PC Help Please.

[Rabish Bini]

Hey there!
So I'm looking at purchasing a new PC. I'm not after anything top of the line, so I don't need anything completely new or fancy. I'll primarily be playing games from the 2000's, so I'm looking at things like KotOR I/II, Civ IV/V, and in terms of newer games I'm only really interested in stuff like Hotline Miami and Papers Please, and maybe some other stuff I can't remember off the top of my head. AAA games I'm not interested in so I don't need anything that good.

My brother is able to get me a prebuilt PC for ~$1000 AUD, the HP ProDesk 400 G2 Small Form Factor PC. I am aware the GPU is on the weak side, but don't know by just how much as I'm pretty illiterate in this department.

Spoiler: Full specs here

Brand Name: HP
Form Factor: Small Form Factor
Graphics Controller Manufacturer: AMD
Graphics Controller Model: Radeon HD 8490
Graphics Memory Accessibility: Dedicated
Graphics Memory Capacity: Up to 1 GB
Green Compliant: Yes
Number of USB 2.0 Ports: 2
Number of USB 3.0 Ports: 2
Operating System Architecture: 64-bit
Operating System: Windows 7 Professional
Optical Drive Type: DVD-Writer
Processor Manufacturer: Intel
Processor Model: i7-4790
Processor Speed: 3.60 GHz
Processor Type: Core i7
Product Family: Business Desktop ProDesk 400 G2
Product Type: Desktop Computer
Standard Memory: 4 GB
Total Hard Drive Capacity: 1 TB
Total Number of USB Ports: 4

Personally however, I am looking at this custom build, but I'm not sure of just how good it is, whether the parts are compatible etc. The total comes to $909 AUD.
http://imgur.com/86aCrxp

Does anyone have any tips or thoughts? All help appreciated, thanks.

 

[plekpot]

I use http://www.cpubenchmark.net/ to compare.

If you choose between those two sets, your own suggestion seems better (with some modifications). The GPU is bad (Civ 5 will maybe run on low) for both suggestions though, the CPU is very good quality. It is strange to see that combo of a good CPU and very poor GPU. It might be better to go with your suggestion though, seeing as you would have to replace the GPU on the pre-built one. I would spend some more on your GPU though and maybe some more RAM, 4gb is going to be tight.

Maybe a Radeon R9 285, Intel Core i5-4460 (like you suggested), combined with the rest of your suggestion (besides some more RAM). All in all though, seems reasonable. You still have to check if the motherboard and CPU are compatible though. Can't really help you with prices, seeing as I'm from Belgium and PC parts are quite expensive here.

My specs:
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z97-D3H
GPU: MSI GTX 970
CPU: i7-4790K
Hard Drvie: 1TB Samsung 840 SSD
RAM: 4GB KIngston 1600 Mhz DIMM

 

[Rabish Bini]

(snip)

Hey thanks for your help.
Instead of the 730, I was also looking at the Geforce GTX 750 Ti as I've heard and read good things about it. Any thoughts on it?
I was also having a look at the case, if I'm reading it correctly it comes with a 500w psu, would that be ok and I can take out the Corsair power supply or nah?

I feel you with the expensive parts, in Aus anything remotely technological is expensive.

 

[plekpot]

(snip)

Hey thanks for your help.
Instead of the 730, I was also looking at the Geforce GTX 750 Ti as I've heard and read good things about it. Any thoughts on it?
I was also having a look at the case, if I'm reading it correctly it comes with a 500w psu, would that be ok and I can take out the Corsair power supply or nah?

I feel you with the expensive parts, in Aus anything remotely technological is expensive.

I'm no expert in this sorry . 750 Ti seems fine to me, It could run Civ 5 on very high at a reasonable fps I would say (I could run it on highest with i7-870 and Radeon HD 5870). I can't really help you with the PSU, 500W might be enough, not sure. Dont go below 500W though.

A small 120 gb SSD is also possible later on (but not necessary), if you have money to spare. It made a massive difference in startup speed if you install Windows on it (and maybe some games if they fit, like Civ). I went from a 4 min startup to 30 sec.

PS: I feel for you, it seems to me Australia is not a good place if you're a gamer: slow internet speeds, barely any servers, expensive parts.

 

[snekadid]

I'm going to say that thats a complete and total ripoff. For that same price in dollars 5 years ago I got a PC with 8 gigs ram, 8 core processor and a "better" gpu(it burned out but thats what I get for not buying a nvidia). Check out www.ibuypower.com
I've gotten 2 PCs there now that have excelled way past my expectations without upgrades. For that kinda of money you should be getting way more than the stats you listed.

