PC for £350?

MPX309 · May 9, 2013

Ok so my mate's on abit of a tight budget but needs a new PC as his about to die. . . . Got a budget of £350. . . . Should we change anything about this build?

Be mostly used for gaming, Ableton, FL Studio and PS CS6

CPU - Intel Core i3 2120 3.3GHz Socket 1155 - £94.60

RAM - Kingston 4GB DDR3 Memory Module x2 - £52

MOTHERBOARD - Gigabyte H61M-S2PV Motherboard Socket 1155 - £38.50

VIDEO CARD - MSI HD 7750 2GB DDR3 - £71

POWER SUPPLY - Alpine 600W Blue PSU - 12cm Fan 2x SATA - £15.99

CASE - Fractal Design Core 1000 MicroATX Case - £29.38

STORAGE - 1TB western Digitial - £54.62

Prices from Ebuyer.com

FloGer · May 9, 2013

Is that a total of 4Gb of RAM or are these 2 sticks of 4Gb making a total of 8Gb? I would suggest having 8Gb...

Apart from that it seems fine. If you whish, you could go with an AMD processor, you could probably save a few bucks.

And the PSU seems a bit overkill, you might want a less powerfull one, but with some 80+ efficiency ratings... I'd say that 400W would be plenty for that system. (Edit: What about this PSU? )

MPX309 · May 9, 2013

Yeah sorry it's 2 4's so yeah 8.

Erm the PSU. . . I actually a while ago bought a 500watt PSU from alpine as something to use before getting my Corsair and was REALLY impressed with it, was dead silent and I had absolutely no problems with it at all, and it's the same price really for 500w or 600w so I dunno I just thought u know. I doubt it's even really 600w, probably pulls around 450 from it. . . Anyway yeah I've been wondering what to do with which processor should use. I'm not very familiar with AMD's though.

911^NEmeSis · May 9, 2013

I would personally try and boost the gpu a bit. A 650TI Boost if at all possible would be a good choice imo.

T.E.D · May 10, 2013

The 7770 is about the same price, get that instead.

DigitalOgre · May 10, 2013

For 350 euros (456 usd) I think you put together a great build. It seems adequate for running games at medium settings depending on the resolution of your monitor of course. p.s Amd's cpu offerings seem poor of late compared to intel's so unless you are looking a cpu for less than 120 dollars I would go with intel. Amd does have some exciting things brewing hopefully they can rebound. Edit: Here is a video from tek syndicate that could help you decide, Logan definitely knows more about Pcs then me so here you are -

FloGer · May 10, 2013

Yeah sorry it's 2 4's so yeah 8.

Erm the PSU. . . I actually a while ago bought a 500watt PSU from alpine as something to use before getting my Corsair and was REALLY impressed with it, was dead silent and I had absolutely no problems with it at all, and it's the same price really for 500w or 600w so I dunno I just thought u know. I doubt it's even really 600w, probably pulls around 450 from it. . . Anyway yeah I've been wondering what to do with which processor should use. I'm not very familiar with AMD's though.

Ok, ehm for the processor, I am not very familiar neither... I would also go with Intel, but it is generally aknowledged that AMD gives better bang for the buck.

Anyway, hope you will enjoy your build :)

T345 · May 10, 2013

The PSU is a ticking time bomb. Alpine is a known bad brand. I would recommend something like a Corsair CX series PSU (although this is hit and miss, due to many people reporting coil whine and blown caps.) OR get a Seasonic PSU, for a little more, but it will be worth it.