Getting back into pc gaming (casual)

Dhm8484

Reputable
Dec 12, 2014
21
0
4,510
Yes as the title states, I'm looking for a starter rig to play WoW, and eve online (used to play them way back one) and maybe a few steam games. Only looking to spend around 600 bucks. Would prefer to buy a prebuilt one (I know I'm gong to get grief). I want at least a i5, but not sure of a graphics card. It's going to be casual gaming, couple hours per week. Looking for something that maybe can upgrade graphics card down the road, when time and funds permit. Well I hope someone can point me in right direction.
 
Solution
No grief.
If you are not comfortable building a pc yourself, pay a local shop or a high school kid $100 or so to assemble one for you.

Prebuilts will not give you any room for an upgrade.
They use the minimum specs to make the initial parts work.
This will show up in minimal or off brand power supplied and minimum spec motherboards.

Your budget is fine.

Here is my stock answer for a budget build:

------------------------------ budget skylake build ---------------------------
For a budget gaming build, I like to recommend that one builds for future expandability.
That means paying a bit more up front for some parts that allow for an easier future upgrade.
A good rule of thumb is to budget twice as much for the graphics card than...
No grief.
If you are not comfortable building a pc yourself, pay a local shop or a high school kid $100 or so to assemble one for you.

Prebuilts will not give you any room for an upgrade.
They use the minimum specs to make the initial parts work.
This will show up in minimal or off brand power supplied and minimum spec motherboards.

Your budget is fine.

Here is my stock answer for a budget build:

------------------------------ budget skylake build ---------------------------
For a budget gaming build, I like to recommend that one builds for future expandability.
That means paying a bit more up front for some parts that allow for an easier future upgrade.
A good rule of thumb is to budget twice as much for the graphics card than for the cpu.

Let me start where you might not expect:

1. Buy a good 500w psu or better. 500w will run a card as good as a GTX970. 600w will run a GTX980ti.
Future graphics cards will be built on smaller 14nm so they should not need more power than today.
I would normally suggest Seasonic 620w: Expect to pay around $65.
Look for a tier 1 or 2 quality unit on a list such as this:
https://community.newegg.com/eggxpert/computer_hardware/f/135081/t/45344.aspx?Redirected=true

2. Buy a Z170 based motherboard. Z170 will allow you to install a overclockable cpu and even permit a future Kaby lake processor upgrade.
You should find one for under $100. Lesser lga1151 chipsets will work for the truly budget constrained but at the expense of future upgrade optiions.
Here is a M-ATX example: ASRock Z170M Pro4S for $99: http://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/Page362.htm

3. I suggest a I3-6100 @3.7. About $130. If you are truly budget limited, you can buy a g4400 dual core for $60.
In time, you can upgrade to any I3/I5/I7 cpu that you want and market theoriginal processor.

4. The intel stock cooler will do the job. Skylake runs cool.
If you want, you can use a cryorig H7 cooler with a 120mm fan. $35. It will be quieter.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA4UF2DZ6565
One can always add a cpu cooler later.

5. For ram, speed is not important. Buy a 8gb kit of 2 x 4gb DDR4 1.2v 2133 speed ram.
About $40 for this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148858
Heat spreaders are marketing and generally useless.
Faster ram is not worth it for skylake:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1478-page1.html

6. Cases are a personal thing. Buy one you love. Most will do the job for <$50.
Here is a silverstone PS08 for $35:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163223

7. The graphics card is the most important component for gaming.
I like the GTX750ti and EVGA as a brand.
Here is a superclock version:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
You could go stronger in the video card if your budget permits and your games need it.
On the other hand, you could build using the integrated 530 graphics which is quite good and see how you do.
By deferring on the graphics card, you will get a better idea of what you really need.
Integrated is fine for sims, but not fast action games.
8. Lastly, I will never build again without a SSD for the "C" drive. It makes everything you do so much quicker. 120gb will hold the OS and a handful of games.
With 240gb you may never need a hard drive at all. Defer on a hard drive until your ssd approaches 90% full.
Currently, I like samsung 850 EVO best.

-------------good luck------------




 
Solution
I recommend leaving the dedicated card out of the initial buiild entirely. The OP wants to upgrade the graphics later and the HD 530 is powerful enough to run WoW and casual games at good framerates, which is what Dhm8484 will be playing. It can even run graphically demanding games at low settings.

This will make upgrading the graphics card later simpler for him, it will allow him to get a stronger CPU with the saved cash, and it will save him the trouble of reselling a used GPU.
 
The Cyberpower site is a decent deal right now because you get a mechanical keyboard for free (even though it uses Kontact instead of Cherry switches). I know you already have a mouse and keyboard, but mechanical keyboards are pretty expensive on their own ($80-$150). Having to buy windows cuts the PC budget down to $500. It's difficult to fit an I5 from a prebuilt into that budget, so I dropped you down to an I3 (which will actually be faster in games that use two threads), and included a beefy enough PSU to support a hefty GPU later.

$595
before all applicable rebates Estimated ship date: Friday, 3/11/2016

Spring Featured Promotions: CYBERPOWERPC Skorpion K1 Mechnical Gaming Keyboard w/ Kontact Blue Switches and Programmable Blue LED Lighting
Gaming Chassis: Raidmax Hybodus mATX Gaming Case
CPU: Intel® Core™ Processor i3-6100 3.70GHz 3MB Intel Smart Cache LGA1151 (Skylake)
CPU / Processor Cooling Fan: Asetek 550LC 120mm Liquid CPU Cooling System w/ Copper Cold Plate - Extreme Cooling Performance (Single Standard 120MM Fan)
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-ITX/AC Wi-Fi, GbLAN, w/ USB 3+ 4X SATA 6GB/s 1 Gen3 PCIe x16
RAM / System Memory: 8GB (4GBx2) DDR4/2800MHz Dual Channel Memory (ADATA XPG Z1)
Power Supply: 550 Watts - XFX TS Series 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Power Supply
Hard Drive: 1TB SATA-III 6.0Gb/s 32MB Cache 7200RPM HDD (Single Drive)

Mouse: CyberpowerPC Standard 4000 DPI with Weight System Optical Gaming Mouse

Operating System: Windows 10 Home (64-bit Edition)

Cheers!