Which configuration should I go with?

I'm looking to pick up a desktop tower—just the PC, I don't need a monitor—for my uncle. He mostly spends his time playing games like AoE ii / III and things in that same vein.
We have. $667 I was wondering if there might be a specific configuration out there that would actually be suitable for running those games—I guess it depends on how much we're looking to spend, but I'd love to hear some thoughts.
I've attached two links from San Francisco—if anyone happens to be feeling generous, maybe you could suggest a decent configuration from this list? I'm looking for something within a reasonable budget. $667)
link1
I'm not quite sure what you're looking for here—it seems like a link might have been intended, but nothing came through on my end. If you were trying to share something specific, feel free to drop it again. I'll be around.

Forget about those pre-built configurations... honestly, you're better off having some guys put together a custom build for you, part by part.

Well, damn

1 x ASUS A58M-K, FM2+, AMD A58 FCH (Bolton D2), DDR3, 2 slots
1 x AMD Kaveri A8-Series X4 7650K Processor (3.3GHz, 4MB, 95W, FM2+) BE
1 x LG GH24NS DVD burner, DVD±RW, 24x DVD±R, 8x DL, 40x CD-R
1 x TOSHIBA 1TB, 7200rpm, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB, DT01ACA100
1 x DDR3 RAM 4GB (1x4GB) Kingston, 1600MHz, CL11, Value
1 x Value 1 x Chieftec libar Mini Tower mATX with 350W PSU, black

$839 , located in ADM. Assembly, testing, and shipping are on me.

1 x ASUS A58M-K, FM2+, AMD A58 FCH (Bolton D2), DDR3, 2 slots
1 x LG GH24NS DVD burner, DVD±RW, 24x DVD±R, 8x DL, 40x CD-R
1 x TOSHIBA 1TB, 7200rpm, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB, DT01ACA100
1 x DDR3 RAM 4GB (1x4GB) Kingston, 1600MHz, CL11, Value
1 x Chieftec Libra Mini Tower mATX with 350W PSU, black
1 x AMD Kaveri A6-Series X2 7400 Processor (3.9GHz, 1MB, 65W, FM2+) box

$737 , also in ADM.

Graphics are integrated into the CPU. The first build uses a 4-core processor with better graphics, while the second one has 2 cores and weaker graphics. Both will work, but if you can afford it, it's obviously better to go with the stronger (more expensive) option...

I could put an even weaker processor and graphics in there to hit $667, but I wouldn't recommend it ...

1 x ASUS A58M-K, FM2+, AMD A58 FCH (Bolton D2), DDR3, 2 slots
1 x LG GH24NS DVD burner, DVD±RW, 24x DVD±R, 8x DL, 40x CD-R
1 x TOSHIBA 1TB, 7200rpm, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB, DT01ACA100
1 x DDR3 RAM 4GB (1x4GB) Kingston, 1600MHz, CL11, Value
1 x Chieftec Libra Mini Tower mATX with 350W PSU, black
1 x AMD Kaveri A4-Series X2 7300 Processor (3.8GHz, 1MB, 65W, FM2+) box

$681

Alright, the only catch is that I'm based out of San Francisco—so I'm really not sure if this is standard practice over here in the States.
If I'm being honest, when I talk to my uncle (he's 69), he isn't exactly chasing high-end specs—it just needs to be capable enough to run that specific game and maybe a few others like it.

If you can, I’d really suggest sticking with that first configuration from ADM. Honestly—if you just give them a call and tell them exactly which parts you want, they'll handle the shipping and assembly for free. I'm not entirely sure what their payment options look like right now, though... do you think they'd let you pay cash on delivery?

Grab this one. It’s an older game, so with the integrated graphics, it’ll absolutely fly. Plus, you get local service in San Francisco and a 36-month warranty.

So, I was looking at this ASROCK H81M-DG4. It’s an mATX board using the Intel H81 chipset with a socket 1150, running on DDR3 RAM. It’s got the usual basics—USB 3.0, SATA, PCI-E, plus D-SUB and DVI outputs—and comes with G-LAN and standard audio. Just a pretty standard setup, I guess.
It’s an Intel Pentium G3250 box, a dual Core chip running at 3.2GHz with a 3MB cache and integrated graphics. I guess it's a standard LGA 1150 setup.
It’s an ANTEC VSK-3000B, mATX, black, and doesn't come with a PSU.
It’s a 120.0 GB Kingston HyperX Fury SSD (SHFS37A/120G), running on SATA3 via a 2.5'' interface. It uses MLC chips and hits speeds up to 500/500 MB/s, I guess.
It looks like we're looking at some 4GB of DDR3 RAM from the G.SKILL Value Series, specifically the F3-1600C11S-4GNS model running at 1600MHz. I guess that's pretty standard stuff.
It’s a 400W unit, the Office Series LC500-12 from LC POWER. It runs on ATX v2.31, features a 120mm fan, and includes PFC. I guess that's about it.It’s got an 80+ Bronze rating.

Total: $638 Here are the links.

