Awesome £500 build?! IS it possible?

Winky_The_Winking_Turtle

Winky_The_Winking_Turtle

Winky_The_Winking_Turtle

Associate
Joined
13 May 2012
Posts
2,191
Ah 'ello OCUK,

My friend in in the market for a new PC, quite right so, he is still running an ATI 2400 series GPU, so he needs an upgrade.

He was thinking of getting pre-built as his main option, but he can build if there is a significant price difference.

I've only talked to him on steam so he didn't give me tons of info but he did state he needed:

The tower itself
Windows.

whats the best he can do with 500 quid? He said he could stretch to the region of 600, but no more.

Please help, thanks in advance!
 
£500,


YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-2120 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £89.99
1 x MSI HD 6850 OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £83.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.98
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) £59.99
1 x Gigabyte H61MA-D3V Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £47.99
1 x GeIL Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1333C9DC) £37.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430W V2 '80 Plus' Power Supply (CMPSU-430CXUKV2) £36.98
1 x Xigmatek Asgard II Midi Tower Case - Black/Silver £29.99
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-7280S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98
Total : £497.88 (includes shipping : £12.50).




To make it £600, add a SSD,

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-146-SA&groupid=701&catid=2104&subcat=1427
 
Last edited:
stulid said:
£500,


YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-2120 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £89.99
1 x MSI HD 6850 OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £83.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.98
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) £59.99
1 x Gigabyte H61MA-D3V Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £47.99
1 x GeIL Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1333C9DC) £37.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430W V2 '80 Plus' Power Supply (CMPSU-430CXUKV2) £36.98
1 x Xigmatek Asgard II Midi Tower Case - Black/Silver £29.99
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-7280S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98
Total : £497.88 (includes shipping : £12.50).

Click to expand...

Cannot argue with that.

That'd be perfect for budget gaming PC. I have a simular GPU and it handles games, such as skyrim perfectly. :)


stulid said:
To make it £600, add a SSD,

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-146-SA&groupid=701&catid=2104&subcat=1427
Click to expand...


Do that. :) Well worth it.
 
Last edited:
 
Sapphire HD 7770 OC EDITION 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £119.99

Intel Core i3-2120 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £89.99

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.98

Gigabyte Z77-DS3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £74.99

Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) £69.98

Corsair Builder Series CX 500W V2 '80 Plus' Power Supply (CMPSU-500CXUKV2) £49.99

Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £44.99

Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £43.19

Total : £588.10

Top end, assuming he already has a monitor, keyboard and mouse. If he could use his old PSU/HDD that could save a lot of money and bring a decent spec into his lower end price range.

EDIT: while I'm here I thought I'd ask. How do you guys link the baskets like that? Seems a lot easier and obviously is much better than how I'm doing it.
 
Last edited:
His old PSU prolly wouldnt be powerful enough and we don't know the make. Also his HDD would have to be SATA which judging by the sound of how old it is, is most likely IDE.
 
Thats very true, worth a check though I guess. Can someone answer the edited in question for me by any chance please? :)
 
Bacon? said:
His old PSU prolly wouldnt be powerful enough and we don't know the make. Also his HDD would have to be SATA which judging by the sound of how old it is, is most likely IDE.
Click to expand...
It was over steam so he didn't go into the details too much. Just to show him that building yourself is cheaper, could someone post a pre-built system with around the same specs? Just want to show him that building yourself is simple and effective, thanks!
 
Winky_The_Winking_Turtle said:
It was over steam so he didn't go into the details too much. Just to show him that building yourself is cheaper, could someone post a pre-built system with around the same specs? Just want to show him that building yourself is simple and effective, thanks!
Click to expand...


YOUR BASKET
1 x "Primo 6200a" AMD Bulldozer FX-4 4100 3.60GHz DDR3 Quad Core System £334.99
- 1 x OcUK GeForce GT 430 1024MB GDDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Card £41.99
- 1 x System 12 Months Standard Warranty £0.00
- 1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £47.99
- 1 x No Hard Drive Upgrade £0.00
- 1 x FREE PANDA 180 Day Trial Anti Virus £0.00
- 1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.98
Total : £522.95 (includes shipping : £15.00).

 
Winky_The_Winking_Turtle said:
It was over steam so he didn't go into the details too much. Just to show him that building yourself is cheaper, could someone post a pre-built system with around the same specs? Just want to show him that building yourself is simple and effective, thanks!
Click to expand...

"Cataclysm Hogger" Intel Core i3 2100 3.10GHz DDR3 MMO Dual Core Gaming System

£550, horrible PSU, 4GB ram, 500gb HD, not that great of a GPU compared to whats available for similar price range.
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x OcUK GeForce GTX 560Ti 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £149.99
1 x Intel Core i3-2120 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £89.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.98
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) £69.98
1 x OCZ ZS Series 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £49.99
1 x Gigabyte H61MA-D3V Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £47.99
1 x Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £43.19
1 x Thermaltake VK90001N2Z Element T Case - Black £34.98
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-7280S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98
Total : £597.07 (includes shipping : £12.50).




Something closer to the £600 mark. The GPU is a fair bit more powerful and should last him a bit longer. I would say it is still better to get a more powerful GPU and going from Dualcore to Quad core. SSDs although are a lot cheaper than they were, I'd say they are still a luxury purchase and again would rather spend the money on more GPU grunt.
 
capturejz.jpg


Can overclock with that CPU and heatsink, and all that's needed to play better games in the future would be a graphics card update. Case comes fully loaded with fans, temp sensor, and fan controller (for two fans). If you look around you could probably fit an SSD into there too not much more than £600 (saw a 120gb one for £50 the other day elsewhere).

EDIT missed off the price with VAT which was £568 with free delivery.
 
Last edited:
SouthEastBlue said:
capturejz.jpg


Can overclock with that CPU and heatsink, and all that's needed to play better games in the future would be a graphics card update. Case comes fully loaded with fans, temp sensor, and fan controller (for two fans). If you look around you could probably fit an SSD into there too not much more than £600 (saw a 120gb one for £50 the other day elsewhere).

EDIT missed off the price with VAT which was £568 with free delivery.
Click to expand...
Nice but needs windows. Ill have a chat to him thought to see if he wants to wait abit so he can have a bigger budget, but im liking the look of an i3 and a 6850. What about a 7770?
 
Winky_The_Winking_Turtle said:
Nice but needs windows. Ill have a chat to him thought to see if he wants to wait abit so he can have a bigger budget, but im liking the look of an i3 and a 6850. What about a 7770?
Click to expand...

Apparently you can use Windows 8 Preview or something, been recommended on here quite a bit. Won't last forever, but would be a tide over OS for now until more money was available.

I have an i3 myself, and although it's a capable CPU for gaming on a budget, I would deffo go for an overclockable quad core i5 just so those few games where the i3 bogs down a little aren't a problem anymore. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom