Attention Low-End/Midrange Gaming System Builders

[crashtech]

Bump because I want this to be a sticky.

 

[Ken g6]

I think I'll stick with bumps (like this one ) at least until I get through one PrimeGrid race.

 

[Dannar26]

Love the thread Ken!

Anyway, I was thinking of building my wife a photo shop machine... But I really don't want to break the bank.

What would you change to make it a photo editing rig?

 

[crashtech]

A quad core and 8GB would be a good start, imo. Depending on the tools being used, a dedicated GPU can also be immensely helpful. A decent Photoshop rig would look more like the midrange build, but maybe use a locked quad like a Xeon E3-1231v3 and a non-Z mobo.

 

[Dannar26]

Hm. Let me put it this way then...

... I live near a micro center. This deal is really calling out to me: http://www.microcenter.com/site/brands/G3258Bundle.aspx

$99 bucks for the processor and mobo. Currently wife and I share a core 2 quad system I built in '09. I know the pentium line isn't the peak of the heap, but it's gotta be better or equal to a quad from 3 generations ago (at least with respect to single threaded performance) right?

 

[crashtech]

Hm. Let me put it this way then...

... I live near a micro center. This deal is really calling out to me: http://www.microcenter.com/site/brands/G3258Bundle.aspx

$99 bucks for the processor and mobo. Currently wife and I share a core 2 quad system I built in '09. I know the pentium line isn't the peak of the heap, but it's gotta be better or equal to a quad from 3 generations ago (at least with respect to single threaded performance) right?

Yes, the G3258 is the ST perf per dollar king right now. But in fully threaded loads it might not outdo the C2Q by all that much. It's not an ideal upgrade for Photoshop use.

 

[sm625]

Yes, the G3258 is the ST perf per dollar king right now. But in fully threaded loads it might not outdo the C2Q by all that much. It's not an ideal upgrade for Photoshop use.

In my experience a 4.5GHz G3258 absolutely destroys C2Q in every measurable way, including 4 thread workloads. But even if it wasnt faster at encoding a video, the incredible boost to single thread performance really makes up for it. It is especially noticeable when you have an SSD. I highly recommend retiring any C2Q hardware in favor of G3258. It's only a $150 upgrade (if using microcenter) and you save 50-100 watts every hour that the machine is running.

 

[crashtech]

Maybe. I have a G3258, and also have had extensive experience with the Xeon C2Q variants in the form of E53xx and E54xx CPUs. Here in the Cinebench 11.5 thread we can see that the lowest performing Q6600 scores 2.72, and a stock E5420 scores 3.01, but an E5450 cranked up to 4.27GHz scores 5.19. Admittedly, the C2Q is underrepresented here, but it is safe to assume that one running in the mid 3GHz range should be close to a 4, which is the best my G3258 could manage at 4.9GHz.

 

[Dannar26]

Our C2quad runs at 2.4, and I've never had it OC'd. I'm guessing the Pentium would be a sure thing, especially if I worked the courage up to OC.

My only misgiving going with the Pentium, is the slower RAM I'd have to marry it to.

 

[Sonikku]

I think what is dismaying to low end builders is that many of us had hoped by now after all these years that those i5's would be a little more affordable, yet, they remain about what they were years ago. Then you have things like ram that were $20 for a stick of 4gb. Now it's double. :\

 

[crashtech]

Our C2quad runs at 2.4, and I've never had it OC'd. I'm guessing the Pentium would be a sure thing, especially if I worked the courage up to OC.

My only misgiving going with the Pentium, is the slower RAM I'd have to marry it to.

It's important to know that the only reason to select the G3258 is to overclock it, particularly if you are pairing it with a "Z" series board. If you've never OCed your C2Q, I'd have to assume that past behavior predicts future behavior, and guide you to an i3 at the very least, if an i5 is out of the question. I don't believe going from a quad core, even a slow one, to a dual core is a great idea. If you must, at least make it one with hyperthreading.

 

[cbn]

Tom's hardware overclocks Pentium G3258 on MSI H81 motherboard:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/pentium-g3258-b81-cheap-overclocking,3888.html

 

[monkeydelmagico]

Some slight modifications allows for faster RAM, more CPU, and better GPU while still being under budget:


CPU: i3-4150 -$117

Motherboard: ECS H87 $41.- AR

Memory: IBM 4gb $29.-

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive $53.

