£400 - £600 budget for a PC

YesImAfroJack

YesImAfroJack

YesImAfroJack

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Hey. first of all I'd like to give thanks to anyone who chooses to help me.
secondly as my title suggests i have a budget of £600 for a PC.

in this build i need all the core components ( CPU, GPU , Ram , Case etc..)
i will need an OS. and for £500 i won't need a monitor but for £600 i will.
i will not however need a keyboard or mouse.

i need this PC to be able to play some games. the game i want to play the most is Dead space 2 ( only because it was gifted to me , but i cannot play it on my PC ( Laptop ) due to having no GPU or the ability to install one ) and i want to be able to play Shogun 2 total war also. preferably I'd like to play these games on the highest possible settings. however i have no idea what my budget could bring me.

so really i am going to be heavily reliant on your advice and opinions.

from what i can gather from reading Intel beats AMD. Nvidia has better high-end GPU's at the moment. but ATI/AMD has a better budget range.

thanks you so much for any help you can give me and also i will answer any questions ASAP.

Regards.


EDIT : its also worth my mentioning that i will most likely be buying this around Christmas. i don't know , do prices normally fluctuate at that time ?
or if there are any new budget-level parts being released during these few months ?
 
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Hi and welcome.

I just knocked these up for you,

£500,

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7770 Power Edition Transthermal OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £109.99
1 x Intel Core i3-2120 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £101.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £83.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) £49.99
1 x Gigabyte H61MA-D3V Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £47.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430W V2 '80 Plus' Power Supply (CMPSU-430CXUKV2) £36.98
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £34.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED38192M1600HC11DC) £29.99
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-7280S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £525.90 (includes shipping : £12.50).

Click to expand...


£600,

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7770 Power Edition Transthermal OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £109.99
1 x Intel Core i3-2120 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £101.99
1 x BenQ GW2250HM 22" Widescreen LED Professional Monitor - Black £100.00
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £83.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) £49.99
1 x Gigabyte H61MA-D3V Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £47.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430W V2 '80 Plus' Power Supply (CMPSU-430CXUKV2) £36.98
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £34.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED38192M1600HC11DC) £29.99
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-7280S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £627.40 (includes shipping : £13.75).

Click to expand...


Only a little over on each one.
 
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x Sapphire HD 7770 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £109.99
1 x Intel Core i3-2120 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £101.99
1 x OcUK E2250SWDA 22" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black £99.95
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £83.99
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 500GB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA050) £49.99
1 x Gigabyte H61MA-D3V Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £47.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430W V2 '80 Plus' Power Supply (CMPSU-430CXUKV2) £36.98
1 x GeIL Black Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1600C11DC) £31.19
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Midi Tower Case - Black £29.99
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £13.99
Total : £628.97 (includes shipping : £19.10).



EDIT: Get the GTX 460 Bacon specced.
 
Bacon? said:
YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-2120 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £101.99
1 x Iiyama ProLite E2278HD 22" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black £100
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £84.98
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £83.99
1 x **B Grade** EVGA GeForce GTX 460 Superclocked 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express G (GX-160-EA) £69.95
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 500GB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA050) £49.99
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £34.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED38192M1600HC11DC) £29.99
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £13.99
Total : £584.87 (includes shipping : £12.50).

Click to expand...

Hows this to be powered?
 
oh wow that was insanely fast.

oke first thing i notice is that stulid suggested a H61 Motherboard while bacon? went with a z77 motherboard. whats the difference ? and why the different suggestions ?

second i notice stulid suggested a HD 7770 and bacon suggested a GTX 460.
whats the performance difference between those ?

third. would all of these builds be relatively future-proof ? or upgradeable. i wouldn't like to have to buy a new build in a few years again.
 
 
The 460 is the better card, it is B grade which means a returned item that HAS NOT been used so its perfectly fine however may not come with a manual.

Link where you can see some benchmarks:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-7770-7750-benchmark,3135-7.html

The H61 motherboard that Stulid specc'd has same base features as a Z77 however does not support overclocking and cannot use the latest Ivy and Sandy bridge chips to their fullest extent.
 
Depends which processor. An i3 would have no real difference on a Z77 compared to a H61 apart from there being more stuff like USB slots, fan headers and RAM slots etc on the Z77.

If you have an i5 then ideally you want the Z77 or Z68 to be able to overclock and also for the features you can then use.

I put in the Z77 so you can upgrade to an I5 anytime you want without any motherboard hassle.
 
I can't see the i3 last more than a year or two really. So I would go with the option to go Ivy later with a Z77 motherboard.
 
Lets clear some things up.

B Grade,

What does "B-Grade" mean?
B-Grade items are manufacturer's repairs or items we are unable to sell as new, they may be subject to packaging damage or may be a brown box product. All B-Grade items come with a 90 day warranty and may be missing items such as driver CD's and cables. Unfortunately we are unable to provide you with the reason why this is B-Grade as each B-Grade item is different.
Click to expand...


Stock speed 7770 vs GTX460 - http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/536?vs=542


You cant overclock the i3 CPU at all (well maybe a little BCLK increase)

You need a Z68/Z77 board to fully overclock a "k" CPU such as a 2500K/3570K

That particular H61 board has two rear USB3.0 ports and two internal SATAIII ports via third party extra chips.

A little video about CPU core numbers -
- I think the i3 will last longer than a year.
 
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The B-grade items have nothing wrong with them no?

Also there is a big difference between Tom's comparison and that one. I for one am more inclinded to go for Toms/

Why would you suggest the H61 over a Z77?
 
the two GPUs give similar performance. however the B-grade GTX460 is much cheaper.
do the B-grade products usually encounter any performance faults ?
i think a z77 motherboard would be a wise decision. but budget limits wisdom. a H61 will have to do.

as far as i can see stulids specs with the GTX460 is the most viable option for me . will the PSU be able to power the GTX ?

EDIT: are there any deals or offers affecting the prices in any of these specs? because as i edited in my original post i am most likely to be buying this nearer to Christmas. and that would affect the price. i myself do not however know whether prices for hardware fluctuates at Christmas time.
 
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Bacon? said:
The B-grade items have nothing wrong with them no?

Also there is a big difference between Tom's comparison and that one. I for one am more inclinded to go for Toms/

Why would you suggest the H61 over a Z77?
Click to expand...

There could be anything wrong with them.

Missing accessories.

Less warranty.

Have they been tested upon return?


Heres a reviews of a similar clocked speed 7770,

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/XFX/HD_7770_Black_Edition_Super_Overclock/26.html

So I say its quite close with a overclocked GTX460 like that EVGA.


Why pick the H61 board, well its in budget and you cant overclokck a i3 anyway.
 
stulid said:
So I say its quite close with a overclocked GTX460 like that EVGA.


Why pick the H61 board, well its in budget and you cant overclokck a i3 anyway.
Click to expand...


i agree with the performance comparisons of the two GPU's. also anyone could buy that GTX by the time i am ready to buy this. i will just have to wait and see.

as long as the i3 will be able to keep up with the gaming requirements for the next few years a h61 board doesn't bother me at all.
 
OcUK canno't sell something which does not work legally.

The price of the two GPU's does not warrant in my opinion the requirement for the 7770.
 
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