New build, what do you guys think?

[ultimate99]

So after a long thought and researching the internetz...i've decided to build a cheapo pc instead of going the console or an eGPU setup route. (Budget: $500 CAD)

 

Uses:

Thesis writing, research, a lot of tabs opened in Chrome and Firefox, pdfs, word docs, excel.
I like to have a VM or two opened. I connected to my HP Microserver (for backup).

Casual gaming, Civ 5, Age of Empires 3, BF3 and 4, COD.

 

Do I need a quad core?

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/tb7M23
Price breakdown by merchant: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/tb7M23/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($64.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Motherboard: *MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($53.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: *Kingston 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($69.81 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Sandisk Ultra Plus 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($60.52 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($49.99 @ DirectCanada)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 280 3GB Black Edition Double Dissipation Video Card  ($199.99 @ NCIX)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($35.99 @ NCIX)
Power Supply: *EVGA 430W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply  ($9.99 @ NCIX)
Total: $545.25
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-25 21:24 EST-0500

[Stokkolm]

I would honestly go lower end on the video card and go for a Core i3 processor. The build looks good though.

[ultimate99]

I would honestly go lower end on the video card and go for a Core i3 processor. The build looks good though.

thanks for the reply. Like what? GTX 750 Ti maybe?

[ccoltmanm]

You have 8 ram spots open?

[ultimate99]

You have 8 ram spots open?

umm...what?

[ultimate99]

How about: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/user/ultra99/saved/dxBxFT

[Vvo]

430 watts psu may not be enough to power the r280, you'll need at least a 500 watts psu at the very least

[ultimate99]

430 watts psu may not be enough to power the r280, you'll need at least a 500 watts psu at the very least

i've changed the build in my last post.

[Luc2k]

Do I need a quad core?

I would say yes. Games are starting to make it a minimum requirement (Dragon Age: Inquisition, CoD:AW, Far Cry 4 to name a few). For that budget, you don't have many choices.

 

http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/amd-cpu-ad860kxbjabox

http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gaf2a88xmd3h

 

Alternative for a weaker GPU

 

http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/amd-cpu-fd6300wmhkbox

http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-970pro3r20

 

In the last build, any particular reason for the expensive 750 Ti?

[Stokkolm]

thanks for the reply. Like what? GTX 750 Ti maybe?

For the uses you listed I would lean towards something closer to $100USD. For example the NVIDIA 740 or R7 250.

Of course if you don't change the CPU then don't bother. You're really just trying to save a little on the video card to make up for the more expensive CPU.

[ultimate99]

For the uses you listed I would lean towards something closer to $100USD. For example the NVIDIA 740 or R7 250.

Of course if you don't change the CPU then don't bother. You're really just trying to save a little on the video card to make up for the more expensive CPU.

[PCPartPicker part list](http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/3VwCqs) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/3VwCqs/by_merchant/)

Type|Item|Price

:----|:----|:----

**CPU** | [intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor](http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646i54460) | $194.99 @ Newegg Canada

**Motherboard** | [Gigabyte GA-B85M-HD3 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard](http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gab85mhd3) | $73.98 @ DirectCanada

**Memory** | [G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory](http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f312800cl10s8gbxl) | $94.98 @ Newegg Canada

**Storage** | [sandisk Ultra Plus 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive](http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/sandisk-internal-hard-drive-sdssdhp128gg25) | $60.52 @ DirectCanada

**Storage** | [seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive](http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st1000dm003) | $49.99 @ DirectCanada

**Video Card** | [Asus GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card](http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-video-card-gtx750tioc2gd5) | $154.95 @ Vuugo

**Case** | [Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case](http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-case-nse200kkn1) | $35.99 @ NCIX

**Power Supply** | [\*Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply](http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-power-supply-cx600m) | $44.99 @ NCIX

 | | **Total**

 | Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available | $710.39

 | \*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria |

 | Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-26 01:57 EST-0500 |

 

$200 over my initial budget, worth it?

