Budget Gaming Build w/ Brother's Old Parts

HigginsHEre · Dec 25, 2016

Approximate Purchase Date: This week

Budget Range: 200-300. After Rebates; Before Shipping. I would really prefer to keep it at 300 unless it's deemed near necessary.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Watching Movies/Shows, Surfing the Internet.

Are you buying a monitor: No

Parts to Upgrade: CPU, MOBO, HDD, Case

Do you need to buy OS: No.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: None

Location: East Meadow, New York, USA

Parts Preferences: None

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: No

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: I would like a semi-upgradable gaming PC. If it looks cool, that's an added bonus but not necessary.

Why Are You Upgrading: My crappy pre-made of 4 years is basically dead and my brother keeps pressuring me to get a gaming PC. He has some decent parts from his own upgrades so why not?

These are the parts my brother is passing down to me. They are about ~3 years old:

Sapphire Radeon R9 270 2GB Dual-X Video Card
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/Fj3RsY/sapphire-video-card-100365l

PC Power & Cooling Silencer MK III 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA4H81E87798&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-PCPartPicker,%20LLC-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

Corsair XMS3 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145357&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-PCPartPicker,%20LLC-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

These are part suggestions I got from the "Crusher" build at /r/pcmasterrace. I don't know if they are the best for what I want and I welcome changes:

Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=2MN-0004-00002&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-PCPartPicker,%20LLC-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236339&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-PCPartPicker,%20LLC-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

Deepcool TESSERACT SW ATX Mid Tower Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811853002&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-PCPartPicker,%20LLC-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

I don't have a clue as to which motherboard to get.

Thanks guys, I really appreciate this. (My brother who is giving me the parts is actually writing this to make things easier for me.)

Multipack · Dec 25, 2016

6th Gen Intel CPU's need a Skylake board which use DDR4, so if you want to use your 1.5v DDR3 RAM you need to get a 4th gen CPU and board. 1.5v is dangerous on a Skylake board. It depends on budget what I'd recommend choosing, but the i3 4130/4150 are about the equivalent.

I wont just throw a random part list at you that doesnt help you understand anything in any way, as its better you understand what to look for/buy.

Niklas_13 · Dec 25, 2016

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor ($109.99 @ B&H)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H110M-A Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($52.88 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($46.99 @ Jet)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.78 @ OutletPC)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($40.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $300.63
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-12-25 22:41 EST-0500

Niklas_13 · Dec 25, 2016

if you leave by a microcenter you can save 30 bucks with the cpu mobo combo

HigginsHEre · Dec 26, 2016

Niklas_13 :

So you guys really think I should just ditch his memory? It'd be better to get different memory? I don't really have a CPU or Motherboard in mind. I just linked what I found on the subreddit. My brother has more knowledge than me on this subject so I'm mostly deferring to him.

Niklas_13 · Dec 26, 2016

The i3 6100 is a socket 1151 and the mobos for it use DDR4 ram so the hand me down DDR3 wont work in it.

HigginsHEre · Dec 26, 2016

So it wouldn't be worth it to get an older generation CPU to save on the memory? Are they even more expensive/harder to get?

Multipack · Dec 26, 2016

Obviously the 6th gen CPU's are a bit faster than 4th gen, but it really does depend on your budget. You arent going to see a big difference in performance, but if you have the extra 100 dollars to buy new RAM then do it, but to be honest I'd recommend saving the money and getting a 4th gen cpu/board. You could even put the saved money towards an SSD which really would make a difference to responsiveness and gaming.

HigginsHEre · Dec 26, 2016

In that case, any cpu and mobo suggestions?

Multipack · Dec 26, 2016

Sure. Am not sure how much you want to spend on just those two parts, but this'd be pretty close to the CPU you said you were thinking of getting while keeping it as cheap as possible. If you're willing to pay a little extra you could even get an i5. Couple of options. The more expensive, the better..

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor ($108.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($58.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $167.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-12-26 09:00 EST-0500

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor ($108.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($79.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $188.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-12-26 09:02 EST-0500

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($174.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($79.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $254.87
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-12-26 09:03 EST-0500

HigginsHEre · Dec 26, 2016

Multipack :

Thanks so much! So does this look good?
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor ($108.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($79.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair XMS3 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (Purchased For $0.00)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.78 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 270 2GB Dual-X Video Card (Purchased For $0.00)
Case: Deepcool TESSERACT SW ATX Mid Tower Case ($38.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling Silencer MK III 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (Purchased For $0.00)
Total: $277.75
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-12-26 09:42 EST-0500

What's the difference between the first and second motherboard? I can afford it but is the second one worth it? Is it more upgradeable? Thanks again.

Multipack · Dec 26, 2016

There isn't a great deal of difference between the boards. Basically the cheaper one supports 3rd & 4th gen CPU's and the more expensive one supports 4th & 5th gen, but there werent really any mainstream i3/i5/i7's eleased in the 5th gen so you couldnt really upgrade CPU in future. The z97 is a newer, slightly improved chipset with newer BIOS version and more featues, including overclocking ones, and supports higher frequency DDR3 RAM.

Your part list looks fine, although like I say, whether you want to get the z97 is up to you, but there wont be much difference unless you upgrade to faster RAM or overclock the i3 (yes it can be done) in future.

Search

Budget Gaming Build w/ Brother's Old Parts

HigginsHEre

Honorable

Multipack

Multipack

Honorable

Niklas_13

Splendid

Niklas_13

Splendid

HigginsHEre

Honorable

Niklas_13

Splendid

HigginsHEre

Honorable

Multipack

Honorable

HigginsHEre

Honorable

Multipack

Honorable

HigginsHEre

Honorable

Multipack

Honorable

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page