Best Budget CPU

gotogaming · Dec 15, 2017

Hello,

I want to configure a pc, i want to order the parts online and then build a pc. I would like an i3 8100 with the Z370-P motherboard. Is there a better alternative motherboard and CPU for the same price? The i3 and the motherboard costs 230~ Euros, is there a better choice for the same price range? Thanks!-Sam

jmckinney28 · Dec 15, 2017

Other option here would be ryzen. Which would perform better in multi threaded tasks. But going with ryzen it would be a good idea to buy faster ram, so there's a bit of a price increase there.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor (£175.19 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350M Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (£63.98 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £239.17
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-12-15 15:57 GMT+0000

What do you plan on doing with your PC?

feelinfroggy777 · Dec 15, 2017

Not really. The 8100 is an excellent budget CPU. Just a year ago it would have been a mid-range CPU. The only issue is motherboard chipset availability. The 8100 would be perfect to pair with a B or H motherboard, but those chipsets wont be released until January. The Z370 chipset is more expensive than the B or H because it has features that cant be used on a 8100. So if you wait till those boards are released, then it will be a cheaper package.

geofelt · Dec 15, 2017

What is your main use for this pc?
Define "better".

Regardless I3-8100 is a very good processor for a variety of uses.

gotogaming · Dec 15, 2017

geofelt :

The main use for the PC is gaming.

gotogaming · Dec 15, 2017

feelinfroggy777 :

I Have to choose before christmas...... Thanks for the respond

geofelt · Dec 15, 2017

gotogaming :

Some buying principles a budget gamer.

1. Budget about 2x the cost of the processor for the graphics card.
Fast action games depend on good graphics.
If your games are strategy, mmo, or sims, favor faster single thread processor speeds.
If you favor multiplayer games, look for many threads.

2. Will you EVER upgrade this pc?
If so, spend a bit more up front for that capability.
Buy a psu that can run a stronger graphics card. As little as 300w will fun a GTX1050, 600w will run a GTX1080ti.
Spend a bit more for a quality psu in the 550-650w range; it will not cost much more.

3. How much ram? 8gb is sufficient if you do not multitask while gaming.
But, if you ever might want 16gb, it is best to buy a 2 x 8gb kit up front.
Adding ram later is not guaranteed 100% to work.

4. Buy a case with sufficient front intake capability. two 120/140mm fans at least.
That will give you sufficient airflow so you can use air cooling.
Air cooling is inexpensive, quieter, easier to install, cools well enough and will not leak.
Bust your budget if you need to for a case you love.
They do not get obsoleted; you will be looking at it for a long time.

5. If you have $80 for your cpu budget, look for a G4600 processor and a $150 GTX1050ti.
If your cpu budget is closer to $130, the i3-8100 can be paired with a $250 GTX1060.

6.
I will never again build without a ssd for the "C" drive. It makes everything you do much quicker.
120gb is minimum, it will hold the os and a handful of games.
But, many things default to the "C" drive.
When a SSD nears full, it will lose performance and endurance.
240gb is the recommended minimum.

If you can go 240gb, or 500gb you may never need a hard drive.

You can defer on the hard drive unless you need to store large files such as video's.
It is easy to add a hard drive later.

Samsung EVO is a good choice for performance and reliability.

gotogaming · Dec 15, 2017

geofelt :

gotogaming :

Some buying principles a budget gamer.

1. Budget about 2x the cost of the processor for the graphics card.
Fast action games depend on good graphics.
If your games are strategy, mmo, or sims, favor faster single thread processor speeds.
If you favor multiplayer games, look for many threads.

2. Will you EVER upgrade this pc?
If so, spend a bit more up front for that capability.
Buy a psu that can run a stronger graphics card. As little as 300w will fun a GTX1050, 600w will run a GTX1080ti.
Spend a bit more for a quality psu in the 550-650w range; it will not cost much more.

