I've got a microATX case and 300W PSU. How to build a gaming pc on it ?

Solution
Your PSU is crap, not many Amps for 300W.

For your power draw/wattage, visit this page:

https://www.msi.com/power-supply-calculator

All you need to do is add in all your components and it will tell you what kind of wattage those components require, it is fairly accurate as well.

A micro-ATX with Dual GTX 1060s is pusshing the board's capacity.

I do not have time to check the individual components now; however for PSU visit:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html

Calvin7 (just above) listed what TDP is, remember that.

And use a genuine Power calculator like the MSI one above I listed.

Once you added all your components into the Power Supply Calculator, check what the total/recommended PSU wattage is &...

Vic 40

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These often don't go well together.What is your budget? I woudn't reuse the psu anyway.

Thought about just upgrading the gpu to like a RX 460? See what it gives for performance.
 

Ali Tolga

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In my country, our currency is really low. 3TL=1$ and minimal wage is about 1000TL. I've bought Asus TP200SA for 900TL. Normally, it's 200$ cheap netbook but in my country we're buying it more expensive because of taxes. So, let's say 500$ is my limit (With takes it would make about 2000TL)
 

JCLDJB

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To say you want to run any game "flawlessly", this really depends on so many factors.

The latest 2016 titles can run on resolutions at 4k or thereabouts, and even the highest Nvidia GTX 1080s play it well, but they cost 1.5x your TOTAL PC costs.

For gaming on a budget, try going either with an i3 CPU & dedicated GPU (like an AMD RX460).

Or scratch that, and go for an AMD APU, like the A10 series (no need for a graphics car, the APU has both combined, CPU + integrated GPU - all you need is some good RAM and you're good to go) <-- best way to stick to budget.

If there is a website in your country that you use, let me know which it is, and I'll compare specs for you on your preferred website.
Otherwise www.ebuyer.com (not ebay) is my personal favourite.
Good luck & keep us posted!
 

JCLDJB

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Depending on the the dGPU chosen, you should be able to get decent performance, I would say between 720p & 1080p, depending on settings chosen, holding steady 30-60fps.

Don't expect 1080p on Ultra with 8xMSAA :) onfall2016 AAA titles... to avoid disappointment.

But you should/will be happy.
 

Ali Tolga

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Infact I've realized I've got a 300W PSU, yet my CPU + GPU is using about 130W. i7 3770 uses 77W and my CPU uses 65W. What if I don't change my mainboard and switch to i7 ivy bridge ? Would it improve my gaming performance ? And what grahics card would you recommend me for this setup ? Would it be acceptable for today's standarts ? If I change my mainboard I can switch to DDR4 too. Right now my computer has 4GB DDR3 1333Mhz ram. (2+2)
 

JCLDJB

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300w with a dedicated GPU is really pushing it, but there is more to the PSU than just the 300W figure.
Can you provide an image of the sticker on the PSU? What is the brand, specifically?
It may say 300W, but there will be a maximum wattage on the 12V rail, for example, with a maximum Amperage, this is important, because a higher spec GPU will need 30A/35A or higher..and if your PSU provides, say 250W at only 24A, then you will run into stability issues.

Ideally you only want to use up about 70%-80% of your total Wattage, never pushing the PSU to the max, unless it's a good quality one (like an "80+ Gold" certificate).

I don't have the link, but on this website, TomsHardware did a rating/chart for loads of PSUs, worth searching for (maybe another person can assist with the link?).
Any upgrade on Hardware design (Sandy/Ivy Bridge, Kaby Lake, etc), will provide an improvement in performance, when doing a direct comparison, but this really depends on the GPU.... between the i5 & i7, performance will be fine on either, it's the GPU nowadays that does most the work.

You can definitely improve you performance with RAM, 1600Mhz DDR3, with 8Gb minimum (for a 64bit system) is the minimum respectable RAM nowadays.

But going for Ivy Bridge, maybe some 2133Mhz DDR3, or straight DDR4, and last but most certainly not least, an upgraded PSU will definitely help!

Waiting for your PSU's exact specs/model No.
 

Ali Tolga

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My PSU is Aopen.

http://i.ebayimg.com/images/a/T2eC16RHJIIE9qTYKDlkBQdHw8Wnc!~~/s-l300.jpg

I'm in my sister's house right now, I can't take screwdriver and be sure but my PSU used to seem like this.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Aopen-ATX-300TNF-Power-Supply-300W-PSU-/361045935470?hash=item541003c56e:g:UmAAAOSwPe1UDuDB

Shapes are the same since I took my screwdriver and examined it (While cleaning it) so cables, shape seemed to similar to me. When I got my home next week I could write exact model of my PSU.
 

JCLDJB

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Hello again, the first image/link did not work for me but according to the 2nd, it doesn't seem like a bad brand "Aopen".
However 300W, I would wait to check what the Amps are on that 12V rail of yours and compare it to your GPU to be sure.
In any case, I would recommend an upgrade from that PSU and try to go for an 80+ Bronze Certified, minimum of 400W to be safe.

