Budget Game PC

genexception

genexception

genexception

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31 Jan 2015
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Not built a PC for years, now back on the scene.

I'm building a budget gaming machine for my little boy and was planning on the following:-

Asus H81M-PLUS S1150 Intel H81 DDR3 mATX
Intel Pentium Dual Core G3258 3.20GHz 3MB S1150 Pentium K Anniversary
Crucial 8GB (2 x 4GB) Tactical DDR3 1600MHz CL8 1.5v 240pin
WD 500GB Black SATA 6GB/s 7200RPM 16MB 2.5" 9.5mm Hard Drive
XFX 450W ProSeries 80Plus Bronze Core Edition Full Wired PSU
Asus AMD Radeon R9 270 975MHz 2GB GDDR5 PCI-E 3.0 HDMI DirectCU II OC
BitFenix Prodigy M Case

This takes the budget to around £360, which I can play with slightly.

I've definitely decided on the 3258 and a H board taking advantage of the OC'ing capabilities that these now offer. A Z board even a cheap-ish one will push the budget up, then running the 3258 on it is a bit pointless so it's into i5 territory then.

The thing i'm unsure of is the graphics card, and pairing this to the 3258. A 750Ti is a popular option, but the 270 is around the same price (Asus or Sapphire) but more powerful. Would a 270X be better or even would a R9 280 be better still ? The PSU would then have to be upgraded to the 550W model (XFX again perhaps), but would the 3258 be bottlenecking the better GPU then.

In future I could drop in an i5 for an upgrade on this board i guess.

Like the title suggests, it's a budget build, a bit of a play thing with the 3258 chip. It would be nice to play some newer games, although the aim here is not to max out all the settings.

£400 is my very top limit.

Could anyone suggest better or alternative components that they would recommend ?

Many thanks chaps.
 
If you are planning do any gaming on a budget then you should be looking at quad core or more CPU. Even if you have to take the AMD route (non APU) Regardless if you are overclocking or not, taking any dual core is a bad idea now for gaming. Might aswell pay the extra now and go for a i5, maybe 2nd hand i5.

I would go for a 270x or 285 instead of the 270.
 
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malachi said:
If you are planning do any gaming on a budget then you should be looking at quad core or more CPU. Even if you have to take the AMD route (non APU) Regardless if you are overclocking or not, taking any dual core is a bad idea now for gaming. Might aswell pay the extra now and go for a i5, maybe 2nd hand i5.

I would go for a 270x or 285 instead of the 270.
Click to expand...

Personally I think you have it wrong, the OP would be far better off getting the Anniversary dual core he quoted, but upping the motherboard to a Z97 therefor optimising his future by by maintaining the option of buying an i5 later and getting better OC results with the Z97 board.

Then again, I doubt there is better value than that Intel dual core, as it still keeps up with or beats many an AMD chip with most current games anyway.

As much as AMD are great value, they are just not bringing anything new in the way of competition, unless your on a budget and needing cores for some college or uni work. Intel have went from Z77 to Z97, and all the other chipsets in between such as X79, X99, while AMD have continued to tweak old tech. We now have Intel brining out two new DDR4 platforms later this year on top of X99, and still the 990FX is AMD's top chip with the AM3+ socket and DDR3.

The majority of current games get on fine with two cores, if they are clocked high enough,
 
malachi said:
If you are planning do any gaming on a budget then you should be looking at quad core or more CPU. Even if you have to take the AMD route (non APU) Regardless if you are overclocking or not, taking any dual core is a bad idea now for gaming. Might aswell pay the extra now and go for a i5, maybe 2nd hand i5.

I would go for a 270x or 285 instead of the 270.
Click to expand...

Most new games aren't yet using quad core properly, it's starting to happen but not at a rate where a quad core should be minimum.

For a budget gaming PC you want the highest GPU paired with a capable CPU, this is where the Pentium excels at over AMD's offerings, and paired with a cheap Z97 board you can then overclock it, and upgrade to a better CPU.

