Help for a beginner

[jjbIR53]

I'm looking at building a budget system for the first time and have done lots of research but would like some feedback or guidance. The system I have looked at is:

i3 4170
MB: H81M-HD3
RAM: 8GB Ballistix Sport
HD: Western digital 1TB
GPU: R7 250 / GTX 750 ti - I could choose either, which would be better?

I am unsure about the motherboard. I am looking at a micro atx because they seem to be suggested a lot. Can anybody suggest alternatives?

I hope this makes sense and will try to answer any questions

Thanks

 

[Outlander_04]

Read the thread at the beginning of the form about how to ask for advice

 

[jjbIR53]

Yeah. Oops. I was editing while you replied. Any ideas now?

 

[boosted1g]

The 750 ti is better by a good margin

Micro-atx boards is an atx board that is in a smaller form factor, this means less ports, less upgradeability, and its also too small to fit some of the more advanced features in it.

Not to say that Micro-atx boards are bad, they just don't have the options a full ATX board does. Micro-atx boards are generally cheaper.

For micro-atx I would suggest Gigabyte B85 Gaming 3, or for full atx then ASROCK H97 Pro would be a reasonably low priced

 

[Outlander_04]

The advantage of an ATX board is the ability to plug in 7 add in cards . Back when the ATX standard was written this was important . If you wanted sound you had a sound card . If you wanted networking you added in a network card , if you wanted the internet you added a modem etc etc


To day all those things are built in to motherboards and probably the majority of computers have 6 empty slots and a graphics card .
m-ATX boards vary in features but in general perform exactly the same as ATX boards with the same chip sets .
H81 is a cut down budget chipset that lacks many features available in H97 . You might never use them , but then again you might be thinking you would upgrade in a year or so .

I would build something like this
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4170 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor ($113.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M Anniversary Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($67.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($43.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.98 @ Best Buy)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card ($97.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1100 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($38.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $445.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-24 17:35 EDT-0400

 

[jjbIR53]

Thanks for the great help. I'm going to recycle an old case and power supply. I'm not too fussed about appearances and taking components out will help me understand how they go in.

 

[Outlander_04]

Thanks for the great help. I'm going to recycle an old case and power supply. I'm not too fussed about appearances and taking components out will help me understand how they go in.

Good idea .

If you can afford it then spend more on the graphics card a GTX 950 or 960 .
Cases must have air flow . If your case is really old and has no fans then you might want to add some of those too