1st Gaming PC Approx £550 spend

Fraserl44 · 9 May 2014 at 13:38

Hey Y'all,

This is my first time posting to a forum (be gentle) and also my first time building a PC. I'm moving onto PC gaming from a PS3 and an old dell studio laptop so not sure if any of the parts (HDD? Optical drive?) would be any use on a PC.

I was wondering if anyone would do me a favor and have a look at this build for me? The parts list comes from ************ but I'm open to buying from any reputable retailer.

No competitor linking.

Any suggestions or improvements would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Fraserl44 · 9 May 2014 at 13:41

For those who'd prefer a quick look at the spec I've come up with:

CPU AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core £76.79
Motherboard ASRock 970 EXTREME4 ATX AM3+ £69.90
Memory G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 £58.98
Storage Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM £35.94
Video Card MSI GeForce GTX 660 2GB £136.51
Case Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower £59.98
Power Supply Fractal Design 650W ATX12V £51.65
Optical Drive Lite-On iHDS118-04 DVD/CD Drive £10.78

Total: £500.53

snips86x · 9 May 2014 at 13:46

I would think something like this:
YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI Radeon R9 270 Gaming Edition OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £137.99
1 x AMD Piledriver FX-6 Six Core 6300 Black Edition 3.50GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail £83.99
1 x ASRock 970 Extreme3 R2.0 AMD 970 (Socket AM3+) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £59.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan ORANGE 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLAD38G2400HC11CDC01) £55.99
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 550W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £49.99
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache WD10EZEX - OEM ** Single Platter ** HDD £46.98
1 x BitFenix Merc Beta Gaming Case - Black £29.99
1 x Raijintek Themis Direct Contact CPU Cooler £19.99
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £10.99
Total : £510.00 (includes shipping : £11.75).

Fraserl44 · 9 May 2014 at 14:07

Thanks for the reply snips86x. That looks great.

Also, would I be better spending the extra for a small (120GB? 250GB?) SSD?

dacads · 9 May 2014 at 15:42

I'd swap that motherboard for a MSI which is few quid cheaper and much better customer support

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-214-MS

Almightyliham · 9 May 2014 at 16:26

What about a premade system?
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=43&catid=2475
It won't be as powerful if you were to do it yourself, but if there is a fault with the system, i think Overclockers will sort it out.

Fraserl44 · 9 May 2014 at 16:28

Thanks for that. A couple of quid here and there makes a difference, especially if I want to add the SDD.

Fraserl44 · 9 May 2014 at 16:32

Almightyliham said:
What about a premade system?
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=43&catid=2475
It won't be as powerful if you were to do it yourself, but if there is a fault with the system, i think Overclockers will sort it out.

I've generally bought my systems in the past but I'm trying to get the most bang for my buck and quite interested in learning to build my own PC. I think it'd be handy for future when I have to upgrade later.

moppy89 · 9 May 2014 at 16:55

Definitely build, it's fun and gets you the most for your money. I can't help with a real spec, but I would definitely recommend an SSD. Personally, I'd say 240 is right size, enough for your OS and a couple of games. But 120 could work if you're on a budget and only play one game at a time.

Almightyliham · 9 May 2014 at 18:49

YOUR BASKET
1 x Kingston HyperX 3K SSD 240GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive (SH103S3B/240G) **Upgrade Bundle Kit** £149.99
1 x Crucial M500 240GB SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive - (CT240M500SSD1) £89.99
1 x Kingston HyperX 3K SSD 120GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive (SH103S3/120G) £67.99
1 x Crucial M500 120GB SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive - (CT120M500SSD1) £61.99
1 x Kingston 120GB SSDNow V300 Drive SATA 6Gb/s 3 2.5" (7mm height) Solid State Hard Drive - (SV300S37A/120G) £55.99
Total : £435.55 (includes shipping : £8.00).

These are the type of prices for ssds. You may be able to get some cheaper on deals and stuff on sites. I think i picked up the 240gb upgrade bundle for £100 a while back on another site. I just think i had luck that day.

Hope this helps a little

tamzzy · 9 May 2014 at 23:10

YOUR BASKET
1 x Sapphire Radeon R9 270X Vapor-X OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Card £149.99
1 x AMD Piledriver FX-6 Six Core 6300 Black Edition 3.50GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail £83.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £67.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLD38G1600HC9DC01) £55.99
1 x Gigabyte 970A-DS3P AMD 970A (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £50.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £43.99
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x SuperFlower Amazon 450W "80 Plus Bronze" Power Supply £31.99
1 x Raijintek Themis Direct Contact CPU Cooler £19.99
1 x LiteOn IHAS124-14 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £11.99
Total : £564.00 (includes shipping : £11.75).

Fraserl44 · 15 May 2014 at 08:35

Thanks for all your help guys. Unfortunately I was in a car accident a few days ago which has put the build on hold for the moment. I'll keep your advise in mind for when I get back on my feet!