World of Tanks build... $500 max

[QES]

Hey there [H]. Gonna have a tough one today, I've got a friend that needs a complete system (hasn't had a PC since he got divorced 2 years ago). This will mainly be for gaming, only thing he plays is World of Tanks. He Doesn't need something that will max the game out, he will be happy with a mixture of medium/low/high settings as long as it's a consistent steady rate around 45-60.

He doesn't want to spend more than 500$ right now, so I was thinking of possibly 2 different build options? since it's pretty low I feel like for how many parts he needs. I was wondering if maybe a good cpu with integrated graphics would be good enough until he could add in a dedicated video card to put more money towards the rest of the build?


1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Yes, $500.
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
US. NE WI
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word
"Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
literally everything.
Case, PSU, motherboad, RAM, CPU, GPU, monitor, keyboard, mouse, HD

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
none
6) Will you be overclocking?
Yes
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
1920x1080
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
This weekend
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? UEFI? etc.
Nothing
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
No.

 

[Dangman]

Is the cost of the OS part of that $500 or part of a separate budget?

 

[QES]

OS is going to be seperate from it, after talking to him a little bit more tonight. He's fine with using the integrated graphics if it would mean a more worthwhile build over all and just toss in a video card in a couple weeks also. Hard drive doesn't need to be too big either, he's got a 1tb external apparently. If it'll make better options, he doesn't mind oc'ing a cpu to get better performance/dollars also.

 

[FnordMan]

OS is going to be seperate from it, after talking to him a little bit more tonight. He's fine with using the integrated graphics if it would mean a more worthwhile build over all and just toss in a video card in a couple weeks also. Hard drive doesn't need to be too big either, he's got a 1tb external apparently. If it'll make better options, he doesn't mind oc'ing a cpu to get better performance/dollars also.

If World of Tanks is the most strenuous game he runs then it sounds like an ideal case for a AMD APU, like the FM2+ ones. The A10 chips have quite decent GPU's to them.

 

[fantabulous]

Here's an off the cuff start from newegg just because I can actually find things on the site:

$90 - Acer 1600x900 monitor
$50 - Biostar A58MDP FM2 mATX board -
$45 - Antec Earthwatts 380W Bronze PSU
$20 - Logitech MK120 Mouse + Keyboard
$48 - G.Skill 2x2GB DDR3 1600
$75 - AMD A6-6400K
$75 - PNY XLR8 120GB SSD
$35 - Fractal Design Core 1000 Case

Total: $438 + shipping

Case isn't great but won't cut you and has a basic dust filter in the front. Cooling isn't spectacular and cable management sucks. Board selection is questionable, 4GB RAM is probably enough but a bit low. There's enough wiggle room here to spend more on the monitor or ram or what not.

Edit: Should probably add a 92mm exhaust fan to the core 1000 (not included), if you actually go with that case.
Edit2: Consider a used sandy bridge/ivy bridge i5 and board (new or used) if buying a discrete video card down the line is a definite. Adjust power supply to compensate.

 

[QES]

Well I just whipped this list up. I was hoping for some more insight as to other options, my buddy wants to pull the trigger on something tonight or tomorrow at the latest.

How would this compare to a cheap haswell build? I did a similar budget build for my gf a few months ago, figured I should be able to make a little better for the same now. Especially if I were to drop the video card? I want to get maximum potential performance in this build. Something that he can drop in a few upgrades if he feel he wants more performance in a few years instead of having to get a whole new comp again.

35$ Fractal design case
55$ Seagate barracuda 500GB 7200RPM 16MB cache
110$ Gateway KX2153bd 1080p
50$ Corsair CXM 430W 80 plus bronze
20$ Logitech M&KB combo
45$ G.Skill Ripjaws 4GB (2x2GB)
45$ ECS H61H2-MV Micro ATX
68$ G2020 Ivy Bridge 2.9GHz 1155
108$ Asus 7770 GHz edition

535.91 + shipping.

 

[fantabulous]

Well I just whipped this list up. I was hoping for some more insight as to other options, my buddy wants to pull the trigger on something tonight or tomorrow at the latest.

