Low-Budget Photo/Gaming PC with Potential

FidelZastro

FidelZastro

FidelZastro

Associate
Joined
30 Sep 2011
Posts
94
Location
London
Hi mates,

I wanted to post this earlier today but accidentally replied to an existing thread instead of opening a new one - sorry, I guess it was quite annoying. So here I start again:

I just moved to the UK 2 months ago and am still stuck with my Dell D430 (sold my computer in Germany since I didn't have an opportunity to take it with me anyway). I am earning money but since 2x1.2 Ghz isn't really a pleasure for editing 18 mpix images (don't even think about my 200gigs archive) I need a new one soon rather than in a couple of months when I could afford a GBP 1500 build. Finance seems not to be an option either as these companies usually require a longer UK address history, so for now I seem to be stuck with a low budget.

What I want:
- Quadcore
- 8 GB of Ram
- silent PSU/Case/CPU/graphics card fans
- an affordable VA/IPS screen (temporary solution until I have the money for a good 27" 8 bit S-IPS)

What I don't want:
- a fancy, large, fast hard drive (still have my 1TB Samsung F3 from my old computer)

What I need it for (in that order)
- image processing
- occasional gaming (can't wait for the new Elder Scrolls)

Budget:
Should end up in the 700GBP area - buying a better graphics card or an SSD for christmas wouldn't be a problem, but CPU and Ram should meet the requirements today.

Thanks for reading all this stuff and for your suggestions
 
Hey

Your best bet would prob be an i5 2500k build with a Z68 board, utilise the onboard gfx for now, then as you say add a gfx card at xmas for gaming
Add 8 gig of any RAM really, Corsair XMS3 is good as it doesnt have large fins that can interfere with heatsinks, speaking of heatsinks, the Gelid Tranquilo is very reasonable, case is v much personal preference, PSU wise, a quality 550W will be sufficient, such as the Antec Truepower modular, monitor wise this Dell would be your best bet
 
 
Thanks for your suggestions!

Overclocking might be an issue for the future, for now a 2500k should give me sufficient power for all tasks (my Athlon II X2 was running at 3.6 GHz, mainly to get GTA4 a bit closer to fluency). I value good cases (my last one was a Scythe Fenriswolf) and would probably stick with a dark Define R3. The Dell Monitor looks good - just 16:9 and 6 bits, so not as good as my old one (2209WA), but FullHD and LED-backlit on the other hand.

jamesfreddie: Why did you choose a 600W PSU? Does the 2500K consume that much in combination with, say, a HD6950? Since I already have a 1TB F3 on my desk (currently in an external case), are there any good SSDs on the market for £50-80? Edit: I would need wireless LAN as well. Any suggestions on a card or a motherboard which comes with wlan already?

Memory seems to be more expensive here (Friends of mine just bought 2x4GB kits for €35), but I guess there's nothing I can do about it.

Again, thanks for your help.
 
Last edited:
FidelZastro said:
Thanks for your suggestions!

Overclocking might be an issue for the future, for now a 2500k should give me sufficient power for all tasks (my Athlon II X2 was running at 3.6 GHz, mainly to get GTA4 a bit closer to fluency). I value good cases (my last one was a Scythe Fenriswolf) and would probably stick with a dark Define R3. The Dell Monitor looks good - just 16:9 and 6 bits, so not as good as my old one (2209WA), but FullHD and LED-backlit on the other hand.

jamesfreddie: Why did you choose a 600W PSU? Does the 2500K consume that much in combination with, say, a HD6950? Since I already have a 1TB F3 on my desk (currently in an external case), are there any good SSDs on the market for £50-80? Edit: I would need wireless LAN as well. Any suggestions on a card or a motherboard which comes with wlan already?

Memory seems to be more expensive here (Friends of mine just bought 2x4GB kits for €35), but I guess there's nothing I can do about it.

Again, thanks for your help.
Click to expand...

I went with the 600W psu so that you could upgrade later. You could get away with a 450-500w but to be safe. Also you should probley look at a GTX 570 or 560Ti http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-129-MS&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1010insted of a HD 6950 as they are quite loud. You can not access MM yet. You could buy something like a TP Link pci e card as they are cheap and good for there price. For £84 you could get a M4 64GB SSD. (Stock code HD-008-CR)
 
Thanks for explaining, jamesfreddie. Unfortunately, I will have to wait a while to access the MM - my loss, OCUK's win. Good thing about my job is the opportunity to earn bonus and commission - if the month goes well, I can afford the full package by the end of next week. Otherwise I will probably stick with the solution without GPU (my girlfriend was visiting me for a week, could have bought a 560ti instead of paying entry fees and lunches *lol*).

Reg the PSU: I heard, OCZ have some relabelled Seasonics in their range, these seem to be recognized to be an even better choice for roughly the same price. Do you agree? And if so, which quality PSU could you recommend instead?
 
FidelZastro said:
Thanks for explaining, jamesfreddie. Unfortunately, I will have to wait a while to access the MM - my loss, OCUK's win. Good thing about my job is the opportunity to earn bonus and commission - if the month goes well, I can afford the full package by the end of next week. Otherwise I will probably stick with the solution without GPU (my girlfriend was visiting me for a week, could have bought a 560ti instead of paying entry fees and lunches *lol*).

Reg the PSU: I heard, OCZ have some relabelled Seasonics in their range, these seem to be recognized to be an even better choice for roughly the same price. Do you agree? And if so, which quality PSU could you recommend instead?
Click to expand...

I run an antec PSU in my rig, i only really bought it because it was on the "This Week Only" deal. I would go with the corsair PSU as they are know to be good and i think you get a 5 year warranty with them.
 
Cool, I really appreciate your help. Once I am ready to place my order (in about a week) I will check back with you, especially if my budget increases a bit ;)
 
Just placed my order, just to let you know my decision:


Asus PA238Q 23" Professional ProArt Widescreen P-IPS LCD Monitor - Black

Intel Core i5-2500 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail

Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 6870 Vapour-X 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card

OCZ ModXStream Pro 500w Silent SLI Certified Modular Power Supply

Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C10 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit

Fractal Design Define R3

Gigabyte Z68AP-D3 Intel Z68

Akasa Venom

Logitech G400 3600DPI Gaming Mouse

LG GH24NS70 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - Retail

OcUK USB Keyboard - Black
Click to expand...

The weekly deals really have been on my side today, just as my paycheck - threw in an additional 140 pounds and got the 6870. Christmas will bring an ssd and maybe a faster GPU, depends on how well this one performs.
 
The system has been shipped already. Anyway, I chose the PSU for being the cheapest 80+ solution by a known brand with cable management, so hopefully I won't be disappointed.
 
Just for the record: I have to admit the PSU was not the best choice, but not for any of the reasons mentioned here. The cables are just too short to make effectife use of the R3's cable management (is probably long enough for cases where the PSU is located at the top). Example: the 4-pin cable for the motherboard has to go straight up to the plug, crossing the graphics card - one inch less and I would not have been able to connect it at all.

Since I dont have a window and dont care too much for the Inside, as long as the air keeps flowing, this is fine for me. Others may hate it. PSU is cool and silent, so it does the job quite well.
 
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