Hi all! Literally at the end of June, the Research Me analytical agency and the VK Play site conducted a study, during which it turned out that 74% of Russians who have a PC use them for games.
What is sad is that 41% of respondents are dissatisfied with the technical characteristics of their computers, and 42% of them cannot run modern games on their systems at high graphics settings.
I am sure that among the readers of The Duron Code there are people who are right now thinking about buying a gaming computer, for example, to replace their old system, which there is no longer much point in upgrading. Or instead of the PS5 and Xbox Series consoles, which many people are now thinking about selling, because there are some difficulties with buying games and subscriptions in Russia.
You know, now is the most favorable time in the last couple of years to build a gaming computer. The shortage of video cards has come to naught, and due to the depreciation of the dollar, prices have become much more attractive. No one knows how it will be in a few months, perhaps by the fall the dollar will soar again, cryptocurrencies will rise in price, miners will go berserk and again begin to buy iron with Kamas trucks, and component prices will fly into the sky. Therefore, as they say, seize the moment.
And to make it easier for you to navigate the millions of computer components, I decided to write this material, in which I talked about gaming assemblies for three budgets. In each category, I prepared two options for you: on the AMD and Intel platforms.
Important: the prices for components that you will see below were collected from all over the Internet. As it turned out, it will not be possible to buy all the hardware in one place, and at the same time save as much as possible. Therefore, the processor is taken, for example, in DNS, the video card is on some Ozon, the motherboard is on Yandex. Market, and the drive is somewhere else. Prices are valid as of July 13-15.
Basic PC for gaming in Full HD
Intel Build:
Processor: Intel Core i3-10100F OEM; 6160 rubles
Cooler: Silence I250 PWM 699 rubles
Motherboard: ASUS PRIME B560M-K, LGA 1200, Intel B560, mATX; 7490 rubles
RAM: A-Data XPG GAMMIX D20, 16 GB, 3200 MHz, 16-20-20; 4999 rubles
Storage: 2.5″, SATA SSD, Apace AS350 PANTHER, 512 GB; 3799 rubles
Case: DEEPCOOL MATREXX 30, black; 2999 rubles
Power supply: DEEPCOOL DN550, 550 W; 2999 rubles
Final price: 52,274 rubles
So, in the case of an entry-level gaming PC, we are counting on a budget of plus or minus 50,000 rubles. Here the task was to assemble a relatively fast gaming machine with the possibility of a subsequent upgrade.
Every computer starts with a motherboard and a processor. The choice fell on the Intel Core i3-10100F. Simply because it is a basic gag, which can hardly be called a gaming one.
The Comet Lake-S family solution has a 14 nm process technology and operates at frequencies from 3.6 GHz to 4.3 GHz. The processor supports DDR4-2666 RAM, but since we are using a motherboard based on the B560 chipset, 3200 MHz RAM will work on it without problems.
TDP of the processor is at the level of 65W. The cooler is a simple Xilence I250 PWM with a power dissipation of 95 W, which is enough for our Intel Core i3-10100F.
On the chip, I also want to say this: in the future, it will be possible and even necessary to upgrade to more powerful Intel Core i5-10400F or Core i5-11400F, thereby significantly raising the overall system performance. But for starters, the Core i3-10100F will be enough for you, especially if the budget is limited.
As for the “mother”, the choice of ASUS PRIME B560M-K is due to the fact that this is a relatively inexpensive Micro-ATX form factor board based on a very interesting and up-to-date B560 chipset with LGA 1200. The number of power phases is 8. The VRM zone is covered with a simple heatsink. The power supply is good here – in the future it will be possible to switch to a more powerful processor without any problems.
There are only two slots for DDR4 RAM (and this is one of the main disadvantages of this board, in my opinion). It is possible to overclock the memory up to 5 GHz. The maximum amount of RAM is 64 GB. Of the ports: four USB 3.2 Gen1 Type A, two USB 2.0, one each HDMI and D-Sub (VGA), PS / 2, six SATA III and a pair of M.2 (SATA / PCIe 3.0 x4 and PCIe 4.0 x4) for drives , as well as one PCI-E 4.0 x16 for a video card and two PCI-E x1. Network controller – Intel i219V (1 Gb / s). Sound – Realtek ALC897. In general, ASUS PRIME B560M-K is a worthy budget board, on the basis of which you can build a modern and productive PC.
With RAM, everything is clear – I had to take one plank for 16 GB, so that later I could buy another one of the same and double the amount of RAM in our system. A-Data XPG GAMMIX D20 with a frequency of 3200 MHz, 16-20-20 timings and a 120-month (10-year!) warranty from the manufacturer. Decent RAM for the money. And yes, if you have an extra 5,000 rubles, then it’s better to immediately take a 32 GB set of two 16 GB sticks.
We go further – the video card. Here it turned out not to be as simple as one might think. Our budget is plus or minus 50,000 rubles, which means that it is unlikely that you will be able to choose something very fast. Of course, you can look at AliExpress, where iron prices are in some cases lower than even on Ozon or Yandex. Market, but personally I am not a fan of buying PC components there. I don’t know, because of a couple of unpleasant incidents that happened to me, the sellers from Alek do not inspire much confidence in me. But with Ozon, even with orders from China, I never had any problems. But this is my personal experience, so see for yourself.
