help with budget build

Barracuda413

Barracuda413

263
United States
United States
I have been thinkg about building a cheap low budget PC for P-cars, Assetto Corsa, Forza 6, Horizon 3, and GTA-V,
As I really don't want to buy a console, low to medium setting should be fine, as l use a cheap 19" led TV for a monitor, l am thinking an i5 around 3.4 ghz in an 1150 socket would be cheap, with an older 2 gig video card and 8 gigs ram, a low end 500W or 600W power supply and my old case and hard drive, cost is a primary concern
Any thoughts, suggestions, help, ideas, or info would be appreciated
 
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As little as possible, l am even looking at used systems and/or parts
Biggest problem is figuring out what parts are a good deal, vs parts that are obsolete,
 
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Thanks for the link
But it keeps popping up things and redirecting me, got so bad after 30 seconds l had to close the page
But it did appear to confirm what l listed in the first post
 
Barracuda413
Thanks for the link
But it keeps popping up things and redirecting me, got so bad after 30 seconds l had to close the page
But it did appear to confirm what l listed in the first post
Click to expand...

Working fine for me... give your PC a health check, that page loads processes that are potentially compromised on your side.
 
Using an old cheap tablet that has trouble with pages that have too much stuff going on at once
Text based pages like GTP and email are fine, but excessive ads or popups kill it
I did manage to get a better look by being very carful and scrolling very slowly,
However it did not provide any new information for my needs,
as a full retail build is WAY out of my nearly nonexistent budget,
I need to know how to build it CHEAP,
 
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What is your budget? Cheap as possible if done literally would give you a awful experience. What all do you need for it? What country are you in?
 
As l stated in the first post, l use a cheap 19" flat screen TV for a monitor, so l think 1080p? ?
at least that is what pops up on the screen when l turn on my PS3,
Just looking to build the cheapest PC to play games at the same quality as my PS3 or xbox360
Not looking to build a killer serious state of the art pro gamming system, heck even GT4 on my PS2 looked fine
or Vice City and San Andreas on my old pentium 4,
 
I think most of the issue here is coming from the vague definition of cheap. More specific cost range would be helpful.

Here's a $700 build I've stolen from the October 2016 issue of Maximum PC: (Prices are as of when the magazine was published)
CPU: AMD FX-8320E ($119)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO ($25)
Motherboard: MSI 970 Gaming ATX AM3+ ($76)
RAM: 16GB 1866 MHz Corsair Vengeance Pro DDR3 ($68)
SSD: 120 GB Kingston SSDNow V300 ($39)
HDD: 1TB Hitachi Ultrastar 7200 RPM ($43)
GPU: AMD Radeon RX480 8GB ($240)
PSU: EVGA 600B 600W ($45)
Case: BitFenix Neos Black/Red mid-tower ($44)

Benchmarks given are Rise of the Tomb Raider (35 FPS, Ultra preset/HD textures, max AA), Far Cry Primal (53 FPS, same settings), and The Division (57 FPS).

So, realistically, you're looking at $400-500 to get anything going. This is all assuming you've already got the keyboard and mouse.
 
OK a few questions
1: why 16 megs ram and not 8?
2: why an 8 meg video card? Wouldn't a 4 or 2 be fine, and much cheaper?
3: is a SSD necessary? I have not seen mention of one in any game system specs, minimum or recommended
4: why would you chose an AMD over an i5?
 
Barracuda413
1: why 16 megs ram and not 8?
Click to expand...
More and more games nowadays have requirements of 12 GB. Forza Horizon 3, for example, will run on 8, but 12 is technically what's required. DDR3 is pretty cheap too so it shouldn't be a huge deal.

Barracuda413
2: why an 8 meg video card? Wouldn't a 4 or 2 be fine, and much cheaper?
Click to expand...
The very minimum I would go with nowadays is 4GB of VRAM. 6-8GB would be optimal.

Barracuda413
3: is a SSD necessary?
Click to expand...
No. In some games you can get faster load times, but I don't really think spending $40 more just to save a few seconds is worth it.
 
