Attention Low-End/Midrange Gaming System Builders

[Ken g6]

Updated 3/25

Two other forum members had the ideas to create mid-range and low-end and gaming system build threads. They are unfortunately unable to maintain them. But it's a good idea, so I'm continuing both in one thread.

If you want to ask about building your own variation of one of these builds, please start a new thread and answer these questions. For questions about a specific part, please post in the forum for that part.

I haven't updated this for awhile, but it's the holiday season, so I think I should try to find some builds.

"Midrange" build, overclocking, $1000:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: *AMD - Ryzen 5 1600X 3.6GHz 6-Core Processor ($219.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: *Cooler Master - Hyper 212 LED 66.3 CFM Rifle Bearing CPU Cooler ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte - GA-AB350M-Gaming 3 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($81.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: *GeIL - EVO X 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($174.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: *Crucial - MX300 275GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($92.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: *Toshiba - P300 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($40.49 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB SC GAMING Video Card ($264.98 @ Newegg)
Case: *Fractal Design - Core 2300 ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: *SeaSonic - EVO Edition 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $985.17
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-11-01 12:13 EDT-0400

Have you noticed there are no good video cards in the $300-350 range? I finally cut back from the $400 range and improved a couple of other parts. My first Ryzen recommendation too!

Previous "midrange" builds: 3/25/17,
12/16-2/25, 11/19, 9/3-9/17, 8/14-8/27, 8/7, 7/21-7/30, 7/15, 7/9

"Regular" build, no overclocking, $500:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: *Intel - Pentium G4560 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($78.89 @ B&H)
Motherboard: *MSI - B250M PRO-VD Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($53.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: *G.Skill - NT Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($70.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: *Seagate - Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($40.89 @ Newegg Marketplace)
Video Card: *EVGA - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB SSC GAMING ACX 3.0 Video Card ($143.98 @ Newegg)
Case: *Thermaltake - Versa H21 Window ATX Mid Tower Case ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: *EVGA - BT 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($15.98 @ Newegg)
Operating System: *Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($89.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $502.79
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-11-01 12:24 EDT-0400

I could almost have kept this as it was, except I had a 2GB card in there. And I needed to find cheaper RAM.

Previous "regular" builds: 3/25/17,
2/25, 12/16, 11/19, 9/24-10/17, 9/10-9/17, 8/14-9/3, 8/7, 7/9-7/30

"Overclockable" build, $400:

Curse Intel's sudden but inevitable betrayal! D: At this point, prices on H81 boards are going up, so I think Intel has successfully killed low-end overclocking. I might bring this back, but I doubt it.

Previous "overclockable" builds: 2/26, 2/19, 2/12, 1/29-2/5, 1/15-1/22, 1/8, 12/19-1/2, 11/13-12/11

Archived AMD "overclockable" build: 4/10/2015

 

[dmoney1980]

do you have a micro center near you? If so, grab the cpu and mobo there to get the bundle discount.

 

[njergens5]

He's posting low end builds for other people, so it's better not to factor in microcenter cpu/mobo bundles just in case they don't live near one.

 

[Charlie98]

What's nice about that build is you can take it and repurpose it... drop the GPU and add an SSD... $500 general purpose build. Drop the GPU and downshift to a Pentium, add xTB HDD... $500 HTPC.

 

[mfenn]

He's posting low end builds for other people, so it's better not to factor in microcenter cpu/mobo bundles just in case they don't live near one.

:thumbsup: Yep, that's the best call when doing a general build.

Good on ya Ken for making this thread!

 

[brokejumper]

What would be an entry level quad core CPU and motherboard for this level of a build?

 

[Ken g6]

What would be an entry level quad core CPU and motherboard for this level of a build?

For gaming, with a video card, at this price range? Doesn't really exist. :\

Note that AMD has what they call "quad core" CPUs, but pairs of AMD CPUs are joined in modules. A single module's pair of cores aren't a whole lot more efficient than the hyper-threaded cores Intel splits out of its real cores. For overall IPC they're generally not faster unless you overclock the AMD. And with Intel you can use a real core as a single, faster real core, while with AMD you can't.

Now, if you're looking for the cheapest Intel quad core that'll work with this mobo, it's the first one listed here. (Whatever that is! :sneaky: Technically, there are possible compatibility problems with a few Haswell Refresh processors, but they're unlikely.)

If you still insist on an AMD "quad core", I'll defer to Tom's Hardware.

 

[crashtech]

I'm really happy that the board has decided to maintain a low-end build thread. I have more call for builds like these than anything else!

EDIT: Is it common wisdom that the G3258 has no place in a low-end build? Clearly it is inferior to an i3 in many scenarios, but if we caution the user as to how many processes are allowed to run, the anniversary Pentium has compelling ST performance at a compelling price.

 

[cbn]

EDIT: Is it common wisdom that the G3258 has no place in a low-end build? Clearly it is inferior to an i3 in many scenarios, but if we caution the user as to how many processes are allowed to run, the anniversary Pentium has compelling ST performance at a compelling price.

I don't think Pentium 3258 would be a bad choice at all. In some cases (when OC'd) it even beats the i3.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2014/06/24/intel-pentium-g3258-review/5

.....and these results from this review: https://translate.google.com/transl...sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://pclab.pl/art57691.html

The major issue (as I see it) is the availability of the Non-Z overclock. Hopefully we will get to the bottom of this soon as more boards are identified with this feature.

