I need a little advice on choosing a build.

Skorch · Jan 17, 2016

I'm in the process of building a cheap PC.
It will mainly be used for school (Word, Internet, etc) and light gaming, like steam games, LoL, and other Free to Play games. Nothing that is super demanding.
My budget is pretty small, but after looking on Google, YouTube, etc. I have found a few feasible builds. I just wanted to get some advice on the ones I am looking at.

Build 1

AMD A4-6300 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor
Biostar A58MD Ver. 6.x Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard
Team Elite 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory
Western Digital RE3 250GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Apex TX-381 MicroATX Mid Tower Case w/300W Power Supply
Price: $162
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/CLkgNG

Build 2

AMD 5150 1.6GHz Quad-Core Processor
ECS KAM1-I(1.0) Mini ITX AM1 Motherboard
Kingston 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Western Digital AV 160GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Asus GeForce GT 610 1GB Video Card
Apex TM366BK MicroATX Mid Tower Case w/300W Power Supply
Price: $172
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/9pJjxr

Build 3

AMD 5350 2.05Ghz Quad-Core Processor
ASRock AM1B-M Micro ATX AM1 Motherboard
Crucial 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Seagate Barracuda 250GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
EVGA GeForce GT 610 2GB Video Card
Apex TX-381 MicroATX Mid Tower Case w/300W Power Supply
Price: $181

Build 4

AMD 5350 2.05Ghz Quad-Core Processor
ECS KAM1-I(1.0) Mini ITX AM1 Motherboard
Crucial 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Seagate Barracuda 250GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Gigabyte Radeon R7 250 2GB Video Card
Diablotek DIAMOND ATX Mid Tower Case w/400W Power Supply
Price: $196
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/9mj4Hx

I know for the most part these are pretty similar builds. I just wasn't sure if I need the 2GB Video Card now, or if the 1GB will suffice and do what I want, and do it well, until I get a chance to upgrade. Also the RAM, I seen many posts say that for most Steam and F2P games, you won't need more than 4GB of RAM, so any advice on that would be appreciated.

Another thing that I was a bit stumped on, a lot of stuff I read said that for what I am interested in doing, like school work, steam games, etc, that a video card isn't really necessary, an APU would work fine, that why I included that into a few of the builds.
But I was thinking since I want to upgrade in the future, it would just be easier to go ahead and start off with a decent CPU and video card.

I'm trying to stay under $200 for my initial build. I plan on upgrading it along the way, as I get money. So being able to upgrade is a big plus.

For what I want to do, which of these would be best to go with?
If you have any opinions about something I should switch out, or anything like that, please do not hesitate to mention it. I am open to any advice, this is my first build, so I want to get as much advice and help as possible.

Heck, maybe you know of a build that would work better than any of those above for my budget? If so, Id greatly appreciate you posting it!

Thanks for reading and for any help!

Forever Oleg · Jan 17, 2016

No offense, but all those builds are complete trash except for maybe the fourth one. Honestly, you will actually be better off with Intel integrated graphics than any of those builds.
Even if you are on a SUPER tight budget, NEVER go with cases with included power supplies. You need to make sure you have a good power supply.

The following build uses a very powerful Pentium G4400 processor (Skylake!!!) with powerful HD Graphics 510. You can later upgrade it to next-gen i5 or i7. The build uses DDR4 memory which is a huge +. THe motherboard is cheap but solid. That case is cheap but still has nice build quality. COugar Spike is one of my favorite cases. VP-450 is a good cheap and decent quality power supply.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G4400 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor ($59.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H110M-A Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($45.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($19.00 @ Amazon)
Storage: Sandisk SSD PLUS 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($44.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Cougar Spike MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($33.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Antec 450W ATX Power Supply ($32.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $236.95
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-17 15:56 EST-0500

Skorch · Jan 17, 2016

Forever Oleg :

No offense taken, I appreciate the honesty! That why I decided to ask, I'm not really savvy on whats good so far as parts and hardware go. I really like the build you chose, its def. within my price range.
Are the Integrated Graphics good enough to run some games decently? I dont play anything super demanding. Out of the games I play, the most demanding would probably bee Skyrim, and Fallout 3. I also play some free games like WoW, and Lord of The Rings online. Other than that it is used for school, like MS word and stuff.
Also, say I decided to go with a build like this, when I upgrade to say a i5, at that time would I also need to buy a video card, or are the graphics still integrated?
Sorry if thats a newb question xD
Thanks again!

Forever Oleg · Jan 17, 2016

Skorch :

The build I made has G4400 for the processor. The processor has HD graphics build into it hence the name - integrated graphics because the graphics card is IN the processor.

If you decide to upgrade, I would recommend upgrading the GPU first as the G4400 is a pretty good CPU and only then upgrade the CPU to something like an i5.

G4400 fares well in games, even at 1080p, but will lag very bad in new demanding games - it is only integrated graphics after all. It will not have much trouble handling Fallout 3 and Skyrim on low settings at 1080p. If you want to play on medium/high settings, you could put the resolution to 720p. HD 530 (the integrated graphics inside the G4400) is not that bad and will suit you well.

Although your fourth build may be actually more powerful, it has a terrible processor and zero upgradability which is why I am recommending you what I am recommending.

Mud3duck · Feb 4, 2016

Forever Oleg :

No offense, but all those builds are complete trash except for maybe the fourth one. Honestly, you will actually be better off with Intel integrated graphics than any of those builds.
Even if you are on a SUPER tight budget, NEVER go with cases with included power supplies. You need to make sure you have a good power supply.

The following build uses a very powerful Pentium G4400 processor (Skylake!!!) with powerful HD Graphics 510. You can later upgrade it to next-gen i5 or i7. The build uses DDR4 memory which is a huge +. THe motherboard is cheap but solid. That case is cheap but still has nice build quality. COugar Spike is one of my favorite cases. VP-450 is a good cheap and decent quality power supply.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G4400 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor ($59.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H110M-A Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($45.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($19.00 @ Amazon)
Storage: Sandisk SSD PLUS 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($44.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Cougar Spike MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($33.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Antec 450W ATX Power Supply ($32.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $236.95
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-17 15:56 EST-0500

Mud3duck · Feb 4, 2016

Just curios what is so bad about build 1? It needs more ram and a better power supply, but besides that it doesn't seem so bad to me. It is totally upgradeable.

Forever Oleg · Feb 4, 2016

The first one got an A4 APU which is extremely weak. Although it IS upgradable as it is FM2+ platform, it is not the best starting point in terms of hardware. A better build would be one with an A6-7400K, G3258, G4400 (I recommend) or if one would to fork out an A8-7600.

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