Advice on photoshop/light gaminng build

[Manbatius]

Hi all,

Been meaning to build a pc for a friend for some time, they have finally decided on a budget of £500.

Pc will be used for photoshop cs and lightroom.
Light gaming such as mine craft but also wants to try skyrim, maximum settings is obviously not important just the game running.

Case requirements front usb 3.0 port
sata 3 mobo
SSD, awaiting on size requirements exactly if we can get away with a cheaper one and spend more on gfx! also awaiting how many hdds will be carried over i think 1x 1tb and 1x 2tb.

Quietish build hence cpu heatsink

Quad core or higher, I cant convince my friend that modern cpus such as the i3 are still decent! i put the intel build in for reference.

Possible multiple monitor use in future

Any thoughts people?

Edit: Just noticed my typo in thread title FACEPALM.

 

[snips86x]

I know it's over budget, but if you can get the extra £150, you'll not regret it.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x Plextor M5 Pro 128GB Extreme Series Solid State Drive - (PX-128M5P) £99.95
1 x Microsoft Windows 8 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00403) £79.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99
1 x BeQuiet Dark Rock 2 CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £45.98
1 x Antec High Current Gamer 400W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £40
1 x NZXT Source 210 Elite Midi Tower Case - Black £39.98
1 x GeIL Black Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1600C11DC) £35.99
1 x Samsung SH-118AB/BEBE SATA 18x DVD-ROM (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £630.96 (includes shipping : £11.75).



You can use the on-board graphics untill you can afford one of these:

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7870 Black Knight OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (R7870-2GD5T/OC) £179.99
1 x HIS HD 7850 IceQ X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H785QN2G2M) £149.99
Total : £341.38 (includes shipping : £9.50).



If you really are on a tight budget, I'd go with this:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Plextor M5 Pro 128GB Extreme Series Solid State Drive - (PX-128M5P) £99.95
1 x AMD A10-5800K Black Edition 3.80GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Quad Core Processor (AD580KWOHJBOX) £95.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00403) £79.99
1 x Gigabyte F2A85XM-D3H AMD A85X Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 micro ATX Motherboard £61.99
1 x **B Grade** Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (WD1002FAEX) £46.99
1 x Antec High Current Gamer 400W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £40
1 x NZXT Source 210 Elite Midi Tower Case - Black £39.98
1 x TeamGroup Xtreem LV 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17000C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (TXD38G2133HC11DC01) £39.95
1 x Samsung SH-118AB/BEBE SATA 18x DVD-ROM (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £533.93 (includes shipping : £11.75).



The APU would be spot on with light gaming too!

 

[Manbatius]

snips86x

The budget is strict £500 (for a friend)

The 1tb hdd in the second build is not needed as he already has two large drives to carry over.

Some of the stuff i just picked as it was cheapest i could find, i know for example the A10 runs better with faster ram, which i suspect you had.

 

[snips86x]

snips86x

The budget is strict £500 (for a friend)

The 1tb hdd in the second build is not needed as he already has two large drives to carry over.

Some of the stuff i just picked as it was cheapest i could find, i know for example the A10 runs better with faster ram, which i suspect you had.

Thanks for the update, hows this:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Plextor M5 Pro 128GB Extreme Series Solid State Drive - (PX-128M5P) £99.95
1 x AMD A10-5800K Black Edition 3.80GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Quad Core Processor (AD580KWOHJBOX) £95.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00403) £79.99
1 x Gigabyte F2A85XM-D3H AMD A85X Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 micro ATX Motherboard £61.99
1 x Antec High Current Gamer 400W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £40
1 x NZXT Source 210 Elite Midi Tower Case - Black £39.98
1 x TeamGroup Xtreem LV 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17000C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (TXD38G2133HC11DC01) £39.95
1 x Samsung SH-118AB/BEBE SATA 18x DVD-ROM (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £486.94 (includes shipping : £11.75).

 

[Manbatius]

Looking good snips86x

My initial reaction was the A10 but was a bit unsure, so thanks for the help on that and refining the build!

 

[Manbatius]

It turns out he only needs a 60GB ssd as a boot drive.

How would you use the saving of that to improve the above system?
Change to a Pildriver cpu?

 

[snips86x]

I would change the motherboard for one which support 2133 RAM and get 2133 RAM:

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD A10-5800K Black Edition 3.80GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Quad Core Processor (AD580KWOHJBOX) £95.99
1 x MSI A85XA-G65 AMD A85X Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £85.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00403) £79.99
1 x Intel 330 Series 60GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive - Retail £59.99
1 x Antec High Current Gamer 400W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £40
1 x NZXT Source 210 Elite Midi Tower Case - Black £39.98
1 x TeamGroup Xtreem LV 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17000C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (TXD38G2133HC11DC01) £39.95
1 x Samsung SH-118AB/BEBE SATA 18x DVD-ROM (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £470.98 (includes shipping : £11.75).



