Another Budget Build

[Duskleaf]

Budget 500$ - 550$ without OS
Resolution nothing specific
Games / Settings Desired WoW mostly, Sims City, Sims 4 - high as I can for my given budget
Any other intensive software or special things you do (Frequent video encoding, 3D modeling, etc) no
Country US
Parts that can be reused none
Do you need an OS? yes
Do you need peripherals (e.g. monitor, mouse, keyboard, speakers, etc)? no

I am actually pretty stuck on what I want. I have viewed several budget threads and many of them suggest pentium builds. Would overclocking a pentium processor be better than an i3 build? I haven't overclocked anything before so I don't want to blow anything up! So listing pros/cons of the pentium and i3 would be lovely if anyone would like to help relieve some of my confusion.

[Deleted]

Deal is that for most games, an overclocked G3258 can reach an i5 4690k's (non overclocked) performance. I don't think its worth it unless its a temporary cpu, cause of budget, and the goal it to upgrade to an i5 soon, like in 5-6months not after 2 years...
Reasoning is that the G3258 is worth 70 bucks plus another 30 or more for a cpu cooler that will let you overclock. That is 100$ at least, when at 109 you can get an i3 4160 that will help you with multitasking.

So is this a temporary chip with "soon" to be upgrade to an i5? Then go ahead grab it cause you will re-use the aftermarket cooler on your i5 and won't go to waste. Budget is tight as it is and you won't upgrade, grab the i3.

If you were able to stretch it abit to fit the gtx960 this is what i would get:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor ($109.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($73.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.75 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 960 2GB Video Card ($194.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Rosewill 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($44.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $571.68
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-31 02:04 EDT-0400

[Saphyron]

I would recommend this one. slightly above budget.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant


CPU: Intel Core i3-4360 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor ($139.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M Anniversary Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($60.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($58.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.75 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 2GB Video Card ($197.92 @ Amazon)
Case: Thermaltake VL80001W2Z ATX Mid Tower Case ($21.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts Green 380W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($37.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $570.60
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-31 02:09 EDT-0400

[Deleted]

Why would he buy the i3 4360 over the 4160? 30% additional value for like 1-2% more performance?

[Duskleaf]

I really like both of these builds, but I have to agree it makes more sense to purchase the i3 4360.
In regards to the motherboards, would the cheaper motherboard that Chaos shared work with the build you posted, Kos? I am not sure what the performance difference is between the two of them. With those extra few bucks I could save on the Mobo, I could also add in an optical drive.

[Lathais]

I really like both of these builds, but I have to agree it makes more sense to purchase the i3 4360.
In regards to the motherboards, would the cheaper motherboard that Chaos shared work with the build you posted, Kos? I am not sure what the performance difference is between the two of them. With those extra few bucks I could save on the Mobo, I could also add in an optical drive.

How does it make more sense? You're spending $30 more for a performance increase that will not even show. You will literally notice zero difference between the two for gaming. I guess if throwing away $30 makes sense then it makes sense. I need to find where you live so I can go through your trash.

Yes, those motherboards are basically interchangeable, though the PRO4 does have better on board sound and LAN and has 2 additional USB 3.0 ports.

[Deleted]

I think you got confused and as Lathais mentioned above the i3 4360 makes no sense, its wasted money. The deal/trick on these low budget builds is the reallocation of budget in the different parts where its needed.

- Between the two i3 i explained, i3 4160 is the one to go, why spend 30bucks more for nothing.

- Lathais explained about the mobo, the Pro4 has some additional features, which is still less than the 30wasted bucks you would have thrown at the cpu. Here at least you get something for your little extra cost.

- Gpu's, i wont say which one of the two is better, they are both pretty much the same. The difference comes to connectors mostly, msi requires 1x 6pin and the evga 1x8pin. Which brings up the following point below:

- Psu's, both can handle the loads, amps, rosewill has a little more and the antec one in total won't have what is labeled as amps wise. It won't produce 17A+15A on its 2 12v rails, cause thats more than 380w to start with. Also i doupt it has 2 rails, it basically one and marketed as two. But anyway, the 960 needs like 10amps. The point on this is that the evga needs an 8pin connector and antec psu give 1x 6pin.
So pairing the evga and antec, chao's choise was a little poor or he did it in a hurry.
The rosewill on the hand has a 1x 6+2pin which means you can connect either evga or msi on it. You could get an adapter but why go through all that on a new build.

- Case go with what you like most. I personally don't like the cheap feeling and sometimes cheap materials on those cheap cases. I prefer the CM 200N on all low budget micro builds cause it worth its money. There isn't that cheap feel for its price. Can handle 3 hdds and 2 ssds, OD if you need one, cpu coolers up to 160mm and up to 14inch gpus. You don't find all those on cheap micro build easily.

[Duskleaf]

Lol, I totally made a typo. That's what I get for not proofreading. Completely meant 4160 over the other. That's pregnancy brain for ya! (yes im a she. . . shh)
I really appreciate all of the help you all offered. It really helped to clear up my confusion.