If Op gets a £150/190 i5, that's half the budget gone and no chance of a GPU being added to the list.
 
What's the actual benefit of a Z board at this point ? Ok the cheapest one will run me an extra £30 on top of the H board, but what's it giving me at this point, will I be able to achieve a higher clock than with the H board ?

One of the reasons I opted for the Asus is that the voltages and everything seem to be unlocked on it aswell, whereas offerings from Gigabyte are limited to 1.2v.

As far as I can see a Z board will offer me extra ram slots ? And given the H81 is a mere £40 a future upgrade would probably see the entire mobo being swapped out anyway, if that makes any sense.

Also with regards to MSI, and not wishing to start any arguments, but what are they like these days ? I have had bad experiences with their products years ago and have since personally branded them as tat. It also coincides with their stuff being considerably cheaper than offerings from other manufacturers such as Gigabyte, Asus etc.

Thanks for the discussion so far.
 
There is no benefit with a Z97 unless you plan some very highish overclock levels, it simply makes overclocking easier, and the motherboard VRM/chipset will run cooler. It will also allow Crossfire/SLI depending on what you spend, and supports higher memory speeds.

As an example, there are Asrock Aniversary motherboards around £60 to £70 designed with the G3258 specifically, which have prebuilt overclocks for the Intel G3258, the overclock levels are usually below what an enthusiast could manage on a higher end board but still over 4Ghz.
Google ASrock Anniversary for some motherboard reviews. They are paired down motherboards and you do not need to do a BIOS flash/update for the G3852 unlike many other motherboards, even the one you have chosen may need a BIOS update unless the retailer knows otherwise.

I was contemplating a Micro-ATX or Mini-ITX G3258 system for my own lads, they currently use either of my old 775 systems on a 1080p 32" TV via HDMI. I do like the idea of a Mini-ITX, because it could be a very low power draw if using a Mini 750 Ti with a 4.0 Ghz OC on the G3258 and run cool and quiet, all good for a kids PC in my book.

I certainly would not be buying an i5 and crossfire/sli for them, though I do not mind giving them my i7/crossfire set up if I get a new system some time in future.
The sort of ideas I had in my head for my lads upgrades are similar to below, I gave my lads Samsung F3 HDD's, and to be honest, I would rather they had a 120gb SSD and add storage later, the speed difference is fantastic.

YOUR BASKET
1 x EVGA GeForce GTX 750Ti SC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (02G-P4-3753-KR) £115.99
1 x Intel Pentium K Anniversary G3258 Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £59.99
1 x Asus H81I-Plus Intel H81 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £58.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite Black 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TPKD38G1600HC11DC01) £49.99
1 x BitFenix Colossus M Mini ITX - Black £47.99
1 x Kingston 120GB SSDNow V300 Drive SATA 6Gb/s 3 2.5" (7mm height) Solid State Hard Drive - (SV300S37A/120G) £46.99
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 350W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £36.95
1 x Silverstone Argon SST-AR01 CPU Cooler - 120mm £25.99
1 x Samsung SH-118BB/BEBE SATA 18x DVD-ROM (Black) - OEM £13.99
Total : £477.40 (includes shipping : £17.10).



Though this system below would be easier for me as I have the PSU/cooler/SSD/HDD/Optic drive/Case. Currently running with an E8500 dual core/Maximus II Gene/4 gb DDR2/HD-7950. For me though, the 775 systems run fine as second systems due to SSD, but just not great at some games (the 7950 is not permanent as it is from my crossfire set up), and I have a Q9550/8gb DDR2 full ATX also spare, so it is hard to justify the G3258 currently, or buying GPU's as I plan on buying two new GPU's this year.

