Hey guys I'm looking to build a small PC that should only be capable of running Counter Strike 1.6 with stable 100fps. A passively cooled rig would be preferable, but I don't know hot the modern CPU's run. If a fan is needed, no problems I would prefer it not burns off First, I thought of the Raspberry Pi could be a great little one - keeping in mind, that 1.6 doesn't need much of a CPU. But as it has an ARM processor, I cannot use that. So, I think that Mini-ITX would be the best way to keep it small while maintaining performance. Do you think it could be run with an Intel i3? Would the performance be good for 1.6? I'm thinking about running with a small SSD and minimal Windows 7 install. Any ideas? Budget is low, and the computer should be as small as the budget is
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-431-GI&groupid=701&catid=1903&subcat=2230 Something like this, with a small-ish SSD and Pico PSU would be ideal as the mobo has everything built onboard.
I've used Intel my entire life, and not really been into AMD. But is AMD really better when it comes to small builds performance-wise? In Anandtech's review of A10-5800K, i3-3200 almost has as good performance (it's 1 FPS difference or something). Is there any advantages by using the AMD A-series versus i3?
Regarding performance wise, they are not as great compared to Intel. however in your budget and over compact nature of your build an AMD system is the way to go. AMD chips are the best intergrated graphics on the market when combined with the cpu, so Intel lack in that department however over cpu performace aint that great compared to AMD. You can go wither way with your build with the two posts, my option is an all in one build which is slower than the A10 based system suggested but its fully intergrated and cheap, however wont give your the flexability as the A10 build due to the nature of its intergrated and somewhat outdated hardware. The A10 kit is new and well liked but will overall cost more but will give you better longterm benefit, but the size of the thing will be larger than my suggested ITX build and consume more power. But performancewise will trounce my suggested kit but for CS 1.6 i dont think you would need to spend much to get the FPS your asking for. TBH I would just buy a second hand dell and install a second had GFX card and be done with it.
But I already have a desktop PC. I just want a small one only for running CS 1.6 to bring to LANs etc. So it should be small factor. I have tried to make two builds. One with Intel, one with AMD. Intel: Mobo: ASRock H77M-ITX CPU: Core i3 I3-3220 3 MB RAM: Crucial 1 x 8 GB 1600MHz DDR3 SSD: Intel 330 60 GB Price (DKK): 2128,- AMD: Mobo: ASRock FM2A75M-ITX CPU: A10-5800K 4 MB RAM: Crucial 1 x 8 GB 1600MHz DDR3 SSD: Intel 330 60 GB Price (DKK): 2114,- So, the price is almost identical. Which would you prefer? What do I need beyond that? A case, and a pico PSU? Anything more? Edit: Okay, I can see that the A10 outperforms HD4000 by almost 2x. So I'd go with the AMD, I think. Would you prefer that too?
An Intel setup is only plausible with a dedicated gpu. At that price the AMD APU is the best option They also really aren't that bad for desktop use (having used a 3870k for a while)
So I'm going for this: Mobo: ASRock FM2A75M-ITX CPU: A10-5800K 4 MB RAM: Crucial 1 x 8 GB 1600MHz DDR3 SSD: Intel 330 60 GB PSU: picoPSU-160-XT (buying from eBay) Anything else I need?
Game is old and does not require much. Maybe an AMD apu nettop would be working for you. Can't get too much smaller and they are only like 150ish.
If you can get faster RAM for only a little more then do it. AMD APUs will happily OC with faster RAM.
Fixed it for you. Dual-Channel should be used to increase performance ofc, and it doesn't cost any more money aswell.
No you DONT need an integrated GPU from AMD, you don't need a dedicated GPU either, considering this is for CS 1.6 only. CS 1.6 needs a decent CPU and really couldn't care less about GPU power, so a core i3 will sort you out at 100FPS easily. But if you want to move to other games then as above, for super budget (although not as good upgrade potential) you would want an AMD APU. Although I really don't know why you want 8GB ram, when 4GB (heck 2GB) will be more than enough at a saving of like £15 (more if you go 2GB). This is a very specialised rig aimed at a 10-year old game, I don't know exactly what your budget is but you have quite a bit of room to save money at the moment.
hamza: The only reason why I chose 8GB of RAM was because it was only about $7 USD more than 4GB But yeah, I won't be using it for anything else than CS 1.6, so doesn't have to be the fastest, as long as it can run 1.6 just fine So the APU would be great for my build.
Sure its up to you I was just throwing out some food for thought in case your budget is super limited - but obviously you know what you can afford. And yes, because you aren't going to be using for anything other than 1.6, that's why you don't need an APU. You could get a cheaper but faster Intel i3 CPU and ignore graphics completely with no loss to CS 1.6 Well, I mean if I'm right in assuming that there is a cheaper Intel CPU faster than the A10 but lacking graphical power? Basically don't pay for graphics you don't need.
Wonder if steam will ever come to ARM. Would be rather cool to have a half life playing pi, mind still waiting for Spotify to get its act together. Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
You could literally run CS 1.6 on a Pentium Dual Core with integrated (epsecially if it's the HD2000) and have some good leeway. The HL engine runs brilliant on those.
