Need some feedback

You didn't link anything.
Get this though, the new Pentium G4560 and above pentiums have hyperthreading unlocked, making them pretty much slightly lower clocked i3s at a lower price.

I've listed below a build with a nice case, and one which saves a bit of cash to fit in the budget.
Both are good, but the 88R is better looking.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G4560 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($75.00 @ B&H)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B250M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($73.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Avexir Core Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($52.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI Radeon RX 480 4GB ARMOR OC Video Card ($174.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair Carbide Series 88R MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ B&H)
Total: $516.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-02-01 02:11 EST-0500

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G4560 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($75.00 @ B&H)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B250M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($73.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Avexir Core Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($52.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI Radeon RX 480 4GB ARMOR OC Video Card ($174.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1100 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($32.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ B&H)
Total: $499.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-02-01 02:12 EST-0500

You can post it outside that.
I just found your build, and the case isn't good, the power supply is very poor quality, the SSD is weak and the RAM isn't great.
The one I posted above is much better rounded for the money, mostly just component improvements.

Avexir's core series is quite good, also no need to be so aggressive. :/

In regards to your comment on performance, they perform identically, so not sure what you're talking abotu there.

The EVGA 430w isn't good, trust me.
It's exceedingly average and has voltage regulation issues. The S12II is based on Seasonic's GB Bronze platform which is much stronger.
http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showthread.php?p=115399

There's no point including an SSD in a budget system, 250GB is only going to hold OS, software and maybe 2-3 triple A games, hence why I put a 1TB HDD in instead.

Nothing wrong with the case, it is just poor value for money given the poor build quality, basic layout and poor airflow.

If you don't think my opinion is worth your time despite the fact that you're new to PC forums, that's fine.
Just because it says 430 on the box doesn't mean it will run stable at higher loads, also most decent power supplies go over the rated wattage, around 50-100w higher before they shut off.
This one failed at 420w draw in some tests.
Even though an RX 480 system will only draw around 300w at gaming load, the power supply is the most crucial part of your system, you don't want to go too cheap on it.

Additionally it doesn't have an 80+ efficiency rating, which is a must have nowadays.
Up to you, if you want to have a potential safety hazard in your system that's fine with me, it's not my money or parts here afterall.
I'm just trying to help.
If you really want a second opinion onn that power supply, here's a basic psu tier list I rarely reference since there's more to power supplies than it implies.
Look under tier 3.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html

You wanted feedback, I gave it, not sure what the problem is.
If you don't want to take the advice of others why bother posting in the first place?

Windows can be installed via USB, drivers and utilities on CDs are outdated, they're best downloaded direct from the website.
You can also get external readers that plug in and work via USB from most major retailers.
Not fear mongering, do what you want, I'm not gonna stop you.

It doesn't have much to do with the wattage, but everything to do with quality.With PSUs, you get what you pay for. A 500W PSU is fine, but get a quality 500W PSU. A generic 500W PSU will blow up or short out on you. A low quality 500W may also do the same.

This is for your personal build, not the contest, that isn't really relevant.
"The $500 build contest does not exclude optical drive ( they have not stated so ) therefor you should not be leaving it out."
Neither does it say that you must include one, that's the versatility of the contest, you yourself weigh the benefits of one thing against another in the price and make a choice.

Most people don't use optical drives nowadays anyway, myself included.
I just have an external reader for stuff I really need it for (i've used it once to transfer old music and movies) and I use external HDDs and software downloads for the rest.

Civility and respect are required at all times in these forums. Let's keep the personal and ad hominem attacks out of it. You may attack the message, NOT the messenger.

This gentle warning is for all participants.

Joe_1969

Welcome to Tom's. So you've advised us that you are new, and have asked for opinions and advice, you don't exactly endear yourself to the userbase here by then insulting those who have come here to discuss your build with you. Ever hear the saying "you get more bees with honey than vinegar". If you want to have a constructive conversation, I suggest leaving the personal attacks and the hyperbole out.

Now that we have that out of the way lets get a few things straight. Your build will not create 1 single FPS more than any of the other builds suggested in this thread. In no world do SSD's provide fps improvements, they make your games and software load faster, thats it.

