Budget Build

Spangles · 3 May 2017 at 14:39

Good Afternoon,

A friend of mine at work is looking into getting a new PC. I asked him for his budget and he said around £250. I nearly fell over.

I am struggling to find something in that price range and while something from the members market may be more what we need to look at, seeing what we could get new is a good idea too.

His main uses are playing World of Tanks and he does a bit of photo editing, probably nothing to in depth though.

He only needs the base unit as has the other stuff available. He mentioned he has his current build (something from 2008, probably pre-built) hooked up to his TV so I believe an HDMI port is going to be needed.

He somehow also needs to get Windows for it, but I have informed him that that probably is just not going to happen within this budget. He is currently running Vi....Vis...Vist...I can't say it.

I reckon we could look at pushing up to around £275 for all the hardware.

Can you please provide me with some ideas of where to head for this build as I am struggling to find a good fit within this sort of budget.

There is a good chance we could reuse his existing hard drive.

Thanks for your efforts in advance.

Plec · 3 May 2017 at 14:57

Will he need an OS?

Spangles · 3 May 2017 at 15:03

Yeah but I doubt we can fit that into the budget, so I can tell him that isn't going to happen as it may make the build be a bit too budget. I have asked him to provide me with the model of his existing setup so I can see what sort of gain we are going to be looking at.

I have managed to find some nice components but overall it comes to around £325, which is probably going to be too much if he still has to get an OS on top.

Plec · 3 May 2017 at 15:04

Nope can't do it for under £305 - and that's with a terrible PSU.

Spangles · 3 May 2017 at 15:27

Well, whats the best budget build you can put together for about £325-£350?

Will just have to use some of my non-existent sales skills on him.

Plec · 3 May 2017 at 15:34

For an extra £20 you would get a decent PSU - i'm not happy with the one i've picked - but needs must and the rest is quality (ignoring the case):

My basket at Overclockers UK:

1 x Intel Pentium G4560 3.50GHz (Kaby Lake) Socket LGA1151 Processor - Retail= £64.99
1 x Gigabyte GA-B250M-DS3H Intel B250 (Socket 1151) DDR4 Micro ATX Motherboard= £69.95
1 x Team Group Vulcan T-Force 8GB (2x4GB) DDR4 PC4-19200C14 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit - Grey (TLGD48G2400= £64.99
1 x Kolink KL-400 400W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply= £27.95
1 x Aerocool CS-1101 Midi Tower Case - Black= £21.95
1 x Toshiba P300 1TB 7200RPM 64MB Cache High Performance Hard Drive (HDWD110UZSVA)= £41.99

Total: £302.92
(includes shipping: £11.10)

Minibiker · 3 May 2017 at 16:16

Like mentioned above, £250 Is more or less impossible.. Extra bit of cash saved and he could have a decent budget build...

Kurgen · 3 May 2017 at 16:35

very testing.. managed a bit cheaper using clearance.. you can source windows from elsewhere VERY cheaply

My basket at Overclockers UK:

1 x **B Grade** Asus H110M-K Intel H110 (Socket 1151) DDR4 Micro ATX Motherboard= £40.00
1 x **B Grade** Team Group Elite 8GB (2x4GB) DDR4 PC4-19200C16 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (TPKD48G= £59.99
1 x Intel Pentium Dual Core G4500 3.50GHz (Skylake) Socket LGA1151 Processor - Retail= £68.99
1 x **B Grade** XFX XT Series 400W 80 Plus Bronze Power Supply= £24.95
1 x Aerocool CS-1101 Midi Tower Case - Black= £21.95
1 x Seagate Firecuda SSHD 500GB 2.5" Hard Drive (ST500LX025)= £54.95

Total: £282.53
(includes shipping: £11.70)

Spangles · 3 May 2017 at 17:18

Guys, thank you for your efforts. Will present him with the options tomorrow. Will try to educate him that a bit more cash will obviously create a better system. Everyone just wants everything for as cheap as possible at the moment.

Your efforts are appreciated. May Zeus smile on you

Brazo · 3 May 2017 at 22:32

Windows can be had for 'pence' elsewhere.

I would go second hand.

Plec · 3 May 2017 at 22:49

Brazo said:
Windows can be had for 'pence' elsewhere.

Yep, those OEI licences are great - can require a phonecall at times but worth the effort given the saving.

ExoMale · 4 May 2017 at 21:13

best off going used, can pick up sandy bridge builds or fx 6 cores for 250

pastymuncher · 5 May 2017 at 09:46

Please, please, please do not go for that Kolink psu. I know Plec said he wasn't happy with it and that the budget is very tight but that so called 400w psu only has 288w on the 12v rail. That is a sure sign of a older design crappy psu. There are no reviews for anything other than the Kolink Platinum 1200w unit so we know nothing about these cheaper units, not even who the oem is. I dread to think about the quality of the internals on these things so please avoid them until they have been reviewed by a reputable independant source.

Plec · 5 May 2017 at 09:59

pastymuncher said:
Please, please, please do not go for that Kolink psu. I know Plec said he wasn't happy with it and that the budget is very tight but that so called 400w psu only has 288w on the 12v rail.

Hehe, i actually found it physically difficult to 'add to basket' - it was if my brain could not compute what my hand was doing.

I think i had one your posts battering my subconscious as my mouse hovered over it

(@OP - sound advice)

pastymuncher · 5 May 2017 at 19:17

I have been like that several times in the psu section when someone insists that they just can't find a extra tenner for something that has much better quality. In the end you have to pick the best of a bad bunch which usually turns out to be the XFX XT 400w. There have been a few occassions where the person asking for advice just won't budge on the budget even though they have spent a small fortune on other components!! In cases like that I have refused to recommend something and backed out of the thread. It can be hard work sometimes trying to convince people that the psu is not the place to save money but many sadly still don't get it.

pin0r · 6 May 2017 at 15:25

oops

Plec · 6 May 2017 at 15:34

pin0r you need to delete that post before a mod comes along - you can't sell stuff on the forums.

pin0r · 6 May 2017 at 15:36

Thanks, didn't know

pin0r · 6 May 2017 at 15:37

What's the "members market" OP refers to? Is there a selling place elsewhere?

Plec · 6 May 2017 at 15:44

pin0r said:
Thanks, didn't know

NP

pin0r said:
What's the "members market" OP refers to? Is there a selling place elsewhere?

Yes, but unfortunately it's only accessible to members with over 1000 posts.

Only, 994 to go