CPU/Motherboard value for 1st build

[no1b4me72]

Old desktop is getting long in the tooth and I've always wanted to put together my own system. I have picked out 3 cpu/motherboard combos that fall within a certain price range of each other. I'm kind of new to all of this and wanted to get a few opinions on the pros and cons of each one and what might be the best choice before buying.

1. Haswell Pentium G3258 3.2 GHz / GIGABYTE GA-Z97M-DS3H LGA 1150 - $140

2. Haswell Intel Core i3-4170 3.7 GHz / MSI H81M-P33 LGA1150 -$131

3. Skylake Intel Core i3-6100 3.7 GHz / ASUS H110M-A LGA 1151 - $150

System will be used for browsing, multimedia/streaming, and a little light gaming. Going to pair it with 8 GB ram and a SSD. The 3258 is unlocked and will be overclocked. The 4170 is locked. And I don't know the status of the 6100, I've read conflicting reports. Anyhow, which one would be the best bang for the buck?

 

[BadActor]

Obviously, the i3 6100 is going to be the best performer at stock clocks. It can be overclocked on certain Z170 chipset boards, but there are some downsides, mostly not being able to monitor core temps and loss of on board graphics. It's onboard graphics are very good, even able to play most modern games, albeit lower settings. It also has hyper-threading, which the G3258 does not. For a purely budget build, I would use the G3258, but if you spend a little more, I think the i3 6100 would be a better all around CPU.

http://overclocking.guide/asus-z170-non-k-overclocking-guide/

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor ($124.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3P ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($89.99 @ Micro Center)
Memory: Crucial 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $254.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-30 13:02 EST-0500

 

[Karadjgne]

Forget about the pentium. Dual core cpus are fast becoming obsolete. With the introduction of Steam and other such online resources, games especially are no longer bound to the cd/DVD. Because of demand, video and especially audio is compressed for faster transmission and this takes cpu power to uncompress. Having a dual core really suffers here as any work done is taking up one core, making the pc work on the other. Significant slowdowns and lack of performance will ensue. An i3 with its HT, while not a true quad core, goes a long way to alleviating this bottleneck as it'll handle 4 simultaneous threads vrs the pentium 2. Out of these, the skylake i3's have the best overall performance. As BadActor pointed out, with a slightly more expensive option, you'll be able to unlock a lot more options. You'll have to take into consideration that your exact needs of today will not necessarily be those of tomorrow, I've never liked first person shooters, much preferring strategy and dungeon crawling games then played CS:GO and haven't been able to put it down since. Some games like GTA:V have a 4 core minimum requirement, and this will probably become the norm with future software. The i3's register as a quad core when HT is enabled.

 

[no1b4me72]

Yeah, for the budget I'm not adding a video card right now, so losing on board video isn't an option for the time being. And the Z board is significantly more. So even with the Asus H110 chipset, you would go with the 6100 for $10 more at stock speed over the G3258 overclocked on a Z97?

Right at the $300 budget, here's what I'm looking like. i3 6100, 8 gigs of ddr4, 120 ssd, 430 w ps, and wifi ac. Already have a case and a couple hdds. Is that about the best I'm going to be able to do for $300?

On another note, taken the $300 cost of the build into account. Are there any video cards better than the on board video that would be reasonable cost for a $300 build? And would a 430 w PS cover a lower cost video card or would that need to be upgraded also?


Edit, I've been running an HP pentium dual E6300 @ 2.8 with 7 gigs of ram since 2011. It's fine for my uses and has run well. It's just showing its age lately. I haven't gamed at all on this unit, however I figured that I "might" in the future. Desktops tend to usually last me 4-5 years.

 

[BadActor]

Personally, I would still use the i3 6100, even with the H110. A decent video card capable of outperforming the OBG is going to blow your budget out of the water anyway. If you get a good quality 520+ watt PSU now, it would be able to run most of the video cards you would be able to use with the CPU and not bottleneck.

http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=PSS12II520&c=CJ

http://techbuyersguru.com/ultralight-gaming-shootout-pentium-g3258-vs-core-i3-4170-vs-core-i3-6100?page=1