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI Radeon R9 270X Gaming Edition OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £139.99
1 x Gigabyte Z97M-DS3H Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £74.99
1 x Samsung 120GB 850 EVO SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 32 Layer 3D V-NAND Solid State Drive (MZ-75E120B/EU £72.98
1 x BeQuiet Pure Power L8 630W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply - With 120mm Silent Wing Fan Built in £69.95
1 x Silverstone TemJin TJ08B-E Midi Tower Case - Black (SST-TJ08B-E USB 3.0) £64.99
1 x Intel Pentium K Anniversary G3258 Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £59.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite Black 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TPKD38G1600HC11DC01) £49.99
1 x Be Quiet! Dark Rock Advanced CPU Cooler £49.99
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache WD10EZEX - OEM ** Single Platter ** HDD £46.99
1 x Samsung SH-118BB/BEBE SATA 18x DVD-ROM (Black) - OEM £13.99
Total : £658.86 (includes shipping : £12.50).



The lads old PC, currently trialing Windows 10.

20150130_203320.jpg
 
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Are you opposed to used parts at all? You can build something very nice for £400 if you used some used parts (CPU, mobo, RAM, GPU perhaps)
 
Shivy011 said:
Are you opposed to used parts at all? You can build something very nice for £400 if you used some used parts (CPU, mobo, RAM, GPU perhaps)
Click to expand...

Not at all, although that's not really what I was aiming for, otherwise I would buy a cheap case, cheaper ram, cheaper hdd etc.

Ideally what im trying to say is, i'd like a good all round 3258 based on a H board, overclockable and able to play some games, with the possibility in future of dropping in an i5 perhaps, without ALL the parts being the "cheapest of the lot" if you get me.

I think i may be close with my current setup, but really what i was trying to ask was, what alternative parts would you use, i.e. go for the gigabyte h81 board instead of the asus, or go for a antec psu instead of the xfx etc.
 
Okay, well not all H81 boards can OC the G3258. I did read somewhere on here though a list of current boards that with the right BIOS can OC it, including the H81M-Plus

YOUR BASKET
1 x Sapphire Radeon R9 270X Boost OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Card £129.95
1 x Intel Pentium K Anniversary G3258 Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £59.99
1 x Avexir Core Blue Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16001104G-2CW) - Blue Light £49.99
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 450W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £49.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £44.99
1 x **B Grade** Asus H81M-PLUS Intel H81 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX (MB-582-AS) £29.99
1 x Xigmatek Mach Midi-Tower Black £24.95
1 x Raijintek Aidos Direct Contact CPU Cooler - Black £14.99
Total : £418.93 (includes shipping : £11.75).



or for £20 more as already suggested you could have an R9 280. This PSU is great, well build etc or £5 more will get you a Seasonic built Antec TruePower 550W which might be worth it also for scope with more upgrades in the future
 
Last edited:
Shivy011 said:
Okay, well not all H81 boards can OC the G3258. I did read somewhere on here though a list of current boards that with the right BIOS can OC it, including the H81M-Plus

YOUR BASKET
1 x Sapphire Radeon R9 270X Boost OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Card £129.95
1 x Intel Pentium K Anniversary G3258 Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £59.99
1 x Avexir Core Blue Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16001104G-2CW) - Blue Light £49.99
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 450W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £49.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £44.99
1 x **B Grade** Asus H81M-PLUS Intel H81 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX (MB-582-AS) £29.99
1 x Xigmatek Mach Midi-Tower Black £24.95
1 x Raijintek Aidos Direct Contact CPU Cooler - Black £14.99
Total : £418.93 (includes shipping : £11.75).



or for £20 more as already suggested you could have an R9 280. This PSU is great, well build etc or £5 more will get you a Seasonic built Antec TruePower 550W which might be worth it also for scope with more upgrades in the future
Click to expand...


I would not buy a Bgrade board especially from ASUS as if it has any bent pins then trying to get it repaired will be difficult/impossible and we have had a person on these forums before buy the same board (again Bgrade) and it came damaged.

@OP Instead here are all new parts,

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI AMD Radeon R9 285 Gaming Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £149.99
1 x Intel Pentium K Anniversary G3258 Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £59.99
1 x Avexir Core Red Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16001104G-2CIR) - Red Light £49.99
1 x EVGA 500W 80 Plus Bronze Power Supply (100-B1-0500-KR) £43.99
1 x Asus H81M-PLUS Intel H81 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £40.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 500GB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) HDD £37.99
1 x Xigmatek Mach Midi-Tower Black £24.95
Total : £417.49 (includes shipping : £8.00).



A nice R9 285 (so uses less power than a 280 etc and is quicker)
 
stulid said:
I would not buy a Bgrade board especially from ASUS as if it has any bent pins then trying to get it repaired will be difficult/impossible and we have had a person on these forums before buy the same board (again Bgrade) and it came damaged.

@OP Instead here are all new parts,

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI AMD Radeon R9 285 Gaming Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £149.99
1 x Intel Pentium K Anniversary G3258 Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £59.99
1 x Avexir Core Red Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16001104G-2CIR) - Red Light £49.99
1 x EVGA 500W 80 Plus Bronze Power Supply (100-B1-0500-KR) £43.99
1 x Asus H81M-PLUS Intel H81 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £40.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 500GB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) HDD £37.99
1 x Xigmatek Mach Midi-Tower Black £24.95
Total : £417.49 (includes shipping : £8.00).



A nice R9 285 (so uses less power than a 280 etc and is quicker)
Click to expand...


Ah interesting so a 285 is less power hungry than a 280 and a bit better. Also are the EVGA PSU's, especially the lower end 450 and 500w ones any good, i believe that their higher end ones are made by seasonic, but their lower end ones are just chinese rubbish ? Heard good things about the XFX ones, or an Antec as I have used Antec years ago and their credibility seems to remain.

Also with regards to PSU's if i was to go with the XFX 450w core PSU, could i safely run a r9 285, or r9 280, probably not ? I would be limited to a 750Ti or 270/X i presume ? Also getting a higher wattage PSU would be more futureproof ?

Shivy011 said:
Okay, well not all H81 boards can OC the G3258. I did read somewhere on here though a list of current boards that with the right BIOS can OC it, including the H81M-Plus

YOUR BASKET
1 x Sapphire Radeon R9 270X Boost OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Card £129.95
1 x Intel Pentium K Anniversary G3258 Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £59.99
1 x Avexir Core Blue Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16001104G-2CW) - Blue Light £49.99
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 450W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £49.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £44.99
1 x **B Grade** Asus H81M-PLUS Intel H81 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX (MB-582-AS) £29.99
1 x Xigmatek Mach Midi-Tower Black £24.95
1 x Raijintek Aidos Direct Contact CPU Cooler - Black £14.99
Total : £418.93 (includes shipping : £11.75).



or for £20 more as already suggested you could have an R9 280. This PSU is great, well build etc or £5 more will get you a Seasonic built Antec TruePower 550W which might be worth it also for scope with more upgrades in the future
Click to expand...

Yes, an Antec True 550 is on the list of alternatives I have, along with the XFX 550. What are these "SuperFlower" ones I keep seeing quoted, are they actually decent because they aswell sound like chinese tat ?

XFX vs Antec or alternative ?

Idleman said:
A list of non Z overclocking boards and what OCs some users have achieved.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2389948
Click to expand...

Yep, thanks seen this which has led me to my H81M-PLUS choice.
 
genexception said:
Ah interesting so a 285 is less power hungry than a 280 and a bit better. Also are the EVGA PSU's, especially the lower end 450 and 500w ones any good, i believe that their higher end ones are made by seasonic, but their lower end ones are just chinese rubbish ? Heard good things about the XFX ones, or an Antec as I have used Antec years ago and their credibility seems to remain.
Click to expand...

That particular PSU has a good score from Jonnyguru - http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story6&reid=351

A very well respected site for PSU reviews.

Also with regards to PSU's if i was to go with the XFX 450w core PSU, could i safely run a r9 285, or r9 280, probably not ? I would be limited to a 750Ti or 270/X i presume ? Also getting a higher wattage PSU would be more futureproof ?
Click to expand...

You should still be ok to run a 285 from a high quality 450W PSU.
 
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