Recommend me a casual gaming rig

[becozlah]

Hi I have a friend looking to build a gaming rig to play games like PubG, watching videos and some light photoshopping.

Any recommendations? Budget is around 1k to 1.2k. But like hard to fit budget

Current plan:
1) CPU + MOBO: i5 8400 + ASROCK z370M-PRO4 ($475) or i5 7400 + ASUS H110M-A ($378)
2) RAM: DDR4 2400MHz CL15 Kingston ($232)
3) HDD: WD Blue 1TB ($74) or WD Blue 2TB ($118)
4) SSD: samsung 850 Evo 250GB ($149)
5) GPU: Zotac GTX-1060 AMP!3GB ($319) or 6GB ($419)
6) Case : recommendations plz!
7) PSU : recommendations plz!
8) fan: need extra fans?

No need monitor and keyboard + mouse

Just getting a gauge of the prices, so i just list from cybermind for now.

 

[dgenex]

Hi I have a friend looking to build a gaming rig to play games like PubG, watching videos and some light photoshopping.

Any recommendations? Budget is around 1k to 1.2k. But like hard to fit budget

Current plan:
1) CPU + MOBO: i5 8400 + ASROCK z370M-PRO4 ($475) or i5 7400 + ASUS H110M-A ($378)
2) RAM: DDR4 2400MHz CL15 Kingston ($232)
3) HDD: WD Blue 1TB ($74) or WD Blue 2TB ($118)
4) SSD: samsung 850 Evo 250GB ($149)
5) GPU: Zotac GTX-1060 AMP!3GB ($319) or 6GB ($419)
6) Case : recommendations plz!
7) PSU : recommendations plz!
8) fan: need extra fans?

No need monitor and keyboard + mouse

Just getting a gauge of the prices, so i just list from cybermind for now.

Case: Phanteks P400S TG ($139)
As usual, Tecware F3/Edge TG if you want more budget.
Since rig is not for heavy usage, just make sure you like how the case looks as well before deciding.

PSU: Superflower LEADEX Silver 550W (~$110)

Fans: A total of 3 fans is fine, (2 for intake, 1 for exhaust) whichever case you end up buying.

I'd also suggest i3-8100 over the i5-7400 at that price point if you decide for the more budget build.

SSD you can probably find those from PNY/Crucial/OCZ for about $20 lesser and will function fine if you want want to save some budget.

GPU I'm not sure if you will be able to fit the 6GB into the budget, 1060 3GB is a pretty good value card.

PUBG last I heard its not very well optimized, so I'm not sure on what settings you will be able to get 60 fps with this setup (probably Medium?)

 

[Ferolare]

if you cannot stretch your budget, you may need to change to a 1050Ti instead

 

[Typhoon PC]

AMD Ryzen 5 1600 + MSI B350 Tomahawk at 480

compared to i5 8400, it cost around the same and it has 2 more cores and 6 more threads. Better for those CPU hogging games like PUBG

 

[Elijahonli]

another way is to down ur ram to 8gb first and upgrade to 16gb in the future. Since its only light photoshop, ram shouldnt be a priority

 

[ahwei91]

AMD Ryzen 5 1600 + MSI B350 Tomahawk at 480

compared to i5 8400, it cost around the same and it has 2 more cores and 6 more threads. Better for those CPU hogging games like PUBG

you think i5 8400 is quad core or you think R5 1600 has 8 cores???

 

[becozlah]

Case: Phanteks P400S TG ($139)
As usual, Tecware F3/Edge TG if you want more budget.
Since rig is not for heavy usage, just make sure you like how the case looks as well before deciding.

PSU: Superflower LEADEX Silver 550W (~$110)

Fans: A total of 3 fans is fine, (2 for intake, 1 for exhaust) whichever case you end up buying.

I'd also suggest i3-8100 over the i5-7400 at that price point if you decide for the more budget build.

SSD you can probably find those from PNY/Crucial/OCZ for about $20 lesser and will function fine if you want want to save some budget.

GPU I'm not sure if you will be able to fit the 6GB into the budget, 1060 3GB is a pretty good value card.

PUBG last I heard its not very well optimized, so I'm not sure on what settings you will be able to get 60 fps with this setup (probably Medium?)

I guess no need highest settings, since its not like a fantasy mmorpg. Thanks for the recommendations!

if you cannot stretch your budget, you may need to change to a 1050Ti instead

I think 1060 like better for a bit more

AMD Ryzen 5 1600 + MSI B350 Tomahawk at 480

compared to i5 8400, it cost around the same and it has 2 more cores and 6 more threads. Better for those CPU hogging games like PUBG

Not familiar with AMD, but the last i heard Ryzen better for more threads, intel better for clock speed? and PubG hog CPU meh? not GPU?

another way is to down ur ram to 8gb first and upgrade to 16gb in the future. Since its only light photoshop, ram shouldnt be a priority

Good suggestion!

you think i5 8400 is quad core or you think R5 1600 has 8 cores???

