£450-500 budget rig

Katsumoto

Katsumoto

Katsumoto

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Joined
28 May 2012
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Location
England
Need a list for a mate who is planning to build. As i'm no good with budget stuff as i've been looking around for top of the line stuff myself i'll ask you guys for some assistance.

The £450-500 is for the computer only really. That'll include a case and an operating system if possible. Monitor/keyboard/mouse will all be paid for separately.

Primary use: Gaming
Secondary use(s): Web browsing (multiple tabs), basic media and standard word processing / basic spreadsheets.

Thanks for your help in advance.
 
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 6850 OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £94.99
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) £59.99
1 x Intel Pentium G840 2.80GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £54.95
1 x Gigabyte H61MA-D3V Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £47.99
1 x XFX Pro 450W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £41.99
1 x GeIL Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1600C11DC) £39.95
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £34.99
1 x LG GH24NS90 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £489.92 (includes shipping : £11.75).



i know some of the parts are out of stock, just a comparison to see what you could buy if you needed to buy the os now.
buying the os immediately removes ~85 quid from the budget, leaving ~400quid on the parts really
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x XFX HD 6870 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £119.99
1 x Intel Core i3-2120 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £99.95
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £78.98
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) £59.99
1 x Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £49.99
1 x GeIL Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1600C11DC) £39.95
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430W V2 '80 Plus' Power Supply (CMPSU-430CXUKV2) £36.98
1 x LG GH24NS90 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £517.82 (includes shipping : £12.50).



Just over, but includes a Z77 motherboard which means he can upgrade to Ivy Bridge if necessary. Also a better graphics card. Obviously with this you would need to use the free version of Windows 8 at the moment.
 
Using win8 preview. Increased budget by £100. What's the new specs?


YOUR BASKET
1 x Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (WD1002FAEX) £101.99
1 x MSI HD 6850 OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £94.99
1 x AMD Bulldozer FX-4 Quad Core 4100 Black Edition 3.60Ghz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail with FREE Dirt Showdown PC Game **£10 Cashback** £89.95
1 x Asus M5A87 AMD 870 (Socket AM3/AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 300R Mid Tower Case - Black £59.99
1 x OCZ ZS Series 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £49.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance Arctic White 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML8GX3M2A1600C9W) £49.99
1 x Intel 330 Series 60GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive - Retail £49.99
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
Total : £609.88 (includes shipping : £12.50).



Any good?

Your builds all look great by the way... amazing what you can do for the money.
 
Here you go:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Sapphire HD 7850 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card w/ Nexuiz & Dirt Showdown PC Games £173.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3450 3.10GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £149.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-DS3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £75.98
1 x Seagate Momentus 5400.6 500GB 5400RPM SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (ST9500325AS) £53.99
1 x Antec 300 Three Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case - Black £44.99
1 x Adata XPG Gaming v1.0 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (AX3U1600GC4G9-2G) £41.99
1 x Cooler Master GX Lite 500W '80 Plus' Power Supply £32.99
1 x LG GH24NS90 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £605.00 (includes shipping : £11.75).



The AMD cpu you chose is terrible, there is also no point in paying that much for that ram, you won't notice the difference.
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x Sapphire HD 7850 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card w/ Nexuiz & Dirt Showdown PC Games £173.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £169.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £78.98
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) £59.99
1 x XFX Pro 450W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £41.99
1 x GeIL Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1600C11DC) £39.95
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £34.99
1 x Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £24.79
1 x LG GH24NS90 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £655.76 (includes shipping : £11.75).



i know its slightly higher than your 600 budget (well a lot higher ;p)
but for the extra 50 quid, you get a cpu that can be overclocked
dropped the case down a notch for cost reasons
hdd down to 500gb for cost
tranquillo is a cheap and decent heatsink to oc the cpu
7850 is brilliant for the price
d3h has lucid mvp so you can use the 3570k's igpu to boost frame rates (the cheaper ds3h doesnt have that)

once you have more money to spend on the rig. just pop in an ssd and your rig is practically complete


YOUR BASKET
1 x Samsung 128GB SSD 830 Desktop Series SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive - (MZ-7PC128B/WW) £79.99
Total : £88.69 (includes shipping : £7.25).

 
Replaced the SSD with an overclockable i5 quad core processor. This is the processor that most gamers use. With a Z77 motherboard you now have a mainstream gaming system.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x MSI HD 6850 OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £94.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £78.98
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) £69.98
1 x XFX Pro 550W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £59.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 300R Mid Tower Case - Black £59.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance Blue Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML8GX3M2A1600C9B) £44.99
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
Total : £621.90 (includes shipping : £12.50).

 
YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £169.99
1 x MSI HD 6850 "Dual Fan Edition" 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £99.95
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £78.98
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) £59.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500W V2 '80 Plus' Power Supply (CMPSU-500CXUKV2) £49.99
1 x Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £49.99
1 x GeIL Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1600C11DC) £39.95
1 x Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure Edition CPU Cooler (Socket LGA2011/1366/1155/1156/775/ AMD AM3/AM3+/AM2/AM2+/FM1) £29.99
1 x LG GH24NS90 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £610.82 (includes shipping : £12.50).



When money allows you to, grab an SSD. Build above using Windows 8 preview.



YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-2120 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £99.95
1 x MSI HD 6850 "Dual Fan Edition" 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £99.95
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £83.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £78.98
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) £59.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500W V2 '80 Plus' Power Supply (CMPSU-500CXUKV2) £49.99
1 x Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £49.99
1 x GeIL Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1600C11DC) £39.95
1 x LG GH24NS90 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £594.78 (includes shipping : £12.50).



Included a copy of Windows 7 but means you will need to sacrifice the i5 3570k for a i3 2120. Also dropped the cooler as you won't be overclocking with the i3.
 
Bacon? said:
Horrorwood: Would get a better PSU and HDD, 5400RP doesnt cut it for a boot drive.
Click to expand...

The PSU is fine.

The drive I picked is 2.5", you may think I am crazy but...

http://techreport.com/articles.x/16472/6

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/mobile-hdd-notebook,2305-12.html

As it is 2.5" the 5400rpm does not matter that much, the closest priced drive I can see is the Segate 7200.12, which is actually a poor drive. Check out the random access time here: http://techreport.com/articles.x/16472/10 - 17.2ms!!

Not to mention the 2.5" drive will be quieter. All in all, I think its a good £10 to save over the 3.5" drive.
 
I actually have that "poor" drive, its not slow and is one of the quietest pieces in my case.. And the PSU while is a branded make is still cheap, would buy a more expensive OCZ or Silent Pro for the quality.
 
Bacon? said:
I actually have that "poor" drive, its not slow and is one of the quietest pieces in my case.. And the PSU while is a branded make is still cheap, would buy a more expensive OCZ or Silent Pro for the quality.
Click to expand...

The PSU is fine, the i5 uses around 90watts when using onboard GPU and the 7850 uses 93 watts.

The PSU I recommended is made by ATNG, there are several sites that have reviewed them and have given them decent reviews. Yes, efficiency, ripple and voltage regulation are not as good as high end power supplies, but its a £35 power supply! They also still manage bronze efficiency anyway.

Example of an ATNG power supply review: http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story4&reid=60

Hardly terrible.
 
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