CPU + Mobo + RAM + £400

Arterion · 14 Apr 2011 at 12:48

Hi all,

As per title really; what's the best CPU + Mobo + RAM I can get for around the £400 mark?

Thanks in advance.

Redmint · 14 Apr 2011 at 12:56

Intel Core i7-2600K 3.40GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor £239.99
(£199.99) £239.99
(£199.99)
MSI P67A-GD65 Intel P67 (socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** £139.98
(£116.65) £139.98
(£116.65)
OCZ Special OPS 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (OCZ3SOE1600LV4GK) £35.99
(£29.99) £35.99
(£29.99)

Sub Total : £346.63
Shipping cost based on delivery to paypal address, with:
FREE SHIPPING (DX Secure Next Day)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : FREE
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £69.33
Total : £415.96

olivier renault · 14 Apr 2011 at 13:01

cant beat this, unless you go for a cheap non-sli mobo, and get 8GB ram. But this mobo is good for some serious overclocking.

sk82jack · 14 Apr 2011 at 13:08

Depends what your gonna be using it for? If it's mainly gaming you only need an i5 as the difference between that and an i7 is minimal and games don't make use of its hyperthreading.If that is the case, I would suggest a better motherboard or something.

Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz - £167.99
Gigabyte P67A-UD4-B3 - £137.99
Corsair XMS3 4GB - £43.99

Total - £349.97

Reaper 392 · 14 Apr 2011 at 13:54

do you have a CPU cooler that will fit on this socket? or do you need a new one?
the standard one that comes with the i7 will do, but if you want to do some overclocking, or want something quieter i would recommend getting a new one

ps, a little off topic, but what part of reading are you in? as you can see im in reading uni, living just off campus. what about you?

Redmint · 14 Apr 2011 at 14:00

Aye if you need a CPU cooler and you're mainly building the rig for gaming the you could get the i5 which jack suggested and this cooler:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-001-CS

Reaper 392 · 14 Apr 2011 at 14:03

Redmint said:
Aye if you need a CPU cooler and you're mainly building the rig for gaming the you could get the i5 which jack suggested and this cooler:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-001-CS

wow, at £25, thats a bargain

sk82jack · 14 Apr 2011 at 14:35

Reaper 392 said:
ps, a little off topic, but what part of reading are you in? as you can see im in reading uni, living just off campus. what about you?

Don't know if you was talking to me or the OP but I'm from Reading too

I live in Emmer Green but I'm going back down to uni in a couple of weeks to sit my final exams

But as soon as I'm back I'm gonna build a new PC!

Reaper 392 · 14 Apr 2011 at 14:53

sk82jack said:
Don't know if you was talking to me or the OP but I'm from Reading too

I live in Emmer Green but I'm going back down to uni in a couple of weeks to sit my final exams

But as soon as I'm back I'm gonna build a new PC!

i was actually talking to OP, but if the blind one over here had noticed you were from reading as well, i would have asked you too.

good luck with your finals. ive got my first year exams coming up soon, and as is fitting for a first year student, i've blown all my revision off till the last minute despite saying numerous times i'd get on with it :rolleyes:

Arterion · 14 Apr 2011 at 16:05

Reaper 392 said:
ps, a little off topic, but what part of reading are you in? as you can see im in reading uni, living just off campus. what about you?

I live in Calcot, just off the M4, work at Yell in town centre

Thanks for all the info; my main objective is to get a fairly beefy upgrade from the current rig I'm running (see signature). I do a reasonable amount of gaming but also the odd bit of video encoding, but perhaps not enough to get the i7...hmm.

Hydrogoo · 14 Apr 2011 at 16:07

+1 for the i5, I've just setup my new rig (with 1 stick of ram till I get my new stuff) and its pretty nippy with just that. best cpu I've had in a looooooooong time!

sk82jack · 14 Apr 2011 at 16:09

If your definitely going SB then have a little look at this thread. It's just a comparison of the majority of SB mobos

Arterion · 14 Apr 2011 at 16:21

Intel Core i7-2600K 3.40 GHz
Asus P8P67 Pro Rev3
8GB (2x4GB) Corsair Vengeance DDR3 PC3-12800

In the event this could be had at £430...it'd be pretty much a no brainer, right? And it would last me a while?

Mattyjw · 14 Apr 2011 at 16:43

for gaming 2500k an 8gb of ripjawx blues, MSI P67A-GD65 Intel P67 or the Gigabyte UD4.

DragonQ · 14 Apr 2011 at 16:51

Arterion said:
Intel Core i7-2600K 3.40 GHz
Asus P8P67 Pro Rev3
8GB (2x4GB) Corsair Vengeance DDR3 PC3-12800

In the event this could be had at £430...it'd be pretty much a no brainer, right? And it would last me a while?

What about a decent cooler for overclocking? If you don't already have one, getting an i5-2500K plus cooler would work out faster than an i7-2600K. Or the other option is to get an i7-2600K and get a cooler later on...

Arterion · 14 Apr 2011 at 17:12

DragonQ said:
What about a decent cooler for overclocking? If you don't already have one, getting an i5-2500K plus cooler would work out faster than an i7-2600K. Or the other option is to get an i7-2600K and get a cooler later on...

Not too fussed about overclocking for now, even at stock that set up will utterly shame my current overclocked rig, so I question the need to do it at all with the spec I just mentioned...

Arterion · 15 Apr 2011 at 23:50

OcUK Motherboard Bundle - Intel Core i5 2500K & Asus P8P67 Intel P67 Mainboard **B3 Revision**

Ok, so having read around I'm pretty much sold on the above. But is 4gb of RAM really *enough* to get the most out of this setup? Was looking at OCZ Special OPS 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit as it's on offer, but don't want to let it down by not having enough RAM to do the rest of the hardware justice.