Budget build Part Picking.

[TheDigitalRealm]

So a friend of mine has decided to get back into PC gaming, and has a relatively small budget. I've not got much experience when it comes to part picking for budget builds, so I've turned to you wonderful people.

The PC will purely be for gaming. His budget is £700 for the tower (maximum, ideally under, £700). He'd prefer it to be a mid tower for the sake of it being easier to build in and have room for additional drives or other upgrades in the future.

I'm looking for the best performing gaming PC for £700. That's just for the PC, and excluding the OS.

EDIT: I forgot to mention He won't be doing any CPU overclocking, so Z87 boards aren't going to be that useful

Thanks!

[Cacao]

You call that a small budget?

 

Anyway, does he need an OS or peripherals?

[TheDigitalRealm]

You call that a small budget?

 

Anyway, does he need an OS or peripherals?

His budget is £700 for the tower

That's without an OS included.

[Real_PhillBert]

I'm assuming no peripherals, but here is what I came up with.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

 

CPU:  Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  (£163.94 @ Amazon UK) 

CPU Cooler:  be quiet! Shadow Rock Pro SR1 113.6 CFM CPU Cooler  (£35.98 @ Scan.co.uk) 

Motherboard:  Gigabyte GA-Z87-HD3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  (£76.64 @ Scan.co.uk) 

Memory:  Kingston Fury Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  (£58.92 @ Dabs) 

Storage:  Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  (£54.99 @ Amazon UK) 

Storage:  Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£33.59 @ Aria PC) 

Video Card:  MSI GeForce GTX 760 2GB TWIN FROZR Video Card  (£167.50 @ Aria PC) 

Case:  NZXT Source 210 Elite (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  (£38.65 @ Scan.co.uk) 

Power Supply:  EVGA SuperNOVA 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  (£64.99 @ Amazon UK) 

Total: £695.20

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-06 19:07 BST+0100)

[Cacao]

That's without an OS included.

Gotcha, well here you go:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

 

CPU:  AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor  (£129.59 @ Aria PC) 

Motherboard:  Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard  (£64.79 @ Aria PC) 

Memory:  G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  (£55.08 @ Ebuyer) 

Storage:  Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  (£56.89 @ Amazon UK) 

Video Card:  PowerColor Radeon R9 290 4GB PCS+ Video Card  (£295.19 @ Aria PC) 

Case:  Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case  (£45.90 @ Amazon UK) 

Power Supply:  Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  (£52.84 @ Amazon UK) 

Total: £700.28

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-06 19:09 BST+0100)

 

The 120gb SSD should be enough until he gets some more money for an HDD, also I would recommend an after market cooler down the line. 

[TheDigitalRealm]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I should also have mentioned that he won't be overclocking, so going with a H87 board and non-k processor is recommended if you are going to recommend an Intel build.

[Guest]

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/3F3Cq

Doesn't come with OS.

 

1 POST LEFT YEEAAAAHHHH!

[Real_PhillBert]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I should also have mentioned that he won't be overclocking, so going with a H87 board and non-k processor is recommended if you are going to recommend an Intel build.

 

In that case:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

 

CPU:  Intel Core i5-4670 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  (£151.19 @ Aria PC) 

CPU Cooler:  Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  (£25.45 @ Scan.co.uk) 

Motherboard:  Gigabyte GA-H87-HD3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  (£68.48 @ Amazon UK) 

Memory:  Kingston Fury Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  (£58.92 @ Dabs) 

Storage:  Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  (£54.99 @ Amazon UK) 

Storage:  Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£33.59 @ Aria PC) 

Video Card:  MSI GeForce GTX 770 2GB TWIN FROZR Video Card  (£239.72 @ Scan.co.uk) 

Case:  NZXT Source 210 Elite (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  (£38.65 @ Scan.co.uk) 

Power Supply:  Corsair CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  (£45.78 @ Amazon UK) 

Total: £716.77

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-06 19:41 BST+0100)

[Erik4boss]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

 

CPU:  AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor  (£104.39 @ Aria PC) 

CPU Cooler:  Arctic Cooling UCACO-AP60301-BUA01 Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler  (£8.62 @ Amazon UK) 

Motherboard:  ASRock 980DE3/U3S3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard  (£47.29 @ Amazon UK) 

Memory:  Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  (£56.83 @ Amazon UK) 

Storage:  Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£41.23 @ Aria PC) 

Video Card:  MSI GeForce GTX 780 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card  (£369.99 @ Ebuyer) 

Case:  BitFenix Comrade ATX Mid Tower Case  (£28.04 @ Aria PC) 

Power Supply:  Fractal Design Integra R2 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  (£43.28 @ CCL Computers) 

Total: £699.67

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-06 21:06 BST+0100)

 

now, this will give you AMAZING fps!