You don't have to, and we may find out that your PSU will do just fine, but more than likely you will be closer to 90%-100% usage of that PSU, which will put a lot of strain on the PSU just to run normally.

This is more of a recommendation than anything else, do not feel obliged to upgrade (unless the Amperes listed on the 12V rail for that PSU is less than what the motherboard/GPU require...then you will need to upgrade or else your GPU will be power/voltage starved).

Finger's crossed it is OK. :) Let us know when you can.
 

Ali Tolga

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Mar 31, 2016
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Hello, me again. I could take a few photo of my PSU, but I really don't understand this kind of stuff. Could you take a look ?

https://postimg.org/gallery/217oo1mis/
 

Ali Tolga

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Mar 31, 2016
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Looks like I will have to build a pc from scratch. I've made my research. I'm preparing to build that pc. Could you take a look ?

Intel Skylake Core i3 6100 3.7GHz 3Mb Cache LGA1151
Kingston HyperX Fury 8GB 2133MHz DDR4 Ram
Cooler Master RC-430-KWP500 500W PFC
Asus H110M-K Intel H110 2133MHz DDR4 Soket 1151 Micro-ATX
Asus DUAL Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 3GB OC 192Bit GDDR5 (DX12) PCI-E 3.0

Do you think I could make any change in this list to take the price lower ? I already have 2 hard drives (500GB). I'm using Ubuntu 16.04 on them so license or hardware change is no issue for me. It will work somehow. Maybe you could recommend me "a few" (Just in case, because in my country I may not be able to find every product you recommend.) cases to buy. I think I've over did it when it came to case and PSU and I don't know is it a good choice or not :D
 
HD 5670
http://www.sapphiretech.com/productdetial.asp?Pid=396E87BF-1813-4F36-ACCE-0D638B46FCDE&lang=eng
Manufacturers Recommended
System Requirement 400 Watt Power Supply (Suggestion)

Don't know where you get the 64W.

You wrote, "my CPU uses 65W".
The Thermal Design Power of Core i3-2100 is 65 Watts.

The Thermal Design Power (TDP) is the average maximum power a processor can dissipate while running commercially available software. TDP is primarily used as a guideline for manufacturers of thermal solutions (heatsinks/fans, etc) which tells them how much heat their solution should dissipate.
 

JCLDJB

Commendable
May 24, 2016
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Your PSU is crap, not many Amps for 300W.

For your power draw/wattage, visit this page:

https://www.msi.com/power-supply-calculator

All you need to do is add in all your components and it will tell you what kind of wattage those components require, it is fairly accurate as well.

A micro-ATX with Dual GTX 1060s is pusshing the board's capacity.

I do not have time to check the individual components now; however for PSU visit:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html

Calvin7 (just above) listed what TDP is, remember that.

And use a genuine Power calculator like the MSI one above I listed.

Once you added all your components into the Power Supply Calculator, check what the total/recommended PSU wattage is & post back.

i3 is fine, but will bottleneck dual GTXs, got for an i5 in that case, if you can afford it or course.
And don't cheap out on mobos & PSUs.

Post back - good luck!
 
Solution

Vic 40

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Don't think i can make that go lower. More even is the psu in that case of low quality as well and would i not use it.The case is fine but the psu is imo just not good enough.

If on a low budget why as i said before not just upgrade what you have with a decent psu and a gpu.See how that fares with the already owned i3 2100.Might do better than you think,it will be an improvement over the HD 5670 for sure

@.JCLDJB,

He not talking about sli,the "DUAL" is just part of the name of the gpu he refers to.
 

Ali Tolga

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Mar 31, 2016
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http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story5&reid=335

This link sums up my PSU :p Ok, I guess I should wait for prices to get lower and research more at the time. Maybe, I could choose AMD over intel and Nvidia when AMD zen chips has been released. I could build an AMD gaming machine. Would it be a good choice ? For budget gaming machines ? I've heard AMD zen chips are just 14nm and it competes with Skylake chips. I've heard it will be somewhere around i3 6100 and i5 6500. Not as powerful as i5 but definitely more powerful than i3.
 

Vic 40

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I had something with the AMD Athlon x4 880K in it,but the more expensive motherboard made it equal expensive as the i3 build.Maybe could look for that with a cheaper motherboard.A review about it,
https://www.google.nl/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&cad=rja&uact=8&sqi=2&ved=0ahUKEwjxx-jx8eHPAhVqJMAKHTGCCDQQFggzMAQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hardwarecanucks.com%2Freviews%2Fprocessors%2Fthe-amd-athlon-x4-880k-review%2F&usg=AFQjCNHQJOmt6Iic0WB5DvcZqGBk0U1R5Q&bvm=bv.135974163,d.bGs
abit of a dead end with that socket though.Waiting for Zen is a good chocie. Like i said could you upgrade what you have with a good psu+gpu and use those in a newer build later on.