Kids gaming pc

[Ashenor]

Hey,

Looking to build a pc for my gf's kid. Does not need to be a barn runner, would like to buy everything from microcenter friend works there for a few more weeks so I can get a discount for some stuff. Trying to get off as cheap as possible without going the prebuilt route and slapping my 5850 in it.

Thanks for the help.

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.

Gaming only, diablo 3, tribes, wow things of that nature.

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread

Looking to do it cheap since I have the OS, monitor, and a 5850 video card. My friend works at micro center for another week so can probably get some discount on it all from there. Like to be under 400 or so.

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.

USA.

4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc.

Kids pc so don't really care, using my old radeon 5850 in it.

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.

Radeon 5850, win 7 home, 19" LCD monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.

Doubt I will

8. What resolution will you be using?

1600

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?
Note that it is usually not cost or time effective to choose your build more than a month before you actually plan to be using it.

Within the week

*

X. Do you need to purchase any software to go with the system, such as Windows or Blu Ray playback software?

No

 

[lehtv]

i3-2100 $90
Gigabyte H61 $55 ($45 AR)
2x2GB Crucial $22
Caviar Blue 500GB $80 or Seagate 1TB ST310005N1A1AS-RK $95 (could save a lot here if you had a spare drive...)
Samsung DVD burner $16
Antec HCG-520 $60
CM Elite 430 $48 ($38 AR)

= $371 before rebate, with the cheaper hdd

I tried to pick the cheapest components while avoiding crap quality parts.

 

[mfenn]

The build below is a good match for your GPU. With your friend's discount, you might be able to swing an i5 3570K + Z77 mobo within the $400 price envelope, but it really comes down to how much you want to spend.

i3 2100 $90
Biostar H61MLB $55
Corsair DDR3 1333 8GB $32 AR
Reuse 5850 $0
Seagate 1TB HDD $95
Lite-ON DVD Burner $18
430CX $50 AR
Cooler Master Elite 371 $30 AR
Total: $370 AR

 

[mfenn]

i3-2100 $90
Gigabyte H61 $55 ($45 AR)
2x2GB Crucial $22
Caviar Blue 500GB $80 or Seagate 1TB ST310005N1A1AS-RK $95 (could save a lot here if you had a spare drive...)
Samsung DVD burner $16
Antec HCG-520 $60
CM Elite 430 $48 ($38 AR)

= $371 before rebate, with the cheaper mobo

I tried to pick the cheapest components while avoiding crap quality parts.

Eerily similar.... :awe:

 

[lehtv]

I'm not surprised... . On a CX430 he'd need to power the 5850 with an adapter. Since HCG520 is the same price before rebate it's the obvious pick IMO... Your case is better bang for buck though

 

[Zap]

mfenn & lehtv, brothers separated at birth.

 

[Yuriman]

If not overclocking you could save some money with an i5 3450. I'd say the i5 is a no-brainer over the i3 if you can afford it due to turbo, though if Ivy i3's were out I'd say it would probably offer sufficient performance.

 

[ManBearPig]

mfenn & lehtv, brothers separated at birth.

lol!

 

[mfenn]

I'm not surprised... . On a CX430 he'd need to power the 5850 with an adapter. Since HCG520 is the same price before rebate it's the obvious pick IMO... Your case is better bang for buck though

:thumbsup: Agree, nice find on the PSU!

 

[Ashenor]

Thanks guys i will let you know what i end up with.

 

[Ashenor]

Update

Friend no longer works at Microcenter so looking to get parts there, newegg, or amazon.

Any updates or changes you would do, going to start getting stuff this weekend/early next week.

Also have not built my own PC from scratch before, have updated most items in one. How is setting up the bios now? Anything i need to be aware/scared of, anything else i need like paste for the CPU or anything when doing the build?

Thanks

 

[Ken g6]

I found this nice $54 AP deal on a Biostar B75 board with USB 3.0, one SATA3 port, and the capability of upgrading to Ivy Bridge later. Otherwise I stand behind Mfenn/Lehtv's builds.

Paste comes pre-applied to the Intel stock cooler. As you're not overclocking or anything, there shouldn't be many surprises building the PC. You may like [thread=2047683]Zap's Foolproof way to install Intel push pins[/thread].

 

[bbhaag]

I found this nice $54 AP deal on a Biostar B75 board with USB 3.0, one SATA3 port, and the capability of upgrading to Ivy Bridge later. Otherwise I stand behind Mfenn/Lehtv's builds.

Thanks for the link Ken. My son and I are building a new rig for him and that board comes with some nice features for the price.
Couple that board with a G530 and you have a nice budget build gaming pc.

 

[Ashenor]

Thanks Ken, looking to probably pick up the motherboard and case and maybe processor at least this weekend.

Anyone see any great case or normal HD deals out there this weekend?

Thanks

 

[jaydeee]

make sure you have a good video card. today you'll have better choice.

 

[Ashenor]

I am using my old 5850 in the build.

 

[mfenn]

Thanks Ken, looking to probably pick up the motherboard and case and maybe processor at least this weekend.

Anyone see any great case or normal HD deals out there this weekend?

