Spec My girlfriend - £400-£500

OliverDavis

OliverDavis

OliverDavis

Associate
Joined
23 Jul 2012
Posts
863
Location
Mirfield, West Yorkshire,
Hello all,

Please spec a build for my girlfriend. It will be bought bit by bit over the next month or so.

Now that we have a powerful PC, we see ourselves spending a lot of time on it. Both having full time jobs, we never feel we get enough out of our gaming sessions as we have to swap.

Needs to have a 1Tb or above HDD. Case has to be an NZXT Phantom 410 White (she wants it to match mine). Fairly good onboard graphics as it will be run for 2-3 weeks without a dedicated GPU, then getting a 660ti/670 for her. A H100i Has to be included in the build as we are swapping with my H80. Cheap mouse and keyboard just so its useable, will be upgraded later. Must also include the TPLink 450mbps WiFi Card for range/speed/frequency. Optical Drive DVDRW.

Please add the below;

CPU:
Motherboard:
RAM: 8Gb
Case: NZXT Phantom 410 White
HDD: 1Tb 7200rpm
SSD: (If budget allows)
WiFi: TPLink 450Mbps
PSU:
Optical: DVDRW
Cooler: Corsair H100i to swap with my H80
Keyboard and Mouse:

She will be borrowing one of my screens for a bit.

Thanks
 
I have managed to get this, as Trinity should be able to do low/mid gaming while waiting for GPU..

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD A10-5800K Black Edition 3.80GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Quad Core Processor (AD580KWOHJBOX) £95.99
1 x NZXT Phantom 410 Enthusiast Midi Tower Case - White £94.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £69.98
1 x ASRock FM2A75 Pro4 AMD A75 Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £68.99
1 x Corsair 2013 Edition Gamer Series GS 600W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020063-UK) £59.99
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-15000C9 1866MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G186C9K) £53.99
1 x TP-Link 450Mbps Wireless N Dual Band PCI Express Adapter (TL-WDN4800) £27.98
1 x Samsung SH-118AB/BEBE SATA 18x DVD-ROM (Black) - OEM £14.99
1 x Gigabyte M6900 3200DPI Gaming Mouse £14.99
1 x Logitech K120 Keyboard (920-002524) £9.98
Total : £511.87 (includes shipping : FREE).

 
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I know they will, I dont think I will fit i5 in to budget though...

Can easily spend more, just she wont be doing anything CPU intensive apart from gaming.

Borderlands 2
Farcry 3
The Sims (Bad, I know)
COD Black Ops 2
Lego Game Series

These games should be able to be run on high with 50-60fps with a 660ti and a decent CPU.

Also may occasionally be used for converting videos, but CUDA Support on GPU will sort that!
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x NZXT Phantom Enthusiast USB3.0 Full Tower Case - Pink £99.98
1 x AMD A10-5800K Black Edition 3.80GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Quad Core Processor (AD580KWOHJBOX) £95.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £72.98
1 x Gigabyte F2A85X-D3H AMD A85X Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £64.99
1 x XFX Pro 550W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £49.99
1 x Adata XPG Xtreme v1.0 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C10 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (AX3U2133XC4G10-2X) £47.99
1 x TP-Link 450Mbps Wireless N Dual Band PCI Express Adapter (TL-WDN4800) £27.98
1 x Steelseries Kinzu V2 3200 DPI Rubberised Black Gaming Mouse (62022) £17.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
1 x OcUK Black Gaming Keyboard (5105GU) £10.99
Total : £505.88 (includes shipping : FREE).



but to be honest if you are definately going to drop in a dedicated GPU later an intel build would be better. Granted short term the IGP isn't really any good for gaming but think long term

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £167.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77N-WIFI Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £89.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £72.98
1 x BitFenix Prodigy 'Yin' Mini-ITX Cube Case - White/Black £64.99
1 x XFX Pro 550W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £49.99
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G160C9K) £41.99
1 x Steelseries Kinzu V2 3200 DPI Rubberised Black Gaming Mouse (62022) £17.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
1 x OcUK Black Gaming Keyboard (5105GU) £10.99
Total : £533.90 (includes shipping : FREE).



