Help! $650 Build to record Minecraft with Shaders at minimum 60fps screen rate

Sir_KnightyNight · May 4, 2016

I am building a PC to record short films/episodes in Minecraft with high end Shaders and will edit the content with Adobe Premier Pro, After Effects, Photoshop and Blender.

My budget is $650 including Windows 10, I do NOT need a monitor or peripherals.

I have a build put together from pcpatpicker.com that seems to meet my criteria, but wanted to check with the experts first:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/BWRQCJ

This will be my first build and would love some feedback.

Please don't comment if you do not have any experience with what you are suggesting. Thanks in advance for all of your input!

logainofhades · May 4, 2016

That system is $676, before windows. I don't include mail in rebates, for build suggestions. Going about it wrong. An i3 is not suitable for this. With this being minecraft, you don't need an i7, but you do want at least an i5. Z170 is pointless with an i3, as the i3 is not meant to overclock. Should also be looking at DDR4 capable boards. PSU is not a good one either. GTX 950 is not much slower than a 960, and minecraft doesn't require much GPU. This makes more sense, for what you are looking to do.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6400 2.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.95 @ B&H)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H170M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($72.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws 4 series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($54.00 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 950 2GB Video Card ($139.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Deepcool TESSERACT SW RED ATX Mid Tower Case ($47.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec Green 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($45.99 @ Directron)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($18.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $649.77
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-05-04 14:50 EDT-0400

Sir_KnightyNight · May 4, 2016

Thanks logainofhades, but will the GHz difference between the i3 and i5 you selected make much of a difference? I know i5 is a quad-core, but Minecraft won't use all available cores anyhow (unless I'm wrong). The rest of your changes make sense to me, good call.

Forgive my noobery, just trying to make sense of a lot of new information I've read this week.

Sir_KnightyNight · May 4, 2016

logainofhades :

Thanks logainofhades, but will the GHz difference between the i3 and i5 you selected make much of a difference? I know i5 is a quad-core, but Minecraft won't use all available cores anyhow (unless I'm wrong). The rest of your changes make sense to me, good call.

Forgive my noobery, just trying to make sense of a lot of new information I've read this week.

logainofhades · May 4, 2016

No, minecraft wouldn't use all those cores, but the recording is going to need the ones minecraft doesn't use. If worried about clock speed, you would need to increase your budget, to an i5 6500. For Minecraft, I don't see it being a problem. It simply is not a demanding title.

Sir_KnightyNight · May 4, 2016

logainofhades :

You're smart

I think I will upgrade to the i5 6500 for my own peace-of-mind, seems to be only a $15-20 difference (worth it for me even if unnecessary, plus adds a little overall capability for other things in the future).

This sounds to me like the best I can do in my budget. I greatly appreciate your help! Now I'll start saving for a monitor and see if I can get a second hard drive for Christmas for the video storage if I need it.

I love your profile picture, btw. The Princess Bride if my favorite movie of his though... CHEERS!

logainofhades · May 4, 2016

Thanks, glad to be of help.

Sir_KnightyNight · May 4, 2016

I am going with this build as my final choice. It is a little bit over my original budget, but I expected a bit of "project creep" anyhow and this offers me peace-of-mind for what I need it for. Thanks again for your help!

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ns4Rpg
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ns4Rpg/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($194.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H170M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($67.64 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws 4 series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($54.00 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 950 2GB Video Card ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair SPEC-02 ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec Green 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($45.99 @ Directron)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($18.89 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($83.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $735.36
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-05-04 15:28 EDT-0400

assassin445522 · May 31, 2016

shaders can get pretty intensive on the CPU and GPU. You'd be suprised

Sir_KnightyNight · May 31, 2016

assassin445522 :

Yeah, so I did build this PC and went with an EVGA GTX 960 GPU and, with high or ultra shaders settings I am getting 20-30 FPS (bummer), so I will either SLI with another GTX 960 eventually or save up for a 970 or 980 one day. Mental note to anybody wanting to run Minecraft shaders: GET THE BEST GPU YOU CAN AFFORD!!!!! My Intel i5 6500 CPU is having no problems whatsoever.

assassin445522 · Jun 1, 2016

what shaders are you using? my gtx 760 with an i5 got like 70 fps with SEUS ultra shaders v10.2 preview

What shaders are you using

assassin445522 · Jun 1, 2016

BTW also if you you want the best shaders that you can get, you have to mod it yourself

http://imgur.com/a/pPWgx

Thats what mine look like.

https://www.youtube.com/user/TheCman5015

This guy has full tutorials on how to do this. Enable Pom and parallax.

