macedonia. As for the motherboard, it's basic and cheap, but does the job and comes from a reputable maker, so I think I can stick with it unless it affects performance, durability and overclockability (I doubt it does).

iron8orn · Dec 12, 2014

yeah it will work just cant add the ssd

SproutSchon · Dec 12, 2014

Try Crucial or Kingston (they make shitty SSD but are ok for memory).

Regarding the mobo no performance influence at all.
It will be a very limited overclocker but your CPU will be locked anyway.
If you were talking about your GPU, no influence at all.

Guest · Dec 12, 2014

I doubt RAID improves performance that much, but I could be wrong.

Guest · Dec 12, 2014

You mean I can't have an SSD? Noooooo.....

SproutSchon · Dec 12, 2014

RAID is useful if you have many drives and you want to make backup / increase read and/or write speeds.
With one HDD or one HDD and a small SSD, there is no benefit.

iron8orn :

The mobo has 2 SATA 3Gb/s and 2 SATA 6Gb/s total.
So you could connect optimally 2 HDDs and 2 SSDs, simply no RAID.

No you can have both.
I have an HTPC/gaming system with a B85 chipset mobo (no RAID) with an SSD and a HDD.

iron8orn · Dec 12, 2014

not totally sure... have only had boards that support it

thats good to know

SproutSchon · Dec 12, 2014

Why would you have multiple SATA ports if the mobo can't handle multiple drives?
That doesn't make any sense.

Like I said before, RAID is simply an additional optional feature.

Guest · Dec 12, 2014

Cool stuff. But there's one thing that puzzles me about the power supply .. It has two +12V rails, each supports 30A. Every other power supply I've seen has only one of them. So what is the purposeof the second one? Does the GPU use both for a grand total of 60A? I'm confused.

How good of a build would this be for budget gaming?

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