Description

All Purchases were Jet.com and Amazon.com. Prices reflect using Jet.com Triple15 discount and 64 dollars of a 70 dollar credit for Amazon Prime Credit Card.

PC for home use and gaming. Works well against other G4560 + GTX 1050 PCs; I think I recorded a 5800 in Firestrike (which was 44th out of a few hundred peers). The MSI GTX 1050 is a bit hot at 62 C under load-may set a max temp to 50-55 C to save on electricity. My Ram under performed (38th percentile according to userbenchmark.com), but is only clocked at 2133 instead of 2400.

ISSUES:

The only true problems were Windows 10 having severe issues in throttling wired internet connections (You cannot meter a wired connection in Windows 10 by conventional means AND Windows 10 Updater uses all 1.5 Mbps of my internet speed even after the updates are done) and my GTX 1050 HDMI audio output not being compatible with a commercial grade TV.

Issue 1 is solved by either disabling Windows update or changing wired connection to wireless in regedit.

Issue 2 is solved by using a different TV or running a separate 3.5mm male male from onboard audio to TV aux input. Issue 2 is really weird because my onboard HDMI audio works with the TV and my GTX 1050 HDMI audio works with another TV.

Minor hiccups: The 450B 20+4 pin mobo connector would not latch all the way because it was too cheap. The motherboard was harder than expected to slide into the back panel. The Zalman Z1 Neo could've had a bit more cable space in the back, especially with the non-modular 450B.

I'll add that a "jet.com trusted seller" sent me a raided case that I had to return.

EDIT: I bought a new monitor and a wifi card. Now it's a 1080p build.

Part Reviews

CPU

Intel Pentium G4560 3.5 GHz Dual-Core Processor

Bought for 54.40 using Jet.com Triple15

Pros: Fast and works. The only CPU under 150 bucks anyone should ever buy for now (Unless games are optimized to use more than 4 threads). IMO not even worth going for the R5 1400 or i5-7400 over this CPU.

Cons: The HSF thermal compound is just out in the open so mind your dust when installing stock fan. Was having stock issues in the US when purchased, but eventually received product.

Other thoughts: In May 2017, there is no other CPU 40-150 MSRP you should be buying. Does not support Optane Memory like the i3-7100. G4600 and G4620 come with better onboard graphics (630 vs 610). For new builds, not all H110M boards have the required BIOS update, and so you may have to drop an extra 15 bucks or so for a b250m.

Motherboard

MSI B250M BAZOOKA Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard

Bought for 62.27 using Jet.com Triple15

Pros: The board itself is nice and comes with 4 ram slots. The board is very pretty with 4 LED back lights. I liked the MSI utilities included. Comes with 2 SATA cables, outdated driver CD, and excellent manual.

Cons: The back panel is a bit flimsy and looks a bit tacky-was difficult to slide mobo into back panel. An extra SATA cable would've been nice. Way more expensive than a H110M (if you find one that works with Kaby Lake, it will be cheaper). ESD bag was nearly torn-but more of a shipping failure than a Con.

Other thoughts: The Gigabyte B250M DS3H is consistently cheaper on certain sites and is another good board if you cannot find a H110M updated to Kaby Lake.

Memory

Corsair Vengeance LPX 8 GB (1 x 8 GB) DDR4-2666 CL16 Memory

Bought for 52.99, but was free with discount for Amazon Prime Card.

Pros: Sleek look. Was cheap. Works. Has Heat shield.

Cons: Is only CL 16. Defaulted to 2133 on my B250M Bazooka even though B250M and G4560 are both compatible with 2400 (although I could just as easily change). This is probably why it bench marked at the 38th percentile.

Other thoughts: Go for CL 15 or lower and focus on BOTH max speed and CL. A 2400 or 2133 stick with CL 15 would be faster.

Storage

Toshiba DT01ACA100 1 TB 3.5" 7200 RPM Internal Hard Drive

Unless you buy a bigger HD or an SSD, I'd buy this one.

Pros: Fast, cheap, and big.

Cons: One of the screw holes may have been stripped (I didn't confirm because I didn't want to make it worse).

