Cheap Gaming Computer.

[Arttekeov]

I'm saving up some money to build my first computer but I'm not quite sure what parts I should get, I have a rough idea of what I'm going to get.

I'm not sure what my budget is because I'm not sure how much money I will be able to save up but I would like to make is as low as possible. (Budget: £300 - £500 Excluding Windows 7/8)

 

Specs:

CPU: Intel Core i3 3220 - AMD A8 5600K - AMD A10 5800K (Maybe a Pentium or low end APU?)

MOBO: MSI H61M-P31 (G3) - (Not sure what motherboard for FM2 to get)

RAM: Corsair Value Select (1x2gb) 1333mhz

GPU: HD 7770 - HD 7790 - HD 7850 - 650ti Boost (What I can afford)

HDD: Seagate Barracuda 500gb ST500DM005

PSU: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/700w-storm-silent-lpk19-35-quiet-fan-eps-12v-atx-v22-psu

Case: Fractal Design Core 1000

 

OS: Windows 7/8

 

I'm not sure which CPU would be better for me, I plan to play games like Battlefield 3, Bioshock: Infinite, Smite, Warframe Mass Effect .etc

Most of these parts depend on how much money I can save. I'm most likely going to buy the parts from Scan.co.uk or Amazon.

I would like to hear your thoughts on this build.

 

My build is finally finished!

 

Here's the link to that topic:

 

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/196694-my-build/

[Tommy]

Drop that PSU, you're spending a large sum of money on parts, there is a reason it is 700W and only £21, because it is poor quality, it may reduce the life of your components, as well as you need no where near 700W for this type of PC, I would go to about 600W, and get a well known brand (Seasonic, Corsair, Antec few others). 

 

With the price of that HDD compared to a 1TB, it isn't worth it. Believe me, that thing will fill faster than you think with the size of some modern games. http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1tb-western-digital-wd10ezrx-caviar-green-35-hdd-sata-iii-6gb-s-intellipower-64mb-cache-8ms-oem

 

I would also get more RAM, again, it is cheap, Kingston have some great value RAM (I believe it is the Blu series? but not too sure) and it will be better than upgrading in the future as it will cost more in the long run. I would also make sure you get at least a quad core, you said you want to play games like BF3, well allot of upcoming games will really be utilizing more cores - especially now that the next gen consoles will be multi-cored, so I'd go with AMD or a 2500k would be a decent choice right now, unless Haswell brings some cheaper quad cores.

 

Good luck with your build!

[Dave :)]

At a budget price point, you're much better off going for an AMD based system. Their piledriver CPUs offer good performance for the price. Take a look at this build and see what you think.

[joelthezombie15]

cant do much on an i3 take the money from the graphics card put it towards a sandy bridge i5 and get atleast 4gb ramand instead of a 7770 get like a http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102958 HD 6670. and thats what i can think of right now

[911^NEmeSis]

Yeah like Tommy said, don't skimp on the PSU, get a decent one from Corsair at laest. The rest of the stuff looks awesome and yeah personally I would still go with a amd based system though you can have a look at the 650ti boost which seems simply amazing at it's price point atm.

 

You just don't wanna end up with a dead system a few months down the line when the PSU dies. Prolly one of the most important parts!

[Matthias2556]

First of all, you don't need anywhere near a 700w Power Supply, You should get 400-500w. That Should Save you a bunch :) 

 

I think The i3 + 650 Ti Boost would be a good combo. If your budget is too small though, you could Go with the A10 and no GPU, or CrossfireX the integrated graphics on the A10 with a 7770.

I would go with a better Motherboard, with a better chipset, like this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131964

You will need way more than 2GB of Ram, at least 4GB.

500gb hard drive should be fine

Check out the NZXT source 210, it's priced at about the same as the fractal. if you can fork over a little more, though, i highly reccomend the corsar 200r, it's very easy to build in and cable manage. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139018

[Conelton]

Don't go with an APU if you're getting a graphics card as well. An i3 or a Piledriver chip would probably get you the best performance in that price bracket.

 

If you go for an i3 then a H77 board is a good balance between price and features. ASRock H77 Pro4-M was my choice and it's perfectly fine.

 

I think the case is a matter of personal opinion. Get the one you like best.

 

Other than that I'd give the same advice as everyone else: change the power supply, get more memory, get the best graphics card you can afford.

 

And don't forget to post a build log when it all comes together :)

[Arttekeov]

Thanks for the feedback, I will definitely try and get more money to get a better quality PSU. I think i'll go for an A8 5600k.