[Xahid]

[PCPartPicker part list](http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/3VwCqs) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/3VwCqs/by_merchant/)

Type|Item|Price

:----|:----|:----

**CPU** | [intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor](http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646i54460) | $194.99 @ Newegg Canada

**Motherboard** | [Gigabyte GA-B85M-HD3 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard](http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gab85mhd3) | $73.98 @ DirectCanada

**Memory** | [G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory](http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f312800cl10s8gbxl) | $94.98 @ Newegg Canada

**Storage** | [sandisk Ultra Plus 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive](http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/sandisk-internal-hard-drive-sdssdhp128gg25) | $60.52 @ DirectCanada

**Storage** | [seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive](http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st1000dm003) | $49.99 @ DirectCanada

**Video Card** | [Asus GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card](http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-video-card-gtx750tioc2gd5) | $154.95 @ Vuugo

**Case** | [Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case](http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-case-nse200kkn1) | $35.99 @ NCIX

**Power Supply** | [\*Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply](http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-power-supply-cx600m) | $44.99 @ NCIX

 | | **Total**

 | Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available | $710.39

 | \*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria |

 | Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-26 01:57 EST-0500 |

 

$200 over my initial budget, worth it?

Totally worth it, you won't regret, much better than your 1st choice IMO.

[Luc2k]

snip

Made proper configs:

http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/KNY2ZL - 516$

http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/6cGdt6 - 642$

PSU was changed for modular design. The first build was kept as close as possible to the budget, while the second one is similar to your over-budget build, but it's focused on the GPU. I still don't understand why you kept that overpriced 750 Ti in the build.

I would have posted these a lot sooner, but the forum just didn't load...

[Stokkolm]

Totally worth it, you won't regret, much better than your 1st choice IMO.

Yup, much better.

[ultimate99]

Made proper configs:

http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/KNY2ZL - 516$

http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/6cGdt6 - 642$

PSU was changed for modular design. The first build was kept as close as possible to the budget, while the second one is similar to your over-budget build, but it's focused on the GPU. I still don't understand why you kept that overpriced 750 Ti in the build.

I would have posted these a lot sooner, but the forum just didn't load...

Thanks, but what's so special about AMD, other than being cheaper? I have no experience with those processors at all.

 

Yup, much better.

 

Let's say to make things a bit cheaper, I remove the ssd and use my old Crucial M4 64gb ssd as a boot drive, office and apps. Is that a good idea?

 

Updated: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/user/ultra99/saved/dmtrxr

[Scorbing]

AMD 8350 Black Edition, GTX 970, 8 or 16 gigs of RAM

 

[Stokkolm]

Thanks, but what's so special about AMD, other than being cheaper? I have no experience with those processors at all.

 

 

Let's say to make things a bit cheaper, I remove the ssd and use my old Crucial M4 64gb ssd as a boot drive, office and apps. Is that a good idea?

 

Updated: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/user/ultra99/saved/dmtrxr

Yeah, I wouldn't go with AMD processors even if they are cheaper. As far as the SSD, I would just caution you that its extremely annoying to run out of disk space on your system drive. I dealt with that even with my 128GB drive. I now have two 250GB SSD's in a RAID 0 and I don't have to think about it anymore. Maybe just upgrade it later on though, you'll be fine as long as you manage the storage appropriately.

[ultimate99]

Yeah, I wouldn't go with AMD processors even if they are cheaper. As far as the SSD, I would just caution you that its extremely annoying to run out of disk space on your system drive. I dealt with that even with my 128GB drive. I now have two 250GB SSD's in a RAID 0 and I don't have to think about it anymore. Maybe just upgrade it later on though, you'll be fine as long as you manage the storage appropriately.

Yeah, I know, 64gb might be tight. I have a Crucial 256gb in my laptop, I considering swapping that out for the new rig. I still have to see my priorities, laptop vs pc.

 

I've changed my strategy and want to go with a smaller form factor. So here's a modified build:

 

I'm trying to stick to my $500 CAD budget, but this is the cheapest I got.

