£400 Gaming PC (Help)

 
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B Grade Bonaza!! LOL He might well need sata cables added to the basket too bud, not sure if he has any spare.

YOUR BASKET
1 x VTX3D HD 7870 Black Boost Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £173.99
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 Thermaltake Smart Series 530w Modular '80Plus Bronze' Power Supply £49.99
1 x **B Grade** Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (S (HD-257-SE) £45.00
1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BLS2CP4G3D1609DS1S00CEU) £43.99
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £32.99
Total : £533.04 (includes shipping : £11.75).



This 7870XT can be OC'd to match a 7950. It's not B grade and is much better than the 7850 obviously. The TT PSU is modular and a fair price with a 3 year warranty, I'm sticking with it dude :) The B grade HDD isn't a massive saving from new to be honest but it doubles the capacity of the B grade Toshiba
 
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B Grade Bonaza!! LOL He might well need sata cables added to the basket too bud, not sure if he has any spare.

YOUR BASKET
1 x VTX3D HD 7870 Black Boost Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £173.99
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 Thermaltake Smart Series 530w Modular '80Plus Bronze' Power Supply £49.99
1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BLS2CP4G3D1609DS1S00CEU) £43.99
1 x **B Grade** Toshiba (7K1000.D) 500GB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA050) HDD £40.00
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £32.99
Total : £528.04 (includes shipping : £11.75).



This 7870XT can be OC'd to match a 7950. It's not B grade and is much better than the 7850 obviously. The TT PSU is modular and a fair price with a 3 year warranty, I'm sticking with it dude :)

I am keeping you on your toes hono...

Yeah you can overclock 7870 to reach 7950 fine... But you can overclock 7950 to reach 7970 :D:D:D
That cooler on your 7870 is going to be very loud, I dont know how its gonna handle large overclocks tbh. On other hand, Gigabayte here...

+ that b-grade mobo, its a great clocker :D I got it... its a bit weird with its outputs and old-style bios... buts its amazing piece of tech.

I agree with you on HDD, I didnt see it, even though I was the one to first spec it.
 
I am keeping you on your toes hono...

Yeah you can overclock 7870 to reach 7950 fine... But you can overclock 7950 to reach 7970 :D:D:D
That cooler on your 7870 is going to be very loud, I dont know how its gonna handle large overclocks tbh. On other hand, Gigabayte here...

+ that b-grade mobo, its a great clocker :D I got it... its a bit weird with its outputs and old-style bios... buts its amazing piece of tech.

I agree with you on HDD, I didnt see it, even though I was the one to first spec it.

The 7870XT got a great REVIEW, it's listed as quiet under the Pros ;)

I've used the Z68-D3. It's unique as it retains the Com port which was useful for the garages I did builds for as their diagnostic equipment needed this port but probably not so handy for home users. There is only one listed in stock though so is a little silly to base the whole build around it. The Z68 Gen3 is £50 ish that can be updated to a UEFI BIOS to modernise it (D3 can't) and it is Xfire/SLi capable but that would mean spending more spondoolies on the PSU.
 
Im guessing b grade arn't the way to go judging by the conversation?I have no idea!!

B grade is a returned opened item. It may be missing some accessories eg sata cables for a mobo or the adapters on GPUs. You get a 3 month warranty with OCuk and whatever the manufacturer has to honour. The B grade HDDs are refurb'd I do believe. As I said I dont think the saving on the HDD is really worth losing the full warranty TBH.

£500ish is a more respectable budget for a gaming rig.....

YOUR BASKET
1 x VTX3D HD 7870 Black Boost Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £173.99
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 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £52.99
1 x Thermaltake Smart Series 530w Modular '80Plus Bronze' Power Supply £49.99
1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BLS2CP4G3D1609DS1S00CEU) £43.99
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £32.99
Total : £541.03 (includes shipping : £11.75).



That's ideally what I would want to aim for. That 7870XT can net you stock 7950 performance if you OC it, so it's serious bang for buck. A retail 2GB 7850 is £160 you'd be bonkers not to pay the little extra for that 7870XT. As I showed the B grade 2GB 7850 would get the basket under £500. The Ivy i3 is a better CPU than the A8 or A10 APUs from AMD but it needs a dedicated GPU for gaming. The APUs are attractive to those on a very low budget as the integrated graphics are so much better than what Intel can offer.
 
