Need an very upgradeable PC

brianorb

Due to a very strict budget I can't buy a gaming PC. But I'd like to work within that budget and get a platform together that would allow me have a decent rig after a year or so ....

My budget is measly, around €350

Could i get a windows PC together (for €350) with the following spec
i3
socket 1150 mobo
650W PSU
4GB RAM
Case

(No HDD, I have one that'll do; don't need an OS)

And upgrade over the next year or so to i7/16gb RAM/mid-range graphics card?

Thanks for reading!

mayordenis

mobo €71 - http://www.hardwareversand.de/en/DDR3/79849/ASRock+H87+Pro4%2C+Sockel+1150%2C+ATX.article mobo €71

i3 €105 - http://www.hardwareversand.de/en/Sockel+1150/165416/Intel+Core+i3-4150+in-a-Box.article

PSU €47 - http://www.hardwareversand.de/en/600+-+700+Watts/47363/Thermaltake+Berlin+630W.article

8GB RAM €68 - http://www.hardwareversand.de/en/1600+Low+Voltage/125974/8GB-Kit+Crucial+Ballistix+Sport+Series+DDR3-1600%2C+CL9.article

Case €56 - http://www.hardwareversand.de/en/Midi/48895/BitFenix+Shinobi+Midi-Tower+USB+3.0+++black%2C+ohne+Netzteil.article

Comes to under 350 excluding delivery, but you can use the discount site http://geizhals.de/ to put through all the items and get a bit of a discount and it should be pretty close if not on budget, plus the 8GB RAM should be enough for the foreseeable future really.

Serephucus

You can do better.



CPU allows overclocking, which makes it competitive with even high-end CPUs, and the board allows you to install any unlocked 1150 CPU later on, if you want to upgrade to a quad core.

This build also includes a GPU, so you can actually play games with it in the meantime. As well as that, because it's an EVGA GPU, you have three months to Step-Up to another GPU, simply by paying the difference.

mayordenis

Serephucus wrote: »

You can do better.

Arguable, definitely having a graphics card is a massive advantage, but I think PSU and CPU are both losing out on the back of that.
An i3 would in fairness be sufficient for gaming without overclocking for a good while, wouldn't need upgrading.
It's also more expensive, although the RAM you picked is better value for something that will give the same performance.
Case is a matter of personal preference really, so you can definitely save money over the one I choose.

The 1st build I think is a good graphics card away from fairly excellent performance.
You most likely know more about this than me but that's my understanding anyway.

Lu Tze

I would go with the pentium, if you are planning it for a stop gap CPU with the intention of upgrading. Seems mad to spend over €100 on a CPU that you will be getting rid of in the short term.

Bank the €40 difference and put it towards upgrading down the line. Cant imagine the pentium (even before you overclock) is that far behind the i3. Passmark sows the pentium ahead in single thread applications, and respective average scores of 4016 and 4981 for the pentium and the i3. Considering the price difference, and temporary use, i doubt its worth it.

TerrorFirmer

mayordenis wrote: »

Arguable, definitely having a graphics card is a massive advantage, but I think PSU and CPU are both losing out on the back of that.
An i3 would in fairness be sufficient for gaming without overclocking for a good while, wouldn't need upgrading.
It's also more expensive, although the RAM you picked is better value for something that will give the same performance.
Case is a matter of personal preference really, so you can definitely save money over the one I choose.

The 1st build I think is a good graphics card away from fairly excellent performance.
You most likely know more about this than me but that's my understanding anyway.

The second build is much better, with the Pentium and GTX750 you can play 90% of new games at mid-high settings at 1080p no problem at all. With an i3 and no dedicated card, there's not much you can do with it in terms of gaming other than some indie and low-grunt titles.

Pentium is close enough to the i3 in all but a very small handful of games anyway - there was some good reviews of the G3220 and g3240 that showed they were within 10% of the i3 in the vast majority of games, and quite often the i7 as well. And the K pentium is faster still as it can be overclocked.

mayordenis

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

The second build is much better, with the Pentium and GTX750 you can play 90% of new games at mid-high settings at 1080p no problem at all. With an i3 and no dedicated card, there's not much you can do with it in terms of gaming other than some indie and low-grunt titles.

Pentium is close enough to the i3 in all but a very small handful of games anyway - there was some good reviews of the G3220 and g3240 that showed they were within 10% of the i3 in the vast majority of games, and quite often the i7 as well. And the K pentium is faster still as it can be overclocked.

Ok so yea that all makes sense. I think you have to look at it slightly differently in that the OP didn't just say what's the best PC I can get for the money right now, he was specific about upgrade ability.

If you are going with a GTX 970 down the line or similarly power efficient card then the 430W should be grand I think, if you're going with say a R9 280x/290 then you could run into trouble, I also think the pentium will need replacing before the i3 would have along with, anyway OP these guys do know more than I do on this, just a different point of view probably heavily biased by this i3 that's been chugging through games for me for the last 2 years.

brianorb

I want to thank you all for your advice; I really appreciate the fact that you've taken the time out to do this' plenty of food for thought...:)