Entry level build

[Raiden60]

So, gonna try to go for my first real gaming PC build.

Never really built a PC before, but I have a lot of experience in computer science, etc, waffle waffle.

I'm not really concerned with maxing out battlefield 4 on ultra on 4K, all I want is something that can run games at a solid 30FPS minimum, and 60FPS max(although more never hurts :3)

Anyway, made three builds, a £500/$750 one, a £550/$820 one, a bit better and a higher end one, a £620/$920 build which will be able to kick out a fair bit.

 

Here's the first build, based strongly on Austin Evan's Photon:

 

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 860K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor  (£54.26 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper TX3 Evo 43.1 CFM CPU Cooler  (£16.99 @ Amazon UK)
Thermal Compound: Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver 3.5g Thermal Paste  (£11.27 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Motherboard: Asus A78M-A Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard  (£48.00 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Crucial 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  (£47.76 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£39.00 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R7 260X 2GB Video Card  (£89.99 @ Novatech)
Case: Corsair SPEC-01 RED ATX Mid Tower Case  (£37.91 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  (£37.98 @ Scan.co.uk)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer  (£10.55 @ CCL Computers)
Monitor: BenQ GL2250HM 60Hz 21.5" Monitor  (£91.19 @ Amazon UK)
Keyboard: Zalman ZM-K400G Wired Gaming Keyboard  (£17.98 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £502.88(~750 USD)

 

My second one, can kick out a bit more processing performance with the CPU and a better Motherboard.

 

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor  (£51.99 @ Ebuyer)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  (£24.99 @ Amazon UK)
Thermal Compound: Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver 3.5g Thermal Paste  (£11.27 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-P ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  (£69.56 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Crucial 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  (£47.76 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£39.00 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R7 260X 2GB Video Card  (£89.99 @ Novatech)
Case: Zalman Z11 Plus ATX Mid Tower Case  (£52.98 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  (£37.98 @ Scan.co.uk)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer  (£10.55 @ CCL Computers)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WN781ND 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter  (£7.54 @ CCL Computers)
Monitor: BenQ GL2250HM 60Hz 21.5" Monitor  (£91.19 @ Amazon UK)
Keyboard: Zalman ZM-K400G Wired Gaming Keyboard  (£17.98 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £552.78(~820 USD)

 

And finally, a decent build which will be able to do quite a bit more.

 

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor  (£51.99 @ Ebuyer)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper T4 70.0 CFM Rifle Bearing CPU Cooler  (£19.46 @ CCL Computers)
Thermal Compound: Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver 3.5g Thermal Paste  (£11.27 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-P ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  (£69.56 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Crucial 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  (£47.76 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£39.00 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 960 2GB Video Card  (£164.00 @ Aria PC)
Case: Zalman Z11 Plus ATX Mid Tower Case  (£52.98 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  (£37.98 @ Scan.co.uk)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer  (£10.55 @ CCL Computers)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WN781ND 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter  (£7.54 @ CCL Computers)
Monitor: BenQ GL2250HM 60Hz 21.5" Monitor  (£91.19 @ Amazon UK)
Keyboard: Zalman ZM-K400G Wired Gaming Keyboard  (£17.98 @ Scan.co.uk)
Other: 3' HDMI Cable (£3.49)
Total: £624.75(~920 USD)

 

So, the different builds are dependent on how much money I have in two months time, gonna start the build then.

But for now, what do you think?

 

[IMPERIUS]

So you already have the os? I recommend the i3-4130 with a h81 mobo and the corsair 200r case

also, that gpu is really weak, might consider the pentium k and a h81 mobo and will have to skip on that ocing feature

[Raiden60]

So you already have the os? I recommend the i3-4130 with a h81 mobo and the corsair 200r case

also, that gpu is really weak, might consider the pentium k and a h81 mobo and will have to skip on that ocing feature

Agreed, the GPU isn't terrific, but in benchmarks, it's apparently able to hold it's ground in normal settings. I'll take your advice though, and I'll start searching.