 

[Rabish Bini]

(snip)

Hey thanks for your help.
Instead of the 730, I was also looking at the Geforce GTX 750 Ti as I've heard and read good things about it. Any thoughts on it?
I was also having a look at the case, if I'm reading it correctly it comes with a 500w psu, would that be ok and I can take out the Corsair power supply or nah?

I feel you with the expensive parts, in Aus anything remotely technological is expensive.

I'm no expert in this sorry . 750 Ti seems fine to me, It could run Civ 5 on very high at a reasonable fps I would say (I could run it on highest with i7-870 and Radeon HD 5870). I can't really help you with the PSU, 500W might be enough, not sure. Dont go below 500W though.

A small 120 gb SSD is also possible later on (but not necessary), if you have money to spare. It made a massive difference in startup speed if you install Windows on it (and maybe some games if they fit, like Civ). I went from a 4 min startup to 30 sec.

PS: I feel for you, it seems to me Australia is not a good place if you're a gamer: slow internet speeds, barely any servers, expensive parts.

No worries, you've been helpful, thanks

I'm going to say that thats a complete and total ripoff. For that same price in dollars 5 years ago I got a PC with 8 gigs ram, 8 core processor and a "better" gpu(it burned out but thats what I get for not buying a nvidia). Check out www.ibuypower.com
I've gotten 2 PCs there now that have excelled way past my expectations without upgrades. For that kinda of money you should be getting way more than the stats you listed.

I'll take a look, but keep in mind I am in Australia, where everything's a ripoff.

 

[snekadid]

I'll take a look, but keep in mind I am in Australia, where everything's a ripoff.

I suggest checking out their weekly deals and waiting for free shipping. On a PC that can make a huge difference on price.

captcha: "run the gauntlet"
You heard the captcha, get to it.

 

[plekpot]

I'm going to say that thats a complete and total ripoff. For that same price in dollars 5 years ago I got a PC with 8 gigs ram, 8 core processor and a "better" gpu(it burned out but thats what I get for not buying a nvidia). Check out www.ibuypower.com
I've gotten 2 PCs there now that have excelled way past my expectations without upgrades. For that kinda of money you should be getting way more than the stats you listed.

Yea, PC parts are a lot more expensive outside of the US sadly. I paid (converted) 500 US$ for a GTX 970 in Belgium, on Amazon it's 340$. For Australia it's even more, seeing as that's very far away from the main shipping lines of Europe-US + extra taxes.

 

[Rabish Bini]

I'll take a look, but keep in mind I am in Australia, where everything's a ripoff.

I suggest checking out their weekly deals and waiting for free shipping. On a PC that can make a huge difference on price.

captcha: "run the gauntlet"
You heard the captcha, get to it.

I could be wrong, but if I'm reading their site correctly free shipping only applies to within the US unfortunately. EDIT yeah they don't ship outside of US/Canada, thanks anyway though!

And plekpot hit the nail on the head. Australia sucks for that sort of stuff.

If anyone else has any advice to my predicament or even suggestions for place in Australia (preferably Melbourne) that would be nice

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

Personally however, I am looking at this custom build, but I'm not sure of just how good it is, whether the parts are compatible etc. The total comes to $909 AUD.
http://imgur.com/86aCrxp

Does anyone have any tips or thoughts? All help appreciated, thanks.

hey so as many mentioned, that pre-built is pretty much well...shit. that imgur list isn't bad, but I think you can do better for the price. here is a list I made (respective to australia prices/dealers, so this should be kosher for you.)

http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/YFf8kL

I think the site you were using is similar to the one I used, but I gave you an upgrade in the video card (to the 750 ti you wanted) and a slight boost to the psu and ram (which will help you alot in the long run.)

the only things missing from this build are:

windows operating system (however you can find this cheapest, go for it)
mouse & keyboard (assuming you have some already?)
monitor and speakers (once again, assuming you have some?)

edit: and I trimmed the fat a bit, gave you a micro atx motherboard, a bit smaller...but it should be just fine for you, especially since you won't be overclocking with your nice CPU.

 

[plekpot]

Personally however, I am looking at this custom build, but I'm not sure of just how good it is, whether the parts are compatible etc. The total comes to $909 AUD.
http://imgur.com/86aCrxp

Does anyone have any tips or thoughts? All help appreciated, thanks.

hey so as many mentioned, that pre-built is pretty much well...shit. that imgur list isn't bad, but I think you can do better for the price. here is a list I made (respective to australia prices/dealers, so this should be kosher for you.)

http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/YFf8kL

I think the site you were using is similar to the one I used, but I gave you an upgrade in the video card (to the 750 ti you wanted) and a slight boost to the psu and ram (which will help you alot in the long run.)

the only things missing from this build are:

windows operating system (however you can find this cheapest, go for it)
mouse & keyboard (assuming you have some already?)
monitor and speakers (once again, assuming you have some?)

edit: and I trimmed the fat a bit, gave you a micro atx motherboard, a bit smaller...but it should be just fine for you, especially since you won't be overclocking with your nice CPU.

