Where are my Satellite Guy's gamers at?

[king3pj]

I agree but I'm going to have to spend at least $500 in order to get a decent budget PC. I was looking at maybe just buying a used one for like $100-$200. My wife won't get on my case as much that way and then I could just gradually upgrade over time.

I would like to find a friend that has one they are willing to just give me to play with.

Just remember, you get what you pay for. If it's in the $100-$200 range it will be significantly cheaper than something like an HP desktop that wasn't built for gaming. Most gaming PCs are going to run $500+ even on the low end. Most people aren't going to put $500-$700 into building a gaming PC and then turn around and sell it for $100 while it's still a relevant machine.

Unfortunately you can't get much cheaper than the APU setup I posted yesterday and still play modern games. You might be able to build something relatively weak with intel integrated graphics on an i3 CPU and run SteamOS on it instead of paying for Windows for about $300. You will be limited to indie games that have Linux support and you won't be playing DayZ though.

 

[Scherrman]

I think I just need to be extra nice to my wife and wait for her to give me the OK. If I nag her enough she'll let me do it. So far I've been able to put together a decent build for $500-$600 and I think that will have to be my budget.

 

[king3pj]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD A10-7850K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($184.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A75M PRO4+ Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($67.55 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($80.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($50.15 @ Amazon)
Case: Sentey CS1-1398 PLUS ATX Mid Tower Case ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($19.99 @ Microcenter)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $416.65
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-14 16:18 EDT-0400)

Edit: I think this is pretty much the the lowest priced build you can put together and expect to play modern games smoothly. Remember to add in $100 for Windows unless you are going to run SteamOS and stick to Linux compatible games. The ram speed could be lowered to 1600MHz to save $20-$30 but the extra speed is important when relying on an APU for graphics. This would be an easily upgradeable system without a ton of bells and whistles but it's a good bang for your buck without adding anything else. All you would really have to do to make a significant upgrade in a few years is throw a ~$200 GPU in there. Even that wouldn't be necessary unless you want to play games on high settings.

 

[Scherrman]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD A10-7850K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($184.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A75M PRO4+ Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($67.55 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($80.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($50.15 @ Amazon)
Case: Sentey CS1-1398 PLUS ATX Mid Tower Case ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($19.99 @ Microcenter)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $416.65
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-14 16:18 EDT-0400)

Edit: I think this is pretty much the the lowest priced build you can put together and expect to play modern games smoothly. Remember to add in $100 for Windows unless you are going to run SteamOS and stick to Linux compatible games. The ram speed could be lowered to 1600MHz to save $20-$30 but the extra speed is important when relying on an APU for graphics. This would be an easily upgradeable system without a ton of bells and whistles but it's a good bang for your buck without adding anything else. All you would really have to do to make a significant upgrade in a few years is throw a ~$200 GPU in there. Even that wouldn't be necessary unless you want to play games on high settings.

What would you all be able to do with SteamOS? Also, how would you install it on your PC?

 

[king3pj]

What would you all be able to do with SteamOS? Also, how would you install it on your PC?

SteamOS is a version of Linux re-purposed to give a console-like experience. That would be great if everything in the Steam library of games ran on Linux. As it currently stands, it is almost exclusively indie games and games made by Valve (the owner of Steam) that have Linux support. Take a look at games you are interested in playing on Steam and see how many of them show the Linux logo. I can tell you that it's even less than the amount of games that show the Mac logo and that is already significantly less than the ones that show the Windows logo. DayZ, for example, is Windows only. This like Origin and uPlay are not Linux compatible so you won't be able to play anything made by EA or Ubisoft either.

SteamOS is still very new. Steam has a ton of clout in the PC gaming space so maybe they will be able to create a push for more Linux compatible games. Unlike Windows, SteamOS is free. You can put it on a USB flash drive or burn a disk to install it to your PC. I assume other Linux software like word processors will run on SteamOS but I don't know enough about it or Linux in general to give you any help there. Things like graphics drivers are also going to be trickier to find on Linux.

Basically stay away for now. $100 for Windows 8.1 will make everything so much simpler for you and be compatible with any PC game you want. It's also not available outside of beta yet. I don't think it's probably the best place for beginners to start.

