Budget 2500K First Time Build

SMed · 13 Feb 2012 at 12:31

That's me done for a while. Next update will be a new case and probably PSU so I can overclock the CPU and GPU. My PSU will just about handle my system at stock clocks, so I'll leave it at that for a while. It will be several months before I get the case and PSU. I'm just gonna get some games and enjoy my new system for the mean time.

SMed · 13 Feb 2012 at 12:35

Here's the current full system specs as seen on the first post:

CPU: i5 2500K (bought in the US for £135)
RAM: Patriot 8GB dual channel DDR3 1600Mhz (bought in the US for £37 (£31 if I can figure out to do the rebate))
Case: Antec 300 (bought used with 5 fans for £30)
GPU: Asus ATI Radeon HD 6850 (bought new for £90)
Cooler Gelid Tranquillo (bought new for £23)
PSU: Corsair CX430 Watt Builder Series (bought used for £20)
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-Z68AP-D3 (bought new for £76.99)
Storage: Hitachi 2.5" 500GB HDD (already had) + Crucial M4 128GB SSD (bought new for £135)
Monitor: Dell Ultra Sharp U2311H 23" IPS (bought used for £124)
Keyboard: Microsoft Sidewinder X4 (bought new for £32)
Mouse: Logitech MX518 (bought used for £25)

________________________________
TOTAL so far: £728 (£547 not including the monitor, mouse and keyboard)

masscrazy · 13 Feb 2012 at 16:52

What kind of lighting you using in your images on the first page? Not a flash, natural light?

SMed · 13 Feb 2012 at 17:20

masscrazy said:
What kind of lighting you using in your images on the first page? Not a flash, natural light?

lol, a mixture or natural window light, tungsten bulb and pop-up flash. I've tried improving it as best I could on photoshop, but it's not the greatest starting point for lighting.

I want to re-do the photos in a couple of weeks with everything installed. Won't be great in this case, but I'll certainly get better shots when I get a new case. I'll get a tri-pod and an LED torch and use the 'paint-with-light' technique.

Borsch · 13 Feb 2012 at 18:05

Very nice system, congrats!

What games are you after with your new card?

SMed · 13 Feb 2012 at 18:20

Borsch said:
Very nice system, congrats!

What games are after with your new card?

Mate, I have no idea.

I played a bit of Battlefield Heroes and that seemed sort of fun.

Borsch · 13 Feb 2012 at 20:09

Never heard of them

Is that a strategy game?

SMed · 13 Feb 2012 at 20:11

No, it's some free FPS game.

Borsch · 13 Feb 2012 at 22:34

Get Deus Ex Human Revolution - a thinking man's FPS, and has some pretty clever philosophy debates woven into the plot. Looks and sounds great too!

SMed · 13 Feb 2012 at 23:04

I'll check it out, thanks. Can I download games or do I need a disc? I don't have an optical drive.

Borsch · 14 Feb 2012 at 00:51

Of course, most games are sold via direct downloads nowdays, no need to keep DVD in the drive to play either.
So there you go

Decent price too.

http://www.shopto.net/DOWNLOAD/SALE...3_1325412730_83e6a368cbf3a3c1338974af5037d2fa

SMed · 14 Feb 2012 at 21:32

Thankfully, the card won't be coming until the end (or during, at the earliest) of my exams next week. Otherwise, goodbye degree.

Thanks for that, looks good.

SMed · 14 Feb 2012 at 22:21

I hope the gelid tranquillo will fit in my case.

Borsch · 15 Feb 2012 at 19:35

The case fit it will, what you should warry about is your ram sticks fitting underneath. I bought slim profile ones and they fit only just under Arctic Freezer 7 Pro.

And the game is cheaper to buy in ASDA btw -£10, jsut buy it, type the code into steam and it will download it.

phill9800 · 15 Feb 2012 at 20:19

Glad to hear you've got a new graphics card!! You'll be loving the rig even more!!

Ohlawll · 15 Feb 2012 at 23:29

Not a bad budget build. Good job!

SMed · 16 Feb 2012 at 00:02

Thanks guys. Yeah, I hope the cooler will fit, but I think it should do. The main RAM slots are not the one closest to the CPU, and the RAM heat sinks look fairly low-ish profile. We'll see.

SMed · 16 Feb 2012 at 12:10

Borsch said:
And the game is cheaper to buy in ASDA btw -£10, jsut buy it, type the code into steam and it will download it.

I've heard/seen there is some loss in graphical quality in steam? What's this all about? I'm not even entirely sure what steam is.

So if I buy the disc from ASDA, there will be a code on/in it that will enable me to download the full game in it's entirety? So even if I buy it from ASDA, I don't need an optical drive?

Borsch · 16 Feb 2012 at 13:49

SMed said:
I've heard/seen there is some loss in graphical quality in steam? What's this all about? I'm not even entirely sure what steam is.

So if I buy the disc from ASDA, there will be a code on/in it that will enable me to download the full game in it's entirety? So even if I buy it from ASDA, I don't need an optical drive?

Steam is a digital distributor of games- you download/install its small client, and from it you can buy/download/install games/demos from the internet. Steam also allows to add games that were bought externally - you just enter their code and then it will download and install it and update it with latest patches. So you could buy a disc from ASDA, type in the code form the DVD box into steam and it will download the game and update it.

there is some loss in graphical quality in steam? What's this all about?

This is a myth, steam has nothing to do with graphics, it is just a distributor like ASDA.

SMed · 16 Feb 2012 at 13:57

Ah, thanks.