Cheapest PC build for Playerunknowns Battlegrounds

the shakey

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Feb 3, 2015
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I have a friend looking to get into PC gaming due to the success of PUBG. He has played only consoles up to this point but wants to try out PC gaming. An entry level PC that will run PUBG on very low with respectable frame rates and play other newer games without issues will be fine. Goal is to be able to play games now with room to upgrade later for better graphics.

Thanks for any help.
 
Solution
A good setup for this game is:
Intel Core 2 Duo (E6420 or higher) 5$ US / Intel Core 2 Quad (Q6400 or higher) 14$ US
4GB of DDR2 7$ US
nVidia Geforce GTX 750ti 2GB GDDR5 25$ US
Pretty much any 350W or higher PSU 7$ US
At least 40GB SATA Hard Disc Drive $15 US
GIGABYTE GA-G31M-ES2L REV1.1 $2 US
An ATX PC case $5 US

About 67$ US in total. (All bought from used market)

This setup can play PUBG at a solid 30-35 fps with the Core 2 Duo, and a solid 60fps with the Core 2 Quad (Very Low Settings, 1920x1080).
Although the Core 2 Duo is cheaper, you get almost over double the preformance with the Core 2 Quad for only about 10$ US more, and more use from the computer, as it won't get outdated so fast.
Other modern games such as Grand Theft Auto V would run with about 50-60 on medium settings at 1080p with the Core 2 Quad, but about 15fps-20fps with the Core 2 Duo. (You will need a lot bigger hard drive for GTA V)

If you need help with specific parts and links just ask.
 


What is his exact budget? Definitions of playable vary for person to person, it's far better to start with a defined budget and then see what's possible within that budget.
 


He has no PC parts at all.
 


$500 is a little rough, then, because you're essentially using $200 for Windows and a monitor. Now, you could probably find some used/older parts instead, the upgrade path will tend to be pretty limited. Like you could find a refurbished i5 2400 mini-tower build for a couple hundred or something and throw in a GTX 1050 or similar, but any upgrades will tend to be expensive as they'll require a new motherboard/power supply etc.
 


He will use a small tv as a monitor and found a free keyboard and mouse. No need for speakers because he uses a headset and his works across all platforms so basically just the OS will be needed
 


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Pentium G4560 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($70.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI - B250M PRO-VD Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($55.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial - Ballistix Sport LT 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($73.95 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.88 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte - Radeon RX 560 4GB Gaming OC Video Card ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Case: BitFenix - Nova ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair - CX (2017) 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($89.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $538.56
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-07-29 16:03 EDT-0400

This is about as close as I can get to $500 while also fulfilling a desire to play PUBG respectably and provide a platform that can be easily upgraded - he could put in an i7-7700 and/or up to a GTX 1070 (doesn't touch 200W) with this rig later and put in an SSD and make it a considerably higher-end rig without needing to change the motherboard, RAM, power supply, or case.

Ryzen is also a very good option -- AMD has really flipped over the apple cart this year -- but in the short-term, it's a little trickier getting a Ryzen platform in this budget. The Pentium G4560 (it has hyperthreading, so it's 2c/4t) is a dirt-cheap bargain.

I also spent a little bit more to get 4 GB of VRAM, simply because open-world type games can really chew up that RAM. If possible, I'd also recommend pushing the budget to get 2x8 (PUBG can be a RAM hog and it's still in early release), but it *can* be played at 2x4 and I didn't want to bust your budget. I know it sounds weird to recommend a RAM upgrade before a GPU one -- it goes against every fiber of my being 99% of the time -- but I think given what you've said, he may very well get a benefit here.
 
Solution


Thanks looks pretty good to me. That RYZEN chip is tempting me pretty bad so I have to agree with you on that one but if I upgraded to it I would have to get a new MOBO and ram. I will throw this his way though and see what happens. Thanks for the suggestions. And for keeping it nice and simple since I will have to be the one to build the thing.
 


Yeah, the Ryzens are great chips. If I was in the market for a new build right now, it's very possible that I'd be building a Ryzen 1800x rig right now. Unfortunately, my 3770k main build and 3930k work build have held up way too well. I say unfortunately because I'm an inverterate tinkerer and I'm just dying for a good excuse to upgrade my platforms. Threadripper may push me over the edge in my work build.

Any way, good luck!
 


Is what true?

If you have upgrade questions, don't necro an unrelated nearly year-old thread, start a new thread with the details of what your needs are, what your budget is, and if this is an upgrade, *all* your current specs.