Budget PC build with monitor - $450

Hey everyone!

I'm putting together a build for a buddy, and I wanted to see what you all think about this list:

1 x Intel Core i3-4130 3.60GHz 4cores, AMD FM2
1 x DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Crucial, 1600MHz CL11
1 x Toshiba DT01ACA050 500GB, 7200rpm, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB
1 x Fortron 400W power supply, Hexi 400, 12cm fan, Active PFC
1 x LG GH24NS DVD burner, DVD±RW, 24x DVD±R ,8x DL , 40x CD-R
1 x AOC E2270SWN 21.5" Wide LCD Monitor, WLED, 1920x1080@60Hz
1 x MS Phoenix case (no PSU included), Midi tower MBO: ATX, mATX
1 x Asrock FM2A78M-DG3+, AMD FM2+ Socket A78 Chipset MB

- Intended use is mid/high gaming, web surfing...

I'm not super familiar with this newer A-series stuff, so I was wondering if this would actually handle some decent gaming on newer titles...

Thanks.

This isn't even really a new APU series anymore—I mean, since Richland and Kaveri already dropped, we’re basically just seeing slightly better integrated graphics on certain Kaveria chips now.

If they're looking at medium or high settings, they can pretty much forget about playing most modern titles—especially if they're aiming for a demanding 1080p resolution. Plus, without dual-channel memory and 8GB of RAM (keep in mind the integrated graphics hogs some for itself; it's best to allocate maybe 1-2GB), it's going to struggle. They should probably specify which exact games they're actually trying to play.

Regarding the build itself—that Intel Core i3-4130 definitely needs an aftermarket cooler; there's no way around it. And honestly, grabbing a TN monitor in 2015? No thanks. You really want a VA or IPS panel for a decent picture. Also, this is that old Hexi case with those super short cables, so decent cable management is going to be a total nightmare—if they ever swap the case, they'll definitely need extension cables. I wouldn't pair a Low end A58/68/78 ASRock board with an APU- either; those things are just too noisy.

All in all, it’d be way smarter to dump that $3k entirely into the PC build first, then pick up a proper monitor later down the road. Tell him to weigh his options and let me know. And does he even need an optical drive? It's so easy to grab one later, and using that money to beef up the specs instead would be a huge win. As for Windows, he can just run it from a USB stick anyway.

Forget about the monitor for now; $333 can just grab one later once he saves up some cash. That 23" Full HD 1080p IPS

You’ve basically got two ways to go here:

Option one: build this way and you've got everything prepped for a solid upgrade path. You can eventually drop in a much beefier fx 8320 and a decent GPU like an r9 280x or a gtx 970, which means you won't have to worry about anything for years and can run stuff on max settings.

1 x Sapphire R7 240 x, 1GB GDDR3
1 x AMD FX X6 6100 3.3Ghz (3.9GHz) box
1 x GIGABYTE GA-970A-DS3P, AM3+
1 x LC POWER LC-CC-95, socket 775/1155/1156/AMD
1 x Crucial 4GB DDR3 1600 Mhz (PC3-12800) CL11
1 x Fortron Hyper 500W, 80+
1 x Toshiba DT01ACA050 (3.5", 500GB, 32MB, SATA III-600)
1 x Raijintek Arcadia, USB3.0, black

Total: $1041 Best Buy, free assembly and shipping included!
Either way, this setup will handle games better than your current rig with that APU-, and it gives you a killer foundation for a cheap upgrade down the road. The CPU is strong enough that if you toss in a card like an r9 280 or r9 280x later, you won't hit a bottleneck, and the PSU has plenty of headroom. If you were aiming for high end graf, then you'd definitely want to swap in an fx 8320.

Then there's option two: go this route if you don't care about upgrading later. This socket is pretty much a dead end—there aren't any significantly better CPUs coming to save you, and you won't be able to put anything powerful in the GPU slot because the processor will just bottleneck it. This is a "play until it dies, then replace everything" kind of build. The only upside is you get a slightly better GPU right out of the gate, even if it's still pretty weak for most modern games.