 

[Scherrman]

SteamOS is a version of Linux re-purposed to give a console-like experience. That would be great if everything in the Steam library of games ran on Linux. As it currently stands, it is almost exclusively indie games and games made by Valve (the owner of Steam) that have Linux support. Take a look at games you are interested in playing on Steam and see how many of them show the Linux logo. I can tell you that it's even less than the amount of games that show the Mac logo and that is already significantly less than the ones that show the Windows logo. DayZ, for example, is Windows only. This like Origin and uPlay are not Linux compatible so you won't be able to play anything made by EA or Ubisoft either.

SteamOS is still very new. Steam has a ton of clout in the PC gaming space so maybe they will be able to create a push for more Linux compatible games. Unlike Windows, SteamOS is free. You can put it on a USB flash drive or burn a disk to install it to your PC. I assume other Linux software like word processors will run on SteamOS but I don't know enough about it or Linux in general to give you any help there. Things like graphics drivers are also going to be trickier to find on Linux.

Basically stay away for now. $100 for Windows 8.1 will make everything so much simpler for you and be compatible with any PC game you want. It's also not available outside of beta yet. I don't think it's probably the best place for beginners to start.

I think it's best I just get Windows as well since I'm used to it. I saw person comment on a video about SteamOS asking if you could just use the free Ubuntu OS and then download Steam like you would do with Windows.

 

[king3pj]

I played about an hour and a half of two different games on my PC last night. The two games couldn't be more different but I really like both of them so far.

First, I played a few levels of Lego Marvel Superheroes. Lego games have flooded the market in the last few years but this is the first one I have actually ever spent more than a few minutes with. I played a little bit of Lego Star Wars in couch Co-op on a friend's 360 but that is the extent of my time with the franchise and that was a long time ago. I hear that the gameplay is pretty much the same in all of these games so I can see how people would be burnt out at this point. Since it's still new to me that isn't a problem.

From what I can tell, the character base in this game is huge. I wasn't a comic book kid growing up but it seems like most of the Marvel characters I would recognize from various cartoons and movies are in this game. You have the heroes from The Avengers movies, Spiderman, The Fantastic 4, X-Men, and their respective villains. I'm sure comic book fans have a few more characters they would have liked to see in this game but for someone with just a passing knowledge of the Marvel universe everyone seems to be here. This is a game for kids so the puzzles and combat are very easy. Even if a boss does kill you, you just pop right back up without even a break in the action. It's full of charm and I see why so many people like the franchise. So far my favorite team of characters they have paired up for me, from a gameplay standpoint, is Captain America, Mr. Fantastic, and Spiderman. The game gives you specific pairings for specific missions but you can pick which one you want to control at any time.

 

[Scherrman]

Hey king, what are your thoughts on an aftermarket cooler for that APU? Do you think it will need one? Seems like a lot of people add after market ones which doesn't surprise me because they are relatively inexpensive.

 

[king3pj]

I decided to break the second game into a second post so this didn't turn into an even bigger wall of text than it already is. The second game I played last night was Rogue Legacy. I bought it as a daily deal on Steam a week or two ago for about $5.

The game looks and plays like something from the Super Nintendo era. Here is the basic back story. Your family's castle has been taken by bad guys and you need to get it back. You play as an heir of the people who lost the castle. Each round you will have a few descendants to pick from.

The descendants come in different classes and have various positive and negative traits. One descendant might be a strong giant who can take a ton of damage. One might be a little dwarf who isn't that strong but is really fast. Some might not see colors so the world is black and white. There are a lot of differences between them that make each run feel unique. Some are much stronger than others but each one only lasts for one life. The game is very hard at the beginning. I probably didn't live for even 30 seconds the first time I entered the castle. I will say that I only played for an hour and a half and I got the achievement for dying 20 times well before I called it a night.

The castle itself is randomly generated for each run. The level layout and enemies change up each time you enter so you can't just memorize it. Some runs will be much easier than others. You do get to bring back gold and items you find during your life. This is how you progress to make each life last longer. You can spend the gold you acquire to build different sections of your keep. Each section makes your characters stronger. Some increase health points, some increase mana points, some open up new classes, some bring in shops that can give you character upgrades. So far I have unlocked the blacksmith, the architect, and the enchantress. You can use gold in these shops to buy gear that carries over to all your descendants and makes them stronger. If you really like a layout you can get the architect to lock it for you. This is useful if you find a fairy chest or something and want to get back to it. The penalty for this is that the architect will keep 40% of the gold you earn during that life when you lock the level.

The catch is that your gold doesn't stack. Before you enter the castle again for another run you have to give all the gold you didn't spend to a ghoul for passage. This means that you can only buy upgrades when you earn enough gold for them in a single life. If you had a really good run you might be able to buy a couple upgrades to the keep and maybe a new sword from the blacksmith. If you did ok you might be able to buy a piece of equipment that allows you to double jump from the enchantress. If you died pretty quickly you might not be able to afford any upgrades. You also need to find blueprints for the blacksmith, and runes for the enchantress for them to learn new things you can buy from them. Luckily you don't lose your keep upgrades or purchased equipment when you die. I'm to the point where most of my upgrades are getting expensive so I can only buy stuff when I have a good run.

The way you actually beat the game is by defeating the 5 bosses inside the castle. The castle is randomly generated for each attempt but if you kill a boss it doesn't come back. In my hour and a half with the game I have only found one boss and he destroyed me in a few seconds. I didn't even make a dent in his life bar. Because the game is randomly generated, you can't just go back and fight the boss again unless you use the architect. You would have to fight your way through tons of enemies and find him again but he wouldn't even be in the same location.

I can see myself sinking a lot of time in to this one. It's tough and every attempt feels fresh due to the randomization. There is a sense of progression that keeps it from getting frustrating even when I don't live very long. It takes about 10 seconds to pick a descendant, purchase a few upgrades and get back into the action. That's what makes it addicting. When each run only lasts a minute or two it's very easy to say "just one more try." The game is coming to PS3, Vita, and PS4 and some point this year. If it ever ends up in the free PS Plus collection I can see myself putting a ton of hours into this on the Vita while traveling.

 

[king3pj]

Hey king, what are your thoughts on an aftermarket cooler for that APU? Do you think it will need one? Seems like a lot of people add after market ones which doesn't surprise me because they are relatively inexpensive.

Keeping a processor cool will prolong it's life. You don't absolutely need an aftermarket cooler but like you said, they are cheap. The stock cooler is designed to be enough for the CPU or APU that it comes with under normal conditions. An aftermarket cooler is definitely not a bad upgrade for gamers though. Heat is probably the biggest enemy of computer components and running that APU at near 100% usage for a couple hours of Battlefield 4 or Titanfall is going to gradually drive the temperature up. If you are even thinking about overclocking an aftermarket cooler is a must.

I wouldn't waste your money on water coolers unless you are going to try an aggressive overclock. Mine is air cooled and stays firmly in the safe range even during long gaming sessions on a modest overclock. You can run a free program called core temp in the background to keep an eye on things while you are playing. It will show you the current temps, as well as the maximum and average temperature. I will sometimes take a quick look at it after playing a new game to make sure everything is still good. At this point, I haven't made any changes in a long time so I don't even bother looking anymore.

I use the Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO. It was by far the most recommended cooler over at the Tom's Hardware forums for a bang for the buck build when I was putting mine together last year. I don't know if other alternatives have popped up since then but I have no problems recommending that cooler. It's cheap and it keeps my CPU cool no matter what I use it for. It's currently $33 on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005O65JXI/?tag=satell01-20

 

[dangue]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks CPU: AMD A10-7850K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($184.99 @ Newegg) Motherboard: ASRock FM2A75M PRO4+ Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($67.55 @ Newegg) Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($80.99 @ Newegg) Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($50.15 @ Amazon) Case: Sentey CS1-1398 PLUS ATX Mid Tower Case ($14.99 @ Newegg) Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($19.99 @ Microcenter) Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg) Total: $416.65 (Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.) (Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-14 16:18 EDT-0400) Edit: I think this is pretty much the the lowest priced build you can put together and expect to play modern games smoothly. Remember to add in $100 for Windows unless you are going to run SteamOS and stick to Linux compatible games. The ram speed could be lowered to 1600MHz to save $20-$30 but the extra speed is important when relying on an APU for graphics. This would be an easily upgradeable system without a ton of bells and whistles but it's a good bang for your buck without adding anything else. All you would really have to do to make a significant upgrade in a few years is throw a ~$200 GPU in there. Even that wouldn't be necessary unless you want to play games on high settings.

The power supply strikes me as low unless he's willing to upgrade it when he adds a GPU.

Sent from my iPhone using SatelliteGuys

 

[Scherrman]

The power supply strikes me as low unless he's willing to upgrade it when he adds a GPU.

Sent from my iPhone using SatelliteGuys

From everything I read the CX430 seems to be enough and it's a great price with great reviews. When I add a good GPU to my build on pcpartspicker.com it still comes in under 400w.

 

[Kraven]

Am in the mood for some terrorist hunt on rainbowsix Vegas 2 ( 360) later tonight. Anyone interested?


Posted Via The FREE SatelliteGuys Reader App!

 

[king3pj]

The power supply strikes me as low unless he's willing to upgrade it when he adds a GPU.

Sent from my iPhone using SatelliteGuys

It might be a little low if he puts a beefy GPU in later. He was talking about trying to buy something in the $100-$200 range used so that was kind of a bottom dollar budget build. He could put the 500W version of that power supply in for $58 or the 600W version for $75 but that 430W unit was on sale for $20 and would definitely be enough without a separate GPU. I have that 600W version in mine and it's working well for me. I think people tend to overestimate how much power they actually need. I probably went a little heavy in mine but I wanted to make sure I had plenty of clearance for future upgrades.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0092ML0OC/?tag=satell01-20

 

[king3pj]

From everything I read the CX430 seems to be enough and it's a great price with great reviews. When I add a good GPU to my build on pcpartspicker.com it still comes in under 400w.

For the record, I put a CX430 in a build I did just a couple months ago. It's similar to what you want because it is also using an AMD APU. I am very happy with the performance I'm getting out of this computer but it was built to be a OTA DVR and media server. It is significantly weaker than the machine you are talking about building. For one thing it has a $45 A4 APU instead of the A10. It also only has 1 4GB stick of RAM and a single 2TB HDD.

It is strong enough to record 4 OTA shows at once while streaming another recording to my gaming PC downstairs without a hiccup though. That was done as a test and is more than I will ever need out of it in real world scenarios.

 

[Scherrman]

This is what I have now for a budget build. It may need some tweaking but it should do the job. This comes in at 189w and when I added a $600 GPU it came in under 400w so I'm thinking the cx430 will be just fine for the first couple years. I can always go bigger when I upgrade it later.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3aean
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3aean/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3aean/benchmarks/


CPU: AMD A10-7850K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($174.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper TX3 54.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($14.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A55M-VG3+ Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($42.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-2000 Memory ($67.33 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($37.99 @ Mwave)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($44.98 @ OutletPC)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $543.23
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-15 12:40 EDT-0400)

 

[king3pj]

This is what I have now for a budget build. It may need some tweaking but it should do the job. This comes in at 189w and when I added a $600 GPU it came in under 400w so I'm thinking the cx430 will be just fine for the first couple years. I can always go bigger when I upgrade it later.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3aean
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3aean/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3aean/benchmarks/


CPU: AMD A10-7850K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($174.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper TX3 54.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($14.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A55M-VG3+ Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($42.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-2000 Memory ($67.33 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($37.99 @ Mwave)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($44.98 @ OutletPC)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $543.23
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-15 12:40 EDT-0400)

The only thing that really stands out to me as a negative here is the RAM. I would use the RAM I posted yesterday instead. It's only $13 more for twice as much RAM and it's slightly faster at 2133MHz vs. 2000MHz. I used different brands for a few other parts but nothing else listed will make a huge difference.

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f317000cl11d8gbsr

 

[Scherrman]

I think this build looks pretty good. It has the faster RAM with more GB.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3aQOG
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3aQOG/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3aQOG/benchmarks/


CPU: AMD A10-7850K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($174.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper TX3 54.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($14.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: MSI A88XM-E45 Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($62.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($83.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.98 @ OutletPC)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($19.99 @ Micro Center)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($99.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $566.89
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-16 12:53 EDT-0400)

 

[yourbeliefs]

Not bad but I'd suggest getting a better power source. 430W is NOT going to cut it if/when you decide to add a video card and may not be able to handle other components either. I'd say at LEAST 600W, if not 700W to really keep you ready. Trust me, replacing a power supply is NOT fun. It's the most annoying part of setting up a machine, and I've had to do it twice.

 

[Scherrman]

I can see how replacing the power sullpy would be a huge pain with all those cables.