£400 Budget Gaming PC - Already have GPU

TheGameNerd

TheGameNerd

TheGameNerd

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So I'm looking to build a budget Gaming PC for around £400. I already have a HD Radeon 4870 that my Dad used to have in his Gaming PC. I'm looking to use it in this build.

Here's my idea:
YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £92.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £79.99
1 x Antec EA 450w '80 Plus Platinum' Power Supply £64.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £49.99
1 x Gigabyte H61MA-D2V Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £44.99
1 x BitFenix Merc Beta Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £19.99
Total : £406.45 (includes shipping : £17.10).



(+The Radeon HD 4870 of course.)

Do I need to make any improvements here?

Thanks,
Will.
 
Im not a fan of the Merc case. No USB3 ports and only a single fan, there are better alternatives for the price. The H61-D2V lacks sataIII support, the D3V is a better choice for a couple of quid more.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £92.99
1 x Asus P8Z77-V LX2 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £76.99
1 x **B Grade** Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (S (HD-255-SE) £62.40
1 x XFX Pro 550W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £54.98
1 x Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-16000C9 2000MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A2000C9) £53.99
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
Total : £406.43 (includes shipping : £11.75).



Better case with two fans, USB3 and some cable management features. Z77 mobo would allow overclocking of an i5K if you upgraded the CPU later on. It also has SataIII and USB3 support. If you can stretch to the i5K now that would be ideal really.
 
Anox said:
I cant see why not, however if you could consider the psu a bit more imo, you wont really need the 80 plus plat at this level. These will provide some extra headroom to the game, and can still output to two 6pin PCI-E connectors that the card needs:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Seasonic S12II 520W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £59.99
1 x XFX Pro 550W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £54.98
Total : £126.07 (includes shipping : £9.25).




However the choice is yours.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your help. The PSU was one of the things I was not sure about, so this was great. The platinum was a bit overkill, frankly ;)

Here's the new build, then:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £92.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £79.99
1 x XFX Pro 550W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £54.98
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £49.99
1 x Gigabyte H61MA-D2V Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £44.99
1 x BitFenix Merc Beta Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £19.99
Total : £396.44 (includes shipping : £17.10).

 
honosuseri said:
Im not a fan of the Merc case. No USB3 ports and only a single fan, there are better alternatives for the price. The H61-D2V lacks sataIII support, the D3V is a better choice for a couple of quid more.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £92.99
1 x Asus P8Z77-V LX2 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £76.99
1 x **B Grade** Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (S (HD-255-SE) £62.40
1 x XFX Pro 550W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £54.98
1 x Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-16000C9 2000MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A2000C9) £53.99
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
Total : £406.43 (includes shipping : £11.75).



Better case with two fans, USB3 and some cable management features. Z77 mobo would allow overclocking of an i5K if you upgraded the CPU later on. It also has SataIII and USB3 support. If you can stretch to the i5K now that would be ideal really.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your help. Was looking at some Z77s, but they are usually much more expensive. Thanks again for your help!
 
TheGameNerd said:
Thanks for your help. Was looking at some Z77s, but they are usually much more expensive. Thanks again for your help!
Click to expand...

RAM prices are on the up. Seeing as you get a lifetime warranty might as well get the faster kit as it's nigh on the same price.

You have picked a sataIII HDD but the D2V mobo doesn't do SataIII. I realise I used a B grade HDD but I used that saving to pay for the better mobo. With all due respect my build is balanced better for the same price as what you originally went for.

I can jiggle the spec to get a non K i5 CPU in the build and still have sataIII

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3330 3.00GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £143.99
1 x XFX Pro 550W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £54.98
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £49.99
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 1TB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA100) HDD £47.99
1 x Gigabyte H61MA-D3V Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £47.99
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
Total : £410.02 (includes shipping : £11.75).



The H61 mobos might need the BIOS updating for the Ivybridge CPUs though. Drop in the presales queries section in customer services and see what 5UB says
 
Last edited:
 
TheGameNerd said:
YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £92.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £79.99
1 x Asus P8Z77-V LX2 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £76.99
1 x XFX Pro 550W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £54.98
1 x Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-16000C9 2000MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A2000C9) £53.99
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
Total : £430.44 (includes shipping : £17.10).



I think I'll stick with the i3, and upgrade to an i5 or maybe an i7 in the future when I have more readily available cash.
Click to expand...

Much better bud :)

Shame you've not been more active on the forum as at 100 posts you could well have lost the nasty P&P. Might be worth considering doing a build log to help up your post count, then for future upgrades you won't be paying P&P ;)
 
So I've talked to my Dad on the matter, he said that I could possibly build this for my birthday, on June 28th. Here's the build:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £92.99
1 x Asus P8Z77-V LX2 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £68.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £53.99
1 x XFX Pro 550W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £49.99
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £20.99
Total : £420.44 (includes shipping : £17.10).



+ AMD Radeon HD 4870 that I have
 
Do you already have the os? Do you happen to have any old sata hard disk you could use? Would be useful put towards something else/leave on your pocket/bank.

If you could get some extra money/find a hard disk etc what about going for the new haswell? Cheapest CPU is £150 and a decent not too expensive motherboard £100-£110. Looking at like £70-£80 over current build.

Do you happen to use quidco? If so you can get 3% which would get you back most if not all of the delivery cost.
 
 
fowler002 said:
Do you already have the os? Do you happen to have any old sata hard disk you could use? Would be useful put towards something else/leave on your pocket/bank.

If you could get some extra money/find a hard disk etc what about going for the new haswell? Cheapest CPU is £150 and a decent not too expensive motherboard £100-£110. Looking at like £70-£80 over current build.

Do you happen to use quidco? If so you can get 3% which would get you back most if not all of the delivery cost.
Click to expand...

All I have is my laptop HDD, which I think is SATA. Although I want to keep this laptop working for when I'm not at home. I may be able to find some extra money but not enough for a Haswell CPU and mobo that supports it. :(

EDIT: Sorry for double post.
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £92.99
1 x Asus P8Z77-V LX2 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £53.99
1 x XFX Pro 550W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £49.99
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (WD5000AAKX) HDD £46.99
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £20.99
Total : £392.03 (includes shipping : £11.75).



Just updating the build, decided to downgrade the HDD to 500GB in an effort to save money. I need to purchase an OS for this machine as I have realised that I don't have a copy of Windows 7 like I previously thought. I will be looking online to try and find the cheapest copy of Win7 as I can.
 
To save a bit of money now, you could go for a basic celeron (i think the cheapest is under £40, yes its crap as hell but its dirt cheap) and get an i5 later, you could get one stick of RAM and buy another later, if you don't need to overclock you can buy a B75 board as that Asus board is not best for tight budgets (although it is good quality and had a great BIOS... I should know... I have it :P) but yeah, just some of things to think about
 
 
 
Idleman said:
YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £92.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £83.99
1 x ASRock B75 Pro3-M Intel B75 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £55.99
1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BLS2CP4G3D1609DS1S00CEU) £43.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430W V2 '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020046-UK) £35.99
1 x **B Grade** Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (ST3500320AS) £35
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
Total : £413.03 (includes shipping : £11.75).

Click to expand...

And I didn't think this was possible xD Good job man! Thanks a lot!
 
Does anyone have any improvements on this spec? Try to keep the price to around the same or below if possible.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £92.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £83.99
1 x ASRock B75 Pro3-M Intel B75 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £55.99
1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BLS2CP4G3D1609DS1S00CEU) £43.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) HDD £39.95
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430W V2 '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020046-UK) £35.99
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
Total : £417.97 (includes shipping : £11.75).

 
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