Budget PC £300

teppic · 22 Jul 2013 at 19:52

I'd go for the Gigabyte. Maybe give them a call to ask if it's due soon?

b34st · 22 Jul 2013 at 20:35

yeah I think I would prefer to use the gigabyte, think I will give them a ring in the morning, thanks for the help

b34st · 22 Jul 2013 at 21:45

I figured out how to get my basket to bbcode so here is the final spec depending on if the gigabyte board is due in stock soon:

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD A8-5600K Black Edition 3.60GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Quad Core Processor **FREE SIMCITY PC GAME** (AD560KWOHJBOX) £71.99
1 x Gigabyte F2A85XM-D3H AMD A85X Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 micro ATX Motherboard £61.99
1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BLS2CP4G3D1609DS1S00CEU) £53.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) HDD £39.95
1 x Cooler Master Elite 344 Micro ATX Case - Black/Blue £32.99
1 x LG GH24NS95 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £19.99
1 x Swift 500W V2 Silent Power Supply £17.99
1 x Xigmatek 75 in 1 3.5" Internal Card Reader - (CPH-7SPNU-U01) £4.99
Total : £303.88 (includes shipping : FREE).

teppic · 22 Jul 2013 at 22:09

That looks fine.

I'd save the £20 or so by dropping to 2x2GB, but it's up to you.

HPTL7 · 23 Jul 2013 at 02:04

b34st said:
I figured out how to get my basket to bbcode so here is the final spec depending on if the gigabyte board is due in stock soon:

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD A8-5600K Black Edition 3.60GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Quad Core Processor **FREE SIMCITY PC GAME** (AD560KWOHJBOX) £71.99
1 x Gigabyte F2A85XM-D3H AMD A85X Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 micro ATX Motherboard £61.99
1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BLS2CP4G3D1609DS1S00CEU) £53.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) HDD £39.95
1 x Cooler Master Elite 344 Micro ATX Case - Black/Blue £32.99
1 x LG GH24NS95 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £19.99
1 x Swift 500W V2 Silent Power Supply £17.99
1 x Xigmatek 75 in 1 3.5" Internal Card Reader - (CPH-7SPNU-U01) £4.99
Total : £303.88 (includes shipping : FREE).

That power supply....

djshauny1 · 23 Jul 2013 at 02:39

Yeah change the PSU lol

RICKST20 · 23 Jul 2013 at 04:19

Here is my effort im going the intel route.
Very tiny amount over budget but thats mostly delivery and if your eligable you wont have to pay it!

As its for office uses and no OCing or gaming i cant see why you would need anywhere near a 500w psu.
I dont know if your opting for AMD by choice but you could manage a dual core ivybridge within that budget. Just an idea because the I3 3220 is on par if not better than the A8 5600k in most cases according to this anyway:http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/676?vs=677

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-430-IN Intel 1155 I3 3220 ivybridge £92.99

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-216-MS MSI B75 micro-itx 1155 £53.99

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-252-SE Seagate barracuda 500gb Hdd £39.95

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-330-CS Corsair 4gb RAM (2x 2gb) £32.99

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-173-AN Antec 350w power supply. £32.99

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-062-XG Xigmatec Helios Mini tower case £25.99

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CD-007-OK Ocuk 20x Dvd rw £16.99

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FL-000-XG Xigmatek Card reader £4.99

Sub Total : £250.73
Shipping : £10.50
VAT : £52.25
Total : £313.48
(Without Shipping: £302.98)

(Sorry for the links im on works pc and have no ocuk basket on it!!!)

b34st · 23 Jul 2013 at 20:12

RICKST20 said:
Here is my effort im going the intel route.
Very tiny amount over budget but thats mostly delivery and if your eligable you wont have to pay it!

