Assembling a gaming computer: inexpensive, but powerful
It would seem that quite recently we could not imagine a gaming computer without a discrete graphics card. But the emergence of AMD APUs with integrated Vega graphics and the sharp rise in prices for video cards involuntarily forced us to reconsider our attitude towards a gaming PC. And in today’s article, it turned out that actually two configurations were presented. One of them is designed for users with a very limited budget, and the other is for those who have the opportunity to overpay a little, but make their PC much faster.
Despite the noticeable difference in prices, both configurations are quite viable and capable of pulling almost any AAA projects, although their graphics quality will still be noticeably different.
Choosing a processor
Intel Core i5-11400F — 150$.
AMD Ryzen 5 3400G — 180$.
Intel processors have always been strong in single-threaded performance, while AMD processors excelled them in multi-threaded operations. And that is why many gamers often opted for Intel, and professionals preferred to use AMD processors. But recently this choice has ceased to be so obvious.
Now we are more guided by the possibility of using integrated or discrete graphics. If you have the option of buying a graphics card, we recommend taking a closer look at Intel Core i5-11400F — in our opinion, the best mid-range gaming processor.
If the video card is too expensive, then here comes to the rescue AMD Ryzen 5 3400G. This processor costs several tens of dollars more than the Core i5-11400F, but it is equipped with enough fast integrated graphics that can even pull extremely “heavy” AAA titles. He also has the ability to overclock, which is deprivedCore i5-11400F.
An alternative to the Intel Core i5-11400F could be the Core i5-11400. This processor differs from the model with the letter “F” only in the presence of integrated graphics and a slightly higher price tag. But the iGPU of the processor loses to the Ryzen 5 3400G graphics in all respects and can hardly be considered a full-fledged replacement for a discrete graphics card.
Purchase
Do you need a discrete graphics card or is integrated graphics sufficient?
Choosing a motherboard
ASRock B560 Pro4 — 950$
GIGABYTE B450M DS3H V2 — 45$.
The choice of motherboard directly depends on which processor you decide to use. If you settled on the Intel Core i5-11400F, then we recommend the motherboard ASRock B560 Pro4on the B560 chipset.
In the case of the AMD Ryzen 5 3400G, you should look at a much cheaper GIGABYTE B450M DS3HV2.
The Intel Core i5-11400F does not have overclocking capability, so it makes absolutely no sense to overpay for this option when buying a motherboard. However, despite the lack of overclocking capability, ASRock B560 Pro4 is equipped with an additional heatsink, three M.2 ports and four RAM slots.
As for the GIGABYTE B450M DS3H V2, there is an excellent overclocking potential for memory and processor, a PCIe 4 slot, four RAM slots, and even a VRM mosfet heatsink. This is a very impressive sub-$50 motherboard kit that opens up a sea of possibilities for overclocking and upgrading your PC.
When buying any RAM, always try to opt for RAM kits that are guaranteed to be able to work in 2‑channel mode. This is especially important when it comes to integrated graphics. In our case, we recommend using RAM Corsair Vengeance LPX CMK16GX4M2Z2666C16 (8GBx2).
On the one hand, this is a compromise solution — many games may not have enough 16 GB of RAM. But don’t forget that your motherboard has four RAM slots, and you can at least double that in the future. As for the set we proposed, it operates at the standard frequency of 2666 MHz and is chasing very well. For our assembly, this is quite enough, and the price of the kit is very democratic — only 70$.
Choosing a computer case
Zalman S2 Black — 30$.
Computer cases have long ceased to be boring metal boxes for storing components. Now you can find multifunctional solutions with an interesting design at an affordable price. One of them is the body Zalman S2 Blackwhich has garnered a lot of positive feedback.
The high demand for this model is due to its amazing characteristics. This is a roomy case that allows you to install a CPU cooler up to 156 mm high and a graphics card up to 330 mm long. A regular fan is provided on the rear wall of the case, it also has 5 additional seats for turntables. The case implies a lower mount for the power supply, and 5 storage media will fit inside. Decent performance for a reasonable price.
Choosing a power supply
COUGAR VTE600 600W — 40$
Even a 400W PSU will be enough for our build, but we prefer to take everything with a small margin. It is not known how you want to upgrade your computer in the future, but there will be room for choice. Therefore, we settled on a 600 watt unit. This is enough even if you switch to a video card and processor from the premium segment.
The Cougar company has long established itself in the market, because they make good blocks. For 40$ we get a full 600 W and 80 PLUS Bronze certification. There are also various protections against overload and short circuit. 6 15-pin SATA connectors will allow you to power all the drives that the above-described case can accommodate.
Choosing drives
Silicon Power P34A80 256 GB — 45$.
Western Digital WD10EZEX 1 TB — 45$.
Any modern computer provides for the need to use a solid state drive for the system partition and a hard disk for storing information that is not demanding on the speed of access. Of course, provided that you do not want to spend money on a gigantic SSD.
As a system SSD, we recommend using a fairly inexpensive, but very productive Silicon Power P34A80. Priced at Rs. This is more than enough for the PC to boot in just seconds, and the operating system to fly.
SSD is great. It’s fast and convenient. But any gamer is faced with the need to store hundreds of gigabytes of games. Using a solid state drive for this is too wasteful, and pointless — you will not get much advantage in the speed of the game. Therefore, you are unlikely to be able to do without a hard drive. We did not experiment with the choice of HDD, so we offer a time-tested 1 TB model Western Digital WD10EZEX worth about 40$. This drive has a high spindle speed, which means that read and write operations on it will be faster than the standard 5400 rpm.
Choosing a video card
ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce GTX 1650 OC 4 GB — 300$.
The graphics card has become the most painful choice when building a gaming PC. The popularity of mining has led to a sharp increase in the cost of video cards, and although the situation on the market has recently stabilized a bit, their cost is still very far from adequate.
That is why one of the builds we proposed provides for the possibility of using an APU with fairly fast integrated graphics. If you have made a choice in favor of the Intel Core i5-11400F, then you cannot do without a video card. In the price range we have chosen, there are simply no video cards with ray tracing, and the ASUS TUF GeForce GTX 1650 GAMING OC 4GB model, which costs about 300$, looks like the most adequate of the available options.
It is she who, in our opinion, has the best price / performance ratio in this price range.
Which one and how much cooler — comparison of video cards Radeon RX 6600 XT and Radeon RX 6700 XT in actual games at 2K resolution
Total: gaming PC build cost
The market situation forced us to offer two PC builds at once. One of them is focused on HD gaming and will cost you about 460$, while the other is optimal for playing in Full HD resolution with medium graphics settings. The difference in their capabilities, first of all, is connected with a discrete video card, which has long become almost a luxury item.
Although in fairness it is worth noting the third option for assembling a PC for optimists who are counting on a quick reduction in the cost of video cards. Such users should install an Intel Core i5-11400 processor in their computer. The potential of its integrated graphics is not enough for full-fledged gaming, but it will be enough for the role of a stub “until better times.”
Build #1 (Discrete Graphics Card)
Case Zalman S3 Black: 3000
ASRock B560 Pro4 Motherboard: 9500
Processor Intel Core i5-11400F: 15,000
RAM Corsair Vengeance LPX CMK16GX4M2Z2666C16 (8 GB x 2): 7500
Hard Drive: Western Digital WD10EZEX: 4500
SSD Silicon Power P34A80: 4500
ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce GTX 1650 OC 4 GB: 30,000
COUGAR VTE600 600W power supply: 4000
Total: 780$.
Build #2 (Integrated Graphics)
Case Zalman S3 Black: 3000
Motherboard GIGABYTE B450M DS3H V2: 4500
AMD Ryzen 5 3400G Processor: 18,500
RAM Corsair Vengeance LPX CMK16GX4M2Z2666C16 (8 GB x 2): 7500
Hard Drive: Western Digital WD10EZEX: 4500
SSD Silicon Power P34A80: 4500
COUGAR VTE600 600W power supply: 4000
Total: 460$.
We do not argue, it will not be possible to assemble a gaming computer for a penny. By the way, do you have any recommendations? Write about them in the comments.
And we also have other useful materials for fans of independent assemblies. For example, the top 5 fastest NVMe drives or the review of NVIDIA cards in 2021.