As for the power supply, you're correct in that if you go by wattage alone the 430w EVGA you suggested has "enough". However it does not even vaguely compare in quality to the suggested Seasonic PSU, Seasonic being one of the best OEMs in the business, vs CWT whom makes the EVGA, and is known for cutting corners. Its hardly overkill to spend $15 more even in a budget build and get an ultra high quality properly efficiency rated PSU, vs one of the lowest end offering in EVGAs line thats not even 80+ certified.

As for an optical drive its fine to include one but these days its not essential at all. Windows is installed off a USB stick (and way faster that way), I haven't bought a disc based PC game in well over 10 years, and drivers are all obtained online, the disc that comes in the box is garbage.

Your build is a fine one and its nice to include things like an optical drive. But there is nothing about it that makes me believe it is somehow the greatest price/performance combination this world has ever seen. In fact the cheap no name SSD and the low quality PSU would make me choose a different build.

That is not at all correct.

First off if you somehow manage to run out of VRAM, system ram is what takes over next, if somehow you run out of that then yes it will hit the page file. That is an extreme use case, nearly impossible at 1080p unless you have low ram and a low VRMA GPU. So I'll give you in theory, that could happen, emphasis on theory.

Now you present ARMA 3 as an example, a poorly optimized game. If you are using a 2GB GPU then I could see a chance of your scenario happening. However that game maxes out around 5gb of VRAM usage tops. All system builds involved here are carrying an 8GB RX 480, which means, you aren't running out of VRAM, so your theoretical case is moot. We are talking $500 gaming PC with a mid range GPU here not a 4k resolution machine, theres only so many textures that need to be output, very few games come even close to using 8GB of VRAM and especially not at 1080p.

Yes an SSD will have better load times, however a 240 GB SSD is only going to hold a couple of games, There is a reason the PS4 and XB1 come with 1tb drives, because games these days are big. Doom is nearly 80 gb for example, GTA V is also in that range. So an SSD (especially a cheap no name one of questionable quality) is not the end all answer to the issue. SOme people would put being able to hold many games in their system as a benefit over faster load times. And no it does not make everything smoother and better, it just makes your load screens shorter. And in some games it doesn't even do that because the load screens are timed.

And no, you did say fps, specifically:



Again, nothing against your build, its fine, but you came here for opinions, and you have gotten them from many people whom are quite knowledgeable. You can either further the discussion with some facts (and I challenge you to present some to back up your story, because I know such facts do not exist), or you can take the advice and work to make your builds better. Your choice.

You're correct I misread the RX 480's that were included. However see below - $599 pretty close, if pcpartpicker had the 8GB RX 480 I have (XFX Reference) it would be about $550, but the reference cards are uncommon these days.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G4560 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($75.00 @ B&H)
Motherboard: ASRock B250M-HDV Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($71.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($50.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.33 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon RX 480 8GB NITRO+ OC Video Card ($267.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Rosewill FBM-02 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair CXM 450W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($58.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $599.26
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-02-02 00:57 EST-0500

How can you assume, through our limited interaction here, that you have been building systems longer than me? Or for that fact anything about my knowledge whatsoever? Again with just ad homenim attacks and for what? Because you can't provide any shreds of proof that you are correct so you just need to say "I've been doing this a long time so I know better and you are wrong." Sorry, it doesn't work like that. Nor can you prattle away the exact quote that you said a mere 4 posts ago about FPS. You self admitted this build somehow took you 14 hours to come up with? I came up with the above build in about 5 minutes. So please if you are going to try an attack like that, you should consider your audience.

The worst part is I agreed with you on some things, but you cant see that through your overwhelming need to be correct. Nobody is disputing an SSD is better overall for gaming, I sure as hell want my games to load faster as does anyone. Nor did I dispute games being resource hogs. Nor did I dispute that games will push a $500 system. However an SSD is a luxury, not an essential especially when you are building a $500 machine.

