First cheap build advice/spec

Ayule

Ayule

Ayule

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26 May 2011
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8
Hi everyone, my 7 year old PC from toys r us finally died so I think it's time for a new one. I've never built a PC before but after reading quite a few guides I feel confident enough to give it a shot. If anything goes wrong I know I can ask here for help.

The first step is knowing exactly the best things to buy and that's why I was hoping someone could help me! These are my requirements:

- 4GB Ram
- Motherboard with 2 PCI-E slots, so I can buy a good graphics and sound card some time in the future. This means it must have onboard graphics so I can still use it before I buy the graphics card?
- I'm stuck between i3 and i5 processor, I'd like to play battlefield 3 at some point in the future when it comes out and I eventually get a graphics card, is the i3 good enough? If so I want the cheapest possible with still good performance
- As cheap as possible! :)

I don't need a keyboard, mouse, monitor or operating system. All I need right now is a CPU, Motherboard, RAM, harddrive, Case/fans and PSU. Depending on the processor I think it will maybe be somewhere around £300-400? I'm not sure. Thank you for any help!
 
P8H67-M board £85
i3-2100 £90
2x2GB Corsair XMS3 RAM £40
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB £40
Coolermaster 330 £29
Corsair TX 650W £70
Total: £354

Plenty of power for gaming and a good power supply to support a beefy graphics card in future. You don't need a sound card as onboard audio is fantastic nowadays, and you don't need to buy any extra fans unless you want to light up your case with LEDs.
 
The H67 board will run on onboard graphics. When you're ready to upgrade, £100 or so will get you a very nice card.

You can get a 5770 (top class for 1680x1050 and only a little underpowered for 1900x) for £78 now, so with a little bit of tinkering you could fit that in your budget if you fancy gaming now.
 
Thanks, I like that build a lot! What kind of tinerking would you need to do to fit a graphics card in now that could run BF3 in? I wouldn't want to lose anything from how it is now I think, it seems really good
 
Well, you could drop the RAM down to Kingston HyperX (saves £10), and drop the PSU down to an XFX Pro 550W Core Edition (saves £19). That makes it £325, so with a 5770 it'd be £403, which is only £3 over budget :)

An extra £22 would get you a 5850 extreme, which would allow you to get far closer to maxing settings, but a 5770 is still very good at BF3 for the money.
 
 
Thanks, this looks good without the graphics card:

Intel Core i3-2100 3.10GHz - £89.99
Asus P8H67-M - £84.98
XFX Pro 550W Core Edition PSU - £50.99
Cooler Master Elite 335 Case - Black - £29.99
Kingston HyperX Blu 4GB (2x2GB) - £29.99
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB - £43.99
Sub Total : £238.28
Total : £344.03


I have 2 questions though - Will 550W PSU be enough for when I get a graphics card? And does the motherboard definitely have onboard graphics? I looked but couldn't see it mentioned
 
Stoner81 said:
Here is my attempt for you;

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte P67A-UD3-B3 Intel P67 Chipset (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** £114.98
1 x Intel Core i3-2120 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £99.98
1 x Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 700W Power Supply £79.99
1 x Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.C 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (0F10383) £42.98
1 x Cooler Master Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black £33.98
1 x Kingston HyperX Blu 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9AD3B1K2/4G) £29.99
Total : £414.52 (includes shipping : £10.50).

I know it's a little over budget but might give you something to think about.

Stoner81.
Click to expand...

Thanks Stoner, but it depends if I can get my hands on a little bit more cash just now or not :)
 
550W PSU would be pushing it depending on what video you get later on buying a better one now will save you money in the future otherwise you would end up buying the 550W now then buying another one later which is rather pointless ;)

I would also steer clear of Asus motherboards there have been a lot of issues with them though that might be a different socket type (personally I love Gigabyte boards). Most boards (if not all) come generally with some sort of on board graphics since otherwise how do you install your OS ;)

Don't forget though that that price includes the shipping fee so it is only about £5 off your upper limit and I personally think it would be well worth it ;)

Stoner81.
 
Stoner81 said:
Here is my attempt for you;

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte P67A-UD3-B3 Intel P67 Chipset (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** £114.98
1 x Intel Core i3-2120 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £99.98
1 x Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 700W Power Supply £79.99
1 x Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.C 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (0F10383) £42.98
1 x Cooler Master Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black £33.98
1 x Kingston HyperX Blu 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9AD3B1K2/4G) £29.99
Total : £414.52 (includes shipping : £10.50).

I know it's a little over budget but might give you something to think about.

Stoner81.
Click to expand...

Don't do this build, since it has a P67 board and no graphics card, so there will be no display...