Could always spend more on a case? Any of the following will keep the spec below £500:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Corsair Carbide 300R Mid Tower Windowed Case - Black £69.98
1 x BitFenix Raider Tower Case - Black £62.99
1 x Cooler Master CM-690 II Lite Dominator Case - Black £62.99
1 x NZXT LeXa S Windowed Midi Tower Case - Black £55.99
Total : £281.41 (includes shipping : £24.55).

 

[Manbatius]

Hi snips86x,

Good shout with that motherboard, will ask which case he prefers, I have always found cases to be quite a personal thing.

 

[honosuseri]

I'd try to avoid the sandforce controller if you can on the SSD. He will want more than 60GB i suspect too, the 60GB drives aren't great value either to be honest as another £20ish can get you the 128GB versions.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Plextor M5 Pro 128GB Extreme Series Solid State Drive - (PX-128M5P) £99.95
1 x AMD A10-5800K Black Edition 3.80GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Quad Core Processor (AD580KWOHJBOX) £95.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00403) £79.99
1 x Gigabyte F2A85X-D3H AMD A85X Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £64.99
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-15000C9 1866MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G186C9K) £41.99
1 x NZXT Source 210 Elite Midi Tower Case - Black £39.98
1 x XFX Pro 450W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £39.95
1 x LG GH24NS95 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
Total : £494.93 (includes shipping : £11.75).



Much better SSD which is the rival to the samasung 840 Pro, the standard 840 isn't amazing to be honest. Have a look at the Zalman Z9 U3 case (sadly not stocked here), that is my fav budget starters case. 3 fans, side window, fan controller with digital temp display and a P4/8 extension lead for cable management. The Z9 plus stocked here lacks the USB3 ports

 

[Manbatius]

Hi honosuseri Thanks for the input,

The case you mentioned sounds nice, I know he will say no side window though!

I must admit I am not up to date with controllers of SSD's mine was bought some time ago. Last I knew was that Crucial M4's were reliable!

Do you agree on the processor choice of mine and snips86x?

 

[honosuseri]

Hi honosuseri Thanks for the input,

The case you mentioned sounds nice, I know he will say no side window though!

I must admit I am not up to date with controllers of SSD's mine was bought some time ago. Last I knew was that Crucial M4's were reliable!

Do you agree on the processor choice of mine and snips86x?

Case is personal preference fella, you get a lot of kit with the Zalman Z9 cases.

The A10K is on par with the i3 but you don't have the same upgrade potential on the FM2 socket. The bonus with the A10K is the IGP is gaming capable. Yes the M4 is good but snips was spec'ing the intel SSD with the sandforce controller.

If it was my friend I might suggest this..........

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £169.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00403) £79.99
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 64GB 2.5 SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT064M4SSD2) £64.99
1 x NZXT Source 210 Elite Midi Tower Case - Black £39.98
1 x XFX Pro 450W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £39.95
1 x GeIL EVO Leggera 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GEL38GB1600C9DC) £35.99
1 x **B Grade** Gigabyte Z68AP-D3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 (MB-364-GI) £35.00
1 x LG GH24NS95 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
Total : £497.99 (includes shipping : £11.75).



Not gaming capable but a 2nd hand 1GB 460 is ~£50ish. Easy enough upgrade to do. He could consider using the developers copy of windows 8 for free for 3 months to help but more cash into the components now.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £169.99
1 x MSI HD 7850 OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Cards £119.99
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 64GB 2.5 SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT064M4SSD2) £64.99
1 x NZXT Source 210 Elite Midi Tower Case - Black £39.98
1 x XFX Pro 450W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £39.95
1 x GeIL EVO Leggera 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GEL38GB1600C9DC) £35.99
1 x **B Grade** Gigabyte Z68AP-D3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 (MB-364-GI) £35.00
1 x LG GH24NS95 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
Total : £537.98 (includes shipping : £11.75).



Slightly over but the GPU is far better than the 7750/7770 GPUs for gaming, the 2nd hand 1GB 460 would perform better and be cheaper than these new £100ish GPUs. Mobo is B grade so check with OCuk if you need any sata cables.

 

[Manbatius]

Not gaming capable but a 2nd hand 1GB 460 is ~£50ish. Easy enough upgrade to do. He could consider using the developers copy of windows 8 for free for 3 months to help but more cash into the components now.

I am considering selling a old pentium 4 machine, on that is windows 7 32 bit, going to give him that if i get rid, that way he can use the windows 8 upgrade! I have just not decided yet.

I am kind of ruling out the upgrade later situation as it would be a long time for him to save up and add anything. So trying to create a system that would do a bit of everything from the start.