I guess these Pentiums have decent integrated graphics that are basically a trimmed-down version of what you'd find in an i3, making them a bit punchier than the ones in the Celeron. Plus, there's a 120GB SSD included. 🙂

crimsonstag84 said:So, I was looking at this ASROCK H81M-DG4. It’s an mATX board using the Intel H81 chipset with a socket 1150, running on DDR3 RAM. It’s got the usual basics—USB 3.0, SATA, PCI-E, plus D-SUB and DVI outputs—and comes with G-LAN and standard audio. Just a pretty standard setup, I guess.
It’s an Intel Pentium G3250 box, a dual Core chip running at 3.2GHz with a 3MB cache and integrated graphics. I guess it's a standard LGA 1150 setup.
It’s an ANTEC VSK-3000B, mATX, black, and doesn't come with a PSU.
It’s a 120.0 GB Kingston HyperX Fury SSD (SHFS37A/120G), running on SATA3 via a 2.5'' interface. It uses MLC chips and hits speeds up to 500/500 MB/s, I guess.
It looks like we're looking at some 4GB of DDR3 RAM from the G.SKILL Value Series, specifically the F3-1600C11S-4GNS model running at 1600MHz. I guess that's pretty standard stuff.
It’s a 400W unit, the Office Series LC500-12 from LC POWER. It runs on ATX v2.31, features a 120mm fan, and includes PFC. I guess that's about it.It’s got an 80+ Bronze rating.

Total: $638 Here are the links.

I guess these Pentiums have decent integrated graphics that are basically a trimmed-down version of what you'd find in an i3, making them a bit punchier than the ones in the Celeron. Plus, there's a 120GB SSD included. 🙂

Definitely go with this one. No need to jump to an APU if they're just playing AoE ii / III from '97 or '99; it's not like they need more power than Intel's integrated graphics can provide. But hey, I'm an old school gamer myself—I grew up on AoE ii / III 😬

View on imgur

Your setup is coming in from over in Chicago, so we’re gonna have to hang tight for a bit... maybe about a week before it actually shows up...

What's the point... it’s an upgrade that’s actually significantly weaker than the Pentium G3250 in every way.

crimsonstag84 said:What's the point... it’s an upgrade that’s actually significantly weaker than the Pentium G3250 in every way.

I mean, look, it’s cheaper, you get more cores, it’s built on a newer process, and honestly, it uses way less power. There's no dust buildup, it's silent, and it doesn't run hot at all... I guess the CPU just has a 6W TDP. You can always slap a GPU on the board later if you ever feel like playing something a bit more demanding, which is why the power supply comes with that extra PCIe connector and 20A per rail... though, really, there isn't much reason to go with anything stronger than this. If I were doing this, the only thing I'd probably add is another stick of RAM, just so you aren't constantly hitting the swap file on the drive and can actually take advantage of dual channel...

I'm thinking about pairing an HDD with a Celeron G1820 myself, which makes it $33 probably cheaper than your Braswell setup, and honestly, it should still feel a lot faster.

Everything stays within budget anyway. It doesn't run hot, and having more cores isn't really a big deal here since those four weaker ones are actually slower than the two Pentium cores, even in multithreaded tasks. Plus, those old games you're looking to play usually don't even touch more than one or two cores, so the Pentium has a bit of an edge there. The integrated graphics are a little weaker, and the power supply is just a lower-tier version of what's in my rig.

Then again, you could always upgrade to a used i5 in a few years.

crimsonstag84 said:I'm thinking about pairing an HDD with a Celeron G1820 myself, which makes it $33 probably cheaper than your Braswell setup, and honestly, it should still feel a lot faster.

Everything stays within budget anyway. It doesn't run hot, and having more cores isn't really a big deal here since those four weaker ones are actually slower than the two Pentium cores, even in multithreaded tasks. Plus, those old games you're looking to play usually don't even touch more than one or two cores, so the Pentium has a bit of an edge there. The integrated graphics are a little weaker, and the power supply is just a lower-tier version of what's in my rig.

Then again, you could always upgrade to a used i5 in a few years.

But what's the point? I mean, sure, the higher clock speed on the Pentium is an advantage, but what exactly is all that processing power for? Is he trying to flex on his neighbors about having a Pentium, an i5, or an i7? It's totally unnecessary. This thing will run everything just the same, and he gets a ton of perks and savings out of it. My guess is he wants to load up a bunch of games, which is why I went with an HDD... back in my day when I was playing those kinds of games, I was always running out of space since I had over 30 games installed at once. Now, I just have one single game and an SSD suits me way better. If this guy is planning on installing Windows 10, Office, games, and whatever else, that 120GB is going to feel pretty small... this CPU with dual channel memory handles 4K video with the integrated graphics just fine, and games will fly on it too, especially since the architecture is newer and they fixed most of the teething issues from previous versions—though I'm sure this one probably has its own bugs too... man, I'd honestly grab this computer for myself; I'd even swap out my gigahertz-heavy G1610 processor and its motherboard for this... it sucks when after a while you have to start greasing the valves because they start squeaking and you have to shut down the PC just to blow out the dust, constantly worrying it's gonna die or that the clock speeds will drop during the summer...

