First PC build, low budget second opinon

PrettyDecentGuy · Apr 29, 2018

CPU: Intel - Core i5-7500 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.00 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI - Z270 GAMING PLUS ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($114.36 @ Newegg)
Memory: ADATA - 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($43.85 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus - GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB STRIX Video Card ($203.89 @ Newegg Marketplace)
Case: Deepcool - TESSERACT SW ATX Mid Tower Case ($34.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $686.06

So far these are the parts I've scrounged up. I want to throw my hat back into the PC gaming world. I miss playing Arma 3 and games like Rust, DayZ(despite it being dead. Ironic right lol. Cause its a zombie game? Ill stop.)
I played those games on a pc prebuilt in 2010. On low settings mostly. I want to build a low budget system. I dont really care much about overclocking. As long as I can play the game. I do want some room for upgrading. Maybe add another graphics card. I also want to keep it below 700 preferably 500 ish.

Looking for a second opinon and maybe where I could get some good deals.

photonboy · Apr 29, 2018

Technically that's not irony as loosely irony is about the OPPOSITE thing happening (i.e. I loaded up the game called "LIFE" and it killed my PC...).

Anyway, I'll attempt to make a build. No point in making a range of $500 to $700 since that will give far too many choices (like cheap dual-core CPU which I don't recommend).

*will use $700USD without cost of Windows to see how it goes.

photonboy · Apr 29, 2018

quick build ($700USD) no Windows:
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/cFz9NQ

(may be a BIOS update issue with the new CPU so you need to investigate that if going this route. X470 motherboards support the newer 2000 series by default)

Not necessarily ideal. I just wanted to see if you could fit in a 6-core Ryzen (R5-2600) CPU since that will really help the PC to last even if we have to sacrifice the graphics a bit for now.

(GTX750Ti is pretty crappy for $200... it's very roughly about HALF the performance of a GTX1050Ti with only half the video memory too)

I know Arma 3 is pretty demanding of the CPU though I can't find reliable info on the differences between CPU's.

kraelic · Apr 29, 2018

CPU Intel I3-8100 3.6 GHz quad core https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117822 $120
Motherboard Gigabyte B360M D3H https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813145065 $81
GPU 1050 2GB EVGA https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487295 $145

swap those three to get down to $530ish

Maybe grab some 2666 ram if you want to drop the quad core I3 for a 8700 6core 12 thread later upgrade.

photonboy · Apr 29, 2018

*CPU*
I'm playing around with an Intel build, but based on the games you are looking at I'd get at minimum:

a) x4 fast cores without hyperthreading (i.e. i3-8350K and overclock), or
b) x4 slower cores WITH hyperthreading (i.e. R5-2400)

UPDATED above to "R5-2400" as I had i5-2400 which is a little different.

An i3-8100 is good value CPU but ARMA 3 in particular likes both CPU performance per CORE but also appears to want at least four cores. A fast i3-8350K for the budget might be ideal. Hard to say for sure.

The i3-8350K can run up to roughly 5GHz with good cooler (or at least 4.6GHz with $50ish cooler) but the i3-8100 maxes out at 3.6GHz so the i3-8350K can run roughly 40% faster per core with overclocking.

With Ryzen make sure also:
a) memory bandwidth is sufficient (i.e. 2x4GB 3000MHz CL15 DDR4), and
b) motherboard has x4 DIMM slots (to add another 2x4GB later), and
c) motherboard supports OVERCLOCKING

photonboy · Apr 29, 2018

i3-8350K
I did make one but I don't think it's a good choice. you need a CPU cooler (Ryzen you don't necessarily) so long-story short that build ended up similar cost to the R5-2600 build.

I don't think the i3-8350K is enough faster per core to compensate for the extra cores/threads the R5-2600 offers (especially keeping the PC long term where CPU load is only going to go up).

Obviously the i3-8350K would be faster in many situations but even then not by enough IMO to justify the potential difference in other, demanding situations.

*for really, really TIGHT BUDGETS here's a build using an APU:
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/CjPcTB

Those aren't necessarily the parts I'd choose, and of course the graphics is relatively weak but if the budget is tight you can always start there are replace with a dedicated graphics card later.

You'd also be running 2GB of the DDR4 likely (in BIOS allocated) so only 6GB left for Windows + game code as the iGPU shares memory.

I'd rather see a bare minimum of 3GB video memory.

Summary:
If budget is really TIGHT then please specify exactly what it is. For now I think I'd look more at the R5-2600 (6C/12T) build if possible for longer-life of the PC. (again note the potential CPU BIOS update issue unless motherboard is new enough... I think AMD has cheap CPU's they send out if you have to flash).

*note X470 has a cool new feature for caching/hybrid SSD+HDD operation but prices of X470 are high right now. If possible maybe wait a bit?
https://www.pcper.com/reviews/Storage/Quick-Look-AMD-Ryzen-X470-NVMe-Storage-Performance

With STOREMI you could for example just add a 250GB SSD, M.2 PCIe drive later. It's pretty neat.

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