As its for office uses and no OCing or gaming i cant see why you would need anywhere near a 500w psu.
I dont know if your opting for AMD by choice but you could manage a dual core ivybridge within that budget. Just an idea because the I3 3220 is on par if not better than the A8 5600k in most cases according to this anyway:http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/676?vs=677

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-430-IN Intel 1155 I3 3220 ivybridge £92.99

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-216-MS MSI B75 micro-itx 1155 £53.99

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-252-SE Seagate barracuda 500gb Hdd £39.95

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-330-CS Corsair 4gb RAM (2x 2gb) £32.99

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-173-AN Antec 350w power supply. £32.99

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-062-XG Xigmatec Helios Mini tower case £25.99

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CD-007-OK Ocuk 20x Dvd rw £16.99

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FL-000-XG Xigmatek Card reader £4.99

Sub Total : £250.73
Shipping : £10.50
VAT : £52.25
Total : £313.48
(Without Shipping: £302.98)

(Sorry for the links im on works pc and have no ocuk basket on it!!!)

I do like the look of this build and those benchmark test are very surprising, thanks for the advice

scotsdragon · 23 Jul 2013 at 20:15

Idleman said:
Better mobo, case and Psu.

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD A8-5600K Black Edition 3.60GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Quad Core Processor **FREE SIMCITY PC GAME** (AD560KWOHJBOX) £71.99
1 x Gigabyte F2A85X-D3H AMD A85X Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £68.99
1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BLS2CP4G3D1609DS1S00CEU) £49.99
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 20x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
1 x Xigmatek 75 in 1 3.5" Internal Card Reader - (CPH-7SPNU-U01) £4.99
Total : £299.99 (includes shipping : £11.75).

ID go with this and get a cheap hard drive budgets are strict i know but for the sake of 40 pounds i think its best to try and persude her

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BG-102-SE&groupid=595&catid=671

b34st · 23 Jul 2013 at 20:27

Yes I have definitely warmed to the intel build I have swapped the case because she like the coolermaster case and kept the faster dvd writer in the build but im not sure if this is necessary as that motherboard only has 1 6gb/s port any thoughts?

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £92.99
1 x MSI B75MA-P45 Intel B75 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £53.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) HDD £39.95
1 x Antec VP350P 350W '80 Plus' Continuous Power Supply £32.99
1 x Cooler Master Elite 344 Micro ATX Case - Black/Purple £32.99
1 x Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Dual Channel Kit (TW3X4G1333C9A) £32.99
1 x LG GH24NS95 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £19.99
1 x Xigmatek 75 in 1 3.5" Internal Card Reader - (CPH-7SPNU-U01) £4.99
Total : £310.87 (includes shipping : FREE).

RJC · 23 Jul 2013 at 20:42

Shame you did not get a ATX case as the motherboard below is a steal at the current price:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-364-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1990

This would also allow you overclock K series CPU'S if you upgrade in the future.

b34st · 23 Jul 2013 at 22:00

I havent ordered the parts yet so its not too late to change and that motherboard will bring me back under budget. I cant see if it has a usb 3 header for a front panel usb port does anyone know if it has one?

teppic · 23 Jul 2013 at 22:03

I wouldn't worry about benchmarks - for these kinds of tasks you'd never see any difference in practice.

The A85X chipset offers a couple of better features than B75 (lots of native USB 3, native SATA 6 ports), and both would perform fine on a desktop.

b34st · 23 Jul 2013 at 22:16

Its much harder specing a pc for somebody else especially when the budget is so low, im sure I didn't have this much trouble when I built my own.