Everything you just said sounds like you're buying a computer for yourself... like, 'this would be better for me because I have these requirements, and they probably have them too.' 😬

CPU power? You need enough so it isn't just a slideshow when a 50 vs. 50 soldier battle kicks off in AoE ii / III, or even worse in some slightly newer strategy game (since they all rely on a single core). Honestly, the Broadwell architecture barely offers any real upgrade over Haswell.

Will games run smoothly? The integrated graphics on the N3150 are twice as weak.

Upgrading to an SSD is the easiest move, along with adding more DDR3 RAM—an SSD will make the whole system fly.

All this talk about fans, heat, and thermal throttling seems pretty silly for Pentium or Celeron chips, and the power savings are negligible at best.

Maybe the only real perk is less dust buildup.

crimsonstag84 said:Everything you just said sounds like you're buying a computer for yourself... like, 'this would be better for me because I have these requirements, and they probably have them too.' 😬

CPU power? You need enough so it isn't just a slideshow when a 50 vs. 50 soldier battle kicks off in AoE ii / III, or even worse in some slightly newer strategy game (since they all rely on a single core). Honestly, the Broadwell architecture barely offers any real upgrade over Haswell.

Will games run smoothly? The integrated graphics on the N3150 are twice as weak.

Upgrading to an SSD is the easiest move, along with adding more DDR3 RAM—an SSD will make the whole system fly.

All this talk about fans, heat, and thermal throttling seems pretty silly for Pentium or Celeron chips, and the power savings are negligible at best.

Maybe the only real perk is less dust buildup.

I get the feeling you're just pulling these stats from somewhere, though I guess it wouldn't be polite of me to guess where...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...nth_generation

The Intel HD Graphics is just the most basic thing ever; whether it's in a Pentium, a Celeron, or this unit, it’s the same deal across Ivy Bridge, Haswell, and Broadwell generations... the manufacturing process gets smaller with every new generation, and stuff that used to be sold as an i3 or even an i5 is now squeezed into these lower-end chips... on my old i3 530, the graphics were basically identical to what this has now... it's just smaller nowadays, but the speed is pretty much the same...

🤣

Core Config, Execution Units—is there really no boost to GPU efficiency? 🙂

EDIT: Also, yeah, there are tons of reviews out there. Apparently, the integrated graphics on the G3250 are just a tiny bit better than an HD 4000 (like on an i3 3225, for example).

crimsonstag84 said:🤣

Core Config, Execution Units—is there really no boost to GPU efficiency? 🙂

EDIT: Also, yeah, there are tons of reviews out there. Apparently, the integrated graphics on the G3250 are just a tiny bit better than an HD 4000 (like on an i3 3225, for example).

I mean, honestly, shrinking the die just basically cancels out any potential gains... if there were actually a meaningful difference in speed, they wouldn't be slapping the "Intel HD Graphics" label on it; they’d call it something like 4300, 4600, or Iris or whatever. Even if there was some tiny little improvement tucked away in there, it would probably just end up benefiting the Braswell chips anyway. Usually, these processors are only sold as being maybe 10% faster than the previous generation, so I guess it's all pretty much the same thing in the end.

Who actually paid for a review? Honestly, I’ve been buying both Intel and AMD processors pretty much equally for years now, so I know what I’m talking about... there really isn't any noticeable speed difference between an i3 530 and the graphics I'm running right now in my G1610... that's just how the corporate world works, I guess. They push things forward in tiny little increments because they want to milk the users as much as possible. Every new generation is usually just about 10 to 25 percent faster than the last one, mostly because that’s the sweet spot for squeezing us for more cash. If they actually gave us a processor that was 100% faster, they wouldn't be able to justify releasing a newer model for years, which is just bad business. But then again, handing people a worse machine just because it's a newer generation is also bad business... and nobody is going to put up with that. If I had decided to pay $333 for a CPU, then yeah, maybe I would've gotten a processor that fast... but since I'm running lower on cash lately, I just stuck with the cheaper version and stayed at the same level. This N3150 is probably roughly in the same ballpark as a Q6600, or maybe even a generation older... but honestly, it's not even that bad when you consider everything else

electricharbor30 said:I mean, honestly, shrinking the die just basically cancels out any potential gains... if there were actually a meaningful difference in speed, they wouldn't be slapping the "Intel HD Graphics" label on it; they’d call it something like 4300, 4600, or Iris or whatever. Even if there was some tiny little improvement tucked away in there, it would probably just end up benefiting the Braswell chips anyway. Usually, these processors are only sold as being maybe 10% faster than the previous generation, so I guess it's all pretty much the same thing in the end.

Have you been smoking something? 🤣

Those aren't even the same graphics chips, and the processors aren't even in the same league. That's like saying a go-kart is better than a Formula 1 car just because it's newer and more fuel-efficient.