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Im guessing b grade arn't the way to go judging by the conversation?I have no idea!!

Well it isnt great, but its not bad either... HDD`s isnt worth it... that 35 quid mobo, I mean if something goes wrong, it just 35 quid :D 7950 for 200 quid might be an issue, but then a gain it probably has about 1-2 years of warranty with gigabayte which are very good with RMA.
 
Im not too fussed on the HDD's b grade as it doesn't sound like much of a saving. But im not sure about the mobo?

its only 35 quid, + you will still get some warranty with gigabayte i would imagine on top of 3 months ocUK... Issue would be that you`d probably need SATA cables and to make sure its bios upgraded to handle ivy... So if you call ocUK, I am pretty sure they`ll throw in few sata cables with the haribos :D:D

B grade 7950 is a bit more serious, but am pretty sure its got about 2 years warranty left, since I dont think ocUK accepts items that are over 1 year into their warranty... You can call ocUK and ask to be sure.
 
I also think that the i3 and 7870 mentioned above are the perfect combination (in terms of balanced performance so that there is no bottleneck) for a £500 build. You should definately not spend £80 on a motherboard though. That B-grade Gigabyte board at £35 is perfect for you.
 
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Thanks Karnar definitely take your advice same with the rest!!

You guys are a life saver!!

Like I said bud there is only the one so don't set your heart on it. £80 might seem excessive but it's not really, the Z77 would let you upgrade to an i5K and overclock. The B75 and H77 mobos don't have the overclocking options and aren't really much cheaper to be fair.

We "spent" £60ish on the AMD FM2 mobo and put another £20 extra nearly into the 2400Mhz RAM to help the APUs IGP for gaming.....so it's really swings and roundabouts. Hopefully you are learning how to balance a build (that's the real trick) from our suggestions and advice by now :)
 
I've read lots of good things about the gigabyte motherboard, would be tempted to get in there before the op and order it as I think I need a new mobo for my i2500k. However I need xfire(for 2x sapphire toxic 6950) and this board is only really suited to single graphics card even tho it says fire compatible.
 
Yeah trying to get the hang on it. If you know any places where i can learn more on choosing the right parts then HMU!! I'm only 14 lol so learning at this age will probably help in the future i guess?

Do you think i should purchase the B- Grade Gigabyte board asap or do you think it would just be best to go with the Z77 for the i5K later on?
 
I've read lots of good things about the gigabyte motherboard, would be tempted to get in there before the op and order it as I think I need a new mobo for my i2500k. However I need xfire(for 2x sapphire toxic 6950) and this board is only really suited to single graphics card even tho it says fire compatible.

you want THIS one then fella. It can be updated to a UEFI BIOS to modernise it and it is Xfire/SLi capable. It's what I would go for and I did mention it in post #24

Yeah trying to get the hang on it. If you know any places where i can learn more on choosing the right parts then HMU!! I'm only 14 lol so learning at this age will probably help in the future i guess?

Do you think i should purchase the B- Grade Gigabyte board asap or do you think it would just be best to go with the Z77 for the i5K later on?

If you don't have the £500 or so yet then waiting a bit won't hurt you. The new intel socket 1150 has an improved IGP (not quite as good as the AMD APUs though) and the new i3 CPUs aren't out yet. If you do have the cash you could set yourself up with a nice Haswell i5K build and overclock it, that will do you nicely for a very long time.......

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail with FREE Grid 2 PC Game £185.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87-D3HP Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard + FREE Be Quiet! Shadow Rock Pro SR1 CPU Cooler! £107.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £52.99
1 x Thermaltake Smart Series 530w Modular '80Plus Bronze' Power Supply £49.99
1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BLS2CP4G3D1609DS1S00CEU) £43.99
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £32.99
Total : £488.04 (includes shipping : £11.75).



You then can save for a GPU to go in it to improve gaming performance. Infact you can get some great 2nd hand bargains like Nvidias 1GB 460 (im still running one and they OC well) or AMDs 6850 for £50 or there abouts. Sadly you don't get access to our Members Market here yet that takes time and commitment (1000 posts). As your 14 I don't know where your cash comes from. £50 for a 2nd hand GPU might sound a lot but there are LOADS of free to play games to keep you busy without parting with any extra cash. It's common for new GPUs to have free games bundles too, makes sense to put cash into components than spend that money on games if you can get them free ;)
 
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