Php 15k Gaming PC Build Guide (Athlon 200GE) December 2018

Gaming PC’s these days are getting more affordable as we reach stable RAM prices despite the country’s rising inflation rates. Another factor that contributes to these affordable gaming setups are low-cost bang for the buck products such as the processor that we’ll be using in this build, the Athlon 200GE from AMD. Here are the parts that’ll be part of our Php 15,000 Athlon budget gaming PC.

So a Php 15k gaming PC is a really tough subject and its really pushing it in terms of the balance of performance and affordability. We rallied behind increasing the tier at which entry-level gamers hence our insistence on higher priced entry-level builds previously but as games like Rules of Survival, Roblox and the pisonet market still growing there’s a big market out there who want a decent gaming pc for an affordable price. Now many of you enthusiast out there may argue but as I noted before in all our build guides in previous years, your acceptable gameplay experience isn’t necessarily the same as the rest of the world. But still, we still set standards.

We intended this build for a reasonable gameplay performance in 1080p in very light games, good enough for a good browser gaming experience for kids but also decent enough for people who just enjoy ROS or PUBG Mobile on Nox or Bluestacks. Also, even if we built this and tested on a 1080p screen, a 1366×768 screen would be ideal especially for entry-level system buyers that just need a screen for their build.

So without further ado, here’s our December 2018 Php15k Gaming PC build guide based around the Athlon 200GE APU.

NOTES:

• Prices for this build are based on EASY PC’s price list.
• Prices shown are CASH prices, not SRP.
• Prices used are based on the time of writing, future prices may be higher or lower.

Components

15K Gaming PC Build	Model	Price
CPU	Athlon 200GE w/ Vega 3 Graphics	Php 3,500
Motherboard	ECS A320M4-M3D	Php 2,150
RAM	Apacer 2400Mhz 4GB x 2	Php 4,200
Storage	Seagate 1TB 7200rpm	Php 2,195
PowerSupply	Corsair VS450 450w	Php 1,795
Case	Rakk Anyag	Php 1,000
	Total	Php 14,840

 

CPU: Athlon 200GE | Php 3,500

The Athlon 200GE recently landed on Philippine shores with a price tag of Php 3,500. It’s Php 2,000 cheaper compared to the Ryzen 3 2200G APU. It’s cheaper because it has 2 fewer cores than the 2200G while also having lesser clock speeds and a toned down iGPU.

Motherboard: ECS A320M4-M3D | Php 2,150

We chose to go for the ECS A320M4-M3D simply because it’s the cheapest offering available. Despite being the cheapest it has VGA and DVI for monitor inputs. Yes, the ECS brand might be worrisome as its name is not as popular with Asus, Gigabyte and MSI. But fret not, this board is covered by EasyPC’s EasyFix warranty for your peace of mind.

A better alternative would be the MSI A320M Pro-VH plus an additional Php 1,500. Note that it sports an HDMI input instead of DVI.

RAM: Apacer DDR4 2400Mhz 4GB x 2 | Php 2,100 x 2

The general rule for APUs is to pair it with dual-channel high-frequency memory modules as the integrated graphics performance is dependent on that aspect. This is also the cheapest among the 2400Mhz and 2666Mhz modules. RGB variants are opted out as they won’t offer any performance increase for the additional price. You could easily go for a 3000Mhz ram if you have the budget, but with that expense, it’s better to upgrade the Athlon to 2200G or 2400G instead. 

HDD: Seagate 1TB 7200rpm HDD | Php 2,195

We settled for the Seagate 1TB 7200rpm hard drive for your games storage. Alternatively, you can go for WD’s offering, the WD Blue 1TB as it has similar, if not, the same performance as our pick. If you want to get more savings, you can also opt for a 500GB model instead. However, we strongly recommend that you’d go for the 1TB model as the price-per-GB ratio for the 500GB model is higher than the 1TB model.

Power Supply: Corsair VS450 | Php 1,795

In all our builds, we always recommend investing in a decent power supply. The VS450’s 450watt capacity will secure your upgrade path up to a GTX 1060 or RX 570. Its 80+ certification will save you some cents, in the long run, thanks to its efficiency. You can settle for a generic power supply for Php 500-700 saving you Php 1,000 to invest in other components.  However, we strongly advise to never cheap out on your PSU.

Case: Rakk Anyag | Php 1,000

 

The Rakk Anyag is a decent case in the sub Php 1,000 price range with decent features and aesthetics. It gives your overall build that “gamer-y” vibe over generic cases. Specs wise it supports 120mm fans up to 8 in total. It has a magnetic fan filter on the top with a PSU shroud for aesthetics and cable management.

Benchmarks

As far as Synthetic benchmarks go, the Athlon 200GE performs as you would expect on a sub Php 4,000 CPU. Do note that synthetic benchmarks don’t tell the full story in relation to real-world performance. It serves as your guide as to what would you expect if you plan to do some computing or rendering with the Athlon 200GE.

We tested the PC on games that what we feel will be played by owners of this setup. Games involved are mostly Free-to-play games as playing AAA titles on this rig would require a GPU upgrade.

NOTE: Gameplay footage is recorded with the use of a Capture Card on a different PC so it doesn’t impair the Athlon 200GE’s performance.

DOTA 2

Following our DOTA 2 benchmark sequence and methodology, we also tested different APIs to know that API would fit our 200GE build. 

The build struggles to maintain above 30fps especially when clashes occur(20-40sec mark). As the benchmark suggests, the Athlon 200GE works best in DX11 and Vulkan performing significantly better than default API, DirectX 9. We recommend settling with DX11 as there is a download required before using Vulkan. To add, We recommend going for a 720p resolution if you want a consistent 60fps gameplay experience.

ROS

Rules of Survival is fairly easy to run with the 200GE. We were able to max out the game’s settings at 1080p. FPS stayed at the high 50s to low 60s without any noticeable frame drops or hiccups.

Monster Hunter World

Monster Hunter World is unbearable with a framerate below 20s on our benchmark sequence. Lowering the resolution to 720p doesn’t help as you would still get below 30fps experience.

Power Consumption

The Athlon 200GE build idles at 31.5 watts with a peak power consumption of only 57.7watts. This makes it ideal for an icafe setup.

Upgrade Path

GPU > CPU 

If you went for a branded power supply instead of a generic one then the best components to upgrade is getting a video card. The VS450 should handle up to a GTX 1070, but for budget and efficiency purposes we recommend in upgrading to a GTX 1060 or a 1050Ti.

CPU > GPU

If you have a generic power supply, I’d suggest upgrading to a Ryzen 5 2400G as not only will you experience a boost in the CPU department, but you’ll also get a gain on the GPU side.

With all of that said, don’t expect to play the latest and greatest titles on this build as seen on our benchmark. You’ll at least need to upgrade to a stronger APU or getting a dedicated GPU to play comfortably at 1080p resolution. This build is meant to play at 720p or play older, and free to play titles. Nonetheless, this is a great build to start your #PCMasterRace life.

You can get this 15k gaming pc build from our friends at EasyPC. Bundles for a whole set including monitors and peripherals for a lower price can also be availed at EasyPC. Just say that your pals from Back2Gaming sent you 😉 

Please let us know in the comments on what budget range should our next build guide be!

Other Gaming PC Build Guides:

30k Gaming PC Build Guide – i3 8100 + GTX 1050Ti
50k Gaming PC Build Guide – Ryzen 5 + RTX 2060
100k Streaming x Gaming PC Build Guide – feat. Tricia Potato