£500 Budget build opinions, help and specs appreciated

commodore16

commodore16

commodore16

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Right looking to build a new system and it's been many years. I have a budget of around £500 for the following components:

* CPU
* CPU cooler as required
* Motherboard
* Memory
* Graphics Card(s)
* PSU

I have the case and drives OS Monitor etc sorted or in a separate budget. All my old gear is too old to be used in a current system. I have been having a look around at what's out their at the moment but can't decide the best way forward. It's main purposes are likely to be Gaming, En/Trans/coding, General Application use and the usual. I have no particular allegiances to certain brands and don't mind if the build comes in under budget.

opinions and specs appreciated thanks.
 
This is what I would get:

Phenom II X4 955BE ~ £136

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-244-AM

Gigabyte GA-770TA-UD3 ~ £81

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-242-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1481

The motherboard has a split 8+2 phase VRM,USB 3.0, SATA 3.0 and all solid capacitors.

4GB 1333MHZ DDR3 ~ £95

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-085-GL&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1516

Has lower latencies which is better for the Phenom II memory controller.

Antec TruePower New Modular 550W ~ £63

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-118-AN&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=

This is made by Seasonic IIRC.

Asus HD5770 1GB ~ £128

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-219-AS

The total cost of the build comes to around £503 excluding postage.
 
am3spec.png


Pretty much just a reworked spec of the other offering, this spec would be great if you could unlock the other two cores of the CPU but that is upgrade advice 101. The advantages are that you have a better motherboard and a CPU cooler as asked for.
 
What about an i5 build anyone care to see what they can get for the money?

Alternatively i'm even thinking about the possiblility of unlocking some cores on an X2:eek:
 
commodore16 said:
What about an i5 build anyone care to see what they can get for the money?
Click to expand...
If you skimp on the motherboard and get a worse PSU then you could probably get a Core i5 based setup. Also it will not have USB 3.0 and SATA 3.0 which will be useful if you intend to keep the computer for a few years.

Also the cheaper HD5770 1GB on OcUK is on pre-order and getting the 512MB version would save you some money. However the 512MB of video RAM may prove a limitation at higher screen resolutions especially if you are using AA.
 
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Why are you people telling this guy to buy such an expensive mobo...AM3...108??? wow... really?

A 60 pound PSU???? with 60 pound, I would rather buy corsair 500 W...

Also, a word of advise requiring graphic card, 5770 price will fall in 3-4 months. I am using my old 9600 gt till then. If you are in no hurry for brand new graphic card, or have a old card that can get by, wait for 3-4 months.

To the OP, I just build an I3 530 overclock to 4.1 at 360 pounds. <--including case and everything. I am building another i3 530 with a better case (nxzt lesa S) at 390 for myself. I am waiting for a price drop for the 5770 to 100 or perhaps even lower.

I estimate my final build cost to be south of the 500 pound mark. Maybe around 480 perhaps even lower with the 5770 finally get competition from Navida.

In the mean time, I suggest you read some review from toms hardware regarding the usefulness of USB 3.0 and SATA 3.0. Personally I dont think its worth the extra 40 pounds. So i went with a 80 pound mother board with 2.0 features. Add a corsair and 1t hard drive, my build finalize to 390 with no graphic card.

If you are thinking of AM3, the mobo will be cheaper.

So do your own research.

Forum like this have a lot of fan boys and overclocker staffs that wish potential buyers to pay a lot more money for parts that they dont really need. So again, do your own research to justified what you need and at what price.
 
Well lots of opinions here, but further final specs are required. Affordability is an important part of this build as I am spending on some new monitors hopefully, although I have some budget separate for that.

I like a good compromise between price and performance, no point getting the latest and greatest when I can save some cash now to put forward to upgrades in the future.

The AMD builds are holding my interest (which originally was likely to be i5) due to the price and the possibility of the AM3 socket being more upgradable in the near future.

Pretty sure that X2 555 BE with the option to unlock will be way to go. Swaying towards a Corsair PSU as I have a 450W in my main pc which has been good and Antecs in the past have always been poor for me.

Still making my mind up between motherboards and their associated chipsets, is SATA 3 and USB3 important to me now...not at the moment as I don't have anything to take advantage...will it be in the near future...who knows, if I buy another Harddrive possibly. 790 vs 890? Hmmn

As for memory the G Skill comes well recommended and again I have an old 2GB set of DDR1 which have been reliable for years now...having said that are they really the best or do they just look nice with all the blue motherboards:D

So choices are still a little to wide open at the moment...
 
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I would go with CAT-THE-FIFTH spec and change the PSU to your liking, or you could wait a few weeks and see how the 6-core AMDs affect the market.
 
The newer midrange and highend Antec PSUs tend to be made by Seasonic and Delta Electronics AFAIK. Seasonic makes PSUs for Corsair.

Anyway if the OP already has a Corsair VX450W or Corsair HX450W then I would reuse that as they are good PSUs IMHO.
 
Right I actually took some time out tonight and realised I actually have a HX520 which should be good to power most setups I would imagine. So I can strike a new PSU from my budget.

It also means in my eyes that i5 is back on the table ;)
 
Tiny bit over budget.

INTEL i5 750 retail £164.99
ASUS P7P55D-E £130.99
Gskill Ripjaw 4Gb DDR3 £99.99
XFX HD5770 1Gb £127.99

Total £523.95.

Retail CPU includes a cooler.

Motherboard has SATA3.0 and USB3.0.
 
Here's what I have gone for although I have not got it all from OcUK so the price is just over a monkey delivered instead.

I spent a bit more on cooling and motherboard so that I have more room for CPU upgrades in the future X6 or new Phenom II unlocks.

Fingers crossed it gets delivered on time so I can get it built over the Bank Holiday weekend.

ocukchoice.jpg

By c16 at 2010-04-29
 
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