£500 budgit for a new PC but I'm struggling

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Hi Guys,

I'm building a PC for the in-laws after theirs went belly up and I'm struggling to meet their budgit.

I have £500 to go from scratch for the base unit and I need everything including the case and PSU. Its for general use with occasional SD video editing and occasional gaming (PGA tour type games).

I think the essentials are an i5 quad core as well as 4gb RAM.

I've picked the following from the store but have gone over budgit and havent even got the case yet!

Intel Core i5 760 2.80GHz (Lynnfield) (Socket LGA1156) - Retail Intel Core i5 760 2.80GHz (Lynnfield) (Socket LGA1156) - Retail £144.98
(£123.39) £144.98
(£123.39)
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 460 OC 768MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with HAWX2 PC-Game Gigabyte GeForce GTX 460 OC 768MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with HAWX2 PC-Game £124.98
(£106.37) £124.98
(£106.37)
Asus P7P55D-E Intel P55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 Motherboard Asus P7P55D-E Intel P55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 Motherboard £103.99
(£88.50) £103.99
(£88.50)
Corsair TX 750W ATX SLI Compliant Power Supply (CMPSU-750TXUK) Corsair TX 750W ATX SLI Compliant Power Supply (CMPSU-750TXUK) £89.99
(£76.59) £89.99
(£76.59)
Corsair Dominator 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMD4GX3M2A1600C9) Corsair Dominator 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMD4GX3M2A1600C9) £75.99
(£64.67) £75.99
(£64.67)
Samsung SpinPoint F2 EcoGreen 1.5TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD154UI) Samsung SpinPoint F2 EcoGreen 1.5TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM

Would some kind soul help me out with some changes where I can hit the budgit? I've been out of the game for some time with hardware, ever since i built my own quad core when the 'i' series were not in production.

Thanks in advance.
 
Do you need an o/s as well? If so you might struggle with that budget but I came up with this which comes in at £528.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-023-OB

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-034-CS

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-180-XF&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1009

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-101-AN


Sorry im in work and can't upload to image shack hence the links instead.

*edit: Didn't include a HDD as you could use the one from the old machine, no?
 
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I honestly think you would be better going AMD with a budget like that. Also, a system like that really doesn't need a Corsair TX 750W - Would cope quite fine on a Corsair CX 500W.
 
If it's just the base unit...

Product Name Qty Price Line Total
AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition "125W Edition" 3.20GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £117.49
(£99.99) £117.49
(£99.99)
MSI 870A-G54 AMD 870 (Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard £77.98
(£66.37) £77.98
(£66.37)
HIS ATI Radeon HD 5750 iCooler IV 512MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H575FN512) £70.49
(£59.99) £70.49
(£59.99)
Patriot Viper 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C7 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (PVS34G1600LLK) £61.09
(£51.99) £61.09
(£51.99)
Corsair CX 500W ATX Power Supply £49.98
(£42.54) £49.98
(£42.54)
Coolermaster Elite 430 Case - Black £41.99
(£35.74) £41.99
(£35.74)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (ST3500418AS) £29.99
(£25.52) £29.99
(£25.52)
Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1156/LGA1366) £25.98
(£22.11) £25.98
(£22.11)
Pioneer DVR-S18L 22x DVD±RW SATA Labelflash ReWriter - Black (Retail) £18.99
(£16.16) £18.99
(£16.16)
Sub Total : £420.41
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.50
VAT is being charged at 17.50% VAT : £75.41
Total : £506.32
 
Either an i3 oced, should be able to keep up fine or amd route :) leaves a
bit for gfx.

Just built a very tidy i3 system with £350 which will inherit my current 4890 and thats going to be used as a general purpose computer, so even then it should be more the adequate for what they require.

AMD 955 gotta be the bang for your buck though
 
Not if you have to spend £25 on a cooler. I'd stick with the Intel route.

Intel CPUs still need aftermarket cooling if you care about the life of your system. Even if you're not overclocking, it just reduces system noise and temps all round.

500W PSU was specced in case they wanted crossfire in future.
 
Thanks for the replies so far guys!

