Building Myself a Budget PC, need halp.

[SpaceplaneAddict]

Alright friend pal bud chums, Iève been slowly picking out parts for a new gaming pc, not high end, but you know, mild, and tame, woth a little kick. So, though it's not SPECIFICALLY for KSP, the intentions for KSP gaming are there. So, without further ado, here are basically the root info of the parts i'm picking.

C APU: AMD A4-6300

RAM: Some random DDR3 8gb.

GPU: A nice Asus GeForce GT 710

Hard Drive : 7400RPM 640 GB

OS: Your standard Windows 10, or other, maybe, not sure.

All other parts can be detailed on if needed. Suggestions welcome, though my budget is only 300 dollars, plus or minus ten-ish bucks. CAD btw.

*Determination.

OK, after more time spent on  PCPartsPicker, and two cans of MtnDew, I have made two parts lists. Both drive a good bargain, however, list 2 has an A6 Dual Core APU at a higher clock speed and faster RAM.

Build 1: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/user/Kerbal/saved/#view=ksTdnQ

Build 2: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/user/Kerbal/saved/#view=s2pZxr

HELP! pls.

Edited June 27, 2016 by SpaceplaneAddict

[123nick]

i mean, this: http://www.logicalincrements.com/  might help you? im not 100% sure though, but i just direct anyone who says they are planning/building a PC too this website because it helps, and it helped me find the parts for my PC.

[SpaceplaneAddict]

1 minute ago, 123nick said:

i mean, this: http://www.logicalincrements.com/  might help you? im not 100% sure though, but i just direct anyone who says they are planning/building a PC too this website because it helps, and it helped me find the parts for my PC.

Oh,? Thanks,! But I'm using PC Parts Picker, so yeah.

[123nick]

Just now, SpaceplaneAddict said:

Oh,? Thanks,! But I'm using PC Parts Picker, so yeah.

ok, that works too i think. personally id think that 8 gigs of ram is a bit little but then again i run minecraft with 380 mods and that uses tons of ram, so im used too 16 being an adequate number, but 8gb might be ok.

[Elthy]

Dont buy an GT 710, instead invest the money in a better APU.

[CAKE99]

Have you heard of E-Waste? They are places where there are bins of PCs, my current PC (which is really good) was from E-Waste, my past 3 PCs were also from E-Waste, I got them all for free. (NOTE: I live in Melbourne).

[Camacha]

3 hours ago, 123nick said:

ok, that works too i think. personally id think that 8 gigs of ram is a bit little but then again i run minecraft with 380 mods and that uses tons of ram, so im used too 16 being an adequate number, but 8gb might be ok.

8 GB currently is plenty for gaming and conventional computer use. You really need to start doing some serious production or editing work to use a lot more. That being said, memory is dirt cheap as it stands.

 

8 minutes ago, CAKE99 said:

Have you heard of E-Waste? They are places where there are bins of PCs, my current PC (which is really good) was from E-Waste, my past 3 PCs were also from E-Waste, I got them all for free. (NOTE: I live in Melbourne).

Computing power and advances have stagnated a bit, so even a 5 year old system might still be very usable. I used to do this and you can get very nice things for little money, though you will never have the latest and the greatest. It is a small sacrifice to make. The main difference is that these older chips tend to use quite a bit more power. That might be relevant if you run the system continuously, but generally has little impact.

Edited June 27, 2016 by Camacha

[SpaceplaneAddict]

1 hour ago, CAKE99 said:

Have you heard of E-Waste? They are places where there are bins of PCs, my current PC (which is really good) was from E-Waste, my past 3 PCs were also from E-Waste, I got them all for free. (NOTE: I live in Melbourne).

I'm hard pressed to find things like whole PC's for free up in the north of Alberta (Peace River)

[RandomUser]

CPU seems like it it'll be slow, judging from it being a dual core AMD, however I'm not an AMD experienced PC user so I wouldn't know. 

RAM is fine, but I'd recommend 16GB's. 

GPU is under powered nowadays.  I suppose it may work for KSP, but my GTX 750 Ti with 2GB of VRAM can't run KSP with Scatterer above 30 or 40.  I'd say get a 960, if you're on a budget (same here, actually just ordered a new mobo for a build)

HDD seems small, but that really depends on what you're gonna use it for, but nowadays if you're going to run games like GTA 5, Just Cause 3, etc.  I'd go with a 1TB, which can be bought for pretty cheap nowadays. 

Don't forget to take cooling into account, Mobo, etc.  Always read reviews, otherwise you may find yourself with inadequate or poor quality parts. 