Thanks

The Caviar Blue 500GB is $65 AP for the next few days. I think that either of the CM Elites recommended above are still decent deals for basic cases.

 

[Meghan54]

Thanks Ken, looking to probably pick up the motherboard and case and maybe processor at least this weekend.

Anyone see any great case or normal HD deals out there this weekend?

Thanks

As for cases and you having a MicroCenter nearby, I'd also consider these----

Bitfinex Merc Alpha ($39.99): http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0382963


Thermaltake V3 Black Edition ($27.99 AR): http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0323929


NZXT Source 210 ($27.99 AR): http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0378074


PowerSpec (MC's house brand) Vortex 3620 ($39.99): http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0334155


PowerSpec TX-381 ($29.99): http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0330536



Of course, what's stocked at one MC isn't always what's stocked at another, so YMMV.

 

[lehtv]

i3-2100 $90
Gigabyte H61 $55 ($45 AR)
2x2GB Crucial $22
Caviar Blue 500GB $80 or Seagate 1TB ST310005N1A1AS-RK $95 (could save a lot here if you had a spare drive...)
Samsung DVD burner $16
Antec HCG-520 $60
CM Elite 430 $48 ($38 AR)

= $371 before rebate, with the cheaper hdd

Update on this build...

CPU i3-2100 is still the best bang for buck CPU. Sure, you could save some cash by going with a G530 or G620, but $90 for an i3 is a very nice deal and it fits your budget fine. It'll last a bit longer before needing an upgrade and gives you better performance in the meantime. Hyperthreading reduces/removes the CPU limitation in games that benefit from more than two cores.

Mobo +1 to Biostar B75MU3+ for $54 AP

RAM The ram is now $3 more but it doesn't matter, grab that or buy some Corsair RAM from newegg for the same price.

HDD +1 to Caviar Blue 500GB for $65 after promo.

PSU The HCG-520 PSU is now overpriced... Get Seasonic M12II 520W for $60. Same specs except the Seasonic has 5-yr warranty and it's modular.

Case Meghan54 listed some decent budget cases to choose from... my pick would be Source 210 for $28 AR. Normally costs $40 and even at that price it's pretty competitive.

 

[Ashenor]

Thanks guys going to start shopping this week.

Any basic bios settings or anything i need to worry about when i get it all together for the first time?

 

[thelastjuju]

Update on this build...

CPU i3-2100 is still the best bang for buck CPU. Sure, you could save some cash by going with a G530 or G620, but $90 for an i3 is a very nice deal and it fits your budget fine. It'll last a bit longer before needing an upgrade and gives you better performance in the meantime. Hyperthreading reduces/removes the CPU limitation in games that benefit from more than two cores.

Just curious.. does anyone know how the G620 overclocks?

I mean, it has the same amount of cache as the i3, so I've always wondered if an i3 is just an overclocked G620 being sold in a fancier package for much more money. :sneaky:


--

Bios should be good to go.. I always just do a check to make sure there isn't a default option in there for some sort of "quiet" fan mode for the CPU fan like I've ran into a few times.

 

[lehtv]

Just curious.. does anyone know how the G620 overclocks?

It doesn't overclock. Neither does i3. The only overclockable intels these days are marked with a K suffix e.g. i5-3570K, plus the i7-3820 (on the enthusiast LGA2011 platform).

I mean, it has the same amount of cache as the i3, so I've always wondered if an i3 is just an overclocked G620 being sold in a fancier package for much more money. :sneaky:

i3-2100 is essentially a higher clocked Pentium with hyperthreading (2 cores -> 4 threads). Hyperthreading on its own improves performance by ~50% in applications that can take advantage of the extra threads

 

[thelastjuju]

It doesn't overclock. Neither does i3. The only overclockable intels these days are marked with a K suffix e.g. i5-3570K, plus the i7-3820 (on the enthusiast LGA2011 platform).

i3-2100 is essentially a higher clocked Pentium with hyperthreading (2 cores -> 4 threads). Hyperthreading on its own improves performance by ~50% in applications that can take advantage of the extra threads

Ah, I see. Is it kinda like they are just locking us out or creating some sort of barrier from overclocking? I didn't even realize you couldn't overclock these.

Thanks for the info, good to know.. although I'm not sure how much hyperthreading has taken off, and was under the impression its pretty irrelevant for gaming at this point in time at least.

 

[titan131]

Ah, I see. Is it kinda like they are just locking us out or creating some sort of barrier from overclocking? I didn't even realize you couldn't overclock these.

Thanks for the info, good to know.. although I'm not sure how much hyperthreading has taken off, and was under the impression its pretty irrelevant for gaming at this point in time at least.

I'm not 100% sure but I think the hyperthreading on the i3 is relevant for gaming in games that use more than two cores. Hyperthreading on a quadcore isn't because games don't really use more than 4 cores.

 

[lehtv]

Thanks for the info, good to know.. although I'm not sure how much hyperthreading has taken off, and was under the impression its pretty irrelevant for gaming at this point in time at least.

It's irrelevant only on quad cores because with the exception of BF3 multiplayer, games are still coded for two or four threads. But on a dual core, it's very relevant and can only become more relevant in the future as two-threaded games become a thing of the past