R5 1600 is 6 cores with virtualization support for 12 threads?

From the comparison in this link, AMD like better for gaming/multi tasking purposes?

 

[Typhoon PC]

you think i5 8400 is quad core or you think R5 1600 has 8 cores???

Sorry, didn't see properly.

In any case i5 8400 is 6c/6t, Ryzen 5 1600 is 6c/12t

For the same amount, the 6 extra threads works wonders

 

[ahwei91]

R5 1600 is 6 cores with virtualization support for 12 threads?

From the comparison in this link, AMD like better for gaming/multi tasking purposes?

I think both amd and intel got new things coming out in feb or march 2018, don't know your friend wanna wait or not....

 

[becozlah]

Plan v2:
1) CPU + MOBO: i5 7400 + ASUS H110M-A ($356)
2) RAM: DDR4 2400MHz CL15 Kingston 8GB ($125)
3) HDD: WD Blue 1TB ($74)
4) SSD: samsung 850 Evo 250GB ($149)
5) GPU: Zotac GTX-1059Ti 4GB ($239)
6) Case :Tecware F3 ($59)
7) PSU : Superflower LEADEX Silver 550W (~$110)
8) fan: Corsair Air Series SP120 LED ($23 x 3)

Total cost: ($356) + ($125) + ($74) + ($149) + ($239) + ($139) + ($110) + ($23 x 3) = $1216

still a bit overbudget

 

[tmfwy]

Plan v2:
1) CPU + MOBO: i5 7400 + ASUS H110M-A ($356)
2) RAM: DDR4 2400MHz CL15 Kingston 8GB ($125)
3) HDD: WD Blue 1TB ($74)
4) SSD: samsung 850 Evo 250GB ($149)
5) GPU: Zotac GTX-1059Ti 4GB ($239)
6) Case :Tecware F3 ($59)
7) PSU : Superflower LEADEX Silver 550W (~$110)
8) fan: Corsair Air Series SP120 LED ($23 x 3)

Total cost: ($356) + ($125) + ($74) + ($149) + ($239) + ($139) + ($110) + ($23 x 3) = $1216

still a bit overbudget

UNless your friend wants to play PUBG at vlow, you need to look at GTX1060 6gb ( 3gb will do in a pinch ).

You can pare down the PSU by going for sub $100 versions.
Get rid of the 3x Corsair fans. The casing ought to have enough fans..

 

[Ferolare]

let's say...

we drop psu down to fsp hyper k 500w (or other similarly priced psu) and not buy those 3 corsair fans..

gpu budget can go up to ~330sgd bah

then yes, you'll be able to squeeze in that gtx1060 3gb (although you may want to keep track of vram usage in pubg)

and then there's OS

 

[ahwei91]

Plan v2:
1) CPU + MOBO: i5 7400 + ASUS H110M-A ($356)

why settle for a H110 mobo when you can get a cheap Z370 mobo with i3 8100 or maybe a amd ryzen bundle for about same price???

 

[Speedy007]

Gaming rig needs the best psu to go with. I highly recommend EVGA G3 psu.

 

[Psycovirus]

Amazon Prime Random Parts : $1099

Good: GTX 1060 3GB, 16GB Ram
Bad: Only 1 stick of 16gb ram, not dual channel

Need PSU + Case.

Techware F3 - $55 (has 2x Fans already)
PSU FSP Hyper K 500W 80+ - $69

Total Damage - $1223

Use UOB card and code on Prime, $10 Discount.

Just a fun experiment... haha

 

[Hailgod]

Gaming rig needs the best psu to go with. I highly recommend EVGA G3 psu.

you again..?

Sent from Xiaomi REDMI NOTE 4 using GAGT

 

[MoneyFace =p]

If you are comfortable with online purchases, do wait Qoo10 (or Lazada and Shopee) for possible discount coupons on Xmas to offset the prices. Just a few days to go so worth the wait i guess.

