First PC cheap build

[karl0508]

Hello

I want to build a cheap gaming pc using quad core. i want to build sub £500 (Not including os)

 

It will be running windows and ubuntu, and possibly steamos.

 

First i'd like to say i'm neither AMD or Intel bias they're both great

 

These videos thrown me off onto an APU

 

 

I want to pay games like watch dogs, i'm not bothered amd or intel just know i don’t want the g3258 as i don't want dual core as i plan to multitask with this to.

 

I want to build this pc with the intention of upgrading it later.

I built this:-

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/Karl0508/saved/xkM6Mp

However i have noticed Intel are going to 1151 socket this year so don't know about the 1150 being a good platform.

 

Would a FX processor be a good choice?

 

I'm really open to new ideas

 

I just want a basic gaming pc sub £500.

 

I'm new to pc gaming, and just want to have a good go.

 

Any opinions on build? what to choose?

 

Another thing is i'm only runnig one monitor so would mini itx be a good option?

[SirBobson]

@karl0508 For this budget I wouldn't recommend an intel quad core. Number of cores is NOT everything. If you want an APU than it's with AMD, this is good for low budget sytems.

 

Edit: I know you don't want to but going with a G2358 + a z97 motherboard could be another good way for future upgrades.

[Lotus]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor  (£131.20 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock H81 Pro BTC ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  (£32.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Kingston Fury White Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  (£55.05 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£35.94 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960 2GB Video Card  (£164.99 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: Zalman Z3 Plus ATX Mid Tower Case  (£26.99 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  (£38.52 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £485.68
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-23 18:17 GMT+0000

 

 

 

It's not ideal, but I believe it's the best you can do in your budget. You could fit in an R9 280x, which is a better GPU, but then you'd want a 550W+ PSU, and fitting both in would be overbudget. You also could upgrade to an H97 board and an i5-4460, but that too is out of your budget. If it were me, I would try to make both of those changes, but again, doing both would put you significantly outside of your budget.

[karl0508]

@karl0508 For this budget I wouldn't recommend an intel quad core. Number of cores is NOT everything. If you want an APU than it's with AMD, this is good for low budget sytems.

 

Edit: I know you don't want to but going with a G2358 + a z97 motherboard could be another good way for future upgrades.

 

But would a A10 7850K be a good option with the G3258 i feel i'd buy it then have to upgrade in 2 months 

 

Was thinking of the g3258 for a receiver in house streaming 

[Lotus]

But would a A10 7850K be a good option with the G3258 i feel i'd buy it then have to upgrade in 2 months 

 

Was thinking of the g3258 for a receiver in house streaming 

Since you can afford an i5 with a good GPU, I don't see why you would want either of those two budget CPUs. The money saved would enable you to get a better GPU, but that better GPU would be bottlenecked by the worse CPU, and you'd have to upgrade both much sooner than if you just bought an i5 to start with. Overall, you'll get better performance and longevity out of an i5 build with your budget.

[karl0508]

Since you can afford an i5 with a good GPU, I don't see why you would want either of those two budget CPUs. The money saved would enable you to get a better GPU, but that better GPU would be bottlenecked by the worse CPU, and you'd have to upgrade both much sooner than if you just bought an i5 to start with. Overall, you'll get better performance and longevity out of an i5 build with your budget.

what would be the best starter i5?

[Lotus]

what would be the best starter i5?

The i5-4440 + h81 motherboard + stock cooler is the cheapest i5 configuration, although you're limited to two memory slots. That's why I put a single 8GB stick in there, so you still had room for expansion.

[karl0508]

But will a h81 motherboard limit my expansion? would a z97 be better?

[FaustoGomez]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchantCPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor  (£131.20 @ Aria PC)Motherboard: ASRock H81 Pro BTC ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  (£32.99 @ Amazon UK)Memory: Kingston Fury White Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  (£55.05 @ Amazon UK)Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£35.94 @ Aria PC)Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960 2GB Video Card  (£164.99 @ Scan.co.uk)Case: Zalman Z3 Plus ATX Mid Tower Case  (£26.99 @ Amazon UK)Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  (£38.52 @ Amazon UK)Total: £485.68Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when availableGenerated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-23 18:17 GMT+0000   It's not ideal, but I believe it's the best you can do in your budget. You could fit in an R9 280x, which is a better GPU, but then you'd want a 550W+ PSU, and fitting both in would be overbudget. You also could upgrade to an H97 board and an i5-4460, but that too is out of your budget. If it were me, I would try to make both of those changes, but again, doing both would put you significantly outside of your budget.

Get this

While that locked i5 doesn't look much powerful, it'll beat every amd cpu at gaming, and even while multitasking, it'll give you great performance. Motherboard, case, psu, ram and hdd doesn't matter much for performance and those selected are good quality. GTX 960 is also a sweet spot GPU. It'll play most games at 1080p with a ultra/high combination. Basically it'll keep %80 of gamers happy for at least 2-3 years and by that time, you can just change the GPU and booyah! 2 more years

[Lotus]

But will a h81 motherboard limit my expansion? would a z97 be better?

By the time you would replace the i5-4440, the z97 would be obsolete anyway. You can still put haswell refresh CPUs into h81 once you update the bios, so no worries there. The downside is no overclocking of K series CPUs, but honestly from your budget the odds of you swapping CPUs within the next year or two is very small. Besides, it's better to get better stuff now than potential in the future. Best thing for the future is to save your cash. Nothing is as future proof as cash.

[karl0508]

By the time you would replace the i5-4440, the z97 would be obsolete anyway. You can still put haswell refresh CPUs into h81 once you update the bios, so no worries there. The downside is no overclocking of K series CPUs, but honestly from your budget the odds of you swapping CPUs within the next year or two is very small. Besides, it's better to get better stuff now than potential in the future. Best thing for the future is to save your cash. Nothing is as future proof as cash.

 

 

But if i'm go real budget wouldn't the a10 suit this??

[Lotus]

But if i'm go real budget wouldn't the a10 suit this??

No, this is why the i5-4440 is so great. It's NOT a budget CPU. It's a long lasting, great performing CPU. You wont have to replace it because it's actually good. The A10 isn't actually good. It's just adequate, and only adequate for not very demanding games.

[karl0508]

Is the i5 4440 going to be as good as say the i5 4460?

Also is overclocking needed?

[Lotus]

Is the i5 4440 going to be as good as say the i5 4460?

Also is overclocking needed?

The point of overclocking is to get better performance. The i5-4440 already has great performance, so it's not needed. However, it is a locked CPU, and so cannot be overclocked.

 

The 4460 is the haswell refresh of the 4440. They're basically the same (the 4460 is 0.1 GHz faster, not a big deal). However the 4460, being a haswell refresh, needs to run on a 90 series motherboard (h97, z97) or an 80 series motherboard with the bios update. The catch is that in order to update the bios, you'll need a working cpu, but the CPU wont work until you update the bios, which is why I stick to 90 series motherboards with the 4460. The real reason to get the 4460 is for the h97 motherboard (or z97) and the 4 memory slots. H81 motherboards are always limited to 2. There are other reasons, but that's the major one. They're basically the same price, which is why you always go 4460 over 4440 when you have a 90 series motherboard. You can just save money by going with an h81 motherboard and 4440 since the h81 motherboard is so cheap.

[karl0508]

Brilliant will have to look at getting a 4440