Other Thoughts: This was the OEM version, so ensure you have an Extra SATA with your MOBO or elsewhere.

Video Card

MSI GTX 1050 2G OC GeForce GTX 1050 2 GB Video Card

I paid 91.17 (81.17 w/ 10 dollar MIR) for this.

Pros: Good value, faster than other 1050's, comes with Afterburner which is nice.

Cons: More a a Nvidia or TV issue, but the HDMI audio output did not work with every TV while my onboard HDMI audio output did. There is no fix except to use onboard audio or a different TV. It was a commercial grade TV.

Other Thoughts: Runs at 62 C under load which is hotter than some other 1050's, and so I might limit GPU Temp to 50-55 C to save electricity. Pro for gaming, con for efficiency and heat.

Log in to rate comments or to post a comment.

Comments

Planemaster
  • 7 years 11 months ago

720p? I'll have you know I'm using a 750 Ti at 1080p ;)

pdavi21
  • 7 years 11 months ago

My TV's are 720p.

Planemaster
  • 7 years 11 months ago

I'm assuming you max out anything there

xTwistts
  • 7 years 11 months ago

Nice budget build, are you in college? You said 44th out of a few hundred peers?

pdavi21
  • 7 years 11 months ago

No. Graduated in 2013. Perhaps, I should've said colleagues.

joshzpants
  • 7 years 11 months ago

62c for a gpu is actually pretty cool, but yeah I agree compared to other 1050s it runs just a tad hotter. Just so you know if you try to limit the gpu temp that will just change the fan curve. You would want to limit the clock speed to save on electricity but that is really silly. It would be such a small difference in power draw and the performance would take a big hit. Anyways nice build, you did a good job on budgeting parts.

pdavi21
  • 7 years 11 months ago

Someone was telling me that if I set a max temp in afterburner, that it would effect utilization and not fan speed (which would already be at or near max depending on fan curve). I assumed this would lower power consumption only near full load. Underclocking seems a bit drastic to me and (I assume) might void the warranty, but would definitely lower my temps and usage. I suppose there's a lot I could play with, including capping frame rates-which I will definitely be doing, but I like the idea of throttling my GPU usage at high temps as well.

fynn.co
  • 7 years 11 months ago

with the 1050 you can push out 1080p.

pdavi21
  • 7 years 11 months ago

I agree. I just have 720p TVs and I can get probably get 60+ fps consistently in anything. Perhaps I should change the title, but when I think 60 fps @ 1080p with Max settings, I think RX 480 or GTX 1060.

fynn.co
  • 7 years 11 months ago

if you want to upgrade get a new processor and display not gpu the 1050 is a great card

pdavi21
  • 7 years 11 months ago

A G4560 is fine for a 1050/ti, 1060, 460, 470 or 480 IMO. I'm not going to upgrade anything before display though. It's 768p and uses 130W. Not to mention I have to run audio separate.

Nullarc77
  • 7 years 11 months ago

You can do 1080p at max setting with an rx 470. In some games you may need to drop it down to high to get a smooth 60 fps. But for the most part a 470 will do 1080p ultra.

customgtp
  • 7 years 11 months ago

I agree about temps, for a 54w cpu you expect super cool huh .. I have a g4560 and it was running about 62c on stock cooler and same even on this c7 aftermarket cooler... I like cool... I switch to a thermaltake liquid cooler on my g4560 and it max's out 47c now.

customgtp
  • 7 years 11 months ago

Oh I read wrong... It's your gpu at 62c...thats just fine!!

FactionParadox
  • 7 years 11 months ago

I have a question on about the motherboard. Can it connect to wifi without Ethernet or did you put in a wireless adapter?

pdavi21
  • 7 years 11 months ago

The b250m Bazooka comes with Wired Ethernet Controller and audio cards. If you have wireless only internet, you must by WIFI Card or USB. This is true for most Mobos.

If you use wired, Windows 10, and have slow internet; you may run into the same problem I did, and so picking up a WIFI card for 5-10 bucks isn't a bad idea.