When you build a PC, especially for gaming, don't try to purchase everything at once, as then you'll be restricting yourself to what you can afford.  Buy a little every once in a while and you can go a lot further, from my experience.  Or you can just save up for a while and get all the stuff at once.  Either way works fine. 

[SpaceplaneAddict]

Updated OP with a choice of two build lists.

9 minutes ago, RandomUser said:

CPU seems like it it'll be slow, judging from it being a dual core AMD, however I'm not an AMD experienced PC user so I wouldn't know. 

RAM is fine, but I'd recommend 16GB's. 

GPU is under powered nowadays.  I suppose it may work for KSP, but my GTX 750 Ti with 2GB of VRAM can't run KSP with Scatterer above 30 or 40.  I'd say get a 960, if you're on a budget (same here, actually just ordered a new mobo for a build)

HDD seems small, but that really depends on what you're gonna use it for, but nowadays if you're going to run games like GTA 5, Just Cause 3, etc.  I'd go with a 1TB, which can be bought for pretty cheap nowadays. 

Don't forget to take cooling into account, Mobo, etc.  Always read reviews, otherwise you may find yourself with inadequate or poor quality parts. 

When you build a PC, especially for gaming, don't try to purchase everything at once, as then you'll be restricting yourself to what you can afford.  Buy a little every once in a while and you can go a lot further, from my experience.  Or you can just save up for a while and get all the stuff at once.  Either way works fine. 

A 960? I was looking at one on Ebay, but  i'm not sure if it's real. The budget for me is really anywhere near 300 canadian dollars (not much, basically)

[RandomUser]

5 minutes ago, SpaceplaneAddict said:

A 960? I was looking at one on Ebay, but  i'm not sure if it's real. The budget for me is really anywhere near 300 canadian dollars (not much, basically)

Yeah, though the cheapest you're going to find it is from Newegg for a 180 US dollars, though that's just from a quick search, you maybe can find it cheaper. 

[Camacha]

54 minutes ago, SpaceplaneAddict said:

I'm hard pressed to find things like whole PC's for free up in the north of Alberta (Peace River)

You do not need whole PC's, that is the point As soon as you have a viable motherboard-CPU combination, you are set. The rest can be aqcuired separately. Scrounge some RAM here, a decent PSU there, add a case and you are well underway. The one thing I would be careful with is used hard drives. You need to be even more strict with your backup regime if you employ used disks.

17 minutes ago, RandomUser said:

RAM is fine, but I'd recommend 16GB's. 

Why? There are little to no games that will actually make use of that much RAM. Chances are it will be years before you actually use that second 8 GB. You need to do some serious editing, run VMs or do other production work to fill up more than 8 GB.

17 minutes ago, RandomUser said:

GPU is under powered nowadays.  I suppose it may work for KSP, but my GTX 750 Ti with 2GB of VRAM can't run KSP with Scatterer above 30 or 40.  I'd say get a 960, if you're on a budget (same here, actually just ordered a new mobo for a build)

Something does not seem right there. My much more anemic GTS450 tended to run KSP marvellously.

[SpaceplaneAddict]

24 minutes ago, RandomUser said:

but my GTX 750 Ti with 2GB of VRAM can't run KSP with Scatterer above 30 or 40

Wait I just realized.... slow down there pal. I play KSP currently on a laptop, getting only 25 fps max on stock. i am merely a peasent, looking to provide for his hunger of games.

[RandomUser]

6 minutes ago, Camacha said:

Why? There are little to no games that will actually make use of that much RAM. Chances are it will be years before you actually use that second 8 GB. You need to do some serious editing, run VMs or do other production work to fill up more than 8 GB.

Something does not seem right there. My much more anemic GTS450 tended to run KSP marvellously.

Well, the average game can use up to 6GB's of RAM, even more sometimes.  The OS alone uses almost 4GB's with two Firefox windows open and Steam.  Add that up and ya get 10GBs.  It's always nice to have that extra RAM. 

What resolution?  I'm running 1080p, with Scatter and Eve. 

2 minutes ago, SpaceplaneAddict said:

Wait I just realized.... slow down there pal. I play KSP currently on a laptop, getting only 25 fps max on stock. i am merely a peasent, looking to provide for his hunger of games.

Alright, I thought you were gonna run graphics mods lol.  Yeah, the GTX 710 will do more than fine for KSP I think. 

Edited June 27, 2016 by RandomUser

[Camacha]

Have you looked at the Pentium G3258? It is not the newest generation any more, but it provides a lot of bang for the buck and can be overclocked. If you are absolutely sure you never want to overclock, its modern sibling, the G4400 looks to be interesting. They have great single threaded performance, which is important for gaming performance.

