Advice on a new build (Budget gaming)

SchottayB · 20 Feb 2013 at 18:57

Hey guys. Just looking for some input on this system I've put together.

I've been getting more and more into P.C Gaming so decided to go ahead and attempt my first build. I don't have a great deal to spend on the computer so I set myself a budget of £600. And I'm not all that great at parts, best bang for buck or compatibility.

Here's the list of parts I've gatherd (after changing them multiple times!)

MSI HD 7850 OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Cards with Tomb Raider & Bioshock PC Games £131.99

AMD Piledriver FX-6 Six Core 6300 3.50GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail £99.95

Samsung 120GB SSD 840 SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TD120BW) £89.99

Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £72.98

MSI 970A-G46 AMD 970A (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £59.99

Corsair Builder Series CX 500w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020059-UK)£52.99

Corsair Vengeance Blue 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit £49.99

OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99

Total: £586.87

This came just short of the £600 budget so I'm happy about that! Changed the CPU and Graphics card about 10 times!

So the question I have for you guys is, will this P.C be the best bang for buck taking my £600 budget into consideration?

Games I'm playing: DiRT, NFS, Fallout, Borderlands, Gears of War, GTA.

Will these games manage to run on high/ultra settings with this build?

Thanks!

stulid · 20 Feb 2013 at 19:01

Hi and welcome.

Good start, but Intel is dominating the CPU market currently.

Did you need a case?

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7850 OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Cards with Tomb Raider & Bioshock PC Games £149.99
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £89.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TD120BW) £89.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £89.99
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 1TB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA100) HDD £53.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020059-UK) £52.99
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G160C9K) £29.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £585.91 (includes shipping : £10.00).

• 2GB GFX card.
• best budget Z77 board so you can drop a 2500K/3570K in at a later time if you wanted and then do some good overclocking.

zakblood · 20 Feb 2013 at 19:06

1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x MSI HD 7850 OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Cards with Tomb Raider & Bioshock PC Games £131.99
1 x Intel 330 Series 120GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive - Retail £94.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £89.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £72.98
1 x XFX Pro 550W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £54.98
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G160C9K) £29.99
1 x Samsung SN-208DB/BEBE Slimline 8x DVD±RW SATA Drive - OEM £17.99
Total : £684.90 (includes shipping : £10.00).

as you haven't asked for a case i also haven't added one

pay a bit more, and you will gain a lot, but yes over budget

1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x MSI HD 7850 OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Cards with Tomb Raider & Bioshock PC Games £131.99
1 x Corsair Force Series 3 120GB SATA 2.5" 6Gb/s Solid State Drive (CSSD-F120GB3A-B) £85.99
1 x MSI Z77A-G43 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £74.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £72.98
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G160C9K) £29.99
1 x Cooler Master Elite Power 500W Power Supply £29.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £637.01 (includes shipping : £11.75).

thats as low as i can go without using B grade stuff that is

SchottayB · 20 Feb 2013 at 19:06

Thankyou for the welcome

.

I have a Zalman Z11 Plus case ready, just needing the parts to fill it! The only thing that puts me off Intel is their heafty prices.

stulid · 20 Feb 2013 at 19:08

SchottayB said:
Thankyou for the welcome .

I have a Zalman Z11 Plus case ready, just needing the parts to fill it!

Good case, the GFX card lenght is limited, but the 7850 will fit as they arent huge.

The only thing that puts me off Intel is their heafty prices.

But the performance in games is up to par.

SchottayB · 20 Feb 2013 at 19:11

I was looking at both those GFX Cards earlier.

Will it be worth it going from the MSI HD 7850 OC 1024MB to the MSI HD 7850 OC 2048MB card for the extra £18?

stulid · 20 Feb 2013 at 19:14

SchottayB said:
I was looking at both those GFX Cards earlier.

Will it be worth it going from the MSI HD 7850 OC 1024MB to the MSI HD 7850 OC 2048MB card for the extra £18?

The extra Vram is worth the extra money.

You will be able to run higher settings/resolution/AA+AF.