AVRadev
  • 7 years 11 months ago

I actually prefer the GTX 1060 3GB version in pure performance per dolar value. It is also a GPU taht will last longer and run games with better settings. However I get the choice of 1050 here. Thight buget is thight buget. It gets the job done and can run any modern game no problem, so on tight buget its the best you can get.

First well rounded build with that CPu I have seen. Wery good. :)

jfish871
  • 7 years 11 months ago

Why did you lower the temp limit of your gpu to save power? The card only pulls up to 75 watts max, usually lower for less demanding applications, and lowering the temp limit is going to make the card a bit less powerful.

Also, why do you say the windows is throttling your ethernet connection? Have you tested your ethernet connection with other computers and found it to perform faster than with your windows 10 one? Could it be something to do with your MOBO? Because I have 2 win 10 pcs with ethernet connections and I have had no issues at all.

And with your 1050 HDMI audio issues: when you installed the nvidia driver, did you click express installation or custom installation and make sure that it was installing all the components (Nvidia audio driver, physx, graphics driver [duh], 3D vision, and so on...). Because the express installer might not have installed the Nvidia audio driver because your pc already had a audio driver. So to fix this issue I would recommend:
1.) Open Geforce Experience
2.) Navigate to settings
3.) Navigate to driver settings
4.) Clicking the reinstall driver button
5.) Selecting Custom install
6.) Make sure that all the necessary components are selected (Nvidia hdmi audio, the latest graphics driver, and physx)
7.) Install the components and reboot your system
8.) Test to see if that fixed the issue.

All the walls of text!

pdavi21
  • 7 years 11 months ago

Why did you lower the temp limit of your gpu to save power? The card only pulls up to 75 watts max, usually lower for less demanding applications, and lowering the temp limit is going to make the card a bit less powerful.

Because: why did someone buy a Zotac Mini and not overclock it? (Same answer)

Also, why do you say the windows is throttling your ethernet connection? Have you tested your ethernet connection with other computers and found it to perform faster than with your windows 10 one? Could it be something to do with your MOBO? Because I have 2 win 10 pcs with ethernet connections and I have had no issues at all.

Windows 10 Update uses all 1.5 Mbps of my wired connection even when the updates are through. A wired connection cannot be throttled in Windows 10. They have chosen to assume that ethernet connections are too fast to meter. You have to trick it into wireless or disable updater (or have faster internet). Otherwise, nothing else can use internet in my house. You mean ethernet card and not MOBO. The latest Realtek drivers are installed.

And with your 1050 HDMI audio issues: when you installed the nvidia driver, did you click express installation or custom installation and make sure that it was installing all the components (Nvidia audio driver, physx, graphics driver [duh], 3D vision, and so on...). Because the express installer might not have installed the Nvidia audio driver because your pc already had a audio driver. So to fix this issue I would recommend: 1.) Open Geforce Experience 2.) Navigate to settings 3.) Navigate to driver settings 4.) Clicking the reinstall driver button 5.) Selecting Custom install 6.) Make sure that all the necessary components are selected (Nvidia hdmi audio, the latest graphics driver, and physx) 7.) Install the components and reboot your system 8.) Test to see if that fixed the issue.

You don't think I tried that and everything else? I literally dragged another TV across my house and tried my onboard HDMI with the commercial TV. Not to mention unistalling all audio and video drivers and reinstalling the newest NVidia driver. I always use custom install. Every possible combo works except for this one card and this one TV. The best answer I received was from the TV manufacturer: "The HDMI is not designed to work on these TV's" Me: "But it works with all of my other devices" TV manufacturer: "It's a commercial TV designed for hotel cable boxes. Sometimes it [HDMI input] works and sometimes it doesn't."

He was wrong about the second audio line not working, though. It works because my computer cannot see the TV speakers through my GTX 1050 HDMI output-at all. The TV shows up as a DVI where all others show up as HDMI. Reminds me of Nvidia blocking old Phillips TV's, and looks exactly the same. They closed the Custom Resolution workaround for the Phillips TV issue.

jfish871
  • 7 years 11 months ago

https://pcpartpicker.com/forums/topic/90440-forum-formatting-guide

jfish871
  • 7 years 11 months ago

Wait, tricking windows into thinking it is using a wired connection can disable windows updates?!