This is exactly the type of information I an looking for
What to choose and WHY!!!!
My thought is 8 meg ram now, upgrade later
Cheap 2 meg vid card now because they are dirt cheap, and upgrade to8 later,
or a 4 now if l find a deal on one and live with it for a while
Spend money now on a decent CPU and MB, scrimp on everything else
possibly add a SSD down the line, perhaps even a bigger monitor one day
An i5-4590 socket 1150, at 3.3ghz is $159, and closeout 1150 MB's are $50-$100
 
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http://pcpartpicker.com/list/Fq6HRG

It has a i3 6100, it out performs any of AMD sub $100 CPU's and trade blows with the FX 8350. Plus it has a upgrade path. It has 8GB which is enough for all games, the listed requirement for games are always way off. It has a RX 460, not the best but its a good entry level card that can play all games and you said you didn't care about graphics too much. If you want a better GPU I would go for a RX 470 or a GTX 1060 3GB It has a PSU which is totally unbeatable for its price, it slaughters just about everything else that is under $60.
 
i3 is only dual core, l thought minimum specs for
many of the games l listed require a quad core ?

RX 460 looks like a good cheap option, l like it

I have a micro center near me, so l just need to know what to look for in the sale/closeout section

My current system is a 2.8 AMD dual core running XP
So l need an OS upgrade anyway, and it is dead at the moment
due l think to bad ram chip, l also have a copy of 7 but am having problems installing it

Perhaps my best option is to proceed in stages, some cheap ram, just to get my old PC running again,
Then a bigger power supply and an RX 460,
Then save up for an i5 and MB, and swap everything over
 
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Barracuda413
i3 is only dual core, l thought minimum specs for
many of the games l listed require a quad core ?

RX 460 looks like a good cheap option, l like it

I have a micro center near me, so l just need to know what to look for in the sale/closeout section

My current system is a 2.8 AMD dual core running XP
So l need an OS upgrade anyway, and it is dead at the moment
Click to expand...

The min spec for games are often way off since devs hardly ever list what the min specs actually mean, it could mean the bare min for booting up the game, the bare min for medium settings 30FPS, etc. Instead of going by them I would just look up people playing with the hardware you are interested in or look up real world benchmarks.

The i3 6100 has two cores but it has hyperthreading which gives it 4 threads. Windows and games count thread as cores. If you have a Microcenter near you Black Friday could be a good time to get some parts, they will probably have some good CPU and motherboard combos. Maybe for the HDD and case and GPU too. For the PSU they honestly don't have a good selection for mid range PSU's so I would pass getting a PSU there.
 
Link didn't show anything?

But the ability to upgrade is important, and l may go with an 1151 socket instead of an 1150 for just that reason

As far as power supply goes, l think cheap is fine providing you choose one based on constant power output and not peak output,
 
Not sure why the link doesn't work...

The Exterminator
Last refreshed: November 12th, 2016. Version 4.0, latestrevision by /u/RandomDudeOP . Provide feedback here.

About
A quality mid-range computer at the sub 600 dollar range. This is where builds start to demonstrate console obsolescence. VR ready if you upgrade the graphics card to a GTX 1060 or a RX 480.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type Item Price
CPU Intel Core i5-6400 2.7GHz Quad-Core Processor $174.89 @ OutletPC
Motherboard MSI CSM-H110M Pro-VHL Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard $53.99 @ SuperBiiz
Memory *Crucial 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory $39.99 @ NCIX US
Storage Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive $48.89 @ OutletPC
Video Card MSI Radeon RX 470 4GB ARMOR OC Video Card $169.99 @ Newegg
Case Deepcool TESSERACT SW ATX Mid Tower Case $39.99 @ SuperBiiz
Power Supply Corsair CXM 550W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply $59.99 @ Newegg
Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
Total (before mail-in rebates) $597.73
Mail-in rebates -$10.00
Total $587.73
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-11-12 13:20 EST-0500
Augmentations
Note, if you plan on Overclocking the cpu, the End-All could be an option for you.

