Baldur's Gate : The Sword Coast Chronicles : NWN2 Persistent World

Hey all, so my computer is about 9 years old and it's time for an upgrade. It still runs fine, but the case is beat to heck and it takes longer than 5 minutes on initial startup. Basically after talking to the wife the plan is to make some tweaks to my existing machine so that my son can use it, including adding a 120 GB SSD and replacing Vista with Windows 10. It has an Asus P5K motherboard and a GeForce 450 GTS 1 GB video card so my hope is that if I clean out the 500 GB HDD drive, add a solid state drive for the OS and upgrade to windows 10 perhaps it will move a bit faster. For the new rig I am looking at getting the following, keeping in mind that keeping the cost down is paramount, but I do need to be able to create spreadsheets, powerpoint presentations, Visio Process Flows (and also need to play NWN2! )

CPU = Intel Pentium G3258 (reviews said it was close to what some of the higher end processors can do at 1/3rd the cost... I can get it for $50 right now, while an i3 is $150)

Motherboard = EDIT: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard MSI Z170A PC Mate LGA1151 ATX (same thing, mid range but competes with some of the higher ends. Got quoted $109, but found on New Egg for $90...) Thanks to Shad, and Thids for pointing out this is not compatible and pointing me to PC Part Picker!!! /edit

16 GB DDR3 RAM = Crucial 8x2 1600 BLSP C9 ($70, but again, New Egg has 16 GB RAM for $60)

Video Card = GeForce GTX 750 ($110) or 750 TI ($130)

primary hard drive = SanDisk 240 GB SSD ($50)

Secondary hard drive = Western Digital 1 TB 3.5 Mainstream Blue HD ($40)

Case = Cool Master TM TC102 w/ 500W ATX ($38)

Windows 10 Home 64 bit = $99, though found it on the internet for $88...

DVD RW Drive = $10-15


So, any computer guru's out there that have any advice? Am I skimping too much on the CPU or Motherboard or is there another affordable option that perhaps will give higher overall performance I should take a look at? I basically told my wife and all my family members this year I don't want a bunch of 'stuff' to unwrap at Christmas, I want to get this new rig put together and upgrade the current one so that it is usable by my son for the next few years so I should be able to end up with a decent machine and may have a bit more funds to play with, but the above is what I am looking at right now to get the most 'bang for my buck'.

Thanks to anyone who has some advice or helps me avoid buying something I won't be happy with!

Opt for the nV750Ti
Good pick on the CPU, most applications and games are not SMP optimized.

If you don't need the physical copy of windows 10, you can get just the key much cheaper. Like here:
http://www.kinguin.net/category/19429/w ... l-oem-key/

Thanks AoS, anything you can tell me about what the TI well help with over the standard 750? Not that $20 is all that different, but my current pc with the 450 GTS handles nwn2 great and I don't really play many newer games... played Dragon age: origins and Dragon age 2, but couldn't even finish the second one it was so bad. I was honestly thinking I might even go lower end and grab a 560 for $80, but if there is speed benefit to go with the 750 then I'll pay the extra cash.

Thids wrote:If you don't need the physical copy of windows 10, you can get just the key much cheaper. Like here:
http://www.kinguin.net/category/19429/w ... l-oem-key/

But then how do you install it? Don't you need a physical copy? Or by getting the key do you download the os to a dvd yourself?

Am I the only one noticed that mobo is not compatible with cpu?

Shad wrote:Am I the only one noticed that mobo is not compatible with cpu?

What do you mean? The G3258 is supposed to be compatible with the LGA 1151. What am I missing?

chad878262 wrote:

Thids wrote:If you don't need the physical copy of windows 10, you can get just the key much cheaper. Like here:
http://www.kinguin.net/category/19429/w ... l-oem-key/

But then how do you install it? Don't you need a physical copy? Or by getting the key do you download the os to a dvd yourself?

I haven't looked much into it, but I -think- that with windows 10 all you need to do is download the microsoft creation tool, and follow the steps to create either a dvd with windows 10 on it or a USB flash drive (the size of the flash drive needs to be at least 3gb or something like that).


https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/softwar ... /windows10

And yup, the mbo and the cpu are incompatible. G3258 needs an LGA1150 socket.

If you're unsure use this page to check your component compatibility:
https://pcpartpicker.com

Hmm... Thanks Shad and Thids. Can anyone recommend a mid range mobo in the $90-120 range that is compatible with the G3258? Have not purchased anything yet, but based on my research once you step up from the G3258 they get much more expensive.
Thanks again!

Go for this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813128762
It misses vrm heatsink but has intel lan, which is much better then realtek, and mobo is very affordable.

Wow Thids, PCPartPicker is a fantastic website, thanks for pointing me in that direction! Guy from MicroCenter recommended these based on the specifications I had told him I was looking for and after checking this website out I could have saved myself the trip! Updated the original post for the Mobo compatibility. Not sure if that is the one I will go with, but it seemed to get decent ratings and based on the specs it was comparable to some of the more expensive options.

Again, if anyone has further advice, I am all ears! I probably won't actually purchase all of this until after Christmas, thought if I see a deal that is too good to pass up I may buy some of the stuff sooner. For instance already grabbed a 240GB SSD because it was on sale for $60.

If you want Asus go for ASUS B85M-GAMER, though dont see in on newegg, its quite good too.

Shad wrote:Go for this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813128762
It misses vrm heatsink but has intel lan, which is much better then realtek, and mobo is very affordable.

All for saving some money, but this Mobo is Micro ATX, I would prefer full ATX. Though $60 is very tempting! I have been told that for gaming full ATX is a must, is this a myth?