THIS IS LEGENDARY INFORMATION

Also a little tip: if you want to quote something or someone put a > before the quoted text. >QUOTED TEXT

QUOTED TEXT

It would be interesting to see just how much more power the 1050 will draw at stock settings versus with a lowered temp limit... Because with a lowered temp limit the card will run at a slightly lower voltage to save on heat.
But if you really want to save on power, wouldn't it make make sense to lower the power limit or underclock the card a bit? Or are those options not available?

pdavi21
  • 7 years 11 months ago

The connection has nothing to do with updates. My wired 1.5 Mbps connection is just hijacked by Windows update. If my internet was faster or Wireless, it wouldn't happen.

All you have to do to disable Windows Updates is disable the following in task manager: BITS CryptSvc wuauserv

jfish871
  • 7 years 11 months ago

Balls. Oh well. But still being able to remove the damned updates would be a godsend.

blockbuster4664
  • 7 years 11 months ago

You mean ethernet card and not MOBO. The latest Realtek drivers are installed.

Your mobo's Ethernet port is Gigabit LAN capable meaning you should literally have no problem with bandwidth on hardware side, so it's either your internet sucks or your Mobo is throttling something.

Realtek is audio bud, that has nothing to do with Ethernet when the modem is made by Intel

pdavi21
  • 7 years 11 months ago

http://www.realtek.com/downloads/downloadsView.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=13&PFid=5&Level=5&Conn=4&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false

I suppose this web page does not have drivers for Ethernet Controllers by that logic.

blockbuster4664
  • 7 years 11 months ago

Hmm, I looked into the Mobo specs further and it has a Realtek modem. I guess I was thinking of Asus that uses Intel modems, I thought Realtek didn't make Ethernet modems. Welp either way there shouldn't be an issue with your Mobo.

pdavi21
  • 7 years 11 months ago

My internet sucks AND Windows 10 updates will not meter "wired" connections. Nothing is being throttled, that's the problem.

Windows 10 updater uses all 1.5 Mbps of internet speed. Even after the updates are through.

[comment deleted by staff]
pdavi21
  • 7 years 11 months ago

The TV manufacturer told me the HDMI port on the TV was not supposed to work, and that it only sometimes works. I took that as a good enough answer.

Tests:

GTX 1050 -> HDMI 1 -> TV 1 (bad-no audio) (shows up as DVI)

GTX 1050 -> HDMI 1 -> TV 2 (good)

Intel HD 610 -> HDMI 1 -> TV 1 (good)

Chromecast (HDMI) -> TV 1 (good)

Current:

GTX 1050 -> HDMI 1 -> TV 1 (video)

Realtek -> 3.5 mm -> TV 1 (audio)

qwermab
  • 7 years 8 months ago

did you need to use thermal paste on that cpu?

pdavi21
  • 7 years 7 months ago

No. It comes with the stock HSF with thermal paste applied.

visxalz
  • 6 years 10 months ago

this comes with a monitor ?

pdavi21
  • 6 years 8 months ago

Old prices. I just like to keep track of how much I've spent. Monitor was BF sale.

[comment deleted by staff]
philip
  • 7 years 10 months ago

The sale of those keys violate Microsoft ToS, and the keys may be unexpectedly disabled. Recommending, suggesting, advising, encouraging, hinting, or in any way implying these keys as a solution or option is not allowed on this site.

pdavi21
  • 7 years 11 months ago

I got the case for 30 bucks + FS on sale. Perhaps I could've gone with a cheaper case for 20...but this one had three fans and a window so I can see if PC needs cleaning.

Chances are those keys are illegal. Although, as much as I hate Windows 10 so far, I wouldn't have felt guilty if I had gone that route.

DVD drive I'll use more than once a year, maybe disconnect to save electricity.

joaquinruesga
  • 7 years 9 months ago

you should have just used an unactivated version of windows 10

[comment deleted by staff]
[comment deleted by staff]
ThoughtA
  • 7 years 8 months ago

Please keep it polite.