Different case, atleast run it by her. The mobo has wifi built in
 
honosuseri said:
YOUR BASKET
1 x NZXT Phantom Enthusiast USB3.0 Full Tower Case - Pink £99.98
1 x AMD A10-5800K Black Edition 3.80GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Quad Core Processor (AD580KWOHJBOX) £95.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £72.98
1 x Gigabyte F2A85X-D3H AMD A85X Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £64.99
1 x XFX Pro 550W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £49.99
1 x Adata XPG Xtreme v1.0 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C10 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (AX3U2133XC4G10-2X) £47.99
1 x TP-Link 450Mbps Wireless N Dual Band PCI Express Adapter (TL-WDN4800) £27.98
1 x Steelseries Kinzu V2 3200 DPI Rubberised Black Gaming Mouse (62022) £17.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
1 x OcUK Black Gaming Keyboard (5105GU) £10.99
Total : £505.88 (includes shipping : FREE).



but to be honest if you are definately going to drop in a dedicated GPU later an intel build would be better. Granted short term the IGP isn't really any good for gaming but think long term

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £167.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77N-WIFI Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £89.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £72.98
1 x BitFenix Prodigy 'Yin' Mini-ITX Cube Case - White/Black £64.99
1 x XFX Pro 550W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £49.99
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G160C9K) £41.99
1 x Steelseries Kinzu V2 3200 DPI Rubberised Black Gaming Mouse (62022) £17.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
1 x OcUK Black Gaming Keyboard (5105GU) £10.99
Total : £533.90 (includes shipping : FREE).



Different case, atleast run it by her. The mobo has wifi built in
Click to expand...

Nasty Pink Case aha, White one please, also NZXT Case in Intel build too.

Im beginning to dislike my NZXT Case due to its plasticky-ness, so may look in to something else soon. She just wants it to match lol
 
nick.lidgett said:
????? Bit of a contradiction there.

If you can easily spend more get her i5 or are you worried she will end up with a better machine than you? ;)
Click to expand...

Well Ill be buying her a much better GPU then mine, and I dont mind if she has a better machine :)

What I mean is the budget I specified, that budget it for the timescale. I can spend more but It means waiting longer. If i spend more on an i5 then the GPU will be pushed back a bit longer, with getting a car soon I dont want it to interfere and her being left without a decent GPU but a running PC for a month or so..

Confusing I know, but ah well...
 
Why drop £100 on a case you/she won't like/match up soon then?

You crack me up man. Just go order whatever you're going to order.
You're just wasting people's time asking for advice that ultimately you have little or no intention of taking up/acting on.
It's pointless.
 
OliverDavis said:
Nasty Pink Case aha, White one please, also NZXT Case in Intel build too.

Im beginning to dislike my NZXT Case due to its plasticky-ness, so may look in to something else soon. She just wants it to match lol
Click to expand...

Girls like pink.....deal with it. If you are going to change your case then they won't match anyway, will they? ;)

I got double the HDD capacity, a better mobo and faster RAM, not to mention a better PSU with seasonic internals. Yes I put a pink case as to be honest I'm not taking the AMD spec that seriously and yet it's better and cheaper than yours.......I think she will like the intel prodigy build so atleast run it past her first before you dismiss the spec please.
 
honosuseri said:
I think she will like the intel prodigy build so atleast run it past her first before you dismiss the spec please.
Click to expand...

I agree, maybe she should join the forums and listen to some reasonable advice not the deluded ramblings of an amd fanboy.
At the end of the day its her build not yours, yes of course she will listen to you because she is your woman etc etc but £500 is a lot of money, like you say, you both work full time so why **** that money away on another inferior build???
 
Porceliamone said:
Why drop £100 on a case you/she won't like/match up soon then?

You crack me up man. Just go order whatever you're going to order.
You're just wasting people's time asking for advice that ultimately you have little or no intention of taking up/acting on.
It's pointless.
Click to expand...

Obviously I would not do that. If I were to change case, I would buy her one to match it before hand, rather than spending £100 on a case to house components and change the case before its even booted.

The case would also be one of the last things to buy.

When I say she wants it to match, I am referring to the build, not that she wants the NZXT to match, So If I go with a Bitfenic Prodigy (I wont as no AM3+ motherboard will fit in it) then she would be getting one first for her build, then me when finances allow.

And prior to my build, I took advise that was given to others about getting a card with 2Gb Vram, 8Gb Ram over 4Gb, was also going for a different motherboard someone else had been recommended, but it went out of stock an hour before the order.

The fans I bought were recommended, so was the Hard Drive.

Unfortunately the PSU I wanted went out of stock.

As for my CPU, I have not yet thought I needed a better intel one, so why should I have bought one at and extra 50% price, with a motherboard at a cheaper price that did not support SLI/Crossfire, on/off charge, on/off Audio in, In windows overclocking (even though it is buggy as hell, so Bios is obviously much better.)