3. How much ram? 8gb is sufficient if you do not multitask while gaming.
But, if you ever might want 16gb, it is best to buy a 2 x 8gb kit up front.
Adding ram later is not guaranteed 100% to work.

4. Buy a case with sufficient front intake capability. two 120/140mm fans at least.
That will give you sufficient airflow so you can use air cooling.
Air cooling is inexpensive, quieter, easier to install, cools well enough and will not leak.
Bust your budget if you need to for a case you love.
They do not get obsoleted; you will be looking at it for a long time.

5. If you have $80 for your cpu budget, look for a G4600 processor and a $150 GTX1050ti.
If your cpu budget is closer to $130, the i3-8100 can be paired with a $250 GTX1060.

6.
I will never again build without a ssd for the "C" drive. It makes everything you do much quicker.
120gb is minimum, it will hold the os and a handful of games.
But, many things default to the "C" drive.
When a SSD nears full, it will lose performance and endurance.
240gb is the recommended minimum.

If you can go 240gb, or 500gb you may never need a hard drive.

You can defer on the hard drive unless you need to store large files such as video's.
It is easy to add a hard drive later.

Samsung EVO is a good choice for performance and reliability.

Thanks alot for your detailed message, i have put together this budget beast:

i3 8100
Gigabyte Z370P D3
Corsair VS550
KFA2 GeForce GTX 1060 6GB
Crucial 8GB DDR4 2133Mhz
Seagate FireCuda ST1000DX002 (SSHD)
BitFenix Nova-Window

For just 750 Euros ($881 USD) (661 British Pounds) (1153 AUD)
What do you think? Thanks again, i really appreciate your response!

geofelt · Dec 15, 2017

gotogaming :

geofelt :

Thanks alot for your detailed message, i have put together this budget beast:

i3 8100
Gigabyte Z370P D3
Corsair VS550
KFA2 GeForce GTX 1060 6GB
Crucial 8GB DDR4 2133Mhz
Seagate FireCuda ST1000DX002 (SSHD)
BitFenix Nova-Window

For just 750 Euros ($881 USD) (661 British Pounds) (1153 AUD)
What do you think? Thanks again, i really appreciate your response!

Reasonable, but buy a better quality psu.
Here is one list of quality.
Corsair VS is tier 4.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html

I have two problems with the Seagate ssdh.
1. The 8gb of flash is not enough to hold what you might use normally so there will still be lots of accesses to the underlying hard drive.
2. The quality is suspect.
There seem to be a fair number of newegg reviewers complaining:
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822178995

For not too much more, you can buy a Samsung EVO 240gb.
That will hold the os and a fair number of games.
Whenever you run out of space, buy a conventional WD hard drive.

gotogaming · Dec 16, 2017

geofelt :

gotogaming :

Reasonable, but buy a better quality psu.
Here is one list of quality.
Corsair VS is tier 4.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html

I have two problems with the Seagate ssdh.
1. The 8gb of flash is not enough to hold what you might use normally so there will still be lots of accesses to the underlying hard drive.
2. The quality is suspect.
There seem to be a fair number of newegg reviewers complaining:
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822178995

For not too much more, you can buy a Samsung EVO 240gb.
That will hold the os and a fair number of games.
Whenever you run out of space, buy a conventional WD hard drive.

Hello,

I've put in a CoolerMaster MasterWatt Lite 500W in, and i replaced the SSHD with regular HDD

geofelt · Dec 16, 2017

Coolermaster power supplies are of varying quality.
I do not know about the one you mentioned.

But, I think you can do better on two fronts.
1. 500w is sufficient for a GTX1060. But, 550w or 650w does not cost much more and will support a future graphics card upgrade.
It will run cooler, quieter, and more efficiently in the middle third of it's range.
A PSU will only use the wattage demanded of it, regardless of it's max capability.

2. Many places, Seasonic is reasonably priced and is very good quality.

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