Benchmarks


They also have a couple other builds that are both cheaper and more expensive so you can decide what components you want to spend your $ on.





I just noticed you want to build it CHEAP, so here's their recommendation for cheap;

The Media Elite
Last refreshed: November 12th, 2016. Version 5.7, latestrevision by /u/RandomDudeOP . Provide feedback here.

About
This HTPC is essentially a next-gen console with more versatility. The GPU in this build is capable of performing on-par with the current generation of gaming consoles, and the CPU is more than powerful enough to handle current-gen games without bottlenecking the GPU. You can expect to game at the same frame rates, resolutions, and graphical fidelity as the PS4 or XBoxOne, but you will pay nearly $100 less for the privilege. With SteamOS nearing its full release and the advent of mainstream Linux gaming approaching, you won't even need to pay for your gaming Operating System. Hook this up to the TV, sit down with your console controller of choice, a new Steam controller, or any number of custom USB gamepads, and enjoy console-quality living room gaming with cheaper games... and now a cheaper, more versatile machine... which also has 2x the storage space.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type Item Price
CPU AMD Athlon X4 880K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor $83.99 @ SuperBiiz
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-F2A68HM-H Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard $45.00 @ NCIX US
Memory *Avexir Budget Series 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory $19.89 @ OutletPC
Storage Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive $49.89 @ OutletPC
Video Card Gigabyte Radeon RX 460 2GB WINDFORCE OC Video Card $89.98 @ Newegg
Case NZXT Source 210 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case $34.99 @ Directron
Power Supply Corsair CXM 450W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply $33.99 @ Newegg
Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
Total (before mail-in rebates) $407.73
Mail-in rebates -$50.00
Total $357.73
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-11-12 13:15 EST-0500
Augmentations
Benchmarks
  • R7 360 Benchmarks - Bear in mind that most of the benchmarked settings and resolutions are MUCH higher than console-quality settings/resolutions.
 
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AMD is out, and the i5 l listed is faster and cheaper
But if l go 1151 l can get an i5 in the 3+ GHz for $199 vs $179 for one in the 2+GHz,
And many games have 3+GHz listed as minimum spec. So it may be a cost effective extra $20

I am also interested in knowing if anyone has run games listed on an i3 with HT?
 
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Barracuda413
AMD is out, and the i5 l listed is faster and cheaper
But if l go 1151 l can get an i5 in the 3+ GHz for $199 vs $179 for one in the 2+GHz,
And many games have 3+GHz listed as minimum spec. So it may be a cost effective extra $20
Click to expand...

Once again the min specs are awful to go by, that would be like buying a car only based on color alone. Also the i5 6400 stock speed is misleading since its turbo speed is at 3.2Ghz which it will be at more often than not while gaming.
 
I need to research more about min vs recommended specs,
It is often repeated that minimum specs are unplayable, but if that is true
Why are they listed as minimum specs?
 
The specs could mean anything since devs hardly ever list what it means. It could mean the bare minimum to boot up the game, the min for 30FPS medium settings, 30FPS ultra settings, 60FPS low settings, etc.

They also love to flipflop on the requirements sometimes. For BF1 as a example the min is a FX 6300 or a i5 6600K(the i5 is vastly better) and a FX 8350(which is weaker than the i5 6600K) and a i7 6700 as the recommend CPU's. They tend to recommend 16GB of RAM but you won't see a difference between 8GB and 16GB in any game and you can sometimes get by with less RAM than what they say is the min. In BF1 you can play it perfectly fine with only 4GB of RAM.

The only dev recently that didn't half ass the requirements would be the devs of Titanfall 2 which is a good example of what requirements should be.

https://www.titanfall.com/en_us/news/pc-specs/
 
Video cards are another confusing issue
From what I have read, prossesing power is far more important than memory
A better card with half the ram can often out perform a lower end card with twice the amount of ram
Also type of V ram is important, one gig of better V ram can do the work of two or even four gigs of lesser V ram
 
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