Answering your question, yes the PSU is enough for most single cards. I would personally get a 5850 since it's a great card for the price.
 
pv123 said:
Don't do this build, since it has a P67 board and no graphics card, so there will be no display...

Answering your question, yes the PSU is enough for most single cards. I would personally get a 5850 since it's a great card for the price.
Click to expand...

Well you learn something new everyday thanks!

To the OP - Sorry about that :(

How about this build instead which is the same as before but with a different motherboard.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte H67A-UD3H-B3 Intel H67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** £109.98
1 x Intel Core i3-2120 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £99.98
1 x Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 700W Power Supply £79.99
1 x Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.C 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (0F10383) £42.98
1 x Cooler Master Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black £33.98
1 x Kingston HyperX Blu 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9AD3B1K2/4G) £29.99
Total : £409.51 (includes shipping : £10.50).

Stoner81.
 
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Stoner81 said:
Well you learn something new everyday thanks!

To the OP - Sorry about that :(

How about this build instead which is the same as before but with a different motherboard.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte H67A-UD3H-B3 Intel H67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** £109.98
1 x Intel Core i3-2120 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £99.98
1 x Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 700W Power Supply £79.99
1 x Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.C 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (0F10383) £42.98
1 x Cooler Master Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black £33.98
1 x Kingston HyperX Blu 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9AD3B1K2/4G) £29.99
Total : £409.51 (includes shipping : £10.50).

Stoner81.
Click to expand...

It looks good, but I would change the psu to a XFX550 or a Bequiet, I don't think that Coolermaster PSUs are any good and it won't be true 700w on the 12v rail (plus you don't need 700w unless your going to crossfire :P ).

I'm not too sure about the HDD - I wonder if you could just go for a Samsung F3 or a WD Caviar Black? I'm not sure about that though!

Nevertheless that system plus a 5850 and you have a pc to run BF3 really well.

What is your monitor like anyways? If it's not 1080p you will be running full max and might be overkill!
 
I have a Hitachi Deskstar myself and it has been a rock solid drive, I will change the PSU to something else and see what happens ;)

Stoner81.

EDIT - This build does not have a modular PSU in it;

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte H67A-UD3H-B3 Intel H67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** £109.98
1 x Intel Core i3-2120 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £99.98
1 x XFX Pro 550W Core Edition Power Supply £50.99
1 x Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.C 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (0F10383) £42.98
1 x Cooler Master Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black £33.98
1 x Kingston HyperX Blu 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9AD3B1K2/4G) £29.99
Total : £380.51 (includes shipping : £10.50).

This one does have a modular PSU in it;

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte H67A-UD3H-B3 Intel H67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** £109.98
1 x Intel Core i3-2120 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £99.98
1 x XFX 650W XXX Edition Modular Power Supply £76.99
1 x Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.C 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (0F10383) £42.98
1 x Cooler Master Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black £33.98
1 x Kingston HyperX Blu 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9AD3B1K2/4G) £29.99
Total : £406.51 (includes shipping : £10.50).
 
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Stoner81 said:
I have a Hitachi Deskstar myself and it has been a rock solid drive, I will change the PSU to something else and see what happens ;)

Stoner81.
Click to expand...

Ok :) !

As I said would be useful to know the Resolution i.e. what monitor the OP is using before we can suggest a GPU, however I think the 5850 is a killer deal at the moment!
 
Posted a couple of other options on PSU and yes it would be good to know that about the resolution. I am not well up on ATI cards mostly because I don't like them (I prefer nVidia), this one might be another option to the 5850 ---> nVidia GTS450.
 
Sorry I had to change the memory due the motherboard not supporting 1600MHz so here is the newest spec which has a modular PSU;

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte H67A-UD3H-B3 Intel H67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** £109.98
1 x Intel Core i3-2120 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £99.98
1 x XFX 650W XXX Edition Modular Power Supply £76.99
1 x Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.C 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (0F10383) £42.98
1 x Kingston HyperX Blu 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1333C9D3B1K2/4G) £35.99
1 x Cooler Master Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black £33.98
Total : £412.51 (includes shipping : £10.50).

This one is the same as above but without a modular PSU;

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte H67A-UD3H-B3 Intel H67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** £109.98
1 x Intel Core i3-2120 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £99.98
1 x XFX Pro 550W Core Edition Power Supply £50.99
1 x Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.C 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (0F10383) £42.98
1 x Kingston HyperX Blu 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1333C9D3B1K2/4G) £35.99
1 x Cooler Master Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black £33.98
Total : £386.51 (includes shipping : £10.50).

The Asus board is a fair bit smaller I think from the looks of things since it is a uATX board and the Gigabyte one is ATX, I have heard a lot of people having problems with Asus boards and I have yet to have a single issue with Gigabyte ones hence why I suggested it ;)

Stoner81.
 
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