How would this compare to a cheap haswell build? I did a similar budget build for my gf a few months ago, figured I should be able to make a little better for the same now. Especially if I were to drop the video card? I want to get maximum potential performance in this build. Something that he can drop in a few upgrades if he feel he wants more performance in a few years instead of having to get a whole new comp again.

A cheap Haswell build will be marginally faster CPU wise, but not worth any significant extra expenditure. In regards to dropping the video card, some quick youtube checking seems to indicate the lower end Intel HD graphics might have some trouble with World of Tanks at 1920x1080, but is definitely playable at lower resolutions. Worth a try, and going Intel + lowish/midrange video card seems to still be the sweet spot for gaming. You might be able to squeeze into an i3 or i5 by dropping the video card in your build, lessening the need to bother upgrading the CPU at all.

Another option would be to go the quad core A8/A10 route, perhaps with a board with 4 memory slots, and not fuss over CPU upgrades. A discrete GPU can still be added, but is likely unnecessary unless your friend starts feeling the need to play Crysis 42 or such at high settings. This looks doable while still staying within budget.

 

[Dangman]

I want to get maximum potential performance in this build. Something that he can drop in a few upgrades if he feel he wants more performance in a few years instead of having to get a whole new comp again. .

If you want to do that, I would recommend going heavy on the CPU and extremely light on the GPU. The GPU is going to be a far easier upgrade both in terms of price to performance, time, and labor than a future CPU which will more than likely require a different motherboard and possibly even RAM. Just look how many people there are with the Core i5 2500K: 3 Years after release and it's still a very solid gaming CPU. But that does mean that your friend isn't going to have any good gaming performance right now. So if you were going to do future GPU upgrade capability, I'd aim for this:

$120 - Intel Core i3-3240 CPU
$68 - Biostar B75MU3+ Intel B75 mATX Motherboard
$64 - Kingston HyperX Blu KHX1600C10D3B1/8G 8GB DDR3 1600 RAM
$60 - Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$40 - Corsair 430CX V2 430W PSU
$50 - NZXT Source 220 Black ATX Case
$110 - Gateway KX2153bd 21.5" LCD Monitor
$17 - Logitech Desktop MK120 Mouse and keyboard Combo
---
Total: $528 shipped.

Let me walk you through my recommendations:

The Core i3 3240 is going to be faster than most AMD CPUs in that price range and should still be a solid CPU for a few years. As for the motherboard, that Biostar mobo is the cheapest mobo I can recommend since a majority of the cheaper mobos are crap IMO. Now let's be clear: Gaming performance with the onboard video is going to not be all that great. So how long would it take your friend to save the extra $110 to $150 for a new video card?

RAM pricing is only going to go up in the future. As such, I would get 8GB of RAM right now before it climbs back to its $80 price tag a few months ago. That Seagate 1TB was only $5 more. $5 more for double the space and slightly better performance? That's a no brainer right there.

I don't trust the Corsair CXM 430 because it's roughly the same price as the regular Corsair CX430. Judging from past Corsair PSU trends, the modular -M series are generally of a lower quality than the regular series so that that they could be around the same price point. SO yeah, they had to cheap out on other components in the CXM-430 to afford the modularity.

With $9 shipping, that Fractal Design case isn't a good deal since the NZXT Source 220 Elite has better cooling and cable management and is only about $6 more with free shipping.

 

[QES]

Hmm. I was putting together more builds the last few hours and settled on something eventually before I saw your post. Kinda similar to your build, should be able to cancel or switch parts out since I just placed the order if you think theres anything worth to.

$50 Gamma Classic mid tower
$53 Seagate barracuda 500GB
$30 CM Storm mouse/KB combo ( he specifically wanted this)
$108 7770 GHz edition Asus
$48 MSI H81mM-P33
$76 G.Skill Ripjaws 8GB
$125 Core i3-4130 3.4GHz
$50 Corsair CX430M
$90 Samsung S22B310B

Anything you suggest that I should change?

Came out to 650$ shipped, with 50$ in MiR... Was able to get him to spend a little more to drop some unnecessary (for the short term) parts.

 

[Dangman]

Definitely Change out the RAM (my choice is cheaper), PSU, and hard drive for what i recommended earlier. That case isn't All that good either due to its crampness and relative lack of cable management.