Would it be best to buy an optical drive for my PC Build mainly just to install drivers?

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
gumbob3

gumbob3

Respectable
Mar 5, 2016
410
0
1,810
This would be my first PC build, mainly just for surfing the web. I am wondering how much simpler it would make it if I had an optical drive... How necessary is it? I know you can buy some good ones for $15-$20, but I would also have to get a different case. The current case I have picked out doesn't have room for an optical drive, so the next case would be an additional $20ish. If I do need one though, would I be better off buying an external optical drive and plugging it into the USB port? THANKS!

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD A10-7870K 3.9GHz Quad-Core Processor ($132.69 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus A88XM-A Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($70.94 @ Mac Mall)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport XT 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($37.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.89 @ OutletPC)
Case: Xion XON-310_BK MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($22.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($34.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $349.49
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-10 22:02 EST-0500
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
I don't have a new computer so I don't know what Windows 10 can boot on or not and whatever it can get by setting up the network and fetch the drivers required or not.
Since I have an old machine and Windows would boot on it I wouldn't get an optical drive (mini-ITX case? Define S?)
I also don't know whatever downloaded Windows 10 images from Microsoft for installation from USB drive contains newer builds with more drivers on them and whatever that would sort any issues.

Guess I'd not get one and hope it worked regardless =p. but it's better that someone else answers I guess.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Why such a large case for a basic use system? Aside from the cost that is? If this will be a sort of media system, I'd suggest a bluray player for it, unless you already have one. Other than that, if you have a second computer to download drivers on, you don't need an optical drive.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163223
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811353062
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119274
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811353049
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811353095
 
Upvote 0 Downvote


So you recommend a mini case? I'm using the stock AMD heatsink so that shouldn't be an issue. Will all of these cases fit a full size psu, and RAM with tall heatsinks? THANKS
 
Upvote 0 Downvote


Yes they will all fit, all those cases can hold a large power supply. Case size is really up to you, but the smaller the better for space issues, and I think a large case that is mostly air just looks wrong when built LOL. There are a ton of other cases out there of-course, I just listed the ones with an optical bay that look pretty good and are not too large.

If you go without an optical drive, this is an interesting case, and with an APU with no video card added has plenty of space http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811353044 or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119299
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Here is an improved system. I got a 6th Gen I3 with DDR4 RAM, and got rid of the poor quality EVGA 500W PSU:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor ($131.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H110M-A Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($54.98 @ Micro Center)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($43.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.87 @ OutletPC)
Case: Xion XON-310_BK MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($25.28 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($61.58 @ SuperBiiz)
Total With 10% Tax: $372.67
Total Without Tax: $338.84
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-11 10:02 EST-0500

It's even cheaper. Note that I also put 10% tax in there just in case you get charged tax from anywhere.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote


Whats wrong with EVGA power supplies? I thought that was a good brand and it has good reviews... Also about half the price of the SeaSonic one. Also, I'm having a tough time deciding between AMD and Intel. According to this, it seems AMD would be better... http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i3-6100-vs-AMD-A10-7870K. Also I think I would want dual channel RAM, so I would probably change the build to this if I went with Intel instead of AMD.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor ($119.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Asus Z170M-PLUS Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.89 @ OutletPC)
Case: Xion XON-310_BK MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($22.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($34.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $387.84
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-11 10:35 EST-0500
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
The EVGA 500W is poor quality because it uses Chinese capacitors that won't last long and poor ripple suppression on the 12V rail. The source of this information can be found here http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=384 it's important to note that brand-loyalty is never a good thing with power supplies. EVGA doesn't make any power supplies, they pay other companies to make them, and then they put on their label. This one is made by HEC Compucase.

