Decent Cheap LAN Computer Specs?

[karlittle]

I'm not necessarily in the market to buy a new system just yet, but I want to see what feedback others have. I want to build a smaller cheaper LAN computer, or a first gaming system for my little brother, that has the potential for upgrades later down the road. As of right now what I have spec'ed out is this:

CPU: Intel Pentium g4560
MB: MSI B250M Mortar M-ATX
RAM: 8gb (2x4gb)
Storage: Sandisk 120gb SSD
GPU: EVGA GTX 1050ti 4gb ACX 2.0
Case: Cooler Master N200
PSU: EVGA 450w 80+ Bronze

I play mostly the esport style games, so nothing too graphically intensive. (LoL, CS:GO, Overwatch,etc) Will a system similar to these specs be as upgradeable as I believe it is? Is it worth building something so low spec?

 

[bailojustin]

You can build him a computer built around Utilizing the lastest AMD apu, A10-7890K with Wraith Cooler, or a cheaper one if you prefer.
and if possible a DISCRETE r7 240/250 the best you can get to utilize "Dual Graphics" with the AMD APU, throw in some very fast ram, to help the APU and you have a perfect starting rig for lan games especially.


The best Discrete Graphics Card which can used in Dual Graphics with the A10-7870k is the R7 250.


"The thing to remember about Dual Graphics (and CrossFire) is that both GPU's have to be running at the same speed for it to work correctly. This means that both cards will only be able to utilize the running power of the lowest end card. On a basic level this means that a higher end card has to "slow" itself down to match the speed of the lower end one. This is not something which can be overcome with "drivers" or "firmware updates" it is a requirement of the technology itself.



As such, when you check the specifications of the A10-7870k you will see that it only has up to 512 Stream Pipelines (Cores) and these are run at around 866MHz. Also APU's must utilize your Systems installed DRR3 RAM which is slower then "dedicated" GDDR5 RAM which a Discrete Graphics Card would use. Now if you were to use the Discrete Graphics Card R7 250 in Dual Graphics with the A10-7870k you would end up getting higher performance then only using one of those cards by itself. But if you were to use a R7 250X or higher card the overall performance of a single card would out-pace that same card run in "Dual Graphics" with the A10-7870k.


Also please remember that Dual Graphics (and CrossFire) only are enabled in compatible games, while playing in Full Screen Mode. As such a single card, higher then the R7 250, would be a better choice overall, if you are looking for performance. The HD 7950 has 1792 Stream Pipelines and normally comes with 2-3 GBs of GDDR5 memory. As such, this card by itself would far out perform any APU + Discrete Graphics Card setup."
- DonkeyOatie

Edit*Specified APU, added quote.

 

[USAFRet]

You can build him a computer built around Utilizing the LATEST AMD APU, A10-xxxxx
and if possible a DISCRETE r7 240/250 the best you can get to Crossfire with the AMD APU, throw in some very fast ram, to help the APU and you have a perfect starting rig for lan games especially.

The "the LATEST AMD APU, A10-xxxxx "?
hmm...I don't think that is 'the LATEST'.

 

[bailojustin]

You can build him a computer built around Utilizing the LATEST AMD APU, A10-xxxxx
and if possible a DISCRETE r7 240/250 the best you can get to Crossfire with the AMD APU, throw in some very fast ram, to help the APU and you have a perfect starting rig for lan games especially.

The "the LATEST AMD APU, A10-xxxxx "?
hmm...I don't think that is 'the LATEST'.

I knew it was something along those lines, fill in the variable!

 

[boosted1g]

You can build him a computer built around Utilizing the lastest AMD apu, A10-7890K with Wraith Cooler, or a cheaper one if you prefer.
and if possible a DISCRETE r7 240/250 the best you can get to utilize "Dual Graphics" with the AMD APU, throw in some very fast ram, to help the APU and you have a perfect starting rig for lan games especially.


The best Discrete Graphics Card which can used in Dual Graphics with the A10-7870k is the R7 250.


"The thing to remember about Dual Graphics (and CrossFire) is that both GPU's have to be running at the same speed for it to work correctly. This means that both cards will only be able to utilize the running power of the lowest end card. On a basic level this means that a higher end card has to "slow" itself down to match the speed of the lower end one. This is not something which can be overcome with "drivers" or "firmware updates" it is a requirement of the technology itself.



As such, when you check the specifications of the A10-7870k you will see that it only has up to 512 Stream Pipelines (Cores) and these are run at around 866MHz. Also APU's must utilize your Systems installed DRR3 RAM which is slower then "dedicated" GDDR5 RAM which a Discrete Graphics Card would use. Now if you were to use the Discrete Graphics Card R7 250 in Dual Graphics with the A10-7870k you would end up getting higher performance then only using one of those cards by itself. But if you were to use a R7 250X or higher card the overall performance of a single card would out-pace that same card run in "Dual Graphics" with the A10-7870k.



Also please remember that Dual Graphics (and CrossFire) only are enabled in compatible games, while playing in Full Screen Mode. As such a single card, higher then the R7 250, would be a better choice overall, if you are looking for performance. The HD 7950 has 1792 Stream Pipelines and normally comes with 2-3 GBs of GDDR5 memory. As such, this card by itself would far out perform any APU + Discrete Graphics Card setup."
- DonkeyOatie

Dont listen to this rubbish. The g4560 you suggest with the 1050 will perform way better than this and cost you less.
Not to mention you asked for something upgradable and this could only be farther from upgradable if the cpu was soldered direct to the board.

