PC Upgrade to Stream LoL - $650 CAD

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Lindsay Wilson

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Jun 28, 2013
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The basic requisites are streaming LoL at medium-high quality, while playing a Pandora type thing in the background. Ideally (but not strictly necessary) would be able to play/stream a bit more graphics-intensive games than LoL since that's definitely on the lower end of things, and it would also be ideal to be able to play Street Fighter V while in queue. $650 CAD would include shipping fees, to Canada. Might consider $750 CAD if needed.

Here's my system:

LENOVO 7373D1U ThinkCentre M58
2.93 gigahertz Intel Core 2 Duo E7500
Motherboard: LENOVO LENOVO 5CKT54AUS 266 megahertz
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GT 640
Memory: 4gb, 2/4 slots used
Hard Drive: WDC WD1600AAJS-08L7A0 (160.04 GB)
Power Supply: 280 Watt, 115 to 230 Volt; 50 to 60 Hz (Not sure about serial number, I'm sure it needs to be upgraded)
OS: Windows 7 (Need to get a new CD, don't necessarily need to include in the price)

This was the best I could discern between the system info sticky and Belarc Advisor, sorry if anything's missing.

It's what I use so I obviously have a tower, and passable monitor, the basics. I think the only thing changed from the original Dell model was the graphics card, and the RAM sticks are probably not native either. Everything else is probably from the original system.

Thanks.
 
Solution
Barty1884
If you want to keep it cheap, yet capable - you could probably pick up a used workstation, throw a mid-range GPU in there & barely exceed $400 while crushing everything you want/might do with it. Older tech, but a more budget friendly performance option that scaling back to less that $750CAD, you really start cutting back on quality at that pricepoint.

Not sure where you are in Canada, but here in Calgary there's frequently Dell Precision T3500's on Kijiji.
Quad Core + HT Xeon's, anywhere from 4-16GB RAM, a HDD with OS included & a server grade ~500W PSU.......can normally pick them up anywhere from $100-200. A GPU on top (a GTX 950 maybe) can be had new for well under $200.
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Barty1884

Barty1884

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Apr 16, 2015
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Streaming is pretty CPU intensive, so multiple cores/threads would be a good idea, but pretty difficult at that budget.

This build is marginally over $750 without the OS..........although you'd need to reuse your existing HDD for a while.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($348.00 @ Vuugo)
Motherboard: ASRock H81M-DGS R2.0 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($53.00 @ Vuugo)
Memory: Mushkin Essentials 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($74.99 @ Canada Computers)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 950 2GB Video Card ($181.50 @ Vuugo)
Case: Xion XON-310_BK MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($25.99 @ Amazon Canada)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($69.88 @ Canada Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($124.00 @ shopRBC)
Total: $877.36
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-24 15:34 EDT-0400
 
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superninja12

superninja12

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May 18, 2015
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u dont need an xeon for streaming league , im certain that a low 6400 or i5 4460 is sufficient enough.
im talking about league not dark souls 3 or something.
 
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superninja12

superninja12

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May 18, 2015
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u dont need an xeon for streaming league , im certain that a low 6400 or i5 4460 is sufficient enough.
im talking about league not dark souls 3 or something.
 
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I

ikaz

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Dec 27, 2005
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Well that really old system so to just upgrade it on the cheap I would suggest the following:

HD: http://www.ncix.com/detail/sandisk-z400s-128gb-2-5-7mm-5e-111451-1209.htm (if you need more space you can look at 240GB drive) $55 CAD

Memory: http://www.ncix.com/detail/g-skill-ripjaws-x-f3-14900cl9d-8gbxl-8gb-fa-58519-1209.htm $50 CAD

PSU: http://www.ncix.com/detail/evga-500w-80-plus-certified-5f-92643-1209.htm (500 watt PSU ) $53 CAD

That leaves you with about 490 CAD to pick up a card.

so you can get something like http://www.ncix.com/detail/evga-geforce-gtx-960-4gb-7c-111575-1209.htm $290 CAD

or

http://www.ncix.com/detail/gigabyte-radeon-r9-380x-windforce-cc-121125-1398.htm $305 CAD.