Good price quality there. I'd buy a large tower and normal atx so you have easier replacement en expansion possibilities for the future, but you don't have to if you want to save +-60-70$. A large case also has more fans and better air circulation, bit that's entirely up to you if you care about noise.

 

[plekpot]

[double post]

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

Personally however, I am looking at this custom build, but I'm not sure of just how good it is, whether the parts are compatible etc. The total comes to $909 AUD.
http://imgur.com/86aCrxp

Does anyone have any tips or thoughts? All help appreciated, thanks.

hey so as many mentioned, that pre-built is pretty much well...shit. that imgur list isn't bad, but I think you can do better for the price. here is a list I made (respective to australia prices/dealers, so this should be kosher for you.)

http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/YFf8kL

I think the site you were using is similar to the one I used, but I gave you an upgrade in the video card (to the 750 ti you wanted) and a slight boost to the psu and ram (which will help you alot in the long run.)

the only things missing from this build are:

windows operating system (however you can find this cheapest, go for it)
mouse & keyboard (assuming you have some already?)
monitor and speakers (once again, assuming you have some?)

edit: and I trimmed the fat a bit, gave you a micro atx motherboard, a bit smaller...but it should be just fine for you, especially since you won't be overclocking with your nice CPU.

Good price quality there. I'd buy a large tower and normal atx so you have easier replacement en expansion possibilities for the future, but you don't have to if you want to save +-60-70$. A large case also has more fans and better air circulation, bit that's entirely up to you if you care about noise.

yep I can agree on that, I just figure if he's getting a 750 ti and isn't overclocking then the mid tower and micro atx wouldn't be a bad way to "trim the fat" as I put it. and if the OP finds out he isn't satisfied in a few years, those are relatively cheap upgrades (plus reselling your old parts or using them in other builds for other people.)

 

[plekpot]

Personally however, I am looking at this custom build, but I'm not sure of just how good it is, whether the parts are compatible etc. The total comes to $909 AUD.
http://imgur.com/86aCrxp

Does anyone have any tips or thoughts? All help appreciated, thanks.

hey so as many mentioned, that pre-built is pretty much well...shit. that imgur list isn't bad, but I think you can do better for the price. here is a list I made (respective to australia prices/dealers, so this should be kosher for you.)

http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/YFf8kL

I think the site you were using is similar to the one I used, but I gave you an upgrade in the video card (to the 750 ti you wanted) and a slight boost to the psu and ram (which will help you alot in the long run.)

the only things missing from this build are:

windows operating system (however you can find this cheapest, go for it)
mouse & keyboard (assuming you have some already?)
monitor and speakers (once again, assuming you have some?)

edit: and I trimmed the fat a bit, gave you a micro atx motherboard, a bit smaller...but it should be just fine for you, especially since you won't be overclocking with your nice CPU.

Good price quality there. I'd buy a large tower and normal atx so you have easier replacement en expansion possibilities for the future, but you don't have to if you want to save +-60-70$. A large case also has more fans and better air circulation, bit that's entirely up to you if you care about noise.

yep I can agree on that, I just figure if he's getting a 750 ti and isn't overclocking then the mid tower and micro atx wouldn't be a bad way to "trim the fat" as I put it. and if the OP finds out he isn't satisfied in a few years, those are relatively cheap upgrades (plus reselling your old parts or using them in other builds for other people.)

True, I had a problem of a too small motherboard that came with my pre built PC, but if you're not planning on making a beefy PC then there's no real need.

 

[Rabish Bini]

snip

snip

Hey guys! First of all thanks to both of you, you've been a ton of help

Secondly, I am unable to build the PC myself at the moment for a variety of reasons, so I'm probably gonna get the PC custom built from a shop.
gmaverick: I actually really like that build, thanks. Unfortunately from the shop they don't have all the exact parts but they've tried to match it as close as they can. This is what the came back with:
[http://imgur.com/9fHZoLR]
Total comes to a bit over 1k AUD, but that includes software and service cost, so it's roughly around your price mark. Personally I like the look of it, but was wondering if you or plekpot had any additional comments? Thanks!