I disagree with the change you made. A Z170 motherboard has 0 benefit with an I3-6100 and is throwing your money down the drain. Getting a quality power supply is the most important thing.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote


What you may want to do is go with a slower/cheaper CPU since it's for basic use and use the extra money on a better power supply and replace the standard drive with a solid state. The system will feel faster that way due to the fast drive, and you will not have to worry as much about power supply dying. That EVGA model is a mid-range model, not bad but not super good either. For a regular non-gaming system it would be OK to use, but you may want to spend a bit more for a better one anyway for future reliability. Non-gaming systems, if you are OK with taking a small chance of a less reliable unit (say buying a Ford vs a Toyota), you can spend less on a mid-range PSU with your components. But if you want to ensure stable use for a while, go up in a tier. As a rule, all of the mid range systems in your wattage are about $30-40. Once you go up a notch in quality you are at about $50-60.

The A10 would be better than the i3 in game graphics speed, aside from that, for basic use, it does not matter what CPU you get. You can get a cheaper A4, Pentium dual core, and it will all work fine.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote


Well, yep, even the lower Intel i3 has better onboard graphics than the A10 according to this http://www.game-debate.com/cpu/index.php?pid=2410&pid2=2339&compare=core-i3-6100-3-7ghz-vs-apu-a10-7870k-quad-core

I did not check the latest ratings for that, the prior gen i3 was about 25% - 50% slower than the A10 depending on the game. Now the i3-6100 is a bit faster.

The CPU boss link shows just the core stats, not actual performance. If you just look at the numbers, the A10 has higher numbers, but in actual program use, the i3 is faster.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
It's the more expensive EVGA PSUs which are good, just as the more expensive Corsair units are good.

The cheaper EVGA PSUs and Corsair units are of course not as good as the expensive ones.

At normal price all the cheap ones will have cheaper capacitors though, that's just how it is, pay less = get cheaper construction, it's rather obvious, one don't get the good stuff for free regardless of brand.
The CoolerMaster V-series, the Corsair RM and the EVGA G2 are good stuff but they aren't in your price range.
There's these which may help: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html

Since this was a low budget build and had AMD components (which are older?) I would definitely not get the optical drive to save some money.
I would also remove the A10 processor and replace it with a Athlon X4 860K or the Intel Pentium G3258 + a graphics card with either of those, like a GTX 750Ti or so.

The X4 860K + GTX 750Ti will cost slightly more than the A10 I guess but it will also be better, it's similar processor without integrated graphics + dedicated graphics card instead, the price difference isn't so large that you shouldn't do it.
Maybe you can find a cheaper motherboard, if you go with G3258 check for H81s and see how cheap you can get it, it likely can be done with very little impact on your price.

The smallest HDDs and SSDs offer less for the money but they are cheaper of course, one alternative is to take a 120 GB SSD instead of 1 TB HDD but maybe not? a 250 GB SSD would cost a little more than the 1 TB HDD.

An i3 6100 on H110 motherboard or so would be better than the G3258 but cost even more. I don't know which is the better gaming processor of the Athlon X4 860K or the Pentium G3258, one is slow / core and the other can just run two threads.


This is an old answer I wrote like 4 days ago but some crybaby reported me so I was banned for a day.. I'll close some tabs so I'm posting this now as is.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote


Remember this is not for gaming "This would be my first PC build, mainly just for surfing the web. ", web surfing does not need a fast CPU or video card. X4 and a 750 Ti is more than slightly more than the A10, it's almost double the cost and not needed for a basic use system.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
If it's not for gaming do whatever.
But then you can just aswell get the i3 6100, the integrated graphics in the A10 is better than the one in the i3 but if you won't play games ..

Athlon 860K start at $70 on PCPartPicker, 7870K start at $128 so the difference there is $58.
GTX 750Ti is available from $100 (https://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-video-card-02gp43753kr) so the total difference is $42.

For it to be "almost double" you'd have to compare against only your processor but even then $170 isn't "almost double" to $128, it's 33% more.

But I wouldn't compare it as such, I would compare the $350 machine vs one for $390 where the later have much better graphics capability and cost 11.4% more which IMHO is totally worth it.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote


This was my initial build, and since then I have changed the list to the i3-6100
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom