The super budget 1080p / 60fps gaming rig

[cptwhite_uk]

So I impulse purchased a Dell Optiplex 3010 and got a workable slim mATX PC with the following:

Intel i5 3470 (Quad core, 3.2Ghz, 3.6Ghz boost)
1x 8Gb Crucial DDR3 1600 RAM
Motherboard / coolers (mATX standard layout)
250W power supply
500Gb HDD (7200rpm 3.5")
Case
DVD-RW

£75 for everything above.

I've purchased an additional (matching) stick of DDR3 to boost it to 16Gb, for £28.00 off eBay from a reputable seller (99.7% positive, 10,000s of reviews) so it shouldn't have any issues.

So current total is £103. I plan on buying an OEM copy of Windows 10 if needed (although it had been upgraded to Window 10 Pro so might get away with this, potential extra £13 cost)

Now my options are

1) Stick in a 1050 Ti 4Gb Low Profile for £147 new (this will work with exisiting PSU and power off the mobo)
2) Wait for 2000 series low profile variants (happy to wait 6 months tbh, it's not particularly needed)
3) Switch to a standard ATX case (budget £30), new 300W PSU (budget £35) and pick up a second hand RX470 / RX570 GPU for around £100-£110. This would mean I'm + £25 on the 1050 ti option, but with 50% GPU performance uplift. But this means more messing around on my part, no guarantee of second hand GPU, switch to a bigger / cheaper case (3010 case is really nice and compact / good quality, so not really wanting to switch out TBH)

I'm looking seriously at option 2, and see if anything comes along before then that might make me switch to option 1 or 3 in the meantime.

Any thoughts or comments?

[kalniel]

How proprietary is Dell's stuff these days? Another count against switching out might be if there are non-standard bits or connectors/cooling ducts, so I'd also go 1 or 2. As for which.. hang on until you have a use case and then assess options again? That might be a second hand 1050ti low profile or a 2000 series (which might well be a long wait for low profile).

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Get an ATX case and a gtx960??

Edit!!

Just realised it was a compact Dell.

[cptwhite_uk]

How proprietary is Dell's stuff these days? .

It depends on the model number, but the one I'm working looks pretty standard (in terms of the motherboard at least), obviously it's a proprietary case and power supply, but the core elements can be fitted into any standard case I believe.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The reason why I said the GTX960 is because the 4GB version is actually not far off the GTX1050TI 4GB:

https://www.sweclockers.com/test/228...0-ti/7#content
https://www.computerbase.de/2016-10/..._in_1920__1080
https://www.kitguru.net/components/g...x-4g-review/7/

The GTX1050TI might do a bit better with DX12/Vulkan,but it is much cheaper secondhand and can be overclocked a reasonable amount too.

You can get a reasonable case secondhand,especially if its a collection only auction.

[Kanoe]

I would be worried about the 24 pin connector on the mobo if you wanted to change the PSU. We had a cheap second hand workstation that on the face of it looked like the standard atx 24 pin connector, tried a different PSU and the connector fitted perfectly but it would power on and then turn immediately off as the pin config was different. Whoops!

[cptwhite_uk]

Good to know Kanoe, cheers for the heads up

CAT: I'm looking at the 1050 Ti as the bare minimum in performance, and while the 960 is only ~ 8-10% slower, it's just that little bit too much to be honest. The 1050 Ti is cutting it fine already I feel for 1080p gaming. Also if I was going for a standard size card, I'd probably look at the RX470 4Gb - Given it's architecture is more modern (due to the RX500 series effectively being the same cards) and the history of AMD supporting cards for longer, along with the fact it's 50% faster than the GTX960 and can be had for around £100 used. That or the GTX780, but that's even older and have a much higher TDP (250W) than the RX470 (145W). Also the 780 only has 3Gb vRAM

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Good to know Kanoe, cheers for the heads up

CAT: I'm looking at the 1050 Ti as the bare minimum in performance, and while the 960 is only ~ 8-10% slower, it's just that little bit too much to be honest. The 1050 Ti is cutting it fine already I feel for 1080p gaming. Also if I was going for a standard size card, I'd probably look at the RX470 4Gb - Given it's architecture is more modern (due to the RX500 series effectively being the same cards) and the history of AMD supporting cards for longer, along with the fact it's 50% faster than the GTX960 and can be had for around £100 used. That or the GTX780, but that's even older and have a much higher TDP (250W) than the RX470 (145W). Also the 780 only has 3Gb vRAM

The GTX960 tends to overclock a bit better - I had one before. The main thing with a budget rig is price/performance - a secondhand GTX960 4GB is somewhat better in that regard than a GTX1050TI,which for its slight performance boost is much more expensive and even new the GTX1050TI is not really great value. Also regarding the RX470 4GB,yes I would consider that a far better card than a GTX960 if it can be had for £100,and I had one of those too.

I have some 1080p performance figures with an IB Xeon E3/Core i7 and an RX470 4GB in this review I made:

https://forums.hexus.net/reader-revi...enchmarks.html

These are with the max settings in some very taxing modern games,so turning down some of the settings like AA,Gameworks features,etc should get you closer to 60FPS.

Also look at the power consumption readings - these are at the wall,so should give you a rough idea of what PSU you need. At most I was seeing around 250W at the wall.

[cptwhite_uk]

Secured a RX470 4Gb for £80 Looks like I'll be needing a new case and motherboard. Plan on testing the motherboard with a standard PSU tomorrow to make sure the issue Kanoe raised isn't going to surface. So looking for options on the case and a 350W (or thereabouts) power supply to go with it. Any thoughts? Looking for something clean and small ideally. Probably a mATX cube PC? Any other styles I should consider?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The motherboard should be fine:

https://youtu.be/_q8DaxWe1LM

That is the full sized version of the 3010 and the motherboard works fine with a Corsair CX series so the motherboard in the smaller version should be fine.

[cptwhite_uk]

Yes that's the same board I have, good call CAT.

This is the graphics card I'm getting:
https://www.powercolor.com/product?id=1496299667#spe = £80
Card dimensions =255mm x 143mm x 38mm

This is the power supply I'm looking at (any options for a 400W SFX format PSU for less?!)
https://www.scan.co.uk/products/400w...mm-fan-atx-psu = £55

This is the SFX to ATX adapter bracket I'll need if I opt for a SFX sized PSU:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/SilverStone.../dp/B01AWFVKRO = £10

Looking for suggestions for the mATX case

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Yes that's the same board I have, good call CAT.

How this for a case:

http://www.chieftec.eu/en/chassis/ma...ci-01b-op.html

The front pivots forward for easy access - its £55 on Amazon,or are you looking for something cheaper and with a solid front??

I have been looking at a few others:

https://www.cclonline.com/product/25...lack-/CAS3372/
https://www.cclonline.com/product/17...-case/CAS1911/
https://www.cclonline.com/product/24...lack-/CAS3297/
https://www.cclonline.com/product/25...lver-/CAS3386/

This case is the smallest one to be able to take full ATX boards:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/RIOTORO-CR1.../dp/B01D205IXS
https://www.tomshardware.co.uk/rioto...iew-33675.html

Regarding PSUs,these deals are not too bad:

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/comput...62441-pdt.html
https://www.cclonline.com/product/23...upply/PSU1423/

[cptwhite_uk]

The AvP Hyperion + Thermaltake Versa are serious contenders.

Would prefer a PSU in the £35 bracket, found this on Scan and though it would probably be sufficient?

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/450w...2v-1x120mm-fan

This way my GPU + PSU + Case will come to £133 - less than the cost of the GTX1050 Ti, which is kind of important if I'm to make it worthwhile for all the effort. £15 saving, and 45-50% graphics performance boost

Total build cost (ex. OS) would be £236 and for that I've got:

i5 3470 (3.2Ghz quad core, 3.6Ghz boost)
16GB DDR3 1600mm
RX 470 4Gb
500Gb HDD
Case / Mobo / PSU

Seems like good performance for the price I think.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The AvP Hyperion + Thermaltake Versa are serious contenders.

Would prefer a PSU in the £35 bracket, found this on Scan and though it would probably be sufficient?

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/450w...2v-1x120mm-fan

This way my GPU + PSU + Case will come to £133 - less than the cost of the GTX1050 Ti, which is kind of important if I'm to make it worthwhile for all the effort. £15 saving, and 45-50% graphics performance boost

Total build cost (ex. OS) would be £236 and for that I've got:

i5 3470 (3.2Ghz quad core, 3.6Ghz boost)
16GB DDR3 1600mm
RX 470 4Gb
500Gb HDD
Case / Mobo / PSU

Seems like good performance for the price I think.

I am not a fan of the VS series. All I can say it probably won't blow up!!

AFAIK,its a low end CWT made PSU with a load of lowish end Chinese caps.

Its a shame the budget is so tight as you can get a Seasonic for just under £40:

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/430w...s-haswell-read
https://translate.google.co.uk/trans...%2F&edit-text=

Edit!!

This CM G550M modular PSUis also just under £40(usually around £50 to £55):

https://www.box.co.uk/Cooler-Master-...5_1493315.html

Many of these seem £5 off LOL.

[cptwhite_uk]

Yeah I might up the budget of the PSU for longevity, we'll see. Thanks for the help once again CAT, will post an update once it's underway.

[DanceswithUnix]

I'm amazed that GPU only has a single 6 pin PCIe connector on it, most of the GPUs in the house here are dual 6 pin with mine a dual 8 pin. My son's PC (a Dell Xeon workstation that can't have the PSU replaced) has a SATA to PCIe power conversion cable in it which seems to work but has always worried me a bit, so to keep options more open in the future personally I would try and get a PSU with at least dual 6 pin connectors.