£400 low end gaming pc

Pc-Gamer12

Pc-Gamer12

Pc-Gamer12

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Hi guys, I have decided not to go all out on a gaming pc, so could you guys recommend me a low end gaming build please for a maximum of £400 I need everything including an os, except mouse, keyboard and monitor.

Thanks :)
 
zakblood said:
something pre built like this?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-237-OK&groupid=43&catid=2385&subcat=1270

intel

or amd,

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-127-OP&groupid=43&catid=2385&subcat=1444

or to build yourself?
Click to expand...

Those pre-builts aren't good, especially as they don't include a graphics card AND and OS on top of that is still needed :p


OP - I'd suggest a Trinity build:
YOUR BASKET
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.99
1 x AMD A8-5600K Black Edition 3.60GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Quad Core Processor (AD560KWOHJBOX) £79.99
1 x ASRock FM2A75M-DGS AMD A75 Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £52.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) £44.99
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-15000C9 1866MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G186C9K) £41.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020058-UK) £38.99
1 x BitFenix Merc Beta Gaming Case - Black £29.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £18.98
Total : £402.01 (includes shipping : £11.75).



However, Windows takes up a fair bit of the budget. Is there anyway you could get it cheaper/free such as student deals?
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7770 GHz Edition 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £95.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.99
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 1TB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA100) £54.98
1 x Gigabyte H61MA-D2V Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £44.99
1 x Intel Pentium G620 2.60GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £44.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430W V2 '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020046-UK) £36.98
1 x TeamGroup Elite 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED34096M1600HC11DC) £22.99
1 x Zalman T1 Mini Tower Case - Black £17.99
Total : £411.50 (includes shipping : £10.50).



How about this as a start ?? I know its over budget by £11 when you add the shipping. but this does have a decent.....ish GPU for gaming.

I know I didn't spec a optical drive but do you really need one ?? I use a laptop or another computer to make a image of the windows disc to USB then just use steam.
 
Last edited:
Ethermaster said:
YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7770 GHz Edition 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £95.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.99
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 1TB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA100) £54.98
1 x Gigabyte H61MA-D2V Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £44.99
1 x Intel Pentium G620 2.60GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £44.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430W V2 '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020046-UK) £36.98
1 x TeamGroup Elite 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED34096M1600HC11DC) £22.99
1 x Zalman T1 Mini Tower Case - Black £17.99
Total : £411.50 (includes shipping : £10.50).



.
Click to expand...

I would suggest the same but for the gpu see if you can get one of these:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BG-260-MS&groupid=595&catid=683&subcat=

I have a 6870 and it runs current games well for the price.
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD A10-5800K Black Edition 3.80GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Quad Core Processor (AD580KWOHJBOX) £95.99
1 x Gigabyte F2A85X-D3H AMD A85X Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £64.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) £59.99
1 x BitFenix Shinobi USB3.0 Gaming Case - Black £46.98
1 x XFX Pro 450W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £43.99
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-15000C9 1866MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G186C9K) £41.99
1 x Samsung SH-224BB/BEBE 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
Total : £386.02 (includes shipping : £11.75).



I'd go with that fella. Use the developers preview of windows 8 for free, that can do you for 3 months as a try before you buy, then you can get windows 7 or 8 depending on what you think

The Intel H61 mobo lacks the sataIII support and the 7750/7770 is really bad value for the price. The A10 IGP is very capable and you can always drop in a more serious GPU later to improve the performance
 
I will be building it myself hopefully :) I do need an OS and I would like an optical drive,
I've just come across this on youtube, it comes to roughly £360 is it any good ?

GB XFX Radeon HD 7770
Intel Pentium G850, Socket 1155, Dual Core, 2.90GHz
LiteOn IHAS124-04 24x DVD±R
Fractal Design Core 1000
500W Storm Silent LPJ19-25
MSI H61M-P31 (G3) Motherboard
4GB Corsair Value DDR3 PC3-10600 (1333)
500GB Seagate ST500DM002 Barracuda SATA 6Gb/s, 7200rpm
Windows 7 64BIT Professional
 
Yeah if you manage to get Windows for free, I'd definitely go with hono's build.

As mentioned above, the 77xx series are bad value for money. The H61 board also lacks several important features that are common nowadays. I'm not too sure on the choice of PSU either.
 
Hono's build is the best bang for buck :) but this will give you a nicer upgrade path if you don't need an OS.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £89.99
1 x Asus HD 7750 V2 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics card £79.99
1 x ASRock H77 Pro4-M Intel H77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £67.99
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 1TB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA100) £54.98
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430W V2 '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020046-UK) £36.98
1 x TeamGroup Elite 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED38GM1600HC11DC01) £35.99
1 x Samsung SH-224BB/BEBE 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
1 x Zalman T1 Mini Tower Case - Black £17.99
Total : £414.50 (includes shipping : £10.50).

 
 
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I've had my HTPC for 7 months, I've used the optical drive zero times. Drop the optical and Windows and you've got an additional £100 to spend on useful hardware and/or Steam.

EDIT: just laughed, the Mrs bought a DVD box set the other night and I ended up downloading it rather than using the DVD's we already had.
 
I will 100% need an OS, but I don't think I'll ned an optical drive as I use steam most of the time so if someone could please recommend me a build with everything except optical drive :)
 
I'd take a 2nd hand 1GB 460 or a 6850 (~£50) over a 7750 or 7770 every time. Better performance and they cost you less 2nd hand so better bang for buck

The Zalman T1 case is very cheap/nasty and only takes mini-itx/mATX mobos. I think you are better off with the Trinity setup to be honest and the Shinobi is a lovely case and on offer.

That's the dual core Trinity APU and as you can see it's very capable for gaming. My spec has the quadcore APU with a better IGP and more RAM which is also faster to keep the IGP happy
 
 
Pc-Gamer12 said:
I will 100% need an OS, but I don't think I'll ned an optical drive as I use steam most of the time so if someone could please recommend me a build with everything except optical drive :)
Click to expand...

There are other ways that you can get Windows, couple of posts up someone explained how you can get a legit copy for free which would tie you over a bit further down the line, good call on the optical drive though :)
 
Trinity is king of budget gaming rigs, I even suggest it for laptops as it allows gaming where intel budget laptops don't.

Paying for an OS is killing your budget, i really doubt the price of the Pro OS is included in the price of that spec you found on youtube.

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD A8-5600K Black Edition 3.60GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Quad Core Processor (AD560KWOHJBOX) £79.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.99
1 x Gigabyte F2A85XM-D3H AMD A85X Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 micro ATX Motherboard £61.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) £59.99
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-15000C9 1866MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G186C9K) £41.99
1 x Antec High Current Gamer 400W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £40.00
1 x NZXT Source 210 Elite Midi Tower Case - Black £39.98
Total : £418.03 (includes shipping : £11.75).



I still think you are better off adding the OS later and using the developers edition but it's your call how you balance the budget.
 
LukieBoy007 said:
What res is your monitor? Also, you will need an optical drive so you can install Windows, although after that it will be useless :D
Click to expand...

You can install via USB, it's more faff though. Much easier to use an optical drive, I know of several forum members who got confused trying to do the OS install via USB
 
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