SchottayB · 20 Feb 2013 at 19:17

I'd be better with getting the 2GB card then, I'll change that thanks.

May sound daft, but is the picture of the card correct? I can't find a video/review anywhere of it :\

stulid · 20 Feb 2013 at 19:19

zakblood said:
pay a bit more, and you will gain a lot, but yes over budget

1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x MSI HD 7850 OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Cards with Tomb Raider & Bioshock PC Games £131.99
1 x Corsair Force Series 3 120GB SATA 2.5" 6Gb/s Solid State Drive (CSSD-F120GB3A-B) £85.99
1 x MSI Z77A-G43 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £74.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £72.98
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G160C9K) £29.99
1 x Cooler Master Elite Power 500W Power Supply £29.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £637.01 (includes shipping : £11.75).

thats as low as i can go without using B grade stuff that is

That PSU is shockingly (pun intended) awful.

And a 1GB GFX card still?

stulid · 20 Feb 2013 at 19:20

SchottayB said:
I'd be better with getting the 2GB card then, I'll change that thanks.

May sound daft, but is the picture of the card correct? I can't find a video/review anywhere of it :\

http://uk.msi.com/product/vga/R7850-2GD5-OC.html

Thats the card.

zakblood · 20 Feb 2013 at 19:23

don't like it myself but better than the none branded junk, got some good reviews on here mind you 5 out of 5 and elsewhere if you look, on balance i liked and wished i'd stayed with my first choice and dropped it down in power etc, just trying to save a few pennies as was over with i5 and didn't want to go oem for 1 year warranty that's all.

and i3 for me is too low

sorry and would have stayed with the amd offering instead of using that

stulid · 20 Feb 2013 at 19:36

zakblood said:
don't like it myself but better than the none branded junk, got some good reviews on here mind you 5 out of 5 and elsewhere if you look, on balance i liked and wished i'd stayed with my first choice and dropped it down in power etc, just trying to save a few pennies as was over with i5 and didn't want to go oem for 1 year warranty that's all.

From what I remember that PSU doesn't have ActivePFC and its efficiency rating is below even the 80+ rating.

I also seem to remember it being actually rated at 350'ish on the 12v rail?

zakblood · 20 Feb 2013 at 20:06

heap of rubbish then it seems

SchottayB · 20 Feb 2013 at 20:11

Thanks for putting the list together, both of you

.

I will look more into Intel, but I'd probably wait a while and save more.

Quick question; the stock fan that comes on the cpu cooler... I could change that for a another fan couldn't I? Do I need to match the speed, thicklness, size ofcause or anything of the stock fan?

I don't plan to overclock, so wouldn't need greater than the stock cooler, just a different colour fan thats all.

stulid · 20 Feb 2013 at 20:13

SchottayB said:
Thanks for putting the list together, both of you .

I will look more into Intel, but I'd probably wait a while and save more.

Quick question; the stock fan that comes on the cpu cooler... I could change that for a another fan couldn't I? Do I need to match the speed, thicklness, size ofcause or anything of the stock fan?

I don't plan to overclock, so wouldn't need greater than the stock cooler, just a different colour fan thats all.

You can fit a aftermarket cooler later on no problem as long as it does support the socket type (1155)

Almost all aftermarket heatsinks will be of a superior cooling capacity than the stock item, so it's hard to go wrong and if you want a suggestion for a good one at a budget that fits you then just ask

You can't overclock the i3 CPU properly ( a "K" CPU has a unlocked multiplier for better overclocking) and all you may be able to do is increase the BCLK (base clock) a bit from the default 100MHz.

zakblood · 20 Feb 2013 at 20:13

yes as long as same fitting etc, all will fit just check size and ram height etc

if you mean the i5 i mean

SchottayB · 20 Feb 2013 at 20:16

Thats ok, I was just asking as it's not a MUST, but it's something I could add to the build at a later date

stulid · 20 Feb 2013 at 20:17

SchottayB said:
Thats ok, I was just asking as it's not a MUST, but it's something I could add to the build at a later date

Correct.