£500 gaming rig spec

Jenkinio

Jenkinio

Jenkinio

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Joined
21 Feb 2011
Posts
128
Hello & happy Xmas,

Father Xmas kindly gave me enough cash for a gaming rig and I'm looking to spend in the region of £500 pounds.

As a computard, I would kindly welcome some advice on a good build, as I haven't got a clue where to start speccing a rig.

I plan to connect to my TV via HDMI, so no monitor needed. Also, no keyboard or mouse needed and I already have a beefy ssd (256gb). I will pick up the os separately, so that won't need to be included in the build cost.

The rig will be primarily used for gaming, but I would like to run blue ray on it, so a br drive is preferable to DVD.

Thanks in advance.

-J-
 
 
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1 x Sapphire HD 7850 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card w/ FARCRY3 & Sleeping Dogs PC Games £169.99
1 x AMD Bulldozer FX-4 Quad Core 4170 Black Edition 4.20Ghz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail £95.99
1 x Seasonic G series 550w '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £72.98
1 x Antec 300 Three Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case - Black £59.99
1 x Gigabyte 970A-DS3 AMD 970A (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £59.99
1 x Pioneer BDC-207DBK 8x BluRay ROM / DVDRW SATA-II Optical Drive - Black (OEM) £49.99
1 x Patriot Intel Extreme Masters 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-14900C9 1866MHz Dual Channel Kit (PVI38G186C9K) £35.99
Total : £559.02 (includes shipping : £11.75).




only changed video card, as i like the make, stable and warranty good. cpu quicker but yes uses more power, better case and psu as well, but cost is higher for better parts, for me if you cut too many corners you might as well stick with a xbox, but then again its choice, and a extra few quid
 
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How about this:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD 7850 OC Windforce 2X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card w/ FARCRY3, Sleeping Dogs & Dirt Showdown PC Games £155.99
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £83.99
1 x Asus P8B75-V Intel B75 (Socket 1155) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £76.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020059-UK) £49.99
1 x Pioneer BDC-207DBK 8x BluRay ROM / DVDRW SATA-II Optical Drive - Black (OEM) £49.99
1 x Antec One Gaming Case - Black £36.98
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G160C9K) £34.99
Total : £503.03 (includes shipping : £11.75).





The Ivybridge i3 is a bit better than the Sandybridge version. You only need a Z77 motherboard if you are using an unlocked processor (the i3 isn't). Along with the H77, the Z77 also offers 2x SATA 3 ports - if you are going to add a second SSD then H77 or Z77 would be the best options.
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD 7850 OC Windforce 2X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card w/ FARCRY3, Sleeping Dogs & Dirt Showdown PC Games £155.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £89.99
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £83.99
1 x PC Power & Cooling Silencer Mk III Series 500W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply - White £59.99
1 x Pioneer BDC-207DBK 8x BluRay ROM / DVDRW SATA-II Optical Drive - Black (OEM) £49.99
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G160C9K) £34.99
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £32.99
Total : £522.02 (includes shipping : £11.75).



The BluRay player is OEM so does not come with playback software, but I think you can download some playback software off the net.

Have gone with the Z77 motherboard to allow for an easier upgrade should you want to drop a K series CPU into the system in the future.
 
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD 7850 OC Windforce 2X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card w/ FARCRY3, Sleeping Dogs & Dirt Showdown PC Games £155.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77N-WIFI Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £98.99
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £83.99
1 x BitFenix Prodigy Mini-ITX Cube Case - Midnight Black £64.99
1 x Pioneer BDC-207DBK 8x BluRay ROM / DVDRW SATA-II Optical Drive - Black (OEM) £49.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020059-UK) £49.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £35.99
Total : £554.03 (includes shipping : £11.75).



Little more cash but this is a mini-itx build so is smaller as you want to use it on a TV it might be easier to keep it out of the way. The mobo also includes wifi which is a nice little touch and may well help justify the extra cost of the build. The optical drive is OEM so no software but VLC 2.0 can playback blurays now I'm sure and its free :D

PSU is modular and the same price as the non-modular unit Idleman used whilst it's on preorder. GPU is good with a 3 year uk based warranty same deal for the mobos warranty too. The kingston RAM is LP as doomedspeed was talking about, it has a lower CAS rating than the dragon kit so is technically better for the same price


One of our forum members built something very similar, that is his video on youtube, there is a link back to a thread here on our forum in the description. Look forward to seeing what you settle on :) Any questions or god forbid problems come build day, you know where to find us
 
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Doomedspeed said:
Sorry to but in, but why has everyone specced tall RAM?