Those just suggestions and you can play around with it but the three things you should update are Memory, PSU, Video card (SSD is optional but should make things a bit smoother). If you decided to build a new PC in the future you would be able to move every over expect maybe the memory since there is a move towards DDR4. However please go ever your spec to make sure the PSU will fix in your case, as well the video not too long and the memory is supported on your board. I just did a really quick look for what you could do.


 
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Barty1884

Barty1884

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Apr 16, 2015
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The OP did mention they wanted the potential to get into more demanding games from a streaming standpoint - where the Xeon would be really valuable, so it makes sense to me. Reusing an HDD isn't the end of the world (although not ideal) with a decent enough GPU for the task.

At that point, the OP could sell the 950 in future, recoup some funds & buy a higher-end card. If they go with the $240 i5 now, they'd likely benefit from a $450 i7 as the upgrade (remember, Canadian) that's near $800 invested in CPUs........ The Xeon provides the same functionality, for $348 initially, just about squeezing into the budget from the outset......I don't see the harm.

 
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L

Lindsay Wilson

Honorable
Jun 28, 2013
18
0
10,510


Actually I'm seriously considering taking the less upgrade-friendly path... honestly I don't have interest in the kinds of games that have the most demanding graphics, especially being able to stream them specifically. And I realized my budget is very tight. I know I said $750, but cutting that back would help me immensely. Besides League I think I'd only be interested in Street Fighter V and MMOs/other MOBAs, for streaming and probably just for playing as well.

With that said, is the CPU the only thing in your build that would downgrade? Could you please link the Part Picker link and any other revisions? And thanks for you help, everyone.
 
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superninja12

superninja12

Glorious
May 18, 2015
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streaming league on ultra takes nothinng, but canadian parts are very expensive.
if you say you only want to stram league, and play mmorpgs i would get an i5 6400 which is enough to stream league and is ready for the not yet released intel kaby lake.

but you can bet on around 900.
 
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Barty1884

Barty1884

Retired Moderator
Apr 16, 2015
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If you want to keep it cheap, yet capable - you could probably pick up a used workstation, throw a mid-range GPU in there & barely exceed $400 while crushing everything you want/might do with it. Older tech, but a more budget friendly performance option that scaling back to less that $750CAD, you really start cutting back on quality at that pricepoint.

Not sure where you are in Canada, but here in Calgary there's frequently Dell Precision T3500's on Kijiji.
Quad Core + HT Xeon's, anywhere from 4-16GB RAM, a HDD with OS included & a server grade ~500W PSU.......can normally pick them up anywhere from $100-200. A GPU on top (a GTX 950 maybe) can be had new for well under $200.
 
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Solution
L

Lindsay Wilson

Honorable
Jun 28, 2013
18
0
10,510


Alright thanks, that sounds promising.
 
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superninja12

superninja12

Glorious
May 18, 2015
11,378
56
49,140
why is canada so expensive?

think this is a solid build for your needs:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6400 2.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($243.55 @ Vuugo)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H110M-A Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($64.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($53.50 @ Vuugo)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($65.75 @ shopRBC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 950 2GB Superclocked+ ACX 2.0 Video Card ($188.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Case: BitFenix Nova ATX Mid Tower Case ($44.61 @ DirectCanada)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($89.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Total: $751.35
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-30 15:40 EDT-0400

you would benefit for real from ai5 6500 tho since ur streaming, however this is fine already for league :)
 
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Barty1884

Barty1884

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Some things are worse than others in Canada. PSUs are especially bad - there just isn't the option of a cheap yet quality PSU. You're talking $90 or so after rebate more often than not. Compared to the US where you can usually find a quality one in the $50 range after rebate.
 
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Barty1884

Barty1884

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Apr 16, 2015
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The requirements for LoL are fairly minimum, so almost anything will do - an i5 puts you in optimum territory, but on a budget I think a used workstation (considering the quality PSU, copious amounts of RAM etc) makes the most 'budget' sense.

As far as the H7, I can't think I've ever seen Cryorig coolers in Canada...
 
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Barty1884

Barty1884

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Apr 16, 2015
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Prices in Canada are always higher, but I can't imagine the exchange rate is helping at the moment either.

That $205US to $350CAD for the GPU is a bit out of the ordinary, but consider the PSU - it's about $65 in the US? $65 US is $85CAD at the moment (roughly), so there's only usually a relatively nominal markup in Canada. That's usually the case on most components, with the occasional one that's disproportionately high (like the GPU you mentioned).
 
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