[jtrier1]

So a friend of mine has decided to get back into PC gaming, and has a relatively small budget. I've not got much experience when it comes to part picking for budget builds, so I've turned to you wonderful people.

The PC will purely be for gaming. His budget is £700 for the tower (maximum, ideally under, £700). He'd prefer it to be a mid tower for the sake of it being easier to build in and have room for additional drives or other upgrades in the future.

I'm looking for the best performing gaming PC for £700. That's just for the PC, and excluding the OS.

EDIT: I forgot to mention He won't be doing any CPU overclocking, so Z87 boards aren't going to be that useful

Thanks!

 

This is what I put together. No Peripherals or OS. He should have absolutely no trouble gaming with this, though he may consider a different case.

 

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/3FhOX

Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/3FhOX/by_merchant/

Benchmarks: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/3FhOX/benchmarks/

CPU: AMD FX-6350 3.9GHz 6-Core Processor  (£89.99 @ Aria PC)

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  (£25.45 @ Scan.co.uk)

Motherboard: ASRock 990FX Extreme3 ATX AM3+/AM3 Motherboard  (£72.42 @ Amazon UK)

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  (£105.99 @ Ebuyer)

Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  (£48.78 @ Aria PC)

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£33.59 @ Aria PC)

Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 280X 3GB DirectCU II Video Card  (£229.99 @ Novatech)

Case: BitFenix Merc Alpha (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  (£32.90 @ Amazon UK)

Power Supply: Raidmax 630W Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  (£45.82 @ Amazon UK)

Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer  (£11.98 @ Scan.co.uk)

Total: £696.91

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-07 02:26 BST+0100)

[Faceman]

So a friend of mine has decided to get back into PC gaming, and has a relatively small budget. I've not got much experience when it comes to part picking for budget builds, so I've turned to you wonderful people.

The PC will purely be for gaming. His budget is £700 for the tower (maximum, ideally under, £700). He'd prefer it to be a mid tower for the sake of it being easier to build in and have room for additional drives or other upgrades in the future.

I'm looking for the best performing gaming PC for £700. That's just for the PC, and excluding the OS.

EDIT: I forgot to mention He won't be doing any CPU overclocking, so Z87 boards aren't going to be that useful

Thanks!

PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/3Fm2f

Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/3Fm2f/by_merchant/

Benchmarks: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/3Fm2f/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor  (£127.49 @ Ebuyer)

Motherboard: MSI B85-G41 PC Mate ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  (£53.44 @ Amazon UK)

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  (£58.98 @ Ebuyer)

Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  (£48.78 @ Aria PC)

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£33.59 @ Aria PC)

Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 290 4GB PCS+ Video Card  (£295.19 @ Aria PC)

Case: Cooler Master K280 ATX Mid Tower Case  (£31.55 @ CCL Computers)

Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  (£44.12 @ CCL Computers)

Total: £693.14

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-07 04:38 BST+0100)

 

     This build will give you an amazing GPU, which is the most important component of a gaming computer.  I didn't think the price to Ghz ratio of the more expensive CPUs were worth it.  127 pounds for 3.1Ghz, compared to 3.2 for 136 pounds or 3.4Ghz for 151 pounds.  He could even consider going i3 if all he is doing is gaming.  An i3 beats out any FX series CPU for strictly gaming because of the superior single core performance. He could even go i3-4340 @ 3.6Ghz for 108 pounds, for pure gaming, that might be the best price to performance CPU.  The reason I went with the i5 is because the four cores should help with multitasking.  Otherwise if he wants the absolute best gaming performance possible for his money, go with the i3.  I would not go FX for this build because his sole purpose is gaming, and it is clear that Intel dominates AMD for single core performance, which is what games rely on.

     He could even save some money by going with a Micro ATX motherboard, it will have all of the features of the ATX, except it will be smaller form factor making it harder to work with, especially for a first time builder.  I don't recommend doing this, just an option to try and save as much as possible.

     Especially since he is not overclocking, I think it is so important for him to get the best possible GPU that he can afford.  For 1080p gaming, he should get a GTX 770, or R9 280X as a bare minimum.  The R9 290 will give him superior performance, and increased longevity for his system.

 

Here is another build that is more pure gaming, while saving him a considerable amount of money:

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/3FmBV

Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/3FmBV/by_merchant/

Benchmarks: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/3FmBV/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i3-4340 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor  (£108.83 @ Aria PC)

Motherboard: ASRock H87 Pro4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  (£58.62 @ Dabs)

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  (£58.98 @ Ebuyer)

Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  (£48.78 @ Aria PC)

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£33.59 @ Aria PC)

Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 770 2GB TWIN FROZR Video Card  (£239.72 @ Scan.co.uk)

Case: Cooler Master K280 ATX Mid Tower Case  (£31.55 @ CCL Computers)

Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  (£44.12 @ CCL Computers)

Total: £624.19

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-07 04:56 BST+0100)