# PC alternative to Xbox One/Playstation 4.



## Dervisher (May 8, 2011)

This is a budget computer build with minimum upgrading afterwards in mind. This is intended as a direct competitive option to Xbox One or Playstation 4. This means some lower quality components such as using a HDD. This computer system covers the RAM requirements of future games for easily three years.

*CPU: Intel Core i3-4330 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor - $129.99*
The reasoning for this CPU is straight-forward. Intel HD 4600 graphics tied in with a high-end CPU benchmark for a low price. This CPU likely has better results with processing than the 'customized' 8 core 1.75GHz AMD system of Xbox's.

*Thermal Compound: Arctic Cooling MX-2 4g Thermal Paste - $5.98*
I'm not overly particular about compounds, especially for lower clock speeds such as this configuration. Even at 100% CPU load, the temperatures are likely to be low. This would be one of the few things i'd check after the build to see if an extra $25 is needed to potentially extend the lifespan of this computer by around 10-20%.

*Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H81M-H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard - $53.99 (Brought to $49.38)*
The choice of this motherboard is fairly straight-forward. It's still sort of upgrade-able when it comes to RAM, and has all of the features that are needed. One could argue only two RAM slots is a waste of time here, but if I opened up an Xbox One or Playstation 4 i'd be thinking a lot worse things than lack of RAM slots.

*RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory - $84.99 (Brought to $76.50)*

The choice of RAM was partially due to what a consumer would argue about. "Oh well Xbox or Playstation has 2133Mhz of RAM @ 8 GB, why doesn't this?"
Possibly an under evaluation of the typical consumer. Anyways, moving on.
At 2133Mhz and two 4GB sticks totaling 8Gb, this configuration removes the question of "Is there enough RAM for this game?".

*Hard Drive: Western Digital WD Blue 500GB 2.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive -$49.28* 
This is potentially the weakest contribution to the system overall. Being a HDD, the lifespan of this hard drive is around 3-5 years. Though amazingly both Playstation 4 and Xbox One have HDD's. So this is a mute point. A $100 SSD would complete this build to a REAL gaming machine, in my opinion. That and a beastly graphics card.... okay okay right this is a $400 build, not $800.

*Case/Power Supply: Logisys CS369BK ATX Mid Tower Case w/480W Power Supply $39.69*

The main reasoning behind the computer case is the built in air filter.

Alternatively I could have chosen a much cheaper Computer Case and included a separate PSU for this system build. The price increase would've been negligible. But the air filter that is included in this Case also helps with the durability of the electronics. Dustless computer systems are happy computer systems.

*Power Supply: Corsair CSM 450W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply - $29.99*

*Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer - $16.98*
Well I added an Optical Drive, because some of the older games actually have GAME CONTENT within the CD/DVD. Otherwise this option isn't really needed.

Total price: $397 - $440
Price fluctuation is based on shipping, mail rebates and promo discounts.

I think this computer system covers way more than anything Xbox or Playstation could offer. It's upgrade-able, something that consoles are not (basically). Also the cost of this system could be lowered ,
such as: 4Gb RAM instead. Etc. But considering this build has no actual long-term combo, or a well known gigantic business producing all of the same parts for likely a much lower cost.... Not bad if I say so myself.


----------



## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

PC games are far different than console games. An i3 running on stock graphics isn't going to give you a very good gaming experience. In fact you wouldn't use this system as a gaming PC.

No need for thermal paste. It will come with the stock cooler.

Change the RAM speed to 1600MHz, you do not want to run any higher than that.

Change the very low quality PSU to a XFX or Seasonic branded unit. Without a GPU a 450W will be fine.


----------



## Dervisher (May 8, 2011)

Masterchiefxx17 said:


> PC games are far different than console games. An i3 running on stock graphics isn't going to give you a very good gaming experience. In fact you wouldn't use this system as a gaming PC.
> 
> No need for thermal paste. It will come with the stock cooler.
> 
> ...


I'll edit the Original post after doing a bit of more research on the specifics of Playstation 4's graphics. It seems I underestimated the GPU a bit.


----------



## Dervisher (May 8, 2011)

Well since I seem to be unable to edit the post, I found a comparable GPU and adjusted some of the components. This resulted in an AMD CPU to avoid the bottleneck of the GTX 660.

The price for a comparable computer system came out to be about $520. Which is really unfortunate, but I guess that's why competing with the prices of the consoles are so difficult. Since I can't edit the post this thread might as well be removed.

Also the performance difference between 2133GHz and 1600GHz of RAM is about 15%. The price difference is $5. Worth the cost in my opinion.


----------



## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

The memory speed change is not worth the price. You would need to run that extra speed off the motherboard chipset therefore putting a load on the motherboard. You will also have to go into the BIOS to enable the extra speeds as it does not come setup for 2133GHz. My recommendation is sticking with 1600MHz.

Could you please post the updated build? You did not mention anything about the PSU.


----------



## Dervisher (May 8, 2011)

*CPU: AMD FX-6300 - $109.98*
*Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard - $44.99*
*RAM: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory - $76.50*
*Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive - $50.10*
*Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 660 2GB Video Card - $159.99*
*Computer Case: Rosewill Galaxy-02 ATX Mid Tower Case - $29.99 (Supports Front USB 3.0)*
*Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply - $59.99*
*Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer - $16.98*

After a bit of Googling it seems XFX is a bit more of a serious PSU making company in comparison to corsair. Though there's no found numbers/graphs to convince me completely (i.e. actual voltage control differences over X amount of units), I switched the listing to XFX if only for the sake of future replaceable components.

Totaling to about $548. This would be a somewhat less than optimal build to actually compete with PS4 due to pricing.

Price points made possible by: AMD FX-6300, EVGA GeForce GTX 660, Rosewill Galaxy-02 - System Build - PCPartPicker

This was a bit of a fun budget attempt at an answer to PS4, with the intent of learning some things such as brand performance etc. Learned along the way so no loss here. This is more or less a bit of practice before I actually build a non-budget PC, for the sake of quality components. This way I can, in the future, look at parts and see why they're effective. Such as PSU voltages, which still seems to be an evasive conclusion for me. This'll be one of the main things i'll be doing more searching on simply due to the lack of information so far.


----------



## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

If you're intending to build at this time, your list looks.
Note: XFX PSU's are made by SeaSonic.


----------



## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

You should be good to go with the new build.


----------