P.S. Here is a thread I created to help identify the non-Z overclock boards---> http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2389948

 

[escrow4]

Do note that:

A) You will seriously need to compromise image settings and likely resolution depending on games

B) i3 + 4GB will be obsolete way sooner than later compared to an i5 and 8GB RAM

C) A 430w PSU won't have much in the tank if you want to drop in something like a 780 or 290 or equivalent

D) Win 7, eh, you'd want 8.1 at this point at least.

If you can compromise it will work admirably though.

 

[DSF]

Do note that:

A) You will seriously need to compromise image settings and likely resolution depending on games

B) i3 + 4GB will be obsolete way sooner than later compared to an i5 and 8GB RAM

C) A 430w PSU won't have much in the tank if you want to drop in something like a 780 or 290 or equivalent

D) Win 7, eh, you'd want 8.1 at this point at least.

If you can compromise it will work admirably though.

What would you change to fit it inside $500?

 

[crashtech]

It is a low-end build, after all. Nice thing about having the 1150 platform is there's quite a bit of room to grow. My thought on the 3258 was that there are some nice combos being offered that might free up enough money to switch to an SSD. But this would be limited to those who want to overclock, and limited again by the lack of an aftermarket cooler, which would likely break the budget. Still might be the more interesting path for a budding OCer, though.

EDIT: I'd like to request that this new thread be made a sticky!

 

[Ken g6]

The major issue (as I see it) is the availability of the Non-Z overclock. Hopefully we will get to the bottom of this soon as more boards are identified with this feature.

I've been thinking about the 3258. But aside from that and the concerns Crashtech mentioned, I worry that Intel will somehow revoke the ability to overclock from those non-Z overclocking boards.

 

[cbn]

and limited again by the lack of an aftermarket cooler, which would likely break the budget.

Not sure how well 3258 OCs on the stock 53 watt cooler, but lets hope next time Intel packages unlocked LGA dual cores with this instead:

(84 watt cooler from the quad core line-up)

 

[escrow4]

What would you change to fit it inside $500?

I'd never build a $500 gaming PC. That is an office box budget not a gaming box budget. If you only have $500 and that is it you are better off buying a console.

 

[crashtech]

The 750ti plays games better than current consoles, imo, and of course the PC can be upgraded. So there are rational reasons for building a budget gaming system.

 

[cbn]

I'd never build a $500 gaming PC. That is an office box budget not a gaming box budget. If you only have $500 and that is it you are better off buying a console.

$500 can go a low way with a sale priced cpu and motherboard combo. (In fact, with such a combo even $400 of hardware including OS yields a good system.)

An example of a very recent and current deals:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2389911

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2389939

P.S. According to MSI that B85/3258 combo for $89.99 Free shipping should be able to Non-Z overclock:

"Did you know that ‪#‎MSI‬ H97, H87 and B85 motherboards could also OC the new Devils Canyon Intel CPU’s? Overclocking is no longer limited to Z97!"

https://www.facebook.com/MSINBCanada/posts/800939179938666

 

[cbn]

Hexus did get 4.4 Ghz stable with the stock cooler (using an engineering sample Pentium 3258 processor):

http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/cpu/70977-intel-pentium-anniversary-edition-g3258/?page=2

We've run the engineering-sample processor, provided by Intel, at the default 3.2GHz. Obtaining these numbers provides a frame for reference once we overclock it. Using the stock heatsink and dialling voltage up to 1.20V (from 1.10V) we managed to increase the base multiplier to 44x, or a final, stable speed of 4,400MHz.

 

[Cambium]

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2390116

If you read my thread, the 3.2Ghz Pentium can overclock to 4.4Ghz with the stock cooler, 6.8Ghz with an aftermarket cooler.

 

[cbn]

For anyone interested in budget Non-Z overclocking, I did create the following thread over in the motherboard forums:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2389948

Hopefully we will get a good database of confirmed Pentium 3258/Non-Z overclock boards in the coming months.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

Updated 7/6


"Regular" build, no overclocking:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-E33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($44.99 @ Micro Center)
Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda ES 750GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($45.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 430 ATX Mid Tower Case ($27.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($84.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $498.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Now I only had to skimp on the OS (and a little on the HDD space) to fit that nice GTX 750 Ti in.

Nice build, glad you decided to keep the thread alive! Budget builds are great.

Here are a couple options:

1) slightly better CPU, i3 4150, same price $119.- after promo code, free shipping
2) Similar or better GPU 2 gb 7850 for $90 after rebate. Can go as low as $78.- if you use master MASTERPASS23 code. Free shipping

 

[cbn]

Regarding the cooler that comes with Pentium 3258, I did find out that it includes the 95 watt copper base cooler:

http://www.legitreviews.com/intel-pentium-g3258-processor-review-quest-5ghz_145874

This rather than the aluminum base cooler that comes with regular Celerons and Pentiums:

http://extremespec.net/intel-pentium-g3220-review-testing-performance/

 

[Reaper_Tech]

Nice post its good to see budget builds get some love makes for a good jump off point for those just wanting to game casually and don't want to break the bank,.

 

[cbn]

Nice post its good to see budget builds get some love makes for a good jump off point for those just wanting to game casually and don't want to break the bank,.

I agree.

(I'm glad to see this thread is getting updated as well).

 

[crashtech]

I think a Z87 or Z97 board makes a lot of sense in this kind of build if the builder wants the flexibility to upgrade to a "K" CPU in the future. Looks like using the G3258 enables this to happen while keeping the price very reasonable. A great budget way to get into one of the highest performing platforms available.