Just to clear a few things up:
HDD - I doubt I can use the other HDD out the old computer as I'm almost certain its IDE so would prefer to get the benefits of SATA.

Power supply comments - Granted I guessed a little on what was needed. I'll happily drop the wattage as long as its still a very quiet PSU.

Intel Vs AMD - I honestly never really concidered an AMD after a few bad experiences with them but that was around 6 years ago and perhaps I was unlucky. I beleive intel is the preference of the new owner but if the cost is that different i'm sure he can be swayed :)

O/S - Not needed.

Graphics - Its rarely ever going to be used for games, and even when it is, they will be a couple of years old. As long as its acceptable then the graphics can be upgraded at a later date if its needed.

Its a tossup between a desktop or laptop for the person involved. Anyone know of a decent laptop for £500 incase thats the route he decides to do for?

Thanks for all your help!
 
I cant think of any reason for this type of PC for going for more than the 430W Corsair PSU at £38.

No 4 pin 12v connector on the "brilliant" builder series, i've had to return mine cause it can't power a ud2h/i3 set up. 500W is probably the better place to sit up for low/mid future proofing
 
£400 and can still play games with moderate settings, could always swap gpu for hd4870.

400p.png
 
Hello again guys!

I'm with the the chap now and he's of the opinion that if he can spend a little more than £500 and get a lot better system then he's willing to do it. Its all about future proofing.

I've had a look at processors and can't make my mind up.

Whats peoples thoughts on these 2:

AMD Phenom II X6 Six Core 1055T 2.80GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail
Intel Core i5 760 2.80GHz (Lynnfield) (Socket LGA1156) - Retail

By going for these will this require a more expensive motherboard and memory?

Thanks again for your help!
 
Hello again guys!

I'm with the the chap now and he's of the opinion that if he can spend a little more than £500 and get a lot better system then he's willing to do it. Its all about future proofing.

I've had a look at processors and can't make my mind up.

Whats peoples thoughts on these 2:

AMD Phenom II X6 Six Core 1055T 2.80GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail
Intel Core i5 760 2.80GHz (Lynnfield) (Socket LGA1156) - Retail

By going for these will this require a more expensive motherboard and memory?

Thanks again for your help!

Pointless place to spend more money in my opinion, a PII 955 with a decent mobo and memory are enough for pretty much anyone.
 
have the uses of this pc changed from your first post? a bit of internet, low end standard video editing and PGA golf?

why your now looking to spend more money and considering i5 and hex core setups I dont know?

Your basketProduct Name Qty Price Line Total
HIS ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £105.74
(£89.99) £105.74
(£89.99)
AMD Athlon II X4 Quad Core 630 2.80GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £75.19
(£63.99) £75.19
(£63.99)
Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H AMD 880G (Socket AM3) microATX DDR3 Motherboard £69.99
(£59.57) £69.99
(£59.57)
Coolermaster Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black (with 500w Elite Power PSU) £62.99
(£53.61) £62.99
(£53.61)
Patriot Viper 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C7 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (PVS34G1600LLK) £58.74
(£49.99) £58.74
(£49.99)
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £42.29
(£35.99) £42.29
(£35.99)
Sub Total : £353.14
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.00
VAT is being charged at 17.50% VAT : £63.55
Total : £426.69
 
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Well, Having advised him of what options he's got he is simply willing to spend more for a better system which will allow him the option of going HD video editing, play some more recent (yet simple) games and give him room for manouver should anything else come up. So its not changed massivly but wants to know how much better it can get if he was to up the budgit to £600.

Thanks for your comments though, I'm well out of touch with the hardware game so i'm hanging on your words :)
 
theres no need to spend a penny more than about £450, the specs in this thread will do the job very well indeed, and will play recent games.

unless your "in laws" enjoy playing crysis at max settings and high resolutions, its just OTT
 
theres no need to spend a penny more than about £450, the specs in this thread will do the job very well indeed, and will play recent games.

What I'm trying to establish is whether getting a better system will help keep this future proofed somewhat. As software and games are released in the future they will no doubt need better requirements so I'm thinking of what he is likely to do in the future rather than what his immediate requirements are.

Its likely to be processor grunt rather than GPU grunt so thats what I'm asking.
 
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