$400 Budget Gaming Computer - Suggestions?

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MystrE359

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So I just turned 16 and got a job, and I am steadily saving money to build a budget gaming computer, and I mostly want it to be able to run Minecraft with 70-80 mods without lag, if possible, but being able to use Wii, Playstation, and Gamecube emulators is also pretty important to me. I'd like to keep it under $400 if possible, but I have never built a computer before. The research I HAVE done resulted in the following parts list on www.pcpartpicker.com

-CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2 GHz Dual Core
SSD: Sandisk Z400s 256GB 2.5'' Solid State Drive
Cooling System: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 76.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2xGB) DDR3-1600
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: Cooler Master VSM 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX
GPU: MSI GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card
Motherboard: MSI H81M-E34 Micro ATX LGA1150

Again, since I have never built a computer before, I'm unsure how good this is, if it will meet my qualifications, or if a particular part is bottlenecking me. The current part list runs me for about $420, so is there any improvements I could make?
 
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IInuyasha74
I'm not entirely sure how many threads Minecraft uses, just on a dual-core it was having issues. My brother also had several mods installed which is probably what caused the problem. As it will yield more benefits in general and is higher performance, I'd still recommend the Core i3 over the AMD CPU. In the future if you want to upgrade your PC, you will be able to do that on this system as well, where as that CPU is about the fastest you can get for that motherboard socket.

STL is right also about the storage. The SSD will help the PC boot faster and load programs more quickly, but that is about it. It is more of a luxury device at the moment, so on a budget build I usually recommend a standard HDD instead. For memory, I think all of...
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stl522013

stl522013

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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 860K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($70.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-D3H Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($47.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 950 2GB Video Card ($128.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $386.81
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-20 21:49 EST-0500
My build will outperform yours. And it will be about the same price, and it has a lot more storage space. A hard drive is slower than an SSD but you don't need an SSD with a budget build. You will use up 256 GB a lot faster than you think.
 
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MystrE359

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No, I was not planning on overclocking. I've heard that that can severely shorten the lifespan of a computer, and I'd like this to last a couple years.
 
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stl522013

stl522013

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The HDD is cheaper for a lot more space. Albeit the HDD is slower, but when new games are as big as 60 GB you will go through 256 GB faster than you think.
 
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MystrE359

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My only remaining question is how hot this will run without the cooling system? And also, is the case I selected airy enough to manage the temperature?
 
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stl522013

stl522013

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I have an FX-8320 (it runs hotter than the X4 860K) and I have the stock AMD cooler. It runs kind of toasty and is louder than I would like it to be but it gets the job done. I personally would go with an aftermarket cooler just for noise reasons, but it is not really noticeable if you have headphones on.
 
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MystrE359

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Well, thanks for the help! I'll hopefully be ordering the parts within the month!
 
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stl522013

stl522013

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No problem. Message me and let me know how it turns out! :)
 
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IInuyasha74

IInuyasha74

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Try this:

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Y9FRrH
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Y9FRrH/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor ($129.78 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper T2 54.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($14.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3P ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($89.75 @ OutletPC)
Memory: A-Data XPG Z1 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($42.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 320GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($22.90 @ Amazon)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R7 360 2GB Core Edition Video Card ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Thermaltake VL80001W2Z ATX Mid Tower Case ($22.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: EVGA 430W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($24.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $428.38
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-20 22:04 EST-0500

It is a little over your budget, but not much. The processor is a newer design, it is also much faster and can be overclocked for even more performance using the motherboard I listed. The graphics card is a little slower, but it should still be capable of playing Minecraft like you want.
 
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stl522013

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Why did you go for a more expensive CPU and a cheaper GPU? The GTX 950 will wipe the floor with the 360 considering the fact that it beats the 270X. Also you will have to upgrade your PSU before making any upgrades in the future.
 
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MystrE359

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By windo, you mean a panel to view the inner workings of the PC, right? If so, no, I'm not worried about it, unless you have a suggestion for a budget one that would not raise the price dramatically.
 
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MystrE359

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As I stated previously in this thread, I'm not looking to overclock.
 
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IInuyasha74

IInuyasha74

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The OP mostly wants to play Minecraft. The game isn't all that graphically intense. My brother played it for a while with an AMD Radeon 7850 and an Intel Pentium G3258 overclocked to 4.2 GHz. When he did that, the GPU idled almost constantly, and the CPU was the bottleneck. So I went with a weaker GPU because he doesn't need one which is all that fast, just a decent one. The CPU, on the other hand, will handle the game better and run everything in the system much faster.

@MystrE359, if you are not comfortable with overclocking, then you could go with this system:

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/BVZVxr
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/BVZVxr/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor ($129.78 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock B150M-HDV Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($69.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: A-Data XPG Z1 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($42.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 320GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($22.90 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card ($106.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Rosewill FBM-02 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($21.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 430W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($24.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $419.62
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-20 22:17 EST-0500

Which has a stronger GPU, but still weaker than the GTX 950. Overall the system is stronger because of the newer CPU though. Sorry that I missed you don't want to overclock first time through, I did not see that post until after I had replied.
 
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stl522013

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I have an FX-8320 and I run it fine. And Minecraft doesn't utilize many cores, so a processor with a similar clock rate and a newer manufacturing process even with less cores (the Athlon X4 860K) will be more than fine. Also you can play Minecraft on almost anything so I don't think a Pentium G3258 was the bottleneck unless you had set in the power options for the CPU to lower in speed before the fan speed increased. And the GTX 950 will allow him to play other games fairly well.
 
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MystrE359

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I'm worried about the storage situation, since stl522013 raised a great point about how fast memory goes on a gaming computer. 320GB isn't that much more than what I originally had, and any emulator I download will suck that memory up. That case also fails to utilize the USB 3.0 Headers.
 
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stl522013

stl522013

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The speed of storage (memory is RAM, so be careful, some people will get confused) is more of a luxury. An SSD will yield faster boot times, games will load faster, your computer will turn on faster, and moving and copying files will be faster, but you pay more for less storage. I have a 7200 RPM HDD (the same one I put in the build I made for you) And I still boot pretty fast. I boot in under 20 seconds. Last time I recorded it it was about 15 seconds. And my computer has slown down a little bit (a little but being going from lightning fast to wait a second or two at most for stuff to happen like loading webpages or navigating programs) but that is because I have used over 800 GG of my 1 TB hard drive, and I also need to defragment it.
 
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stl522013

stl522013

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I honestly don't know much about cases and airflow, I am doing some research.
 
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MystrE359

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Sorry about that mistake; I think I'm sold on the build you gave me, although I'm pretty sure I'll give in and throw $20 into a cooling system, just to play it safe, especially since I am using an HDD, and they tend to run warmer and die in the heat.
 
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stl522013

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The CPU cooler cools the CPU, not the HDD. It may lower the ambient temperature, but won't do a lot for the HDD. I have the AMD Stock cooler, and my HDD stays pretty consistently around 30-35 degrees.
 
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