Budget Gaming PC

[TaPPerS_]

Hi! I'm looking to build a very cheap gaming PC that, over time, I can upgrade. I live in England and am looking to spend under £400 on this build.

 

I plan to use this build to mainly play CSGO and a bit of light photoshop. CSGO will need to run at high FPS on low settings while background programs are running such as Google Chrome and other applications. I will only be using one monitor for this setup. I will need to buy windows along with all the other components. Apart from that I don't need any other peripherals. 

 

Some of the features I know I want are;

- 8GB of RAM.

- A 1TB hard drive. (I don't want an SSD, I don't care about load times either)

 

Apart from that i'm clueless on what I should get! Thanks for reading.

 

[TheN00bBuilder]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor  (£79.19 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock 970 Pro3 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard  (£48.26 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Kingston Beast 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  (£39.39 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£39.99 @ Ebuyer)
Video Card: HIS Radeon R9 270X 2GB IceQ X² Video Card  (£103.09 @ Amazon UK)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  (£24.90 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  (£64.99 @ Aria PC)
Total: £399.81
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-06 18:46 BST+0100

[Swndlr]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor  (£48.38 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  (£24.98 @ Novatech)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  (£58.76 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury White 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  (£38.48 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£39.99 @ Ebuyer)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 270X 2GB PCS+ Video Card  (£119.99 @ CCL Computers)
Case: NZXT S340 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case  (£57.98 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  (£52.03 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £440.59
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-06 18:50 BST+0100

[Matthew Taylor]

You can pick up Win81 real cheap from places like G2A or https://www.reddit.com/r/microsoftsoftwareswap/ Also consider case fans, I doubt 1 (from the case) will be enough

[byalexandr]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/YJjvt6

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($166.95 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-GAMING 3 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($54.45 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill NS Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($44.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($46.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 2GB SuperSC ACX 2.0+ Video Card ($194.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master Silencio 352 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $608.24
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-06 14:15 EDT-0400

 

LGA 1150 for upgradeability. A GTX 960 for solid 1080P gaming performance. Join the Windows Insider Program and you get a free copy of Windows 10 on July 29th.

 

EDIT: Sorry for not putting this in pounds, but I think it's around 410 pounds.

[byalexandr]

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/J6TFLk

 

Fixed. Apparently components are not as available in the UK as in the US.

[TheElt]

Buying Windows from Retail pushes £18 over budget which could be fixed by getting it from places mentioned above, or being savvy and shopping around yourself.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor  (£84.53 @ Ebuyer)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  (£30.20 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: *Kingston 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1333 Memory  (£34.72 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£32.40 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: HIS Radeon R9 270X 2GB IceQ X² Video Card  (£103.09 @ Amazon UK)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  (£24.90 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply  (£32.80 @ Amazon UK)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 OEM (64-bit)  (£75.20 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £417.84
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-06 19:27 BST+0100

 

You get an upgrade path to an i5 later on (Say, a 4460. Getting a K series or an i7 would need a motherboard upgrade) and the option to upgrade to 16GB RAM by adding another 8GB stick.

[Nena Trinity]

You should get a APU build such as A10-7870K + 2400MHz ram!

[BigDay]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor  (£48.38 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  (£24.98 @ Novatech)
Motherboard: MSI Z97 PC MATE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  (£59.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Kingston 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1333 Memory  (£34.72 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Sandisk Solid State Drive 64GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (£29.26 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£32.40 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R7 370 2GB Video Card  (£119.16 @ Aria PC)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case  (£51.80 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  (£36.98 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £437.67
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-06 22:08 BST+0100

[TaPPerS_]

Thanks for all the replies! What do you guys think of this build I put together from your suggestions?

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/VqFHTW

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

 

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor  (£79.25 @ Amazon UK) 

Motherboard: ASRock 970 Pro3 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard  (£48.11 @ Amazon UK) 

Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury White 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  (£38.45 @ Ebuyer) 

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£40.00 @ Amazon UK) 

Video Card: HIS Radeon R9 270X 2GB IceQ X² Video Card 

Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  (£24.95 @ Amazon UK) 

Power Supply: Corsair CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  (£52.03 @ Amazon UK) 

Case Fan: Corsair Air Series SP120 Quiet Edition (2-Pack) 37.9 CFM 120mm  Fans  (£21.58 @ Amazon UK) 

Total: £304.37 (This is excluding the video card for some reason. It would be just over £400 with it)

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-07 10:26 BST+0100

 

For the OS I will do this; 

 

 

Join the Windows Insider Program and you get a free copy of Windows 10 on July 29th.

 

[TheCaptain53]

 

Thanks for all the replies! What do you guys think of this build I put together from your suggestions?

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/VqFHTW

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

 

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor  (£79.25 @ Amazon UK) 

Motherboard: ASRock 970 Pro3 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard  (£48.11 @ Amazon UK) 

Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury White 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  (£38.45 @ Ebuyer) 

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£40.00 @ Amazon UK) 

Video Card: HIS Radeon R9 270X 2GB IceQ X² Video Card 

Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  (£24.95 @ Amazon UK) 

Power Supply: Corsair CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  (£52.03 @ Amazon UK) 

Case Fan: Corsair Air Series SP120 Quiet Edition (2-Pack) 37.9 CFM 120mm  Fans  (£21.58 @ Amazon UK) 

Total: £304.37 (This is excluding the video card for some reason. It would be just over £400 with it)

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-07 10:26 BST+0100

 

For the OS I will do this; 

 

 

I have personally used an FX-6300, and I didn't really like it. It caused significant stuttering with my GTX 960 (the AMD was sitting with only a +0.4GHz overclock). The Intel chip (being the G3258) would be better for upgradability, but you may struggle in some AAA titles. I'm not sure how it performs in CS:GO, but I don't see why it wouldn't be able to handle it.

I would personally go for the Intel chip with a Z97 board (so you can get something like a 4690K down the road) with an R7 260X/360 or GTX 750 Ti (which will be able to handle CS:GO just fine) and you're golden. For some AAA titles, you may struggle with that setup, but Source games are so undemanding that you should be fine.

[TaPPerS_]

Ok, what do you guys think of this one?

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor  (£48.38 @ Amazon UK) 

Motherboard: MSI Z97 PC MATE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  (£59.99 @ Amazon UK) 

Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury White 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  (£38.48 @ Amazon UK) 

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£39.99 @ Ebuyer) 

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Superclocked Video Card  (£109.97 @ Aria PC) 

Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  (£24.95 @ Amazon UK) 

Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply  (£32.80 @ Amazon UK) 

Case Fan: Corsair Air Series SP120 Quiet Edition (2-Pack) 37.9 CFM 120mm  Fans  (£21.58 @ Amazon UK) 

Total: £376.14

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-07 14:55 BST+0100

[TaPPerS_]

Do you guys think some money could be saved on the graphics card?

[Matthew Taylor]

I would say no, anything under 750ti really is too shitty for gaming if you are aiming for 60FPS 1080p