12 minutes ago, RandomUser said:

Well, the average game can use up to 6GB's of RAM, even more sometimes.  The OS alone uses almost 4GB's with two Firefox windows open and Steam.  Add that up and ya get 10GBs.  It's always nice to have that extra RAM.

Do not be ridiculous. A normal or even enthusiast user will not go near 8 GB. This is the consensus among advisory websites and is also confirmed by my own experience. You really need to throw around some professional software or a few VMs if you want to exceed it.

And yes, it is nice to have, but we are working with an extremely limited budget. RAM that is not used is wasted. Having spare RAM yields no performance benefits. It seems a bit of a waste to spend money on something that is hardly useful, while the money could improve performance significantly in other places. Even if it were to be true that you cannot game and have Firefox open, the simple and cheap solution would be to bookmark whatever you need later and close Firefox. There is little sense in buying extra RAM merely for the ability to have Firefox open in the background, though I reiterate that it can easily be done with 8 GB anyway.

Quote

What resolution?  I'm running 1080p

2048x1440 @ 85 Hz. That is almost 50% more pixels than 1080p.

Mods can be horribly optimized, so if OP wants to have a great gaming experience, he would better leave performance hungry mods out that only shine things up a little bit.

Edited June 27, 2016 by Camacha

[SpaceplaneAddict]

3 minutes ago, Camacha said:

Have you looked at the Pentium G3258?

That was actually my first cpu choice. However, that plus the cost of a mobo with overclock compatibility really exceeded my budget if i wanted a GT 700ish graphics card.

[RandomUser]

1 minute ago, Camacha said:

Have you looked at the Pentium G3258? It is not the newest generation any more, but it provides a lot of bang for the buck and can be overclocked. If you are absolutely sure you never want to overclock, its modern sibling, the G4400 looks to be interesting. They have great single threaded performance, which is important for gaming performance.

Do not be ridiculous. A normal or even enthusiast user will not go near 8 GB. This is the consensus among advisory websites and is also confirmed by my own experience. You really need to throw around some professional software or a few VMs if you want to exceed it.

And yes, it is nice to have, but we are working with an extremely limited budget. RAM that is not used is wasted. Having some spare RAM yields no performance benefits. It seems a bit of a waste to spend money on something that is hardly useful, while the money could improve performance significantly in other places. Even if it were to be true that you cannot game and have Firefox open, the simple and cheap solution would be to bookmark whatever you need later and close Firefox. There is little sense in buying extra RAM merely for the ability to have Firefox open in the background, though I reiterate that it can easily be done with 8 GB anyway.

Ohh, but plenty of normal and enthusiasts go to 8 and even exceed that.  I had setup two PC's once for people, far from experienced, that had 3 1080p screens with nearly no bezel, two GPUs and 16GB of RAM...  All for checking e-mail, and writing documents etc.  Many companies go with high end computers, I know from experience.  Nowadays, the bare minimum with some is 8gb for office PCs that'll have quad core CPU's and a GPU in it. 

Not only that but, RAM nowadays is pretty cheap.  ATM you can pick up 16GB's of DDR4 for around 60-70$.  Of course, it may not be necessary, but the price difference is minor.  Though, I can understand why not to get it, and in this case 8 will do fine, just throwing ideas out there. 

[Camacha]

1 minute ago, SpaceplaneAddict said:

That was actually my first cpu choice. However, that plus the cost of a mobo with overclock compatibility really exceeded my budget if i wanted a GT 700ish graphics card.

Is it possible to extend your budget a little bit? Dropping the overclocking capabilities might be another way of saving a few bucks. If I am to believe the reports, they are mean little processors for their money.

Having an aneamic dual core CPU in your system is going to hurt your gaming experience. Maybe even more important is that the CPU is relatively cumbersome to upgrade. A new GPU or more RAM is more easily added later.

Just now, RandomUser said:

Ohh, but plenty of normal and enthusiasts go to 8 and even exceed that.  I had setup two PC's once for people, far from experienced, that had 3 1080p screens with nearly no bezel, two GPUs and 16GB of RAM...  All for checking e-mail, and writing documents etc.  Many companies go with high end computers, I know from experience.  Nowadays, the bare minimum with some is 8gb for office PCs that'll have quad core CPU's and a GPU in it. 

I am looking at what people actually use, not what they think they need or want.

Quote

Not only that but, RAM nowadays is pretty cheap.  ATM you can pick up 16GB's of DDR4 for around 60-70$.  Of course, it may not be necessary, but the price difference is minor.  Though, I can understand why not to get it, and in this case 8 will do fine, just throwing ideas out there. 