1 x MSI R7 260 OC, 1GB GDDR5, VGA, DVI, HDMI
1 x AMD Athlon x4 860 k, Black edition kaver (3.7GHz,4MB,95W,FM2+) box
1 x GIGABYTE Main Board Desktop AMD A78 (SFM2+,DDR3,DVI/VGA,USB3.0/USB2.0,SATA III,RAID,LAN) mATX Retail
1 x Crucial 4GB DDR3 1600 Mhz (PC3-12800) CL11
1 x Fortron Hexi+ 400W, 80+, active, 12 c
1 x Toshiba DT01ACA050 (3.5", 500GB, 32MB, SATA III-600)
1 x Zalman T5 mini tower, black

Total: Total: $1009 Best Buy
He could probably pick up this cooler if he wants the build to be a bit quieter.

graniteharbor85 said:...plus we're dealing with an old Hexi here with pretty short cables, so I guess decent cable management is going to be tough...

Regarding that, a fellow member mentioned it's actually the Hexi+ model, they just haven't updated their website yet.😉

If that's the case, then awesome—but honestly, there’s zero point in keeping it next to the + model. I could knock out that update in a heartbeat, but hey, they're probably busy prepping the new site and just don't feel like messing with little things like this right now.

Sean Garcia3 said:Forget the monitor for now. He can grab one later once he saves up enough cash. This $333 23" Full HD 1080p IPS screen is solid: http://www.bestbuy.com/product_info.php?c...ducts_id=14097

You’ve got two ways to play this:

Go this route and you’re basically prepping for a serious upgrade later. You could drop in a beefy fx 8320 and a much better GPU like an r9 280x or a gtx 970. That way, you're set for years and can actually crank everything to max settings.

1 x Sapphire R7 240 Boost, 1GB GDDR3
1 x AMD FX X6 6100 3.3Ghz (3.9GHz) box
1 x GIGABYTE GA-970A-DS3P, AM3+
1 x LC POWER LC-CC-95, socket 775/1155/1156/AMD
1 x Crucial 4GB DDR3 1600 Mhz (PC3-12800) CL11
1 x Fortron Hyper 500W, 80+
1 x Toshiba DT01ACA050 (3.5", 500GB, 32MB, SATA III-600)
1 x Raijintek Arcadia, USB3.0, black

Total: $1041 Micro Center, free assembly and shipping!
Either way, this setup will run games better than his current APU build, and it gives him a decent foundation for a cheap upgrade down the road. The CPU is strong enough to handle an r9 280 or r9 280x later without hitting a bottleneck, and the power supply has enough juice. If he wants high end graf, he'll eventually need to swap in an fx 8320.

Or, go this way with zero upgrade potential. There aren't any significantly better CPUs coming for this socket, and he won't be able to use a powerful GPU because the processor will just bottleneck it. This is a "play until it dies, then replace everything" kind of build. The only upside is a slightly better GPU out of the gate, though even that is pretty weak by today's standards for most modern games.

1 x MSI R7 260 OC, 1GB GDDR5, VGA, DVI, HDMI
1 x AMD Athlon x4 860 k, Black edition kaver (3.7GHz,4MB,95W,FM2+) box
1 x GIGABYTE Main Board Desktop AMD A78 (SFM2+,DDR3,DVI/VGA,USB3.0/USB2.0,SATA III,RAID,LAN) mATX Retail
1 x Crucial 4GB DDR3 1600 Mhz (PC3-12800) CL11
1 x Fortron Hexa+ 400W, 80+, active, 12 c
1 x HDD Desktop Toshiba DT01ACA050 (3.5", 500GB, 32MB, SATA III-600)
1 x Zalman T5 mini tower, black

Total: Total: $1009 Micro Center
He could maybe grab this cooler if he wants the rig to be quieter: http://www.microcenter.com/katalog/komp...esor/lc-cc-95/

Man, you really backed him into a corner there. That GPU in the first option is garbage; he won't be playing anything with it. And don't even get me started on "upgrading" soon—especially with parts costing hundreds of dollars. He'll run into a CPU bottleneck, then have to buy a new PSU, more RAM, and all sorts of other stuff...