EDIT: Which GPU in particular? I'm guessing just the R7?

[Wirbelfeld]

Agreed, the GPU isn't terrific, but in benchmarks, it's apparently able to hold it's ground in normal settings. I'll take your advice though, and I'll start searching.

Your GPU is fine. In that price range it is probably the best you can get from Nvidia. 

Linus did benchmarking and a review on two of the 960 from Asus and Gigabyte I think. You can go check them out on his channel

EDIT: I found his videos

[Raiden60]

Your GPU is fine. In that price range it is probably the best you can get from Nvidia. 

Linus did benchmarking and a review on two of the 960 from Asus and Gigabyte I think. You can go check them out on his channel

EDIT: I found his videos

Thanks for the feedback

What about the 260x? I know that isn't very impressive, but what could it do in normal settings, do you reckon?

[IMPERIUS]

Agreed, the GPU isn't terrific, but in benchmarks, it's apparently able to hold it's ground in normal settings. I'll take your advice though, and I'll start searching.

EDIT: Which GPU in particular? I'm guessing just the R7?

My recommendation is to get the R9 270 and oc it to 270x levels if possible

[Raiden60]

My recommendation is to get the R9 270 and oc it to 270x levels if possible

Seems good, but I just found out that Asus can have a 270x for the same price as a 270. w00t

[IMPERIUS]

Seems good, but I just found out that Asus can have a 270x for the same price as a 270. w00t

If so then take the 270 with an i3 4130 and h81 mobo if possible. If not then take a cheaper 270

[Raiden60]

If so then take the 270 with an i3 4130 and h81 mobo if possible. If not then take a cheaper 270

I'd much rather have Overclocking, and I think you can still overclock on H81 motherboards, so it shouldn't really be a problem, and the pentium is cheaper, so, overclocking just seems more sensible.

[IMPERIUS]

I'd much rather have Overclocking, and I think you can still overclock on H81 motherboards, so it shouldn't really be a problem, and the pentium is cheaper, so, overclocking just seems more sensible.

 

Yeah you would save with a pentium and a h81 mobo than with the i3 and h81. But do your research on which mobos you can and can't overclock and keep in mind that you won't be able to get a massive 4.5ghz overclock because these mobos aren't meant for such things. Anyways, if you have money I still recommend the i3. It is just 20eur (here at least) more expensive than the pentium andd a aftermarket cooler

[SkywardKkalox]

If so then take the 270 with an i3 4130 and h81 mobo if possible. If not then take a cheaper 270

Question.

Will an i3-4130/i3-4150 bottleneck a 280/280x?

Kinda new too.

[techguru]

no

and i3 is a pretty strong cpu for what it is

[IMPERIUS]

Question.

Will an i3-4130/i3-4150 bottleneck a 280/280x?

Kinda new too.

 

Nope but that gpu is the strongest one I would pair with an i3 cpu

[Raiden60]

Ok, so removing the cooler and thermal paste, replacing CPU with the i3-4130 and the MUCH cheaper motherboard seems to have the same actual price as my previous build. If the i3 is completely true to your words, not a terrible deal, I guess. Plus the fact that I have an R9 270X is brilliant, and I can always upgrade in the future.

[Raiden60]

Ok, so based on feedback, here is my WIP build.

 

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor  (£80.34 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Asus H81M-PLUS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  (£43.97 @ Dabs)
Memory: Crucial 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  (£47.76 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£40.00 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 270X 2GB DirectCU II Video Card  (£129.98 @ Novatech)
Case: Zalman Z11 Plus ATX Mid Tower Case  (£52.98 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  (£37.98 @ Scan.co.uk)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer  (£10.55 @ CCL Computers)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WN781ND 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter  (£7.54 @ CCL Computers)
Monitor: BenQ GL2250HM 60Hz 21.5" Monitor  (£91.19 @ Amazon UK)
Keyboard: Zalman ZM-K400G Wired Gaming Keyboard  (£17.98 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £560.27