Then get a smaller, uglier and cheaper case to try to even out the budget?

No thanks.
 
Last edited:
when you have a low end budget you dont spend 25% of your budget on a case. get that later. cheaper intel build than honos

tbh to save money i would look elsewhere for ram sorry ocuk but if you shop about you can get good 8gb set of ram 1600mhz with good timing for 30-35 quid

you cud upgrade mboard to gigabyte d3h if you liked but would cost more

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £167.99
1 x Asus P8Z77-V LX2 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £69.98
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache WD10EZEX - OEM ** Single Platter ** HDD £59.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED38GM1600HC11DC01) £43.99
1 x XFX Pro 450W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £39.95
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
1 x TP-Link 300Mbps Wireless-N USB Adapter (TL-WN821N) £12.98
1 x OcUK Black Gaming Keyboard (5105GU) £10.99
1 x Gigabyte M6800 1600DPI Gaming Mouse £8.99
Total : £478.94 (includes shipping : £11.75).



if your going to put a gfx card in soon, dont get trinity, thats more for when you dont intend on using a dedicated gpu.

if you feel this costs too much you can drop to a lower I5 for 23 quid less, or drop to an I3. the I3 will not bottleneck the 670 or 660ti and still run any game nicely. infact i used to run an i3 with 660ti and it ran battllefield ultra all settings on full no problems.
 
Do what I did: upgrade your own build and dump your existing components into hers. That way it's easier to justify the extra cost of getting something worthwhile :D
 
So yes I could have built mine for £400 and get similar performance, but I got a decent PSU, Case, Motherboard, Cooling, Extra fans, decent RAM, large HDD, DVDRW, 2GB Card, higher standard clocked CPU (for comfort of mind if wanting to OC).

YOUR BASKET
1 x KFA2 GeForce GTX 560Ti 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE Battlefield 3 PC Game £169.99
1 x AMD Bulldozer FX-4 Quad Core 4130 Black Edition 3.80GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail £85.99
1 x Gigabyte 78LMT-USB3 AMD 760G (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £38.99
1 x Corsair Value 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMV8GX3M2A1333C9) £34.99
1 x Hitachi GST CinemaStar C5K750 2.5" 500GB 5400RPM 8MB Cache SATA-II - OEM (0J15261) HDD £34.99
1 x Tsunami Gaming Case - Black £19.99
1 x Swift 500W V2 Silent Power Supply £18.98
Total : £416.53 (includes shipping : £10.50).

 
dunn2010 said:
when you have a low end budget you dont spend 25% of your budget on a case. get that later. cheaper intel build than honos

tbh to save money i would look elsewhere for ram sorry ocuk but if you shop about you can get good 8gb set of ram 1600mhz with good timing for 30-35 quid

you cud upgrade mboard to gigabyte d3h if you liked but would cost more

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £167.99
1 x Asus P8Z77-V LX2 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £69.98
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache WD10EZEX - OEM ** Single Platter ** HDD £59.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED38GM1600HC11DC01) £43.99
1 x XFX Pro 450W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £39.95
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
1 x TP-Link 300Mbps Wireless-N USB Adapter (TL-WN821N) £12.98
1 x OcUK Black Gaming Keyboard (5105GU) £10.99
1 x Gigabyte M6800 1600DPI Gaming Mouse £8.99
Total : £478.94 (includes shipping : £11.75).



if your going to put a gfx card in soon, dont get trinity, thats more for when you dont intend on using a dedicated gpu.

if you feel this costs too much you can drop to a lower I5 for 23 quid less, or drop to an I3. the I3 will not bottleneck the 670 or 660ti and still run any game nicely. infact i used to run an i3 with 660ti and it ran battllefield ultra all settings on full no problems.
Click to expand...

I quite like this, the compromise on parts for budget is good :)

Its likely to be a month between build and GPU Upgrade, how well can the i5 handle games at 1920x1080?

Would giving her my PhysX card be better then onboard? Its a Asus GT430 1GB.
 
you're really lucky to have a girlfriend that loves computers. Mine hates them and resents the time I spend on my PC. She complains that I spend more time on kmy PC than I do with here Grrr!
 
I will have to add a USB Extension cable to that USB Dongle, the interference we get in our room is terrible. Causes the Xbox Accessories to lose connection frequently as they also operate at 2.4Ghz.

I currently have 3 extension cables (one for each antenna) for my WiFi card..
 
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