Honestly, looking at it, $1000 a full gaming setup including a monitor isn't happening at this price point.

The guy asked for a build *with* a monitor, not a build where the monitor is $333 extra...

Before you start throwing builds at people, try actually reading the original post. Stop suggesting imaginary setups and upgrades that probably won't even work, especially when he never said he was planning to upgrade anyway.

silentpilot2 said:Hey there!

I'm putting together a build for a buddy, just wondering what you guys think about this setup:

1 x Intel Core i3-4130 3.60GHz 4cores, FM2
1 x DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Crucial, 1600MHz CL11
1 x Toshiba DT01ACA050 500GB, 7200rpm, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB
1 x FORTRON 400W Power Supply, Hexi 400, 12cm fan, Active PFC
1 x LG GH24NS DVD burner, DVD±RW, 24x DVD±R ,8x DL , 40x CD-R
1 x AOC E2270SWN 21.5" Wide LCD Monitor, WLED, 1920x1080@60Hz
1 x MS PHOENIX Case (no PSU), Midi tower MBO: ATX, mATX
1 x Asrock FM2A78M-DG3+, AMD FM2+ Socket A78 Chipset MB

- intended for mid/high gaming, browsing, etc.

I'm not really up to speed with this newer A series stuff, so I'm curious if this will actually handle some decent modern titles.

Thanks.

Tell your friend if he actually wants to play anything, he should be smart and wait. Save up a bit more cash so he can build something useful. With this, he won't be playing anything—certainly not on medium or high. Maybe low settings, but even then, don't count on it.

If you're willing to stretch the budget by another $100-$50, you could probably go with an Intel Celeron G1840 paired with an R7 250 x and a decent VA or IPS monitor. That would be okay for playing newer titles at a medium setting, though I guess mass-multiplayer games will mostly just hammer the CPU 😬

Robert Rodriguez2 said:Man, you really went overboard with that one. That GPU in the first build is garbage; you won't be able to play anything with it. And don't even get me started on "upgrading" things down the road—especially with cards costing $200+. They'll run into massive bottlenecks with the CPU, plus they'll have to shell out for a new power supply, more RAM, and a whole laundry list of other stuff...

Realistically speaking, $1000 a full gaming setup including a monitor? There's no way they can pull that together.

The guy asked for a rig with a monitor included, not a rig with an extra $333 budget specifically for a monitor...

Before you start throwing builds at people, maybe try actually reading the OP. Stop suggesting phantom setups and upgrades that probably won't even work, especially when nobody even mentioned they were planning to upgrade in the first place.

For the first example, I gave him a foundation that’s solid for future upgrades; he could drop an r9 280 in there later without any bottleneck issues, and the power supply is plenty beefy.

As for the monitor, I told him to save up for one later, because otherwise, he isn't going to be playing anything if his goal is to run modern titles.

The second build is perfectly fine for that price point—maybe throw in another 4GB of RAM and he'll be good to go.

From what I can see, you're just acting like a know-it-all. It's easy to just say, "Hey, save up more money and come back."
Maybe he already has an old monitor he can use, who knows? He got examples and advice, and he can take them or leave them.

Sean Garcia3 said:For the first build, he got a setup with a solid foundation for future upgrades. He can drop an r9 280 in there later without a bottleneck, and the power supply is beefy enough.

I told him to save up for a monitor later, because honestly, if he wants to play anything modern, he won't even be able to get a game running without one.

The second build is totally fine for that budget. Maybe throw in another 4GB of RAM and he'll be good to go.

As far as I can see, you're just acting like a know-it-all. It's easier to just say "save more money and come back."
Maybe he already has an old monitor he can reuse, who knows? He got examples and advice; he can do whatever he wants with them.

