Sanity check my cheapo gaming build?

Lumen

My son's very old tower PC is BSODing regularly and I've given up trying to fix it.

I want to transfer the storage and video card to a new build. Don't need to shave every last € so am using whatever I can find on Komplett.

I've had bad experiences with SFF PCs over ten years ago (fan noise, heat, lack of space for GPUs) but have read that Mini-ITX is OK now.

Here are the parts I have on my Komplett wishlist (which I can't share because that function seems to be broken)....

Motherboard: ASUS B150I PRO GAMING/WIFI/AURA, DIMM, DDR4-SDRAM, Dual, Intel...
http://www.komplett.ie/asus-b150i-pro-gaming-wifi-aura/20733604/details.aspx
€127

Case: Cooler Master Storm Elite 130
Small Form Factor, 1xUSB2.0 / 2xUSB3.0 / Audio
http://www.komplett.ie/cooler-master-storm-elite-130/80013942/details.aspx
€50

PSU: Corsair VS550 - 550 Watt
http://www.komplett.ie/corsair-vs550-550-watt/20452360/details.aspx
€55

CPU: Intel Pentium G4620 Boxed
Dual-core, cooler included
http://www.komplett.ie/intel-pentium-g4620-boxed/80046392/details.aspx
€120

RAM: Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 8GB - PC4-19200 - DIMM
DDR4, 2400MHz, 1,2V, CL16, 1x8GB
http://www.komplett.ie/crucial-ballistix-sport-lt-8gb-pc4-19200-dimm/20517895/details.aspx[/#
€65

Total: €416.83

The components I will transplant are:

- Samsung 850 EVO SSD 250GB
- Western Digital, Caviar Green 3TB 3.5" Internal Hard drive, SATA 6Gb/s (SATA 3) 64MB Cache
- ZOTAC GeForce GTX 750TI 2048MB DDR5 128bit PCI-E D

At the moment he's running an old 1600x1200 dell display so don't need to support mega resolutions.

Does this all look OK? Will the graphics card and PSU fit?

SterlingArcher

You're spending more on the mobo than cpu? Thats usually never the case. Hmmm.

Would it not be better to get a cheaper mobo and maybe up the cpu? If the savings permitted.

Says in case description it takes 13 inch gpu and standard atx psu so you should be ok.

K.O.Kiki

B250m Bazooka €90
http://www.komplett.ie/msi-b250m-bazooka/80046291/details.aspx

Pentium G4560 €80
http://www.komplett.ie/intel-pentium-g4560-boxed/80046394/details.aspx

Cooler Master Elite 430 window €50
http://www.komplett.ie/cooler-master-elite-430-window/20226102/details.aspx

Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 8GB - PC4-19200 €65
http://www.komplett.ie/crucial-ballistix-sport-lt-8gb-pc4-19200-dimm/20517895/details.aspx

Seasonic S12II-520 - 520 Watt €63
http://www.komplett.ie/seasonic-s12ii-520-520-watt/80038423/details.aspx

€348

Much better balanced build.

TerrorFirmer

Agree with the above. Much better value for money and identical performance really. If you were spending that much on the CPU and board as per your original post you'd be far better off going for an i5 + basic motherboard, though at that point, it would be most certainly worth waiting for AMD's new processors.

K.O.Kiki

P.S. if your lad likes shooters, a new mouse would be a nice present too, e.g. Logitech G302

Lumen

Thanks, that's really helpful.

The G4560 looks like a sensible choice - these cheapy Kaby Lake pentiums seem to be able to cope with normal gaming OK from what I've read.

The spendy mobo was to get onboard wifi - I want to avoid dongles. Which ATX mobo would you recommmend if I wanted on-board wifi?

If I wanted to keep the footprint down and have on-board wifi I could go for these SFX jobs (breaking my everything-from-Komplett rule for the case!):

PSU: Corsair SF450 SFX €94
http://www.komplett.ie/corsair-sf450/20740658/details.aspx

Case: SilverStone SST-RVZ02B €94 (approx)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/a3o/SilverStone-27015-SST-RVZ02B-Raven-Mini-ITX-black/B01580NNN2/

RAM: Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 8GB - PC4-19200 €65
http://www.komplett.ie/crucial-balli...5/details.aspx

CPU: Pentium G4560 €80
http://www.komplett.ie/intel-pentium...4/details.aspx

Motherboard: ASUS B150I PRO GAMING/WIFI/AURA €127 <-- pricey cos wifi
http://www.komplett.ie/asus-b150i-pro-gaming-wifi-aura/20733604/details.aspx

---
€380

No case cooling for SFX but do I really need it with a 54W CPU and a 60W graphics card?

Will SFX break my heart?

tadcan

Do you know what is causing the BSOD, is the harddrive ok? Getting an SSD will make a difference to the PC speed. Windows 10 free version works, but leaves a watermark in the bottom left corner. €25 will get you a licence key on reddit.

minitrue

You do NOT want a B150 board and a G4560, look for a B250/H270/Z270 board.

Half the money on the case and psu, locking yourself into SFX and having the absolute minimum of cooling options (and hence minimal choices for upgrades down the road) ... why? If you explain a bit people might be able to sensibly help with suggestions.

You can use a pci-e wifi card with an m-atx board anyway so you don't need onboard wifi to avoid dongles.

Lumen

minitrue wrote: »

If you explain a bit people might be able to sensibly help with suggestions.

Sorry, I should have been clearer. SFX is about a third of the footprint (and less than half the width) an means it will fit on the desk rather than under it.

I know tower cases offer better cooling and can cope with more powerful components, but the trend over the past few years has been towards lower power consumption particularly in the mid-range GPUs and under idle so I figure I can continue to upgrade with low-power cards over time. Hard drives haven't got bigger, SDDs draw less power than HDDs, and it seems like GPU performance is now entirely geared towards ridiculous resolutions which don't add much to the experience.

I have been bitten in the past by SFF, particularly with fan noise and cost, but I wondered whether things had improved. But it seems like the cost difference is still stupid.

So I guess I'll ditch the SFX idea and just get another tower.

minitrue wrote: »

You can use a pci-e wifi card with an m-atx board anyway so you don't need onboard wifi to avoid dongles.

Thanks.

edit: K.O.Kiki's parts suggestions ordered!

ED E

Depending on home layout you may find better performance from homeplugs and they have the benefit of not contending with other devices. Can be quite handy for that 40GB steam download.

the_syco

Are you with Eicom? I think they're still selling a decent homeplug set for €29

They are often miles better than WiFi, but ensure you don't put them on extensions, and the "first" plug in the room if possible.

Lumen

I've used homeplug for years. It's OK. Every year or so the units forget each other or get reset deliberately and I have to spend an hour or so downloading configuration software and linking them all back together. It happens at intervals just long enough that I've deleted all the software and forgotten how to do it.

Simplicity (fewer devices) is good. Our smartphones have no problem with wifi, it's only the PCs in the bedrooms. I guess lack of on-board wifi is possibly an advantage if you end up using a good PCI card with triple or quad external aerials.

My broadband is only 55 megabit so I probably don't need mad connectivity any more (I had Virgin in the old place, sniff).

Lumen

Thanks for all the help, built it last night. It even works!

Shamefully I think it's the first time I've put together a PC. The motherboard had some handy "debug LEDs" to help me fix the bits I skipped. A CPU has its own power cable, who knew? :pac: