Help me build my TF2 PC

#1

pellyx

0 Frags – +

I have a strict budget of 200 Euros. I pretty much play just TF2 and some very lightweight games. I have already experimented and made this list:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/mNxsRB

For the case, storage & GPU plan to re-use from my old PC.

If this list is bad, please tell me why, and tell me how to improve it.
Also, since TF2 is CPU heavy, i also planned to buy a good CPU-fan and overclock it, or maybe you can recommend me a better processor.

Thanks, much love.

I have a strict budget of 200 Euros. I pretty much play just TF2 and some very lightweight games. I have already experimented and made this list:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/mNxsRB

For the case, storage & GPU plan to re-use from my old PC.

If this list is bad, please tell me why, and tell me how to improve it.
Also, since TF2 is CPU heavy, i also planned to buy a good CPU-fan and overclock it, or maybe you can recommend me a better processor.

Thanks, much love.

#2

DanS

0 Frags – +

pellyxI have a strict budget of 200 Euros. I pretty much play just TF2 and some very lightweight games. I have already experimented and made this list:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/mNxsRB

For the case, storage & GPU plan to re-use from my old PC.

If this list is bad, please tell me why, and tell me how to improve it.
Also, since TF2 is CPU heavy, i also planned to buy a good CPU-fan and overclock it, or maybe you can recommend me a better processor.

Thanks, much love.

Could you find the gpu that you're using and add it to the list, but select the option that you've already bought this part. Then we can get a proper look.

Oh and also, I see you've got a $20 mail-in rebate from newegg. If you're in EU it will probably work out more expensive to buy it from there.

[quote=pellyx]I have a strict budget of 200 Euros. I pretty much play just TF2 and some very lightweight games. I have already experimented and made this list:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/mNxsRB

For the case, storage & GPU plan to re-use from my old PC.

If this list is bad, please tell me why, and tell me how to improve it.
Also, since TF2 is CPU heavy, i also planned to buy a good CPU-fan and overclock it, or maybe you can recommend me a better processor.

Thanks, much love.[/quote]

Could you find the gpu that you're using and add it to the list, but select the option that you've already bought this part. Then we can get a proper look.

Oh and also, I see you've got a $20 mail-in rebate from newegg. If you're in EU it will probably work out more expensive to buy it from there.

#3

grain_death

5 Frags – +

http://www.teamfortress.tv/12714/pc-build-thread/

#4

pellyx

0 Frags – +

Barry_ChucklepellyxI have a strict budget of 200 Euros. I pretty much play just TF2 and some very lightweight games. I have already experimented and made this list:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/mNxsRB

For the case, storage & GPU plan to re-use from my old PC.

If this list is bad, please tell me why, and tell me how to improve it.
Also, since TF2 is CPU heavy, i also planned to buy a good CPU-fan and overclock it, or maybe you can recommend me a better processor.

Thanks, much love.
Could you find the gpu that you're using and add it to the list, but select the option that you've already bought this part. Then we can get a proper look.

Oh and also, I see you've got a $20 mail-in rebate from newegg. If you're in EU it will probably work out more expensive to buy it from there.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/tKDXCJ

That is the list with the card i have. It the Radeon HD 6570. It is old, but performs well.

[quote=Barry_Chuckle][quote=pellyx]I have a strict budget of 200 Euros. I pretty much play just TF2 and some very lightweight games. I have already experimented and made this list:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/mNxsRB

For the case, storage & GPU plan to re-use from my old PC.

If this list is bad, please tell me why, and tell me how to improve it.
Also, since TF2 is CPU heavy, i also planned to buy a good CPU-fan and overclock it, or maybe you can recommend me a better processor.

Thanks, much love.[/quote]

Could you find the gpu that you're using and add it to the list, but select the option that you've already bought this part. Then we can get a proper look.

Oh and also, I see you've got a $20 mail-in rebate from newegg. If you're in EU it will probably work out more expensive to buy it from there.[/quote]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/tKDXCJ

That is the list with the card i have. It the Radeon HD 6570. It is old, but performs well.

#5

Ragor

3 Frags – +

*

#6

gemm

2 Frags – +

officially Hxx series boards can't overclock, but apparently they can allow changes to the multiplier due to old microcode... read this

anyway, i'd say you can save $30 off the mboard by getting a H8x/Z8x/B8x chipset instead (B allows overclocking but no onboard graphics, Z allows both) since you don't need the newer features. make sure to research it to make sure it can overclock the pentium though

also i recommend buying older processors used, you can probably save another $20 there

officially Hxx series boards can't overclock, but apparently they can allow changes to the multiplier due to old microcode... read [url=http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/pentium-g3258-b81-cheap-overclocking,3888.html]this[/url]

anyway, i'd say you can save $30 off the mboard by getting a H8x/Z8x/B8x chipset instead (B allows overclocking but no onboard graphics, Z allows both) since you don't need the newer features. make sure to research it to make sure it can overclock the pentium though

also i recommend buying older processors used, you can probably save another $20 there

#7

DanS

0 Frags – +

rzrhttp://www.teamfortress.tv/12714/pc-build-thread/

Yeah it'd probably best to post there pelly :/

[quote=rzr]http://www.teamfortress.tv/12714/pc-build-thread/[/quote]

Yeah it'd probably best to post there pelly :/

#8

lias

3 Frags – +

I got a 1.4ghz overclock with a significantly cheaper board. I would recommend this over the board you have. Not overclocking the g3258 basically defeats it's entire point. (H97 can't overclock)

I got a 1.4ghz overclock with a significantly cheaper board. I would recommend [url=http://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemnumber=N82E16813130731&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-Mobile&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-Mobile-_-pla-_-Motherboards+-+Intel-_-N82E16813130731&gclid=CPXr2-3w0ssCFRSPfgodilcHiA&gclsrc=aw.ds]this[/url] over the board you have. Not overclocking the g3258 basically defeats it's entire point. (H97 can't overclock)

#9

pellyx

0 Frags – +

liasI got a 1.4ghz overclock with a significantly cheaper board. I would recommend this over the board you have. Not overclocking the g3258 basically defeats it's entire point. (H97 can't overclock)Gemmellnessofficially Hxx series boards can't overclock, but apparently they can allow changes to the multiplier due to old microcode... read this

anyway, i'd say you can save $30 off the mboard by getting a H8x/Z8x/B8x chipset instead (B allows overclocking but no onboard graphics, Z allows both) since you don't need the newer features. make sure to research it to make sure it can overclock the pentium though

also i recommend buying older processors used, you can probably save another $20 there

Alright, thanks a lot!

[quote=lias]I got a 1.4ghz overclock with a significantly cheaper board. I would recommend [url=http://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemnumber=N82E16813130731&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-Mobile&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-Mobile-_-pla-_-Motherboards+-+Intel-_-N82E16813130731&gclid=CPXr2-3w0ssCFRSPfgodilcHiA&gclsrc=aw.ds]this[/url] over the board you have. Not overclocking the g3258 basically defeats it's entire point. (H97 can't overclock)[/quote]

[quote=Gemmellness]officially Hxx series boards can't overclock, but apparently they can allow changes to the multiplier due to old microcode... read [url=http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/pentium-g3258-b81-cheap-overclocking,3888.html]this[/url]

anyway, i'd say you can save $30 off the mboard by getting a H8x/Z8x/B8x chipset instead (B allows overclocking but no onboard graphics, Z allows both) since you don't need the newer features. make sure to research it to make sure it can overclock the pentium though

also i recommend buying older processors used, you can probably save another $20 there[/quote]

Alright, thanks a lot!

#10

Setsul

10 Frags – +

So much misinformation in this thread.

#6
B does not allow overclocking. It has always only been Z officially.
The bug that allows overclocking on H also works on B though.
Onboard graphics work on any chipset, why the fuck would they disable it on one of the most common chipsets.

#8
Wrong, you can still change the multiplier on H97.
Although being able to change the cache/ring/uncore ratio won't change much going for the cheaper board definitely makes sense on such a tight budget.

Just like with Skylake updates remove the bug that allowed overclocking so you can't update the BIOS and have to watch out for microcode updates through windows.

#1
There's no reason for a new PSU.
If you're going the Pentium G3258 + overclock route get a cheaper motherboard. The MSI H81M-P33 is the default recommendation because it's dirt cheap and allows 1.3V VCore (most mobos only do 1.2V max).

Also if your RAM is DDR3 you can reuse it as well.

I wouldn't recommend going the Pentium route though. TF2 is weird so an i3 actually gets you 30-35% more fps at the the same clockrate. What that means is an i3-4170 (3.7GHz) gets you just as many fps as a G3258 at 4.8-5.0GHz and an overclock that high isn't going to happen.

Summary:
Check if RAM is DDR3, if yes reuse.
Get the cheapest LGA1150 mobo you can find, even H81 is fine.
Get an i3-4170.
Reuse everything else, including PSU.
Total cost ~150€ if you don't need new RAM, ~180€ with new RAM.
If you've got DDR3 but aren't sure if you might need more than your current 4GB later get a mobo with 4 slots. That way you can add two more 2GB stick instead of having to buy two 4GB sticks.