However your continual assertion that your low budget SSD will give you more fps (that IS what you said) as well as your assertions above of demolishing the other builds is simply hogwash. Yours isn't better in any way. Its perfectly fine, but having a decent hard drive to hold more games, and then considering all the functions of your $500 system in the games performance is how this actually works. With a $500 system you may need to compromise, turn down the details a bit, or lower your fps expectations. I'm not ignoring that fact one bit and I can't see how you keep missing that. You're right, games like Battlefield 1 hammer on systems, but there are TONS of benchmarks out there for that game. Show me ONE BENCHMARK that says it runs more FPS on a low end system with an SSD vs one with a hard drive. There aren't any.

I'm looking at the thread and I do not see that you have changed anything about your build. You seemed to want to have a friendly interaction with everyone from what I have seen right up until we criticized your "14 hours" of work. Then you seemed to grow a chip on your shoulder.

I suggest if you want to continue to be a member of this community you lose the attitude and realize we are all on the same team here and have the same hobby. And if you can't back up assertions with real proof, assertions that contradict what everyone else knows, then you will be called to the mat for it.

Ditto, if you want to get people to help you, being respectful and presenting statistics if you make any claims is a must.

Pcpartpicker literally gives you the lowest prices on any part you can imagine. I do not need to scour because I know the brands and equipment. There is no need for scouring or 14 hours of searching.

Yes I am a moderator but I am also a member of this forum, and you do not need to attempt to belittle me to argue your point yet you seem to keep needing to do that. My moderator tag does not make me special. In fact the only difference is if I was here in this post as a moderator vs interacting with you I'd probably consider giving you a ban for verbally abusing the others in this post instead of having an intelligent debate. I am not going to post credentials here, nor do I expect you to, thats not how this place works and credentials don't matter. What does matter is accepting others points of view and there are arguments towards using a fast HDD over an SSD in a low budget machine.

There is no finally I admit. There was never a denial that an SSD performs better because it gives faster load times. You keep avoiding your very clear statement that I quoted for posterity, that an SSD gives better FPS. You have not one shred of proof because there is none out there. Nor can you open up and accept that some folks may want to house more than 2-3 games on their $500 gaming machine and a cheap 240gb SSD isn't going to cut it. A cheap no name SSD for that matter that for all you know may have a very high failure rate.

In the end when it comes down to the brass tacks of gaming performance (read FPS) the SSD has no benefit, so while you feel it is "fastest", and it is, it still doesn't make it "the best thing".

Until you can provide some facts, proof, or benchmarks to back up your claim I, nor anyone else, will believe you. I do not know why you have decided to become adversarial to the people here. You asked for advice and remarks, and we gave it.

Another personal attack? Very bad idea...

Everyone's trying to correct you in a nice way, and as for factual correctness the consensus of more or less 5 other people is that an SSD is a bad choice here.
I believe the initial post requested "Honest opinions".

"Rogue Leader it took you 5 minutes because you cherry picked and I did scour for lowest price & performance on parts. I have considered my audience , you are nothing special because you have a moderator tag but you seem to think so."

Click to expand...

Rogue Leader is correct, it only takes 2-5 minutes to make a list with the best components in it, all you need to do is filter components by price, chuck in some filters, type in what component you're looking for that will fit the price range and you're done.

Remember, these people only have the moderator tag because they're there to help, and they have expansive knowledge of hardware and technology. If I were you I wouldn't berate and patronize them, they can also ban you for being disrespectful if it is required.

if you are installing drivers via CD you are doing it wrong. Windows can be installed via USB, and should be. Althoguh cheap, optical drives are not needed in PCs anymore unless you want to use it as a DVD player.

Based on the rest of your replies you came on here to ask for help and are now rejecting all of it because you know it all already. You are then insulting people who try to help you improve it. Your build was not very good for the price frankly and is more suited to an I have $450 now and will have another $150 later to let me add Hard drives etc. The case was bad, the PSU was bad and not suited to upgrade and you can get a 500W gold for the same price.

Seriously if you ask a question and someone gives you a well though out answer it's cool to say "I disagree because XXXXXXXXXXX" It's not OK to call them an idiot with no reasoning other than not liking a difference of opinion. If you don't actually want advice don't ask.