 

[AnonymousJon]

Plan v2:
1) CPU + MOBO: i5 7400 + ASUS H110M-A ($356)
2) RAM: DDR4 2400MHz CL15 Kingston 8GB ($125)
3) HDD: WD Blue 1TB ($74)
4) SSD: samsung 850 Evo 250GB ($149)
5) GPU: Zotac GTX-1059Ti 4GB ($239)
6) Case :Tecware F3 ($59)
7) PSU : Superflower LEADEX Silver 550W (~$110)
8) fan: Corsair Air Series SP120 LED ($23 x 3)

Total cost: ($356) + ($125) + ($74) + ($149) + ($239) + ($139) + ($110) + ($23 x 3) = $1216

still a bit overbudget

Tecware F3 comes with fan already I think so you can see how your rig handle before you purchase the additional fans, maybe you suddenly want WaterCooling because it looks nicer then your fan become wasted.
If exceed budget by too much that I THINK you can go for HDD first then save up to get another SSD instead of getting both at one shot, or go SSD first the HDD. First and foremost, consider AhWei's recommendation and see if it still exceeds your budget.

why settle for a H110 mobo when you can get a cheap Z370 mobo with i3 8100 or maybe a amd ryzen bundle for about same price???

^ Agree with Ah Wei, when setting up my own rig, I wanted settle down for i5 7400 because I thought i3 8100, until they pull up the specs comparison it was actually cheaper, more value for money and performance-wise is better.
You might want to go for Ryzen 1400 also quite good .

 

[MoneyFace =p]

Plan v2:
1) CPU + MOBO: i5 7400 + ASUS H110M-A ($356)
2) RAM: DDR4 2400MHz CL15 Kingston 8GB ($125)
3) HDD: WD Blue 1TB ($74)
4) SSD: samsung 850 Evo 250GB ($149)
5) GPU: Zotac GTX-1059Ti 4GB ($239)
6) Case :Tecware F3 ($59)
7) PSU : Superflower LEADEX Silver 550W (~$110)
8) fan: Corsair Air Series SP120 LED ($23 x 3)

Total cost: ($356) + ($125) + ($74) + ($149) + ($239) + ($139) + ($110) + ($23 x 3) = $1216

still a bit overbudget

I am building a rig for friend and this is what i've gotten maximising the power of coupon discounts on various online shopping platforms:

CPU: Intel Core i3-8100 @ $159 (Shopee SG)
MB+SSD: ASRock Z370M Pro4 + Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250GB @ $260 (Lazada SG)
RAM+PSU: G.Skill NT DDR4-2400 CL16 8GB + EVGA GD 550W [80 Plus Gold] @ $219 (Lazada SG)
GPU: Galax GTX 1060 6GB OC @ $325 (Qoo10 SG)
CASE: Tecware F3 Elite [White] @ $40 (Lazada SG)
OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro [Product Key] @ $2 (Taobao)
HDD: Reusing existing HDD

Total: $1005

Far more cheaper and way better than your current config.

 

[becozlah]

I am building a rig for friend and this is what i've gotten maximising the power of coupon discounts on various online shopping platforms:

CPU: Intel Core i3-8100 @ $159 (Shopee SG)
MB+SSD: ASRock Z370M Pro4 + Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250GB @ $260 (Lazada SG)
RAM+PSU: G.Skill NT DDR4-2400 CL16 8GB + EVGA GD 550W [80 Plus Gold] @ $219 (Lazada SG)
GPU: Galax GTX 1060 6GB OC @ $325 (Qoo10 SG)
CASE: Tecware F3 Elite [White] @ $40 (Lazada SG)
OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro [Product Key] @ $2 (Taobao)
HDD: Reusing existing HDD

Total: $1005

Far more cheaper and way better than your current config.

Wah thanks for the recommendations! Actually I'm just posting here and throwing ideas, then ask my friend to read through it to buy and build it himself

Tecware F3 comes with fan already I think so you can see how your rig handle before you purchase the additional fans, maybe you suddenly want WaterCooling because it looks nicer then your fan become wasted.
If exceed budget by too much that I THINK you can go for HDD first then save up to get another SSD instead of getting both at one shot, or go SSD first the HDD. First and foremost, consider AhWei's recommendation and see if it still exceeds your budget.


^ Agree with Ah Wei, when setting up my own rig, I wanted settle down for i5 7400 because I thought i3 8100, until they pull up the specs comparison it was actually cheaper, more value for money and performance-wise is better.
You might want to go for Ryzen 1400 also quite good .

If you are comfortable with online purchases, do wait Qoo10 (or Lazada and Shopee) for possible discount coupons on Xmas to offset the prices. Just a few days to go so worth the wait i guess.

why settle for a H110 mobo when you can get a cheap Z370 mobo with i3 8100 or maybe a amd ryzen bundle for about same price???

Agree! I also tell my friend to wait Xmas see got sales or not .

And yes after some googling the i3 8100 does indeed perform better than i5 7400