You should be getting over 100 fps normally and 60 on servers adn maybe dropping below that if your rendering alot of players at once.

assassin445522 · Jun 1, 2016

a gtx 750ti could easily run SUES standard shaders and a 690 shoudl run in like butter, Try tweaking settings, turn render distance down to 8 with shaders always 6 minimum if you have to

smorizio · Jun 1, 2016

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/list/hd2Mnn
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/list/hd2Mnn/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor ($110.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Asus H110M-C/CSM Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($58.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($56.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($88.30 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair SPEC-02 ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX TS 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($53.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case Fan: Cooler Master R4-L2R-20AC-GP 69.0 CFM 120mm Fan ($5.99 @ NCIX US)
Case Fan: Cooler Master R4-L2R-20AC-GP 69.0 CFM 120mm Fan ($5.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $448.20
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-06-01 15:22 EDT-0400

smorizio · Jun 1, 2016

if you can wait a bit intel dropping newer kurby lake cpu and amd and nvidia going to have the 650ti and new amd 400 line of gpu for 200.00. these gpu going to be as fast as 980ti cards.

Sir_KnightyNight · Jun 1, 2016

assassin445522 :

I've tried many different shaders, including SEUS ultra v10.2 at all different view distances. I wonder if I have some configuration problems, my GPU is maxed at 99% when watching its performance on GPU-Z or MSI afterburner. If you have any suggestions please let me know, I'm so frustrated and a bit disappointed bc I'm starting to make short films and need to limit my panning and scenes based on low view distances and minimal movement.

assassin445522 · Jun 1, 2016

whats the exact build you got?

Sir_KnightyNight · Jun 2, 2016

assassin445522 :

This is what I ended up getting. Had a few rebates on some of these parts.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ns4Rpg
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ns4Rpg/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($194.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H170M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($67.64 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws 4 series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($54.00 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 950 2GB Video Card ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair SPEC-02 ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec Green 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($45.99 @ Directron)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($18.89 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($83.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $735.36
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-05-04 15:28 EDT-0400

Epicness937 · Jun 3, 2016

Sir_KnightyNight :

assassin445522 :

This is what I ended up getting. Had a few rebates on some of these parts.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ns4Rpg
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ns4Rpg/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($194.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H170M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($67.64 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws 4 series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($54.00 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 950 2GB Video Card ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair SPEC-02 ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec Green 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($45.99 @ Directron)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($18.89 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($83.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $735.36
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-05-04 15:28 EDT-0400

i know it may be too late but if you can get a 960 4gb at 1080p shaders can use more than 2gb vram and one a few packs more than 4gb a 960 is a much better choice and another thing to show how good it is is that dantdm used to have a 960 and a haswell i5 cpu

Sir_KnightyNight · Jun 3, 2016

Epicness937 :

Sir_KnightyNight :

i know it may be too late but if you can get a 960 4gb at 1080p shaders can use more than 2gb vram and one a few packs more than 4gb a 960 is a much better choice and another thing to show how good it is is that dantdm used to have a 960 and a haswell i5 cpu

Sadly, it is too late and I wish I got a 4gb card now. I will keep an eye out for a second 2gb 960 used or refurbished. Seems like the most "economical" solution at this point, unless I sell my newish 2gb 960 and get one 4gb 960.

Epicness937 · Jun 3, 2016

Sir_KnightyNight :

Epicness937 :

Sadly, it is too late and I wish I got a 4gb card now. I will keep an eye out for a second 2gb 960 used or refurbished. Seems like the most "economical" solution at this point, unless I sell my newish 2gb 960 and get one 4gb 960.

first for minecraft DO NOT GET A 2ND GPU!!!!!! minecraft does not take advantage of 2nd gpus there is a mod but it is not yet well optimised what i would do is wait for the end of the month and get a r9 480 it is about as fast as the 390x and its 200$
though basicly your gpu wont max out ultra shader packs

Help! $650 Build to record Minecraft with Shaders at minimum 60fps screen rate

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