14 replies to this topic

[Rob38]

I am helping a friend build a new computer and wanted to get feeback before showing her what I got.  She has a $500-600 budget.  She wants a quality running computer that can play WOW.  Here is what I have put together:

 

MSI B85-G43 GAMING LGA 1150 Intel B85 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - $94.99

 

Intel Pentium G3440 Haswell 3.3GHz LGA 1150 53W Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics BX80646G3440 - $89.99

 

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBXL - $45.99

 

Western Digital WD Blue WD5000AAKX 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive - OEM - $54.99

 

EVGA 01G-P3-2631-KR GeForce GT 630 1GB 128-Bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card - $59.99

 

Rosewill CAPSTONE-450 450W Continuous @ 50°C, Intel Haswell Ready, 80 PLUS GOLD, ATX12V v2.31 & EPS12V v2.92, SLI/CrossFire Ready, Active PFC Power Supply - $59.99

 

Cooler Master HAF 912 - High Air Flow Mid Tower Computer Case - $59.99

 

Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-bit - OEM - $99.99

 

SAMSUNG DVD Burner 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM SATA Model SH-224DB/BEBE - OEM - $19.99

 

Total comes to $585.91.  Thoughts on this?  Any areas I can cut the price further?

 

[Elric]

The motherboard does not need to be that great go with something around the 70-75 buck range maybe from Asus, i would then say to your friend save up a bit more for a 700 bucks PC and get an i3 or even an i5 just to future proof the build a little bit more. Also i know its not "right" but i would say save that hundred for the windows 8.1 and torrent it + use KMSpico to crack it. Saves a hundred that way and it will look and feel legit to (thats what i have used almost everywhere) With both those done i would say you would have quite a fine build for the price range.

 

Also, that graphics card might not be able to run WoW because it is only a GT not a GTX (latest tech)

[Radspakr Wolfbane]

or if they already have a computer with Windows 7 on it just reuse the product key from that.

[Kwen]

If the intention is only things as in depth as WOW, you should consider and AMD build with an APU and use the saved money to put into user convenience such as HDD space.

 

Spoiler

APU: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819113280 $119.99

MoBo: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813128659 $84.99

HDD: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16822236339 $59.99

RAM: http://www.newegg.co...1-427-_-Product $ 45.99

 

*copying the rest*

 

Rosewill CAPSTONE-450 450W Continuous @ 50°C, Intel Haswell Ready, 80 PLUS GOLD, ATX12V v2.31 & EPS12V v2.92, SLI/CrossFire Ready, Active PFC Power Supply - $59.99

 

Cooler Master HAF 912 - High Air Flow Mid Tower Computer Case - $59.99

 

Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-bit - OEM - $99.99

 

SAMSUNG DVD Burner 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM SATA Model SH-224DB/BEBE - OEM - $19.99

 

Total on this config: $550.92

 

Cheaper, with more HDD space and a higher quality CPU. 

 

Note that both PS4 and Xbox One use APUs as their powerhouse to run "next gen" games.

 

Just food for thought.

 

 

 

 

 

Edit: For the record Elric, you don't need a GTX card to run modern games. My old GTS 450 could run modern games (for the time) quite easily. And I built a PC for my friend a few months back using a GT 630 that ran games just fine, not any higher than medium mind you, but fine by the general budget consumer mindset.

Edited by Kwen, 09 June 2014 - 12:42 PM.

[Elric]

meh yea i know they can run them it is just as you said, not on the higher quality side of things. AMD is getting better but i still wouldnt recommend it over intel.

[Kwen]

When considering such a sharp budget, it becomes really hard to keep dragging Intel along on a leash. Yes it's better, but it's more geared towards performance, and the price reflects. To net really good performance on a low budget, it is in most cases just not viable.

 

The old saying "Save your pennies and go bigger later" works well for people who actually care, but for someone who just wants something solid and affordable, it's clearly not a focal point.

[Rob38]

Thanks for he feedback everyone.   @Kwen, nice finds there!  Great prices for the hard drive and the APU.  I think this will work great for my friend as she really is not that much of a gamer and really only plays WOW (which according to sites, should run great on the AMD Radeon HD 7660D).  Using Kwen's list, is the 450w power supply sufficient?  Or can I go even less (maybe 400 or 350w)?  I may also look at getting a cheaper computer case so any recommendations would be great!  Finally, I also just found out that my friend could use a new monitor.  Any recommendations on a decent monitor?  $100 is the max that can be spent for a monitor.  She also will need a pair of cheap speakers as well.   

[Kwen]

Well with a build like this you don't even need a mid-tower, the board I listed is a Micro ATX, so you could compact the build fairly easily into a Micro-ATX case which can still be nice and very cheap all the while being small and portable (if need be).

 

A nice little option: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811553011

 

As for a monitor with a $100 price tag, there are a few options I would recommend. If she is wanting beautiful picture quality with less focus on gaming. Then maybe something like this? http://www.newegg.co...N82E16824176422

It is a bit weird to look at in the pictures, but it is an IPS panel for less than $100 with good reviews, which makes it worth a swing in my opinion.

 

Alternatively you could go for something with a bit better response time and maybe a bit more user friendly, but will not have as much visual clarity in the picture. A few good options:

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16824009551

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16824116653

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16824236203

 

The monitor side of things is really a draw from the hat when it comes to a $100 screen. At that price you're going to get a monitor, not much more to get in depth about.

 

As for the power supply, I can't really recommend anything other than that one there. 450W might be a tiny bit excessive for a small setup like this, but it's 80+ Gold standard which means very good efficiency which is hard to come by in these small sizes. I browsed through 350W and 400W PSUs and I couldn't find anything that was cheaper and offered better efficiency. Plus, Rosewill makes good stuff!

 

Cheap speakers... Take a trip to Best Buy or Wal-Mart.

[Rob38]

Thanks!  I will run all of this by my friend and we will see what she decides to do.

[Beowulf]

Change out the processor for an AMD APU. You'll get a quad and a lot more bang for the buck. Then you can debate if you need a discrete GPU or not.

[Kwen]

Change out the processor for an AMD APU. You'll get a quad and a lot more bang for the buck. Then you can debate if you need a discrete GPU or not.

I already presented this option, and that's what he is going with.

[Beowulf]

Never hurts to have someone else suggest it. xD

[Rob38]

Looks like my friend is replacing her old Dell Dimension E 520 manufactured computer.  She was wondering if the old case could be used with the new parts as it would save her $35 for a new case.  It looks like we could do that but wanted to run it through you all first.  It also appears to have a 300w power supply.

[Kwen]

It is possible, I do not recommend it however. Odds are that case will cause you much more of a headache than saving 35$ is worth. You could use that power supply, but bear in mind that if it is older (even by only a small amount) it might not have the right connections to hook up the system properly. You'd be finding yourself needing a ton of adapters to hook things up. I don't know this for sure, but it's an issue I ran into when i was trying to build a PC for someone and I gave him the Seasonic I used in my previous build. He needed like four different adapters because the connections did not fit the graphics card and motherboard properly.

[Beowulf]

Looks like my friend is replacing her old Dell Dimension E 520 manufactured computer.  She was wondering if the old case could be used with the new parts as it would save her $35 for a new case.  It looks like we could do that but wanted to run it through you all first.  It also appears to have a 300w power supply.

If the case is designed for ATX or mATX specifications, you can. If it's true OEM, don't bother.