€400 or less basic build with Upgrade Path

alanzo27

My nephew has been looking for his first gaming PC. He'll be using his TV as a monitor. Mostly looking to play GTA V Online and some older Saint's Row titles. I have an old mATX case that I'm gonna use. This is what I was thinking.

Memoryc.ie

MB: MSI B450M-A Pro Max €86
APU: Ryzen 3 3200g €101 (Not ideal but if a GPU isn't possible within budget)
GPU: None (Unless can get a used RX 570/580 or similar)
Storage: 1TB HDD + 120GB SSD for OS €70
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 2x 8GB 3200MHz CL16 €91 (Overkill?)
PSU: 600w (Haven't sourced one yet, Memoryc don't stock them and from what I've seen there is a shortage with Covid. Doesn't have to be fully modular but preferable.)
KB/Mouse: Any basic wireless combo. Doesn't matter.

Finding it difficult with such a limited budget. TIA.

K.O.Kiki

PCPartPicker Part List: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/Xyb77T

CPU: AMD Athlon 3000G 3.5 GHz Dual-Core Processor (£45.49 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: MSI A320M-A PRO MAX Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (£45.98 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR4-3000 CL16 Memory (£41.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Kingston A400 480 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£51.59 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: Corsair CX (2017) 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£47.57)
Custom: used RX 570 (£100.00)
Total: £332.62
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-06-08 10:52 BST+0100

GPU from Adverts. Basically chance your arm & offer €110-120 on any model (Sapphire/Powercolor are best).
PSU from CCL.

2x 8Gb RAM is more cost efficient though (£62.99)

Case for the Athlon 3000G:

Homelander

Not an ideal budget but don't get the 3200G or 3000G most definitely not. Grand now for GTA V but the second you try and play very modern games on it, it's fairly useless. As for the 3200G, the integrated graphics are pretty much useless - better than Intel, but not "good".

If you already have a case there is no reason why you can't build a solid system with around €400.


CPU - Ryzen 3100 (£95)
RAM - 2x4GB 3000Mhz (£45)
MOBO - A320M (£40)
PSU - 500W bronze (£40)
SSD - 240GB (£35)
GPU - GTX1650 4GB

Comes in at about €450 and you can enjoy GTA V at 1080 ultra settings at high framerate.

alanzo27

I'm definitely hesitant with both the 3000g/3200g. I'm looking at two Powercolor RX 580's on Adverts, putting in offers around €120-130. Do you think it would be worthwhile to add a couple of euro and go for a B450m instead? I can help a little with his build but I want to stick to his budget as close as I can.

Homelander

At that budget no. There's no reason to get it over an A320M.

If there's any extra money to be spent get a Ryzen 1600AF (£110) instead of the Ryzen 3100. Put the rest into the best GPU you can afford.

K.O.Kiki

Definitely don't get a 240Gb IMHO

GTAV itself is around 94Gb now.

alanzo27

I managed €130 for the RX 580, so at least that's the GPU sorted. I'll be getting 480GB/500GB at a minimum. The OS + updates will probably take 80GB+ alone and AAA titles are 50GB+. Doesn't the latest Call of Duty + updates require something rediculous like ~175GB?

BloodBath

Best to get a 2TB 7200RPM HDD for storing some games at some point.

ATM at least most games still fun fine from them.

Loading times aren't bad either especially after the first load. I run warzone off of a HDD with no problems.