So much misinformation in this thread.

#6
B does not allow overclocking. It has always only been Z officially.
The bug that allows overclocking on H also works on B though.
Onboard graphics work on any chipset, why the fuck would they disable it on one of the most common chipsets.

#8
Wrong, you can still change the multiplier on H97.
Although being able to change the cache/ring/uncore ratio won't change much going for the cheaper board definitely makes sense on such a tight budget.

[url=http://www.teamfortress.tv/post/560952/pc-build-thread]Just like with Skylake[/url] updates remove the bug that allowed overclocking so you can't update the BIOS and have to watch out for microcode updates through windows.

#1
There's no reason for a new PSU.
If you're going the Pentium G3258 + overclock route get a cheaper motherboard. The MSI H81M-P33 is the default recommendation because it's dirt cheap and allows 1.3V VCore (most mobos only do 1.2V max).

Also if your RAM is DDR3 you can reuse it as well.

I wouldn't recommend going the Pentium route though. TF2 is weird so an i3 actually gets you 30-35% more fps at the the same clockrate. What that means is an i3-4170 (3.7GHz) gets you just as many fps as a G3258 at 4.8-5.0GHz and an overclock that high isn't going to happen.

Summary:
Check if RAM is DDR3, if yes reuse.
Get the cheapest LGA1150 mobo you can find, even H81 is fine.
Get an i3-4170.
Reuse everything else, including PSU.
Total cost ~150€ if you don't need new RAM, ~180€ with new RAM.
If you've got DDR3 but aren't sure if you might need more than your current 4GB later get a mobo with 4 slots. That way you can add two more 2GB stick instead of having to buy two 4GB sticks.

#11

_vitto

5 Frags – +

^When Setsul comes in a pc build thread and shuts down everyone

#12

Kerch

0 Frags – +

SetsulI wouldn't recommend going the Pentium route though. TF2 is weird so an i3 actually gets you 30-35% more fps at the the same clockrate. What that means is an i3-4170 (3.7GHz) gets you just as many fps as a G3258 at 4.8-5.0GHz and an overclock that high isn't going to happen.

Is that weird? Even TF2 creates more than 2 main threads, so it's obviously going to perform better on the dual core with hyper-threading.

[quote=Setsul]
I wouldn't recommend going the Pentium route though. TF2 is weird so an i3 actually gets you 30-35% more fps at the the same clockrate. What that means is an i3-4170 (3.7GHz) gets you just as many fps as a G3258 at 4.8-5.0GHz and an overclock that high isn't going to happen.
[/quote]

Is that weird? Even TF2 creates more than 2 main threads, so it's obviously going to perform better on the dual core with hyper-threading.

#13

Setsul

2 Frags – +

#12
You think TF2 makes sense?
Think again!
An i3 performs better than a Pentium with multicore rendering disabled.
Small excerpt from my testing results:
2 Cores multicore rendering disabled -> enabled = +1.15%
2C mcr off -> 2C+HT mcr off = +13.14%
2C+HT mcr off -> mcr on = +18.24%

2C mcr on -> 2C+HT mcr on = +32.25%

Yeah, don't ask my how, but Hyperthreading somehow gets you more fps with multicore rendering disabled and with only 2 Cores and no HT enabling it doesn't do anything.

This isn't some weird one-off result. Instead of 3 runs (+-1% variation on all CPU configurations) I ran 10 on 2C / no HT because I didn't want to believe it. I retested it after finishing all other tests, still the same result.

Welcome to Team Fortress 2.

#12
You think TF2 makes sense?
Think again!
An i3 performs better than a Pentium with multicore rendering [b]disabled[/b].
Small excerpt from my testing results:
2 Cores multicore rendering disabled -> enabled = +1.15%
2C mcr off -> 2C+HT mcr off = +13.14%
2C+HT mcr off -> mcr on = +18.24%

2C mcr on -> 2C+HT mcr on = +32.25%

Yeah, don't ask my how, but Hyperthreading somehow gets you more fps with multicore rendering disabled and with only 2 Cores and no HT enabling it doesn't do anything.

This isn't some weird one-off result. Instead of 3 runs (+-1% variation on all CPU configurations) I ran 10 on 2C / no HT because I didn't want to believe it. I retested it after finishing all other tests, still the same result.

Welcome to Team Fortress 2.

#14

Kerch

0 Frags – +

#13
Interesting stuff. Hyper-threading would allow the CPU to run all the background processes (which of course use 100s of threads) without impacting the game performance as much, so I'd expect some improvement even with multicore rendering off, but probably not that much.