< £400 Computer Challenge

Mulberry Flame

Mulberry Flame

Mulberry Flame

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Joined
16 Jun 2011
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43
Hey Overclockers,
Its been a while since I was last here and technology has moved on so I would really appreciate your advice.

I've been tasked with making my little brother a gaming PC for his birthday but for as little money as possible. Im trying to keep the cost of the computer low because he's also gonna need a monitor, mouse, keyboard, Windows etc.

What would be the best value for money decent gaming PC I could make for ideally less than £400? advice with graphics cards is most needed as this has all changed since just a year ago when I built my PC.

Here is what I have been recommended by a friend:

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 Toshiba (7K1000.D) 500GB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA050) £44.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430W V2 '80 Plus' Power Supply (CMPSU-430CXUKV2) £36.98
1 x BitFenix Merc Alpha Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x MSI H61M-P31-G3 Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £32.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/4GX) £23.99
1 x LG GH24NS90 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £413.00 (includes shipping : £11.75).



What think?
 
 
If it needs to stay low because he still needs other stuff:

YOUR BASKET
1 x EVGA GeForce GTX 460 Superclocked FTW 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (01G-P3-1363-KR) £124.99
1 x Intel Pentium G840 2.80GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £56.99
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 500GB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA050) £44.99
1 x BitFenix Merc Beta Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x MSI H61M-P31-G3 Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £32.99
1 x OCZ CoreXtreme 500w '80 Plus' Power Supply £32.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/4GX) £23.99
1 x Samsung SH-S222BB/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £379.01 (includes shipping : £11.75).



EDIT: Since you said he needs everything else, here:

YOUR BASKET
1 x EVGA GeForce GTX 460 Superclocked FTW 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (01G-P3-1363-KR) £124.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £83.99
1 x BenQ GL2055 20" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black £83.99
1 x Intel Pentium G840 2.80GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £56.99
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 500GB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA050) £44.99
1 x MSI H61M-P31-G3 Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £32.99
1 x OCZ CoreXtreme 500w '80 Plus' Power Supply £32.99
1 x BitFenix Merc Beta Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x Logitech G400 3600DPI Gaming Mouse (910-002279) £24.98
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/4GX) £23.99
1 x Samsung SH-S222BB/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
1 x Logitech K120 Keyboard (920-002524) £9.98
1 x OcUK Value 2.0 2 W RMS USB powered Speaker Set £7.99
Total : £590.84 (includes shipping : £12.50).



Another option is to use the Windows 8 RC and then buy the full version later on.
 
Last edited:
 
Idleman said:
YOUR BASKET
1 x EVGA GeForce GTX 460 Superclocked FTW 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (01G-P3-1363-KR) £124.99
1 x Intel Core i3-2100 3.10GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £97.99
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 500GB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA050) £44.99
1 x Asus P8H61-MX Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - OEM ** £39.98
1 x OCZ CoreXtreme 500w '80 Plus' Power Supply £32.99
1 x BitFenix Merc Beta Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x OcUK Value 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit £29.99
1 x LG GH24NS90 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £433.01 (includes shipping : £11.75).



Over budget i know. Motherboard is better, usb3.0, iGPU and supports LucidLogix® Virtu™ MVP Technology. 8gb of ram. Better Gpu.
Click to expand...

Id go with this spec, but get a secondhand GTX 460, about £70. :)
 
Mulberry Flame said:
So do you guys think the Pentium processor is worth having? It doesn't have hyper threading like the i3 but I don't know in the real world how much that will affect it.
Click to expand...

It's based off the Sandybridge architecture so it still performs pretty well, and most games only uses 2 cores efficiently, while there are some more recent games that can use more the Pentium shouldn't have that much of a problem with bottlenecking.

Since it's for your bother, will he be willing to upgrade it later on? Exactly what sort of games is he planning to play? I could probably try do a Llano build to fit everything else into the budget, but then that will sacrifice gaming performance.
 
Orcvader said:
It's based off the Sandybridge architecture so it still performs pretty well, and most games only uses 2 cores efficiently, while there are some more recent games that can use more the Pentium shouldn't have that much of a problem with bottlenecking.

Since it's for your bother, will he be willing to upgrade it later on? Exactly what sort of games is he planning to play? I could probably try do a Llano build to fit everything else into the budget, but then that will sacrifice gaming performance.
Click to expand...

The idea is to get him a good computer that is going to last him a few years so no he wont be planning on upgrading in the next few years, which is why im hesitant about the Pentium II.

Knowing him he will almost definitely want to play all the call of booty and battlefield games along with anything else involving guns and violence.

also Llano build?

@Idleman, doomedspeed, that is the one that im leaning towards at the moment, only with the cheaper motherboard.
 
A Pentium won't last a few years and it will have trouble with those games you are talking about. A basic i5 would be best but thats out od budget.

A 460 and i3 seems the best option.
 
Bacon? said:
A Pentium won't last a few years and it will have trouble with those games you are talking about. A basic i5 would be best but thats out od budget.

A 460 and i3 seems the best option.
Click to expand...
Actually GTX460 would already struggle in some of the more recent games, whereas the 7850 is like around 45% faster when both cards are overclocked.

The difference between a Sandy i3 at 3.10 or 3.30GHz with HT and a Sandy (G840) at 2.80GHz is not that much comparing to the difference between a GTX460 and a 7850.
 
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