1. #1

    Critique extreme budget gaming/family pc.

    My girlfriend's mother has tasked me with helping her purchase/build a new desktop. She has usable peripherals, and an OS.

    She does a lot of browsing and various facebook related apps. She does do some light gaming as well as her grandchildren who visit often.

    My budget is $330(ish)

    EDIT - Updated with the new part list I have in mind. Dropped the G530 CPU, H61M mobo and XFX R7750 for an A-10 5800k/FM2-A55M mobo.

    PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

    CPU: AMD A10-5800K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor ($119.99 @ Amazon)
    Motherboard: MSI FM2-A55M-E33 Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard ($39.99 @ Newegg)
    Memory: Crucial Ballistix 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($21.99 @ Newegg)
    Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 250GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($53.00 @ Amazon)
    Case: Rosewill FBM-02 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($34.99 @ Newegg)
    Power Supply: Rosewill 350W ATX Power Supply ($24.99 @ Newegg)
    Optical Drive: Sony AD-7280S-0B DVD/CD Writer ($18.99 @ Newegg)
    Total: $303.94
    (Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
    (Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-11-20 04:18 EST-0500)
    Last edited by BruceG87; 2012-11-20 at 09:18 AM.
    i5-3570k @ 4.6Ghz | Phanteks TC14PE | Asus Sabertooth Z77 | Gigabyte GTX 1080 | 16GB Corsair Vengeance
    Asus Xonar Essence STX | Crucial M4 256MB | Seasonic X760 Gold | Silverstone FT02

    Asus PG258Q 240Hz 24.5" | Das Keyboard 4 Pro | Logitech G502 | Audiotechnica ATH-AD900X | Blue Yeti

  2. #2
    Maybe reduce the hard-drive space and speed and buy a better CPU.

    A close to 1/3 of the computer goes to the part which doesn't really effect performance so personally I would spend 100 on the CPU and take a 50 dollar hardrive (which should have around 500g space)

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by ati87 View Post
    Maybe reduce the hard-drive space and speed and buy a better CPU.

    A close to 1/3 of the computer goes to the part which doesn't really effect performance so personally I would spend 100 on the CPU and take a 50 dollar hardrive (which should have around 500g space)
    I think you misread, the build I posted is already using a $50 HDD. You must be referring to the GPU @ $90?
    i5-3570k @ 4.6Ghz | Phanteks TC14PE | Asus Sabertooth Z77 | Gigabyte GTX 1080 | 16GB Corsair Vengeance
    Asus Xonar Essence STX | Crucial M4 256MB | Seasonic X760 Gold | Silverstone FT02

    Asus PG258Q 240Hz 24.5" | Das Keyboard 4 Pro | Logitech G502 | Audiotechnica ATH-AD900X | Blue Yeti

  4. #4
    One thing you should look into is how big is the actual HDD usage. 120GB SSDs are getting really cheap, below $100 and using one of those instead of HDD would make otherwise low end computer feel much faster. Yes, it will increase price slightly, but get better usability.
    Never going to log into this garbage forum again as long as calling obvious troll obvious troll is the easiest way to get banned.
    Trolling should be.

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by BruceG87 View Post
    I think you misread, the build I posted is already using a $50 HDD. You must be referring to the GPU @ $90?
    Oeps yes your right my bad.

  6. #6
    While I agree with you about an SSD Vesseblah, it's hard to fit it into the budget which is already rather tight.

    Right now, I'm going to stick it out with the otherwise cheap 250GB caviar blue drive.

    Anything else that might look suspicious? I'm not all too knowledgeable when it comes to PSU's(quality/efficiency). Correct me if I am wrong, but the 350 watt PSU I picked should drive the system just fine.
    i5-3570k @ 4.6Ghz | Phanteks TC14PE | Asus Sabertooth Z77 | Gigabyte GTX 1080 | 16GB Corsair Vengeance
    Asus Xonar Essence STX | Crucial M4 256MB | Seasonic X760 Gold | Silverstone FT02

    Asus PG258Q 240Hz 24.5" | Das Keyboard 4 Pro | Logitech G502 | Audiotechnica ATH-AD900X | Blue Yeti

  7. #7
    If you want budget gaming performance you want an APU from AMD. The A-10 5800k is pretty impressive by itself, factor in some 2133 ram and you will actually be able to play some decent games @ a decent resolution.

  8. #8
    2133 RAM will probably eat a good chunk of that budget, but I do agree that the A10-5800K should be "an option" for that build. CPU performance will be quite a bit better than the Celeron, which should make up for the somewhat slower integrated GPU. The challenge is getting a cheap FM2 motherboard (EDIT: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813130661 on sale right now for $39.99 with free shipping). If you go that route, get some DDR3-1600 or DDR3-1866 RAM, the 1600 won't be but a couple dollars more than the 1333 and the 1866 is probably the sweet spot for price/performance for gaming on that thing.

    Another good argument for the A10 is removing the dedicated video card means fewer possible points of failure for the PC and reduced TDP / power supply wear when not gaming. Grandma probably wants something that'll work for a while.
    Last edited by Nellah; 2012-11-20 at 07:41 AM.
    Super casual.

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by BruceG87 View Post
    While I agree with you about an SSD Vesseblah, it's hard to fit it into the budget which is already rather tight.

    Right now, I'm going to stick it out with the otherwise cheap 250GB caviar blue drive.
    60GB SSDs costs about the same as 250GB HDD. As I said, it depends on the actual HDD usage.
    Never going to log into this garbage forum again as long as calling obvious troll obvious troll is the easiest way to get banned.
    Trolling should be.

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by vesseblah View Post
    60GB SSDs costs about the same as 250GB HDD. As I said, it depends on the actual HDD usage.
    I originally weighed in a 60GB SSD vs 250GB HHD, as the price is about the same. However, given a 60GB SSD I see the user filling it up with pictures and what not(her habit). It may not happen that quick, but I am sure that in a year she'll be wondering where all her free space went. She's not exactly good with space management.

    EDIT - Scratch all my previous concerns. I am dropping the dedicated GPU. I am looking at building with an A-10 5800k on an FM2 board. 2133 ram is out of the question, I will be using at the very lowest DDR3-1600. I'll read into the performance gain/difference between 1600/1866 for this combo I have in mind.

    I may even drop it all for an mitx setup all together. Another thing to look into.
    Last edited by BruceG87; 2012-11-20 at 09:00 AM.
    i5-3570k @ 4.6Ghz | Phanteks TC14PE | Asus Sabertooth Z77 | Gigabyte GTX 1080 | 16GB Corsair Vengeance
    Asus Xonar Essence STX | Crucial M4 256MB | Seasonic X760 Gold | Silverstone FT02

    Asus PG258Q 240Hz 24.5" | Das Keyboard 4 Pro | Logitech G502 | Audiotechnica ATH-AD900X | Blue Yeti

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