If you have to go with a budget SSD over Samsung/Crucial then the "best" of the budget ones which are all using Toshiba 3D TLC now is the PNY C1311.
Pay a little more for a better power supply, the N1/W1/B1 versions of EVGA are not that good.
I would suggest a 520w M12/S12 seasonic which shouldnt be too much more and will then support a step up or 2 in GPU.

 

[USAFRet]

You can build him a computer built around Utilizing the LATEST AMD APU, A10-xxxxx
and if possible a DISCRETE r7 240/250 the best you can get to Crossfire with the AMD APU, throw in some very fast ram, to help the APU and you have a perfect starting rig for lan games especially.

The "the LATEST AMD APU, A10-xxxxx "?
hmm...I don't think that is 'the LATEST'.

I knew it was something along those lines, fill in the variable!

Ryzen.
The APU's in that line have not been released yet.

No need to buy an 'old' APU and a GPU.

 

[karlittle]

You can build him a computer built around Utilizing the lastest AMD apu, A10-7890K with Wraith Cooler, or a cheaper one if you prefer.
and if possible a DISCRETE r7 240/250 the best you can get to utilize "Dual Graphics" with the AMD APU, throw in some very fast ram, to help the APU and you have a perfect starting rig for lan games especially.

edit* APU specified

I must ask, why choose these older products. Like I mentioned I would plan on upgrading this down the road with something like an i5-7600 and better storage and such. So why choose an older AMD processor that doesn't use the new AM4 socket either?

Video cards are always up in the air however, so that can always change, i just like the power efficiency from the Pascal cards

 

[karlittle]

Dont listen to this rubbish. The g4560 you suggest with the 1050 will perform way better than this and cost you less.
Not to mention you asked for something upgradable and this could only be farther from upgradable if the cpu was soldered direct to the board.

If you have to go with a budget SSD over Samsung/Crucial then the "best" of the budget ones which are all using Toshiba 3D TLC now is the PNY C1311.
Pay a little more for a better power supply, the N1/W1/B1 versions of EVGA are not that good.
I would suggest a 520w M12/S12 seasonic which shouldnt be too much more and will then support a step up or 2 in GPU.

Okay I was thinking along the same lines with what you said over Justin's ideas. The older tech just didn't make any sense to me personally. I will take into account your suggestions on SSDs and PSU. I was really unsure of those

 

[bailojustin]

You can build him a computer built around Utilizing the lastest AMD apu, A10-7890K with Wraith Cooler, or a cheaper one if you prefer.
and if possible a DISCRETE r7 240/250 the best you can get to utilize "Dual Graphics" with the AMD APU, throw in some very fast ram, to help the APU and you have a perfect starting rig for lan games especially.

edit* APU specified

I must ask, why choose these older products. Like I mentioned I would plan on upgrading this down the road with something like an i5-7600 and better storage and such. So why choose an older AMD processor that doesn't use the new AM4 socket either?

Video cards are always up in the air however, so that can always change, i just like the power efficiency from the Pascal cards

Because you will be utilizing it with older products I assume. When I hear Lan Pc, i immediatly turn to games like starcraft, Age of empires, Dawn of the Modern World, Civilization, Neverwinter Nights, Lan Games, none of which are intensive at all.

When it comes to running those games, Why overkill it when you can achieve the performance you need. This is just my opinion, to be honest I would almost recommend just getting a 1050, or 1060 since like stated above, the newer APUS are not released yet, but then again, whats the point in spending money on a 1050 or 1060 when Q2, or Q3 I believe, that would be the investment worth getting.

also its about the experience, If your going to upgrade it, why not try something pretty sweet that not a lot have done, and as it fazes out, you or your little brother with be replacing components.

 

[USAFRet]

The G4650 system you've specced out seems to be fine.

 

[karlittle]

Because you will be utilizing it with older products I assume. When I hear Lan Pc, i immediatly turn to games like starcraft, Age of empires, Dawn of the Modern World, Civilization, Neverwinter Nights, Lan Games, none of which are intensive at all.

When it comes to running those games, Why overkill it when you can achieve the performance you need. This is just my opinion, to be honest I would almost recommend just getting a 1050, or 1060 since like stated above, the newer APUS are not released yet, but then again, whats the point in spending money on a 1050 or 1060 when Q2, or Q3 I believe, that would be the investment worth getting.

also its about the experience, If your going to upgrade it, why not try something pretty sweet that not a lot have done, and as it fazes out, you or your little brother with be replacing components.

Ok now I see where you're coming from with your thoughts. However, I just want to point out I did mention I would be playing some modern games on it. I'm not completely worried about the budget on this, in fact I wanted to throw in a chipset that has OC capability, but realized that kind of performance just wouldn't be utilized on this specific system. With that said, I could very well throw in a better graphics card to keep it relevant for a little longer

 

[karlittle]

The G4650 system you've specced out seems to be fine.

Thank you again for your help. I already made some changes to that build for some better reliability as you mentioned!!