Questions regarding budget build.

[blaylocke]

I'll start off by saying that this computer needs to do one thing really well: play minecraft. It's for a 14 year old (birthday present) who has a promising career ahead of him as a blocky miner.

Below is a build that I found while searching for budget gaming builds, and with my admittedly limited knowledge of computers, I like it a lot. Looking around a lot, it seems to hit the right notes, for minecraft atleast. Here it is:



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From ipwn3r456

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/is1a
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/is1a/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/is1a/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i3-2100 3.1GHz Dual-Core Processor ($107.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI H61M-P20 (G3) Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Patriot Intel Extreme Master, Limited Ed 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($30.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.99 @ Microcenter)
Video Card: Asus Radeon HD 7750 1GB Video Card ($84.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Apex SK-393-C ATX Mid Tower Case ($24.15 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-222BB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($91.17 @ Amazon)
Total: $486.25

The original thread is here: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/364361-31-dollar-build-gaming-mind-monitor-included

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I have no real way of knowing in the limited reading I've done, if any of those components may be an issue. It comes up to about $486 there. I wouldn't mind cutting costs a little if anyone see's where it can be done reasonably, but I can't go up any more than that.

What kind of games could this build run as a practical matter, and as I said, are there any costs that can be cut to the same effect?

I appreciate all of the help!

 

[Herr_Koos]

Looks like a fairly solid build for the price; parts are good quality too. Here is a good article for comparison:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-pc-overclocking-pc-building,3273.html

 

[blaylocke]

If you have other suggestions that deviate from that build above, even drastically, I'm more than open to it if it will do what little I ask of it .

In the meantime, I'll read that article, thank you very much!

 

[manofchalk]

That machine should be good for Minecraft and basic usage, might even be able to play some intensive games at med settings.
Parts are all good quality, it will be a neat low-end gaming rig.

 

[blaylocke]

Well that's reassuring. I have one more question though (unless anyone steps in with more suggestions, which I'm certainly open to) can anyone recommend another similarly priced motherboard? It's not available on the site where it's cheapest, and so I wonder if I couldn't just get one better than that.

 

[Herr_Koos]

I'm quite partial to Asus boards, so look for an Asus board in a similar price range.

 

[excella1221]

Well that's reassuring. I have one more question though (unless anyone steps in with more suggestions, which I'm certainly open to) can anyone recommend another similarly priced motherboard? It's not available on the site where it's cheapest, and so I wonder if I couldn't just get one better than that.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157315
^ $5 cheaper, supports up to 1600MHz of RAM.

 

[blaylocke]

Excellent, I like saving money .

Also, the hard drive that is linked to is a refurbished. Should I have pause buying a refurb? I don't mind a smaller hard drive if I need to get smaller to stay in the price range.

Sorry for the hundred questions. You can tell I haven't done it before.

 

[excella1221]

Western Digital Caviar Blue 500gb $69.99
Western Digital Caviar Blue 320gb $64.99
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F4 320GB $59.99
Western Digital Caviar Blue 250gb $59.99

Cheapest you can get is the Samsung 320gb @ $59.99

 

[blaylocke]

Awesome, thanks so much.

 

[blaylocke]

I know that we are a bit late in the game, I've been away on work and this was put on the back burner. But I'm about to start ordering things, and I need to make sure I'm totally good to go.

First of all- Is Windows 8 worth trying to go for, or should I stick with my original plan and stay with 7?

My second question is that if I put another 50-100 dollars into this build, is there any component(s) that I can considerably upgrade? Would a better card or a different processor serve me better? Any specifics (with the minecraft and Arma II games in mind) would be greatly appreciated.

I'm real anxious to get started!

 

[jackspeed]

stay with windows 7.

Looks like a good build. but you may find that prices changed.

 

[blaylocke]

You wouldn't upgrade the GPU or maybe the power supply? A little variation in price is ok, I'm not too worried about it.

 

[jackspeed]

Actually you may need to up the power supply. The GPU reccomends 450W.
This is a 500W 40 after rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027

The GPU does not need an upgrade it may be a little overkill for minecraft but its good to have a little headroom.

 

[Outlander_04]

I would instal only 4 gig of RAM . A 2 x2 gig kit

This is plenty for a game

Use the money you save to buy a better case . Cheap cases are flimsy , hard to work and dont last
Something like the Coolermaster elite 430 should be the minimum

 

[blaylocke]

I really appreciate the responses. I do realize that the GPU and the RAM are way overkill for Minecraft, but the worry is that my little brother will get into some high req game I'll have to handle later. He would ideally like to handle Arma II to play DayZ.

So after taking both the case and the power supply into account, it's at 540. Here's what I'm looking at now:

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/mbH1
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/mbH1/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/mbH1/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i3-2100 3.1GHz Dual-Core Processor ($112.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H61M-DGS Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Patriot Intel Extreme Master, Limited Ed 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($37.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.99 @ Microcenter)
Video Card: Asus Radeon HD 7750 1GB Video Card ($104.97 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 430 ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-222BB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ CompUSA)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($91.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $540.89
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)




I really just as soon some more on a GPU, but I don't know what I'm looking for. Can someone recommend a better one that will keep me under the 600 mark?

 

[blaylocke]

Not to post after myself, but I think I'm going to start purchasing things tonight, so I'll infact make this my last question:

Would it be worth it to pay $35 more for an Intel i5-3470 over the i3 2100? I'll gladly pay it if the return is worth it in the long term. Last question I promise (unless somebody says something that I have to ask another question for )