Yes, in other cases, I might agree. Memory is dirt cheap at the moment, so why not load up? Prices fluctuate and it will be a disappointment if memory turns out to be twice the price when you do need it. However, in budget concious builds, these 35-40 dollars are very much needed elsewhere. Invest that money into a better GPU and your experience will increase noticeably.

[SpaceplaneAddict]

2 minutes ago, Camacha said:

Is it possible to extend your budget a little bit? Dropping the overclocking capabilities might be another way of saving a few bucks. If I am to believe the reports, they are mean little processors for their money.

Having an aneamic dual core CPU in your system is going to hurt your gaming experience. Maybe even more important is that the CPU is relatively cumbersome to upgrade. A new GPU or more RAM is more easily added later.

the A6 that I picked is unlcoked for OCing, and i'm currently browsing aftermarket fans for the extra heat.

[RandomUser]

3 minutes ago, Camacha said:

I am looking at what people actually use, not what they think they need or want. 

Ahh, my apologies.  I misinterpreted what you previously stated, about what the normal user would go near.  I thought you were referring to what they would be willing to buy. 

[cantab]

We do have a PC building megathread.

I would say that none of your builds are good for KSP, or good in general. That said, on CAD$300 it's really tough.

KSP remains limited by single-threaded CPU performance, so it wants a modern fast Intel CPU. Those CPUs also do well in most games - faster cores help everything, whereas more cores only helps programs that can use them.

A GT 710 is completely pointless in a gaming PC, it is literally worse than good integrated graphics.

I'd strongly prefer having an SSD, unless lots of disk space is a requirement.

Playing around on PC Part Picker, I can't get a build I'm happy with that's quite in budget, but this is what I've come up with.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G4500 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($109.99 @ NCIX)
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-DGS Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($46.50 @ Vuugo)
Memory: Crucial 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($35.09 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: A-Data Premier SP550 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($44.99 @ DirectCanada)
Power Supply: EVGA 400W ATX Power Supply  ($36.45 @ Vuugo)
Total: $273.02
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-06-27 07:33 EDT-0400

CPU: Reasonable quick dual-core with good integrated graphics. The cheaper G4400 has weak graphics so I didn't choose that. Will run KSP nicely. Will run a lot of games actually, although often it'll be 720p low details to get usable framerates.

Mobo: Just about the cheapest around.

RAM: One stick, to leave future upgrade options. The H110 motherboard doesn't support speeds faster than 2133 MHz so there's no point getting quicker stuff.

SSD: It's not top tier, but AData have a reasonable reputation and it's a lot faster than a mechanical drive. 120 GB is enough storage to start with, though large games would fill it up quickly.

PSU: This is as cheap as I dare go. Despite the low price, it's stood up to demanding testing by jonnyguru and other expert PSU testers.

Case: I've not listed one because it's your aesthetic choice. Getting one is likely to throw you over budget.

The build does well for upgrade path - you can in future add a dedicated graphics card, go to a Core i3/5/7 CPU, or add more RAM.

That's my take on a new build, but on your budget I'd strongly consider looking at second-hand parts too. That said it will still be a challenge to get a good graphics card in, which you'll want if you opt for a bargain on an older-generation CPU because they have great CPU performance but weak graphics.

Edited June 27, 2016 by cantab

[SpaceplaneAddict]

I'll pass on the SSD, as I'm ok with waiting a bit on bootups and loading things up. Other than that I think that all of those components look very good. The PSU I'll take no questions, and about the cpu. What kinds of CPU's will I be able to overclock decently at a similar price range?

[Camacha]

14 minutes ago, SpaceplaneAddict said:

I'll pass on the SSD, as I'm ok with waiting a bit on bootups and loading things up. Other than that I think that all of those components look very good. The PSU I'll take no questions, and about the cpu. What kinds of CPU's will I be able to overclock decently at a similar price range?

Only enthusiast Intel chips can be overclocked. The G3258 is the notable exception, as is was released to celebrate the Pentium anniversary. That is why it has been such a popular chip. Normal Pentiums and i3 chips can not be overclocked much, unless you are willing to look at motherboards with overclocking features that are not supported by Intel.

Edited June 27, 2016 by Camacha

[SpaceplaneAddict]

Ah, I'll keep looking for a while. This isn't needed anymore.

[Waxing_Kibbous]

I recently built a budget gaming PC after a ton of research, you may find a a good deal here as well: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=30000007 31001489 600090100&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&Order=BESTMATCH

I ended up increasing my budget by $300 because I found a place to sell all of my old game consoles I think it is worth it to be patient and save up to get something better that will still be decent in 4-5 years.