And what if he doesn't have a monitor? You gonna stare at his ass to make the picture appear?
I'm not trying to lecture anyone, but you're suggesting nonsense that wasn't even asked for. You're building a rig for over 300 bucks based on your own rigid ideas instead of actually reading the requirements and sticking to the criteria.

Honestly, you’re probably better off with nothing at all than picking up that R7 240. It’s a complete waste of money, I guess. Just throwing cash down the drain.

Let's dial things down a notch... I appreciate everyone's input and advice here.

To be honest, I wasn't really thinking about bottlenecks when I first put this build together.

Regarding gaming, my friend mostly sticks to FIFA, PES, maybe some COD or other shooters... nothing too crazy or high-end at higher resolutions.

Up to 1280x1024, he's doing just fine...😛

Anyway, he's dead set on getting a new monitor since he's still using an old 17" CRT... so we'll have to get creative somehow..

As for the money, he says $1067 that's the absolute limit.

"If we stretch the budget by another 100-$50, we could go with an Intel Celeron G1840 and an R7 250 x along with a VA/IPS monitor. That would handle newer titles on medium settings decently, though mass multiplayer games will definitely struggle with the CPU "

I'm down with that suggestion. I'm curious to see what a build like that would actually look like... but feel free to jump in with more ideas 🙄

1 x ASUS H81M-R, 1150, H81 express chipset, DDR3, 2 expansion slots
1 x Intel Celeron G1840 Processor (2.80GHz, 512KB, 2MB, 54 W, 1150) Box,
1 x MSI R7 250 x 1GD5, 1GB GDDR5 128GB, DVI + HDMI + Display Port
1 x DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Crucial, 1600MHz CL11
1 x Toshiba DT01ACA050 500GB, 7200rpm, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB
1 x FORTRON 400W Power Supply, HEXA 400, 12cm fan, Active PFC
1 x MS CASTOR Midi tower Case, ATX, mATX, 4x5.25 external slots
1 x AOC E2250SWDAK, 21.5", 16:9, 1920x1080, built-in speakers, 200 cd/m2

$1054
www.newegg.com

No way you're getting an IPS or VA panel here. The cheap ones start at around $300

Robert Rodriguez2 said:1 x ASUS H81M-R, 1150, H81 chipset, DDR3, 2 slots
1 x Intel Celeron G1840 Processor (2.80GHz, 512KB, 2MB, 54W, 1150) Box,
1 x MSI R7 250 x 1GB GDDR5 128bit, DVI + HDMI + Display Port
1 x DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Crucial, 1600MHz CL11
1 x Toshiba DT01ACA050 500GB, 7200rpm, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB
1 x FORTRON 400W Power Supply, HEXA 400, 12cm fan, Active PFC
1 x MS CASTOR Midi tower Case, ATX, mATX, 4x5.25 external slots
1 x AOC E2250SWDAK, 21.5", 16:9, 1920x1080, speakers, 200 cd/m2

$1054
www.newegg.com

No way he'll go for an IPS or VA panel monitor... the cheapest ones start around $300

A colleague mentioned the monitor doesn't really matter to him... neither the IPS nor that 21.5"-22" size... He's happy with an 18.5" one because of the price, so maybe those extra $67 could go toward a better CPU... maybe an AMD, but it doesn't have to be...

This monitor is priced at $233... You won't find it cheaper than this. Actually, it *shouldn't* be any cheaper. If he actually understood what an IPS panel brings to the table, it would matter, but whatever. What’s been put together here is about as good as you can get for that kind of cash.

Upgrading to those $67 won't really give him much of a boost, and his eyes might actually suffer. Well, maybe they won't suffer, but 19" monitors just have terrible resolution.

My buddy finally gave in and decided to go with the build we talked about.

Thanks for the help...

silentpilot2 said:The guy finally caved and pulled the trigger on the build we suggested.

Thanks for the assist.

👍