Video Card: R9 270 $140.- AR

Case: Fractal core 1000 $20.- AR

Power Supply: EVGA 430w $15.- AR

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($84.98 @ OutletPC)

Total: $500

 

[Ken g6]

Some prices have probably changed since I posted the last build. And I try to post only once a week, on Friday so people have the weekend to buy stuff.

Motherboard: ECS H87 $41.- AR

Also, I don't trust the quality of ECS boards.

Good prices on the case, PSU, and RAM though.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

Some prices have probably changed since I posted the last build. And I try to post only once a week, on Friday so people have the weekend to buy stuff.

Also, I don't trust the quality of ECS boards.

Good prices on the case, PSU, and RAM though.

Yeah the prices change pretty quickly. Every once in a while I like to drop in and try my hand at the low budget build. What you are doing every week is a public service. Kudos.

Bummer on your ECS board, had good luck with the ones I've bought.

 

[Ken g6]

Oh, I haven't had an ECS board - I don't think; I just don't trust their quality. I could be someone who's wrong on the Internet. ()

 

[mfenn]

Oh, I haven't had an ECS board - I don't think; I just don't trust their quality. I could be someone who's wrong on the Internet. ()

Your instincts are right. ECS boards are generally pretty bad. You can of course get one that works fine (they make many which do), but your chances aren't as good as with an ASUS, MSI, Gigabyte, or ASRock.

 

[crashtech]

I took a chance on ECS recently and have been disappointed. Back in the day I liked their K7S5A, but they are not known for high quality stuff.

 

[Ken g6]

Bump, because I updated the OP.

 

[cbn]

Thanks for this guide Ken.

One complaint I have (and this is not your fault) is that PC Part Picker only appears to have limited combo deal support.

....And because of this I feel a lot of good deals get missed when folks use that website to either look up prices or list builds.

One example of a combo deal I could not find listed on the PC Part Picker website is this Pentium G3258/ ASUS Z97/ three 120mm case fans for $119.99 AR, free shipping:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2394350

EDIT: Looking into this further, I am noticing PC Part Picker is even missing support for certain single items as well. For example, I listed this hot deal --> http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2394634 for a Toshiba 2TB 3.5" HDD @ $69.99 AP FS, but when I look up the same item on PC Part Picker it doesn't even list Tiger Direct under the item ---> http://pcpartpicker.com/part/toshiba-internal-hard-drive-hdkpc09

With that mentioned, PC Part Picker does list Tiger Direct in other parts listings.

 

[Ken g6]

I know PCPartPicker misses some deals. But what it misses in quality it makes up for in speed and ease-of-use. I did too many builds lists this week and wouldn't have had time to update this thread without PCPartPicker. (Also I was tired this week so I didn't look very hard.)

I suggest addressing complaints to the management.

 

[cbn]

I added the missing Toshiba 2TB drive to that forum you linked, and added the request for better combo support to the "Site feedback and feature request" forum:

http://pcpartpicker.com/forums/topic/45644-improved-support-for-combo-deals

Hopefully they can make the improvements because of the two processors in this thread (Core i3 vs. Pentium G3258), it is the Pentium that goes on sale quite often as a steeply discounted processor/motherboard combo while the Core i3 does not.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

Bump n build. For the lols.


G3258 w/MSI Z97 ATX mobo - $110 AR
Rosewill ATX case w/usb3 - $33.- AP AR
4gb Crucial memory - $35.-
EVGA 430w PSU - $20.- AR
Seagate 1tb HD - $53.-
R9 270 GPU - $155.- AR
Win 8.1 - $93.-

Total - $499.-

 

[Ken g6]

Thanks for the build, monkeydelmagico! I'm using your G3258 bundle. There's only one significant problem I see with that build:

EVGA 430w PSU - $20.- AR

To HEC with that!

 

[cbn]

Thanks for the build, monkeydelmagico! I'm using your G3258 bundle. There's only one significant problem I see with that build:
To HEC with that!

6 months after that EVGA 430 watt/500 watt thread was written, JonnyGuru.com did test the 500 watt version of that PSU and wrote the review on June 23 2014:

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=384

.....they gave it a good rating too:

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story6&reid=384

(The question is how similar is the 430 watt to the 500 watt? Well, they both are identical looking and made by HEC....that is all I know at this time. Ideally, we would also have a review on the 430 watt unit as well. Hopefully that is coming soon enough)