Ok I think I have narrowed it down to either 1 of the following, it basically comes down to the age old question of intel or amd

build 1:

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD A8-5600K Black Edition 3.60GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Quad Core Processor **FREE SIMCITY PC GAME** (AD560KWOHJBOX) £71.99
1 x Gigabyte F2A85X-D3H AMD A85X Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £68.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) HDD £39.95
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x Antec VP350P 350W '80 Plus' Continuous Power Supply £32.99
1 x Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Dual Channel Kit (TW3X4G1333C9A) £32.99
1 x LG GH24NS95 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £19.99
1 x Xigmatek 75 in 1 3.5" Internal Card Reader - (CPH-7SPNU-U01) £4.99
Total : £304.87 (includes shipping : FREE).

build 2:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £92.99
1 x Gigabyte Z68AP-D3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £45.95
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) HDD £39.95
1 x Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Dual Channel Kit (TW3X4G1333C9A) £32.99
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x Antec VP350P 350W '80 Plus' Continuous Power Supply £32.99
1 x LG GH24NS95 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £19.99
1 x Xigmatek 75 in 1 3.5" Internal Card Reader - (CPH-7SPNU-U01) £4.99
Total : £302.83 (includes shipping : FREE).

teppic · 23 Jul 2013 at 22:23

For the stuff she wants you'd never know the difference to be honest.

The benefit of the first I guess is it has Sim City, you can sell that or maybe she'll want to play it. It also has a much better motherboard.

b34st · 23 Jul 2013 at 22:25

teppic said:
For the stuff she wants you'd never know the difference to be honest.

The benefit of the first I guess is it has Sim City, you can sell that or maybe she'll want to play it. It also has a much better motherboard.

she loves games like sim city so that would be an added bonus for her

RICKST20 · 23 Jul 2013 at 23:22

teppic said:
For the stuff she wants you'd never know the difference to be honest.

The benefit of the first I guess is it has Sim City, you can sell that or maybe she'll want to play it. It also has a much better motherboard.

I wouldn't worry about benchmarks - for these kinds of tasks you'd never see any difference in practice.

The A85X chipset offers a couple of better features than B75 (lots of native USB 3, native SATA 6 ports), and both would perform fine on a desktop.

This is very true.

b34st said:
Its much harder specing a pc for somebody else especially when the budget is so low, im sure I didn't have this much trouble when I built my own.

Ok I think I have narrowed it down to either 1 of the following, it basically comes down to the age old question of intel or amd

build 2:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £92.99Ivybridge CPU
1 x Gigabyte Z68AP-D3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £45.95Sandybridge CPU
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) HDD £39.95
1 x Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Dual Channel Kit (TW3X4G1333C9A) £32.99
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x Antec VP350P 350W '80 Plus' Continuous Power Supply £32.99
1 x LG GH24NS95 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £19.99
1 x Xigmatek 75 in 1 3.5" Internal Card Reader - (CPH-7SPNU-U01) £4.99
Total : £302.83 (includes shipping : FREE).

Just a quick question? Does that motherboard support 3rd gen Intels? I only ask as the Z68 is an old chipset now.
That I3 3220 is an Ivybridge processor, and that motherboard was made for sandybridge processors. Im sure there could be problems there somewhere!

RJC · 24 Jul 2013 at 07:06

The Motherboard will take Ivy Bridge and hopefully does have the correct BIOS.

I think someone here posted they got a rev 2.0 board.

b34st · 24 Jul 2013 at 19:37

I have just placed the order for the amd build. Thanks to everyone that helped.

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD A8-5600K Black Edition 3.60GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Quad Core Processor **FREE SIMCITY PC GAME** (AD560KWOHJBOX) £71.99
1 x Gigabyte F2A85X-D3H AMD A85X Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £68.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) HDD £39.95
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x Antec VP350P 350W '80 Plus' Continuous Power Supply £32.99
1 x Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Dual Channel Kit (TW3X4G1333C9A) £32.99
1 x LG GH24NS95 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £19.99
1 x Xigmatek 75 in 1 3.5" Internal Card Reader - (CPH-7SPNU-U01) £4.99
Total : £304.87 (includes shipping : FREE).

teppic · 24 Jul 2013 at 19:40

I'd give them a call to swap out that 1333MHz RAM with 1600MHz. Shouldn't cost any more really.