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/ZsssP6

Price breakdown by merchant: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/ZsssP6/by_merchant/

CPU: *Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($189.99 @ NCIX)

Motherboard: ASRock B85M-ITX Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($85.50 @ Vuugo)

Memory: Kingston 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($69.81 @ DirectCanada)

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($49.99 @ DirectCanada)

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB FTW ACX Video Card  ($134.99 @ NCIX)

Case: Antec ISK600 Mini ITX Tower Case  ($39.99 @ NCIX)

Power Supply: *Thermaltake TR2 500W ATX Power Supply  ($19.99 @ NCIX)

Total: $590.26

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-26 23:04 EST-0500

[Stokkolm]

Yeah, I know, 64gb might be tight. I have a Crucial 256gb in my laptop, I considering swapping that out for the new rig. I still have to see my priorities, laptop vs pc.

 

I've changed my strategy and want to go with a smaller form factor. So here's a modified build:

 

I'm trying to stick to my $500 CAD budget, but this is the cheapest I got.

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/ZsssP6

Price breakdown by merchant: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/ZsssP6/by_merchant/

CPU: *Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($189.99 @ NCIX)

Motherboard: ASRock B85M-ITX Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($85.50 @ Vuugo)

Memory: Kingston 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($69.81 @ DirectCanada)

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($49.99 @ DirectCanada)

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB FTW ACX Video Card  ($134.99 @ NCIX)

Case: Antec ISK600 Mini ITX Tower Case  ($39.99 @ NCIX)

Power Supply: *Thermaltake TR2 500W ATX Power Supply  ($19.99 @ NCIX)

Total: $590.26

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-26 23:04 EST-0500

You could probably save a solid $50 by going with a Core i3. Just depends on what you want to deal with. FWIW, I originally had an i3 in mine and later upgraded it to an i5. The i3 wasn't really too bad.

[ultimate99]

You could probably save a solid $50 by going with a Core i3. Just depends on what you want to deal with. FWIW, I originally had an i3 in mine and later upgraded it to an i5. The i3 wasn't really too bad.

ya, but i think i could make use of the quad core in the i5.

[ultimate99]

What would I REALLY achieve with an i5 quad core over i3 dual core?

[Luc2k]

Thanks, but what's so special about AMD, other than being cheaper? I have no experience with those processors at all.

It's special in that you can get a decent PC within the budget you wanted without severely crippling the rest of your config. It's also a quad core and I told you why you might want that.

 

BTW, you didn't specify that you're only interested in Intel CPUs in the OP or any other post after. If that is the case, then get the i5 and use the iGPU until you have the money for a dGPU. The iGPU will play games like crap, but it will work.

 

One last thing, don't go with a non-modular PSU if you don't want hampered airflow in the case and get one with higher wattage if you have any intention of upgrading the GPU to something over 200$ any time in the future.

[Jaybonaut]

Stick with the i5.

[ultimate99]

It's special in that you can get a decent PC within the budget you wanted without severely crippling the rest of your config. It's also a quad core and I told you why you might want that.

 

BTW, you didn't specify that you're only interested in Intel CPUs in the OP or any other post after. If that is the case, then get the i5 and use the iGPU until you have the money for a dGPU. The iGPU will play games like crap, but it will work.

 

One last thing, don't go with a non-modular PSU if you don't want hampered airflow in the case and get one with higher wattage if you have any intention of upgrading the GPU to something over 200$ any time in the future.

 

 

Stick with the i5.

Ok, I'll keep the i5, don't want to regret it in the very near future.

 

In regards to the chipset, does it matter if it's an H81 or a B35?

 

@Luc2k: so the 750 Ti is not a dGPU enought? lol

I guess the HD4600 could suffice temporarily. I've played BF4 on the Surface Pro 1, so that could work for now.

[tsupersonic]

ya, but i think i could make use of the quad core in the i5.

 

What would I REALLY achieve with an i5 quad core over i3 dual core?

Do you know what you really want? You went  from a $500 budget to 700+, from a Pentium to an i3 and then to an i5. First, step back and think about your requirements (what you really want to do), then think about how long you want it to last (and upgrade paths), and finally, set a budget range. 

 

If you are in no rush at all, you can shop around to find the best deals. If you are in really no rush (like you can wait till mid '15), then wait for the Broadwell chips to come out.