System Builder Marathon Q4 2014: Budget Gaming PC

[CaptainTom]

After seeing the results of Far Cry 4 I could never recommend a Pentium for gaming again. Within a year all of those people who were told that the latest Pentiums can keep up with the cheap AMD quad cores are going to be
out of luck :/

 

[rush21hit]

I can confirm some of the comments.

My setup is VERY old and outdated by today's standard. A puny E5400 paired with 2x1GB DDR2, I just bought a 750Ti with the hopes of playing some new titles. As it turns out, my miserable PC can't even load any of them. Including but not limited to; DA:I, COD AW, Far Cry 4 and AC: Unity.

These days, the need for quad cores intensifies...And there I thought it would be like the old days when you buy the latest gen GPU architecture and your other specs would be fine...

 

[SuperVeloce]

@ingtar33 "actually DA:I won't even boot on an i3. the box is very specific. it calls for a quad core cpu min. i3s don't count as true quad cores so it won't even boot on an i3. I don't know about the other games you listed, but i know DAI doesn't work."

Actually it's possible to run DA:I on i3, just not on pentiums. And according to gamegpu.ru i3 4330 is faster than fx4xxx and fx6xxx

 

[de5_Roy]

was hoping to see a kaveri based athlon quad cpu. darn market situations...

i like the case choice. the thing looks, acts like a budget part (and it is) but it was a good fit for the gfx card as the hdd cage was hung from the 5.25" cage instead of stuck at the base of the case. i quess the only downside may be that the hdd gets less cooling as the hot air from the bottom rises upwards.

btw, in the temp. chart, both pcs are labeled as "current".

 

[raheel136]

i dont think there is any build better than this one in $600

 

[ingtar33]

@ingtar33 "actually DA:I won't even boot on an i3. the box is very specific. it calls for a quad core cpu min. i3s don't count as true quad cores so it won't even boot on an i3. I don't know about the other games you listed, but i know DAI doesn't work."

Actually it's possible to run DA:I on i3, just not on pentiums. And according to gamegpu.ru i3 4330 is faster than fx4xxx and fx6xxx

must have been part of the day1 patch. the forums were flooded with i3s on the first day who couldn't get DAI running.

 

[infamousluge85]

Is this a good build? I mainly play wow and fsx.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ffz9XL

 

[damric]

Is this a good build? I mainly play wow and fsx.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ffz9XL

Not for those games.

Try this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($168.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M Anniversary Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($66.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($62.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.88 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 280 3GB WINDFORCE Video Card ($174.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cougar MG100 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($28.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer ($16.95 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $762.74
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-28 01:58 EST-0500

 

[Lil’bertz]

can it be my build for my gaming, game recording and vid editing pc?

 

[Onus]

Please take further discussion of that build to its own thread. This thread is for discussion of the SBM. Thanks.

 

[JonnyDough]

Good to see a build that is more typical of the majority of builders out there.

 

[DougLYX]

is it too late to enter in for the really high end contest?...cause i think i found a nice one but i'm way too cheap to afford it.

 

[DougLYX]

it was 9k usd, not including case, display, kb/mouse and spare hds...just cpu, mobo, ram, video cards, and pwr and cpu cooler

 

[adamovera]

@sea monkey: Thanks, all errors have been fixed!

 

[tyranthoth]

Why use Intet at this price point and not an A Series AMD, Does not the AMD A8-7600 Kaveri out perform the Intel Pentium. Also if you can't use a SSD why not a hybrid SSSD/HDD, if you use a Case w/power supply combo you cut enough cost for the better AMD process and the Hybrid HDD at 1 TB. Here let me give you an example:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811148046 - Computer Case 480W Power
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822178381 - Seagate Hybrid Drive ST1000DX001 1TB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157569 - ASRock FM2A58M-VG3+ R2.0 Socket FM2+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820313080 - Team Dark 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161442 - HIS Radeon R9 270X 2GB 256-Bit
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204 - ASUS 24X DVD Burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832416776 -Windows 8.1

$594.93

Your looking at less then a $10 price increase and better performance.

 

[egowhip69]

Did I miss something? The title says budget gaming, but only 4 games were tested?

Is computer gaming that dead that the test suite of games is only 4??? (I don't think so, but then... why only 4?)

 

[Onus]

Why use Intet at this price point and not an A Series AMD, Does not the AMD A8-7600 Kaveri out perform the Intel Pentium. Also if you can't use a SSD why not a hybrid SSSD/HDD, if you use a Case w/power supply combo you cut enough cost for the better AMD process and the Hybrid HDD at 1 TB. Here let me give you an example:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811148046 - Computer Case 480W Power
...

That was far enough. Logisys offers PSU-shaped objects that are unfit for purpose. The last two I saw tested were quite some time ago, but they were good for just 68% and 56% of their labels, and that not cleanly.

 

[DougLYX]

test bed uses 4 selected games cause they hog the most system resources when compared to all other games currently on the market

 

[iron8orn]

so the conclusion is pretty much don't buy this.. or you could have said a gaming pc is not a necessity and the pentium is better for a htpc so if you cant afford to do it right then get a console or save up your money

 

[degreesofuncertainty]

"But its weakness will be exposed in heavily thread-dependent games"

what if we changed the cpu to an i3.. would that help although you cant overclock it.. it would have 4 threads, 1600fsb for ram..

 

[damric]

"But its weakness will be exposed in heavily thread-dependent games"

what if we changed the cpu to an i3.. would that help although you cant overclock it.. it would have 4 threads, 1600fsb for ram..

Pretty much this. i3s are pretty good at a wide variety of games really.

 

[Onus]

While I agree that an i3 is the much better chip, at this budget level, Paul was able to show that the little Pentium was generally competent. It was interesting how he found and addressed a stuttering issue. Someone planning to play better-threaded titles would need to adjust his CPU/GPU balance accordingly, or wait until he had a bigger budget.

 

[damric]

I had a nice Z97 board fall into my lap last week. Going to get a 3258 soon to play around with and compare to my i3, Athlon 760K and 860K in a variety of titles. I got like all the low budget stuff, lol.

 

[pauldh]

"But its weakness will be exposed in heavily thread-dependent games"

what if we changed the cpu to an i3.. would that help although you cant overclock it.. it would have 4 threads, 1600fsb for ram..

Pretty much this. i3s are pretty good at a wide variety of games really.

Agreed. While not as universally competent at i5, i3's two logical threads do solve most of the Pentium's gaming shortcomings. Core-i3 is a good alternative starting CPU, but if upgrading from G3258, I'd jump straight to i5.

 

[pauldh]

While I agree that an i3 is the much better chip, at this budget level, Paul was able to show that the little Pentium was generally competent. It was interesting how he found and addressed a stuttering issue. Someone planning to play better-threaded titles would need to adjust his CPU/GPU balance accordingly, or wait until he had a bigger budget.

Glad you noticed! I have not seen those issues with Steam, only Origin. It's a known issue, and appears almost random. But it would have been interesting to see (in this case) if popping in i5 (alone) could possibly have ironed out the stuttering issue? If so, this further adds to your concerns about background tasks while gaming on the G3258. No doubt, when available resources are running low (CPU or RAM), you'll need to limit background tasks. That alone could be a deal breaker for some gamers who's needs aren't met by a "clean" or dedicated gaming system.

BTW... One way or another, I'll outfit more threads next quarter.