£550 build for girlfriend

lee20010

lee20010

lee20010

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I was going to get my partner a Laptop as she enjoys watching films in bed and such. However she feels a desktop would be better (She likes games such as Sims 3 etc)

I say the budget is £500-£550. £600 might be if you can justify the spend.

Things needed are,

Case, monitor and mouse. I have speakers, keyboard and OS.

I really wasn't sure to go Intel (as I love my i5 build) or AMD X4 route as its dirt cheap. Besides Sims3, she watches films, browses the internet. Sometimes reads books (I will be buying the Amazon Wildfire when it comes out though)

It needs to be as quite as possible too
 
came up with the following, for your upper limit you could go with a 24" screen, if she watches movies then it would be worth it.

Iiyama ProLite E2208HDD 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black £114.98 (£95.82)

HIS ATI Radeon HD 6850 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with DIRT3 & Deus Ex PC Games £111.95 (£93.29)

Intel Core i3-2100 3.10GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £89.99 (£74.99)

MSI H67MA-E35 Intel H67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Micro-ATX Motherboard - (Sandybridge) **B3 REVISION** £61.99 (£51.66)

BeQuiet Pure Power L7 530W '80 Plus' Power Supply £45.98 (£38.32)

BitFenix Merc Beta Gaming Case - Black BitFenix Merc Beta Gaming Case - Black £32.99 (£27.49)

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) £29.99 (£24.99)

Crucial Ballistix Sport 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C10 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BL2KIT25664BA160A) £21.98 (£18.32)

LG GH24NS70 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99 (£14.99)

Sub Total : £439.87
Shipping : £19.10
VAT : £91.79
Total : £550.76
 
I've pushed my own budget....

Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Asus GeForce GTX 560Ti DirectCU II 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **Supplied with FREE Batman: Arkham City PC game** £157.99
(£131.66) £157.99
(£131.66)
AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition "125W Edition" 3.20GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail with FREE Deus Ex PC Game £85.99
(£71.66) £85.99
(£71.66)
BenQ G925HDA 18.5" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black £74.99
(£62.49) £74.99
(£62.49)
Cooler Master Storm Scout Gaming Case - Black £64.99
(£54.16) £64.99
(£54.16)
Corsair Builder Series CX 600W V2 '80 Plus' Power Supply (CMPSU-600CXUKV2) £59.99
(£49.99) £59.99
(£49.99)
Asus M5A78L-M/USB3 AMD 760G (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £44.99
(£37.49) £44.99
(£37.49)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) £29.99
(£24.99) £29.99
(£24.99)
Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £23.99
(£19.99) £23.99
(£19.99)
Kingston HyperX Blu 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9AD3B1K2/4G) £23.99
(£19.99) £23.99
(£19.99)
Samsung SH-S222AB/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
(£14.99) £17.99
(£14.99)
Sub Total : £487.41
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £19.10
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £101.30
Total : £607.81
 
Im using the Benq monitor at work, its not bad, plus we'd both be having our pc's in the same room, so I dont see her having a 24" is fair :P

I'm just looking to futureproof her as much as possible hence the GPU choice
 
no need for the 560ti, and definately not an 18" screen.

but tbh for that money you could get a very decent laptop, that will play sims3 and a fair bit more.

from the benchies i've seen next to no difference between the i3 and quad.

lee20010 said:
I'm just looking to futureproof her as much as possible hence the GPU choice
Click to expand...

what's it likely to be used for that might need a 560ti ?, 6850/6870 is the best balance along with screen size etc, unless you have something specific in mind.
 
Last edited:
She doesnt want a laptop anymore. I was looking at a few dell/sony laptops with decent specs. She said she misses having a desktop.
 
lee20010 said:
Im using the Benq monitor at work, its not bad, plus we'd both be having our pc's in the same room, so I dont see her having a 24" is fair :P

I'm just looking to futureproof her as much as possible hence the GPU choice
Click to expand...

Fair enough, but I still think an 18" screen these days is a bit silly. She wants to watch movies so at least go for a 22" at the minimum. A 560 for the Sims is a bit overkill, there are cheaper ones available that will still play games like that in the coming years. Don't confuse your needs with hers :p
 
How about

Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
MSI ATI Radeon HD 6850 Cyclone Power Edition 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE Deus Ex PC Game £117.95
(£98.29) £117.95
(£98.29)
AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 850 "95W Edition" 3.30GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £79.99
(£66.66) £79.99
(£66.66)
BenQ G925HDA 18.5" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black £74.99
(£62.49) £74.99
(£62.49)
Cooler Master Storm Scout Gaming Case - Black £64.99
(£54.16) £64.99
(£54.16)
Corsair Builder Series CX 600W V2 '80 Plus' Power Supply (CMPSU-600CXUKV2) £59.99
(£49.99) £59.99
(£49.99)
Asus M5A78L-M/USB3 AMD 760G (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £44.99
(£37.49) £44.99
(£37.49)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) £29.99
(£24.99) £29.99
(£24.99)
Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £23.99
(£19.99) £23.99
(£19.99)
Kingston HyperX Blu 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9AD3B1K2/4G) £23.99
(£19.99) £23.99
(£19.99)
Samsung SH-S222AB/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
(£14.99) £17.99
(£14.99)
Sub Total : £449.04
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £19.10
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £93.63
Total : £561.77
 
Don't be a cheapskate and get her the Ilyama 22 inch. If she's like my missus (gave her a 27" as an early Xmas present as she was jealous of mine) she'll get much more excited about a nice big screen than flowers and perfume! ;)
 
Lol, dude she isn't amazed by tech like us. She just sees my pc as 'another thing that takes my attention' lol. We're currently living at her parents (shes 21, I'm 23) so we're using her room as our living space so to speak. Hence why having my screen (22" soon to be 24") and then another big screen would take up a lot of room. Not to mention my case is a monster. She didnt want a 17" laptop screen and I'll doubt she'd want a 24" monitor. She thinks the 22" screen we have at the moment will be our main tv when we move out (Like hell will it lol)
 
is she against a laptop for any particular reason as it seems ideal for what she needs.


well how about you giving her your 22" monitor and getting a 24" for you as part of this spec ?

i know space is tight but unless you really really have to an 18" would be wasted on the 6850, have a look at the XFX ATI Radeon HD 4890 £80.

drop the case to the BitFenix Shinobi Gaming Case and the psu to the BeQuiet Pure Power L7 530W.
 
Last edited:
I think she's just board of laptops and the lack of power unless you pay aload for it. I can see what your saying about the 18" being wasted. I would give her my monitor but to be honest, it doubt she'd want it on her desk.
 
It makes my gaming quite annoying, the refresh rate is low. and you see lines through games when its fast pace. Hence the upgrade. As a tv, its fine, but for gaming, not really.
 
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