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

snip

snip

Hey guys! First of all thanks to both of you, you've been a ton of help

Secondly, I am unable to build the PC myself at the moment for a variety of reasons, so I'm probably gonna get the PC custom built from a shop.
gmaverick: I actually really like that build, thanks. Unfortunately from the shop they don't have all the exact parts but they've tried to match it as close as they can. This is what the came back with:
[http://imgur.com/9fHZoLR]
Total comes to a bit over 1k AUD, but that includes software and service cost, so it's roughly around your price mark. Personally I like the look of it, but was wondering if you or plekpot had any additional comments? Thanks!

that's pretty damn close to the mark, the only question I would have is what the PSU is (it's 500 watts, but unfortunately that can REALLY range on its efficiency/quality, so hopefully it is at least a 80+ bronze or 80+ silver, if you ask them they should know what you mean hopefully if it's a shop doing it.)

otherwise, should play most games on medium-high (maybe not the witcher 3 lol, but most games should be fine.) and I hope it works out for you!

Feel free to make another thread or message me if you end up having any problems or questions in the future.

 

[JohnnyDelRay]

I think the builds suggested are pretty good so far, but to be honest, the processor is a bit overkill. You can spend less on a earlier/slower i3, and still be able to smash out any game. A friend played FarCry 4 on high settings with an i3, not even K version. So that would definitely handle all the games you are looking at.

The 750Ti is a great little worker and would fulfill the needs just fine. In fact, all the other specs listed are spot-on. But if you are going to re allocate funds, I'd pull a bit out of the processor and put it towards the GPU (which is the sole workhorse for gaming).

 

[Caffiene]

that's pretty damn close to the mark, the only question I would have is what the PSU is (it's 500 watts, but unfortunately that can REALLY range on its efficiency/quality, so hopefully it is at least a 80+ bronze or 80+ silver, if you ask them they should know what you mean hopefully if it's a shop doing it.)

Its a Thermaltake that includes the PSU with the case rather than an added PSU. (Stats on the thermaltake page here [http://www.thermaltake.com.au/products-model.aspx?id=C_00002244]. No 80+ rating as far as I can see) Not great but not the very worst either.

Agree with that assessment - looks like a good build but Id consider a different case and getting a better PSU separately.
Hard to say without knowing the exact price, but in Aus at the moment under around $1100 including labour and delivery I would consider very good.

Could maybe save a few $ on the motherboard (try an AsRock instead perhaps) to go for a slightly improved GPU. I wouldnt drop to an i3, imo.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

that's pretty damn close to the mark, the only question I would have is what the PSU is (it's 500 watts, but unfortunately that can REALLY range on its efficiency/quality, so hopefully it is at least a 80+ bronze or 80+ silver, if you ask them they should know what you mean hopefully if it's a shop doing it.)

Its a Thermaltake that includes the PSU with the case rather than an added PSU. (Stats on the thermaltake page here [http://www.thermaltake.com.au/products-model.aspx?id=C_00002244]. No 80+ rating as far as I can see) Not great but not the very worst either.

Agree with that assessment - looks like a good build but Id consider a different case and getting a better PSU separately.
Hard to say without knowing the exact price, but in Aus at the moment under around $1100 including labour and delivery I would consider very good.

Could maybe save a few $ on the motherboard (try an AsRock instead perhaps) to go for a slightly improved GPU. I wouldnt drop to an i3, imo.

ah thank you for the link to that, was a bit lazy to type all that out in google to see if anything was listed.

down in the psu portion of that page, it does list it has short circuit protection and over power protection, so I'm not sure how that translates to 80+ but that sounds good enough to me.

yeah this late in the game I wouldn't drop to an i3. It certainly can play everything, but with how standard i5's are now, I don't think it'd be beneficial to drop to it and transfer any funds to a slightly better gpu. The OP can simply get a better card in year(s) when he feels he has the cash to drop on it.

 

[Caffiene]

down in the psu portion of that page, it does list it has short circuit protection and over power protection, so I'm not sure how that translates to 80+ but that sounds good enough to me.

Technically 80+ has more to do with power efficiency than protection and reliability, but theres a good synergy in the quality of parts needed that a high rating in one tends to bring a corresponding improvement in the other (at least in the bronze to gold range. Platinum is maybe a little less band for buck, from what I hear)

OP: Having a bit more of a look around, the Thermaltake H21 / H22 actually do seem to be recommended ok for budget PCs in a couple of places I trust, so it should be alright. If you wanted a little bit more quality (which I always recommend for PSUs) maybe look at getting a separate PSU such as an Antec Neo Eco 520C Bronze or similar.