I made some posts long ago about building a PC, and it never happened.
I need a $500 PC that includes a monitor. Recommendations for mice/mouses (which is right for the computer peripheral?) and a keyboard would be nice, but I might not need to buy those.
There's no games that I specifically plan on playing, just a bit of everything. I have no priority for running Minecraft extremely well. I would much rather have better general performance for a tradeoff on Minecraft performance.
Some quick questions:
-How will it run things?
-Is it really that easy to build one on your own?
-I remember you guys always recommended the cheapest ram available, is that still true? Why?
-How long will it last?
-When is it predicted that I will NEED to upgrade things? Past this point it's mostly just upgrading the graphics card for a while, right?
-Intel CPUs were generally better for Minecraft because they usually had less cores, right?
Thanks a million, I remember this place as being the greatest. All answers are appreciated.
EDIT: I might be able to find a bit more if purchasing a monitor is really necessary.
Getting a decent gaming PC for $500 if you need the monitor and the OS is rather difficult, after those two you'd be left with $300 for the tower which isn't exactly a lot.
Jppk or someone else here will probably have something to say about it but overall unless I missed something it looks good to me.
I'm not 100% sure about what GPU to use but after looking I came up with that one. I think with the leftover money and maybe a downgrade in something or other you may be able to upgrade the CPU but I don't really see much reason atm.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."
Thanks! That looks great. The keyboard and mouse combo has great reviews and a great price, too. And I checked where Akame mentioned, and I can get a copy of Win8 for around $40.
What would I upgrade if I increased my budget to about $650-ish dollars?
What would I upgrade if I increased my budget to about $650-ish dollars?
Yes you surely could. That would allow for a moderate sized CPU/GPU upgrades. From what I can tell the pentium is alright on it's own but really needs to be overclocked to get it's full potential and as you wont be overclocking(???) it could use an upgrade. The GPU just could use an upgrade because the one in my build really isn't that great. But if you really want to keep it about 500$ what I suggested should work. I'll try to post a build for around 650.
EDIT: This is what I ended up coming up with http://pcpartpicker.com/p/CvmpMp I know it's over budget and the OS isn't ever figured in so if someone could edit it to make it cheaper, I'm not even sure how, I'd appreciate it.
How's this? http://pcpartpicker.com/p/NY7Fqs What i3 is good? I don't use em' much. And will the i3 bottleneck the 280 or should I just go with the 270 to save money?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."
And yeah, I guess a generic mouse+keyboard would work. I have awful luck with the ones that are like 10$ or under though. I always used to say that they work fine but the last 2 I've gotten have died within 2-3 months. And I know this sounds childish but after using a a normal black/grey mouse and keyboard the LED ones looks really cool, something I'd pay 20$ more for but that's up to the buyer so good point. As for the PSU/RAM, I always thought that PSU was fine for budget builds? And same with the RAM? Except it may be better to go up to 6 or 8. When I'm running MC + some programs in the back I can get up to using 3.7 GBs of RAM. But of course when only gaming there's no reason to get more than 8.
Sorry I din't quote but I'll just use these quotes: "It's not that I can't overclock, I just don't know how to. I'm pretty tech-savvy, I just haven't built a PC before or done anything related to this." It would also raise the price a bit to OC being that you need a CPU cooler and an unlocked CPU/Mobo
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."
Should do, I've been eyeing -1150 mobos for the last ten minutes and that seems to be the only one with four slots for RAM, some sort of expansions slots and half decent VRM without costing $80 or more or being sold out.
I've never really had an issue, the keyboard I'm typing on right now cost somewhere along six-seven Euros and has lasted for a few years already, same thing with the last one expect it was bought before the currency change here, probably 2002-ish. The PSU works and won't blow up in your face but it's not a bad thing to pay $15 more for something with better voltage regulation and ripple if you can then keep for a few more years. The only thing wrong with the RAM is the capacity, and even then it isn't the first necessity with a budget like OP's. Either get 4GB or 8GB, mixing capacities is bad.
Alright. And sorry, I meant to say mice under 10$* The keyboard I'm using currently can't be any newer than 2005 I don't think and it still works perfectly fine. The PSU, normally I would go with the EVGA Supernova 650w(Maybe 550 can't remember) but it seemed out of budget. Although I know there are some better ones then the one I put in the build cheaper then the Supernova.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."
I need a $500 PC that includes a monitor. Recommendations for mice/mouses (which is right for the computer peripheral?) and a keyboard would be nice, but I might not need to buy those.
There's no games that I specifically plan on playing, just a bit of everything. I have no priority for running Minecraft extremely well. I would much rather have better general performance for a tradeoff on Minecraft performance.
Some quick questions:
-How will it run things?
-Is it really that easy to build one on your own?
-I remember you guys always recommended the cheapest ram available, is that still true? Why?
-How long will it last?
-When is it predicted that I will NEED to upgrade things? Past this point it's mostly just upgrading the graphics card for a while, right?
-Intel CPUs were generally better for Minecraft because they usually had less cores, right?
Thanks a million, I remember this place as being the greatest. All answers are appreciated.
EDIT: I might be able to find a bit more if purchasing a monitor is really necessary.
I probably already have the OS. What would $100 more be able to get?
I might have a monitor somewhere, but likely not. Only small TVs.
Jppk or someone else here will probably have something to say about it but overall unless I missed something it looks good to me.
I'm not 100% sure about what GPU to use but after looking I came up with that one. I think with the leftover money and maybe a downgrade in something or other you may be able to upgrade the CPU but I don't really see much reason atm.
"Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."
-Albert Einstein
Current setup: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/PJzPD3
What would I upgrade if I increased my budget to about $650-ish dollars?
Yes you surely could. That would allow for a moderate sized CPU/GPU upgrades. From what I can tell the pentium is alright on it's own but really needs to be overclocked to get it's full potential and as you wont be overclocking(???) it could use an upgrade. The GPU just could use an upgrade because the one in my build really isn't that great. But if you really want to keep it about 500$ what I suggested should work. I'll try to post a build for around 650.
EDIT: This is what I ended up coming up with http://pcpartpicker.com/p/CvmpMp I know it's over budget and the OS isn't ever figured in so if someone could edit it to make it cheaper, I'm not even sure how, I'd appreciate it.
"Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."
-Albert Einstein
Current setup: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/PJzPD3
"Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."
-Albert Einstein
Current setup: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/PJzPD3
And yeah, I guess a generic mouse+keyboard would work. I have awful luck with the ones that are like 10$ or under though. I always used to say that they work fine but the last 2 I've gotten have died within 2-3 months. And I know this sounds childish but after using a a normal black/grey mouse and keyboard the LED ones looks really cool, something I'd pay 20$ more for but that's up to the buyer so good point. As for the PSU/RAM, I always thought that PSU was fine for budget builds? And same with the RAM? Except it may be better to go up to 6 or 8. When I'm running MC + some programs in the back I can get up to using 3.7 GBs of RAM. But of course when only gaming there's no reason to get more than 8.
Sorry I din't quote but I'll just use these quotes: "It's not that I can't overclock, I just don't know how to. I'm pretty tech-savvy, I just haven't built a PC before or done anything related to this." It would also raise the price a bit to OC being that you need a CPU cooler and an unlocked CPU/Mobo
"Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."
-Albert Einstein
Current setup: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/PJzPD3
Alright. And sorry, I meant to say mice under 10$* The keyboard I'm using currently can't be any newer than 2005 I don't think and it still works perfectly fine. The PSU, normally I would go with the EVGA Supernova 650w(Maybe 550 can't remember) but it seemed out of budget. Although I know there are some better ones then the one I put in the build cheaper then the Supernova.
"Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."
-Albert Einstein
Current setup: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/PJzPD3