Budget PC around R 15k

Pitbull

Pitbull

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Hi Guys,

Trying to build the most practical cost effective machine. Please also include screen mechanical keyboard and decent mouse.
This PC should be able to hold up a couple of years and be upgradable. Don't want to put in a board that will be obsolete in the next 5 years.

No real inclination, AMD or Intel which ever. Mainly for gaming but should also be pretty damn decent at video.

Shoot
 
YingYang said:
"budget pc" + 15k = does not compute! :D

Good luck with that :p
Click to expand...

I suppose latest chipset as opposed to a board that will no longer be supported in a month or two. Think of the LGA775 socket I think that is outdated. What's the latest LGA1155?

Also remember that R 15k also needs to include a decent screen :o
 
15k is quite mid-range you can do fairly well, but that must cover every single thing including Windows/Office? Or no?
 
cerebus said:
15k is quite mid-range you can do fairly well, but that must cover every single thing including Windows/Office? Or no?
Click to expand...

Nea, OS is sorted.

I'm looking at this. But R 22.5 is a bit steep. I need to cut it down slightly:

R 4599.00 Intel i7 - 4790k 4Ghz
R 2699.00 G.skill F4-2400 16GB
R 2059.00 ASRock Z87M
R 1549.00 Crucial 250GB SSD
R 749.00 WD 1TB HDD
R 1034.00 Asus 12xBluray/DVD+RW
R 1600.00 PSU
R 1600.00 Keyboard
R 1000.00 mouse
R 1200.00 Speakers
R 3000.00 Screen
R 1500.00 Soundcard - Soundblaster Z PCI-e

Edit: Jirre, only realised now there is not even a GPU in there... bleh...
 
Pitbull said:
Nea, OS is sorted.

I'm looking at this. But R 22.5 is a bit steep. I need to cut it down slightly:

R 4599.00 Intel i7 - 4790k 4Ghz
R 2699.00 G.skill F4-2400 16GB
R 2059.00 ASRock Z87M
R 1549.00 Crucial 250GB SSD
R 749.00 WD 1TB HDD
R 1034.00 Asus 12xBluray/DVD+RW
R 1600.00 PSU
R 1600.00 Keyboard
R 1000.00 mouse
R 1200.00 Speakers
R 3000.00 Screen
R 1500.00 Soundcard - Soundblaster Z PCI-e
Click to expand...

You can cut way down on that; that is not what I'd call budget at all. It's quite a high end setup. Plus it has no graphics card so it will basically suck.
 
cerebus said:
You can cut way down on that; that is not what I'd call budget at all. It's quite a high end setup. Plus it has no graphics card so it will basically suck.
Click to expand...

Yea, noticed it after I made the sums.

Bleh. Time to relook at it again... I think I can surely save a few bucks on that CPU. Maybe i5?
 
Please also include screen mechanical keyboard and decent mouse.
Click to expand...

That's 6k already gone.

Protip: If you're trying to build a "budget" PC, don't buy a mechanical keyboard. Especially not with the ridiculous exchange rate at the moment.
 
Please also include screen mechanical keyboard and decent mouse.
Click to expand...

That's 6k already gone.

Protip: If you're trying to build a "budget" PC, don't buy a mechanical keyboard. Especially not with the ridiculous exchange rate at the moment.
 
You can easily save a fortune just on the RAM there. Most games barely push the 4GB barrier, so a single 8GB stick will be more than enough. You can then always just add another stick if necessary.

Many people will tell you to get 16GB, but that is way overkill. It's going to be a while yet before the average game needs more than 8.
 
Zewp said:
You can easily save a fortune just on the RAM there. Most games barely push the 4GB barrier, so a single 8GB stick will be more than enough. You can then always just add another stick if necessary.

Many people will tell you to get 16GB, but that is way overkill. It's going to be a while yet before the average game needs more than 8.
Click to expand...

True. Also no need for sooper-dooper pooperscooper G-skillz Ramz, just buy the cheapest stuff available. "Gaming" RAM is like trying to make your car go faster by putting neon lights underneath or painting stripes on it.

There is literally no difference in everyday use and a very tiny difference if you are into eXXXXXXXtreme overclocking

And a sound card? GTFO. Unless you are using at least Sennheiser HD600's or similar, you are wasting your money. And if you are, an external DAC and amplifier are much better anyway.
 
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Zewp said:
You can easily save a fortune just on the RAM there. Most games barely push the 4GB barrier, so a single 8GB stick will be more than enough. You can then always just add another stick if necessary.

Many people will tell you to get 16GB, but that is way overkill. It's going to be a while yet before the average game needs more than 8.
Click to expand...

Noted. I'll do that.

Was also thinking of maybe skimping on the Sound card, mouse, keyboard and speakers. Buy cheap and upgrade as I have spare cash?
So something like this:

R 4 099.00 AXR9 290 4GB
R 999.00 G.skill F3 2400 (8GB)
R 1 428.00 ASRock H97
R 2 549 i5-4460 3.2 GHz
R 1549.00 Crucial 250GB SSD
R 749.00 WD 1TB HDD
R 1034.00 Asus 12xBluray/DVD+RW
R 1600.00 PSU
R 3000.00 Screen

This is about R 17k...

Maybe source a second hand screen? That should fit in budget nicely.
 
TJ99 said:
Protip: If you're trying to build a "budget" PC, don't buy a mechanical keyboard. Especially not with the ridiculous exchange rate at the moment.
Click to expand...

A Quickfire XT is 1k, and a Corsair M65 is R800 and you could still find cheaper good quality mouse/kb combinations. R1800 is still a lot with a 15k constraint but it's way off from 6k, and for me a mechanical keyboard is quite indispensable but I think I paid R500 for my K50.

Pitbull you are going to have to make some choices here. Do you NEED a blu-ray drive for instance if it's going to be running a 23 or 24" screen? I use my DVD drive once in a few months. Do you NEED 2400mhz gaming ram when it won't really impact your performance? Do you NEED a K series i7 if you won't overclock? Or a R1600 PSU for a basic system? And also do you NEED a R1500 soundcard? Can you tell the difference beween onboard, really? Are your ears that sensitive?

(Personally I'd still get 16gb but cheaper ram. 2400 is not needed. I can tell a difference in smoothness of the OS going from 8 - 16gb even if games don't use it etc etc.)
 
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Pitbull said:
Noted. I'll do that.

Was also thinking of maybe skimping on the Sound card, mouse, keyboard and speakers. Buy cheap and upgrade as I have spare cash?
So something like this:

R 4 099.00 AXR9 290 4GB
R 999.00 G.skill F3 2400 (8GB)
R 1 428.00 ASRock H97
R 2 549 i5-4460 3.2 GHz
R 1549.00 Crucial 250GB SSD
R 749.00 WD 1TB HDD
R 1034.00 Asus 12xBluray/DVD+RW
R 1600.00 PSU
R 3000.00 Screen

This is about R 17k...

Maybe source a second hand screen? That should fit in budget nicely.
Click to expand...

Lose the massive SSD, 128GB or even 60 is more than enough for your OS.

And there is no need for such a crazy expensive PSU either, you could do with just a decent unit costing about R1000.
 
cerebus said:
A Quickfire XT is 1k, and a Corsair M65 is R800 and you could still find cheaper good quality mouse/kb combinations. R1800 is still a lot with a 15k constraint but it's way off from 6k, and for me a mechanical keyboard is quite indispensable but I think I paid R500 for my K50.

Pitbull you are going to have to make some choices here. Do you NEED a blu-ray drive for instance if it's going to be running a 23 or 24" screen? I use my DVD drive once in a few months. Do you NEED 2400mhz gaming ram when it won't really impact your performance? Do you NEED a K series i7 if you won't overclock? Or a R1600 PSU for a basic system? And also do you NEED a R1500 soundcard? Can you tell the difference beween onboard, really? Are your ears that sensitive?

(Personally I'd still get 16gb but cheaper ram. 2400 is not needed.)
Click to expand...

Exactly why I posted here :)

I honestly know only how to assemble the machine. More intricate details are the reason I'm here. The Blu-ray is probably more a want than a need. I download HD anyway no need to watch Bluray discs.
I'll definitely skimp on the ram now as you said, 16GB but cheap. (Can always upgrade later if needed)
I have already moved down to i5 on the CPU. Think that's the lowest I'm prepared to go. The R 1 600 is a estimate for a 750w Is a 750 needed with the setup above? or do you think less could work?
 
TJ99 said:
Lose the massive SSD, 128GB or even 60 is more than enough for your OS.

And there is no need for such a crazy expensive PSU either, you could do with just a decent unit costing about R1000.
Click to expand...

I actually want to run may games from the SSD. OS can run on the 1TB HDD no worries. Or should it be the other way round?
 
cerebus said:
A Quickfire XT is 1k, and a Corsair M65 is R800 and you could still find cheaper good quality mouse/kb combinations. R1800 is still a lot with a 15k constraint but it's way off from 6k, and for me a mechanical keyboard is quite indispensable but I think I paid R500 for my K50.

Pitbull you are going to have to make some choices here. Do you NEED a blu-ray drive for instance if it's going to be running a 23 or 24" screen? I use my DVD drive once in a few months. Do you NEED 2400mhz gaming ram when it won't really impact your performance? Do you NEED a K series i7 if you won't overclock? Or a R1600 PSU for a basic system? And also do you NEED a R1500 soundcard? Can you tell the difference beween onboard, really? Are your ears that sensitive?

(Personally I'd still get 16gb but cheaper ram. 2400 is not needed.)
Click to expand...

Add a display, smart guy. Even an el-cheapo mouse and KB for 1800 as you suggest with a cheap screen of R3000 is still close to 5000.
 
Pitbull said:
I actually want to run may games from the SSD. OS can run on the 1TB HDD no worries. Or should it be the other way round?
Click to expand...

Definitely the other way around. The SSD is for your Windows install. Some games can see an improvement in load times if you install them on an SSD but in general it's a waste since they are so expensive. You install Windows (or Linux if you're a hipster) on it to improve system responsiveness.
 
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TJ99 said:
Add a display, smart guy. Even an el-cheapo mouse and KB for 1800 as you suggest with a cheap screen of R3000 is still close to 5000.
Click to expand...

Yea, I want a decent screen even if second hand. Not prepared to skimp on it I need a 1920-1080 23" at least. So will see what I can get sub R 3k
 
TJ99 said:
Definitely the other way around. The SSD is for your Windows install. Some games can see an increase in load times if you install them on an SSD but in general it's a waste since they are so expensive. You install Windows (or Linux if you're a hipster) on it to improve system responsiveness.
Click to expand...

Ok nice, that would save a bundle then too :)
 
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