I know it's not an issue at the moment as he's not getting a Aftermarket air cooler but if he wants to the High RAM will surely cause problems.

It's worth spending the extra £1 to leave your options open...

Get this RAM: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-114-GL&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517
Click to expand...

What is wrong with these? :confused:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-058-PA

edit: Forget to mention, there is an after market cooler included in my build.
 
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I totally forgot to mention that WiFi is essential as it will live a long easy from a phone socket. I see that one build includes WiFi, but do the others?
 
honosuseri said:
YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD 7850 OC Windforce 2X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card w/ FARCRY3, Sleeping Dogs & Dirt Showdown PC Games £155.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77N-WIFI Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £98.99
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £83.99
1 x BitFenix Prodigy Mini-ITX Cube Case - Midnight Black £64.99
1 x Pioneer BDC-207DBK 8x BluRay ROM / DVDRW SATA-II Optical Drive - Black (OEM) £49.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020059-UK) £49.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £35.99
Total : £554.03 (includes shipping : £11.75).



Little more cash but this is a mini-itx build so is smaller as you want to use it on a TV it might be easier to keep it out of the way. The mobo also includes wifi which is a nice little touch and may well help justify the extra cost of the build. The optical drive is OEM so no software but VLC 2.0 can playback blurays now I'm sure and its free :D

PSU is modular and the same price as the non-modular unit Idleman used whilst it's on preorder. GPU is good with a 3 year uk based warranty same deal for the mobos warranty too. The kingston RAM is LP as doomedspeed was talking about, it has a lower CAS rating than the dragon kit so is technically better for the same price


One of our forum members built something very similar, that is his video on youtube, there is a link back to a thread here on our forum in the description. Look forward to seeing what you settle on :) Any questions or god forbid problems come build day, you know where to find us
Click to expand...

what is this xbmc all about? never heard about it
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus HD 7850 DirectCU II V2 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card w/ FARCRY3 & Sleeping Dogs PC Games £149.99
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £83.99
1 x MSI Z77A-G43 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - FREE Alpenföhn Civetta Cooler!! £69.98
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500W V2 '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020047-UK) £49.99
1 x Pioneer BDC-207DBK 8x BluRay ROM / DVDRW SATA-II Optical Drive - Black (OEM) £49.99
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G160C9K) £34.99
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x Tenda W311MI Wireless USB Network Interface Card – Nano Dongle – 150 Mbps £6.49
Total : £493.42 (includes shipping : £12.50).


It may be worth waiting for the modular version of the PSU, seeing as they are being sold at the same price. Also includes a better cooler than the stock Intel one.


As for XBMC, I think that it is a media center for your PC which can be controlled via controller. It's good for people who have HTPCs.
 
Out of curiosity, what's wrong with the Bitfenix Merc Beta case? At £30 it seems very reasonable with the only review saying only good things about it. Yet nobody has included that in a build which has cost as a priority, there must be a reason for that. Is it just aesthetics or is there a problem with the Merc?
 
fullmetaltony said:
Out of curiosity, what's wrong with the Bitfenix Merc Beta case? At £30 it seems very reasonable with the only review saying only good things about it. Yet nobody has included that in a build which has cost as a priority, there must be a reason for that. Is it just aesthetics or is there a problem with the Merc?
Click to expand...

There is nothing wrong with it. But for an extra few quid the Asgard comes with 2 fans, makes it a slightly better bargain. Also fits a bigger cooler.
 
Looks like I waited too long to order this and all of the items are no longer on offer.... Darn it! The most frustrating thing is that it was updated whilst I was placing the order...
 
Idleman said:
There is nothing wrong with it. But for an extra few quid the Asgard comes with 2 fans, makes it a slightly better bargain. Also fits a bigger cooler.
Click to expand...

I dont spec it either. I've used it..... hands on experience and all that, tis very basic and cable management is poor. No USB3 ports and just the single fan. It's false economy basically.

Jenkinio said:
Looks like I waited too long to order this and all of the items are no longer on offer.... Darn it! The most frustrating thing is that it was updated whilst I was placing the order...
Click to expand...

It happens mate, the offers were due to change, it's thursday every week that they do. You can wait till next week if you want to "gamble" on the offers
 
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