£700 max gaming pc - First time builder

uannaka · 4 Jul 2012 at 14:14

Hi this will be my first time building a gaming pc. My budget is up to £700. I only need the system, no need for monitor and os and keyboard and mouse.

Can anyone also recommend me what tools I will need to buy? I have a screwdriver but I'm afraid that certain screwdrivers may mess up parts like the motherboard?

olivier renault · 4 Jul 2012 at 14:27

you just need a phillips screwdriver really.

olivier renault · 4 Jul 2012 at 14:31

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7850 Twin Frozr III OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Cards £194.99
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM £161.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99
1 x OCZ ZS Series 650W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £56.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) £52.99
1 x Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £49.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance Blue Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML8GX3M2A1600C9B) £44.99
1 x Thermalright True Spirit 120 CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775/1155/1156/AM2/AM3/FM1) £24.98
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-5280S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £698.90 (includes shipping : £12.50).

Ther weird thing is, that CPU is STILL more expensive than the one I bought 8 months ago :/

Doomedspeed · 4 Jul 2012 at 14:44

Olivers spec is good.

I'd change the cooler for this: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-001-GD

If you want to push the budget: you could swap out the 2500k for the 3570k. Though the 2500k is at a great price at the moment.

olivier renault · 4 Jul 2012 at 14:51

Doomedspeed said:
Olivers spec is good.

I'd change the cooler for this: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-001-GD

Either

True Spirit better performer, Gelid always a good bet for super quiet.

honosuseri · 4 Jul 2012 at 15:43

YOUR BASKET
1 x Sapphire HD 7850 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £179.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £179.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-DS3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £74.99
1 x Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 500W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £54.98
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) £43.99
1 x **B Grade** Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (HD-252-SE) £37.99
1 x Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £24.12
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-5280S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £678.04 (includes shipping : £12.50).

uannaka · 4 Jul 2012 at 19:10

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £179.99
1 x Sapphire HD 7850 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £179.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 300R Mid Tower Case - Black £59.99
1 x Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 500W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £54.98
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (WD5000AAKX) £53.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance Blue Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML8GX3M2A1600C9B) £44.99
1 x Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £24.12
Total : £693.04 (includes shipping : £12.50).

How does this look? Btw, I don't need a dvd writer as I have one already.

RJC · 4 Jul 2012 at 19:12

Looks good

olivier renault · 4 Jul 2012 at 20:21

uannaka said:
How does this look? Btw, I don't need a dvd writer as I have one already.

As long as it's SATA. But yeah, looks good.

honosuseri · 4 Jul 2012 at 23:07

why not use the B grade HDD from my spec and use the money saved to get a better 7850 with a higher overclock?

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7850 Twin Frozr III OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Cards £194.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £179.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 300R Mid Tower Case - Black £59.99
1 x Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 500W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £54.98
1 x Corsair Vengeance Blue Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML8GX3M2A1600C9B) £44.99
1 x **B Grade** Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (HD-252-SE) £37.99
1 x Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £24.12
Total : £692.04 (includes shipping : £12.50).

lil more cash to get xfire support (better mobo and PSU)

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £179.99
1 x Sapphire HD 7850 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £179.99
1 x Asrock Z77 Extreme4 M Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £101.99
1 x Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 700W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £79.99
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) £43.99
1 x **B Grade** Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (HD-252-SE) £37.99
1 x Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £24.12
Total : £713.05 (includes shipping : £12.50).

stulid · 5 Jul 2012 at 07:02

honosuseri said:
lil more cash to get xfire support (better mobo and PSU)

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £179.99
1 x Sapphire HD 7850 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £179.99
1 x Asrock Z77 Extreme4 M Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £101.99
1 x Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 700W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £79.99
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) £43.99
1 x **B Grade** Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (HD-252-SE) £37.99
1 x Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £24.12
Total : £713.05 (includes shipping : £12.50).

A bit naff if I say so.

Getting a ATX sized motherboard will provide more distance between the two cards for airflow.

I also wouldnt touch a ASrock board again, buying a better Gigabyte board,

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-390-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=2261

Is a much better choice, 3 year UK based warranty and the full size ATX layout.

Doomedspeed · 5 Jul 2012 at 08:44

Yeah, i wouldn't Xfire/SLI on a mATX board. The second card could cover bits for external cables, such as Front audio and front USB. And the thermals would be much worse (as stulid stated

)

honosuseri · 5 Jul 2012 at 09:48

stulid said:
A bit naff if I say so.

Getting a ATX sized motherboard will provide more distance between the two cards for airflow.

I also wouldnt touch a ASrock board again, buying a better Gigabyte board,

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-390-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=2261

Is a much better choice, 3 year UK based warranty and the full size ATX layout.

Yes the GB mobo has a longer warranty (1 year more) and is a larger mobo but is also more expensive. The argument over spacing is nonsense. If you fit an ATX mobo into a midi tower case (wether it be the Zalman or the corsair), should you add a second GPU it will be very very close to the PSU which blocks the second cards air supply. So it's tit4tat.

Rather than **** me off, why not spec a build and balance out the budget better than me

stulid · 5 Jul 2012 at 17:20

honosuseri said:
Yes the GB mobo has a longer warranty (1 year more) and is a larger mobo but is also more expensive. The argument over spacing is nonsense.

Expensive by just £8, hardly life threatening.

Also the extra spacing offered is more favorable as two cards wont be sitting on top of each other, allowing more, cooler air to circulate between.