 

Drop that PSU, you're spending a large sum of money on parts, there is a reason it is 700W and only £21, because it is poor quality, it may reduce the life of your components, as well as you need no where near 700W for this type of PC, I would go to about 600W, and get a well known brand (Seasonic, Corsair, Antec few others). 

 

With the price of that HDD compared to a 1TB, it isn't worth it. Believe me, that thing will fill faster than you think with the size of some modern games. http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1tb-western-digital-wd10ezrx-caviar-green-35-hdd-sata-iii-6gb-s-intellipower-64mb-cache-8ms-oem

 

I would also get more RAM, again, it is cheap, Kingston have some great value RAM (I believe it is the Blu series? but not too sure) and it will be better than upgrading in the future as it will cost more in the long run. I would also make sure you get at least a quad core, you said you want to play games like BF3, well allot of upcoming games will really be utilizing more cores - especially now that the next gen consoles will be multi-cored, so I'd go with AMD or a 2500k would be a decent choice right now, unless Haswell brings some cheaper quad cores.

 

Good luck with your build!

I heard that Caviar greens were not designed to hold an OS because it is low RPM or something, I don't know if that is true but I just heard that. I will be going for AMD. 

Thank you for your input, it is much appreciated.

[Arttekeov]

I think I will be going for these specs:

 

 

CPU: AMD A8 5600K - AMD A10 5800K (Low end APU?)

MOBO: MSI FM2-A75IA-E53 - MSI FM2-A75MA-E35

RAM: Corsair XMS3 (1x4gb) 1600mhz http://www.scan.co.uk/products/4gb-corsair-ddr3-xms3-pc3-12800-(1600)-non-ecc-unbuffered-cas-9-9-9-24-xmp-165v

GPU: HD 7770 - HD 7790

HDD: Seagate Barracuda 1TB ST1000DM003

PSU: 400W Silverstone Strider SST-ST40F-ES

Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 - Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced

 

Can you do Hybrid xFire with the CPU and GPUs I've chosen?

 

Thank you for all your feedback.

 

EDIT: 

Do you think I should get a Noctua NH-L9a cooler?

Edited April 26, 2013 by Arttekeov

[mozoa]

Thanks for the feedback, I will definitely try and get more money to get a better quality PSU. I think i'll go for an A8 5600k.

 

I heard that Caviar greens were not designed to hold an OS because it is low RPM or something, I don't know if that is true but I just heard that. I will be going for AMD. 

Thank you for your input, it is much appreciated.

Caviar greens are delivered with pre-built pc 's too,

they are hiding their RPM though, could be anywhere between 5400 and 7200

[Arttekeov]

Caviar greens are delivered with pre-built pc 's too,

they are hiding their RPM though, could be anywhere between 5400 and 7200

Oh ok, I'll research on what hard drives I could get.

[Arttekeov]

Update

I'm still saving up money but I have changed the build around because i don't really want an APU for my CPU now, also since new things have come out i think I might try and get some of those parts.

 

CPU:AMD FX 6300 or intel i3 4130

MOBO: Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3Por Asus H81M-Plus

RAM: Corsair 8GB (2x4GB) 1333Mhz ( it's cheap )

GPU: R7 260x

SSD: Kingston V300 120GB or Sandisk 128GB

HDD: Seagate 1TB

PSU: Cooler Master RS500 500w

Case: Fractal Design Core 3000 or Enermax iVektor

[ForsakenLive]

Before you start ordering, you may want to look this link.

 

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/1ZXOx
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/1ZXOx/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/1ZXOx/benchmarks/

CPU: AMD Athlon II X4 760K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor (£60.91 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A88X-D3H ATX FM2+ Motherboard (£63.58 @ Aria PC)
Memory: PNY XLR8 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£37.88 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£63.75 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£43.90 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 270X 2GB Video Card (£153.98 @ Dabs)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£38.65 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£48.72 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £511.37
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-11-10 03:13 GMT+0000)

 

I used UK sites, as you did.
Let me break this through a bit.
The  Athlon II X4 760K is a new AMD Richland processor, which turned out to be quite decent. Is a great performer and I suggest you check some reviews of it.
I added a FM2+ motherboard, which is not necessary for the Athlon I picked, but it's a nice motherboard, and it will be compatible with AMD new processors coming on 2014.

Changed the Ram a little bit, this one is cheaper, and is just as good as the corsair you picked up.

NZXT Source 210 is a great budget case, I suggest you check some reviews of it as well.

Picked a beefier PSU...

and the best of all, a R9 270X, which is a rebadged HD 7950. A beastly performer, and a great overclocker (even more with that MSI aftermarket cooling on it).

 

[Arttekeov]

My build is finally finished!

 

Here's the link to that topic:

 

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/196694-my-build/