First Time Builder with limited budget

Pigsy

Pigsy

Pigsy

Associate
Joined
9 Nov 2014
Posts
5
Hi Guys, new to the forum and looking for some advice please. My son wants his first gaming pc and so is relying on me to build it. Don't have too many concerns in building it but the usual question I am sure you have heard a million times, what components!

Limited budget of about £500 for the PC with OS what is the best choice that will play most of the latest gen games on reasonable settings.

I know there are several threads including the sticky with recommended budget build selection, is this still valid?

So many options and no clue as to what is best for the money, could someone recommend a good spec for the medium term.

Sorry for asking questions that probably have already been asked.
 
Hi,

I will just leave this here,

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD Piledriver FX-6 Six Core 6300 Black Edition 3.50GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail £79.99
1 x **B Grade** MSI HD 7870 Black Knight 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card ( (GX-185-MS) £79.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £77.99
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 550W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £59.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite Black 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TPKD38G1600HC11DC01) £59.99
1 x Gigabyte 970A-DS3P AMD 970A (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £50.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £39.95
1 x Xigmatek Echo Midi-Tower - Black £23.99
1 x Raijintek Aidos Direct Contact CPU Cooler - Black £14.99
1 x Pioneer 24x Internal DVR-221LBK DVD Rewriter - OEM £13.49
Total : £515.45 (includes shipping : £11.75).



You will get free delivery - http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18630207
 
 
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Thanks for the initial feedback, is the general consensus that an i5 GPU is a better choice over the AMD?
Also not sure about the SSD, I am aware they have lots going for them but surely 240GB is not enough? Could I build the i5 spec with the Seagate 1TB drive?

Also B grade graphics cards, are they reliable, what is the down side to a B grade card?
 
Bgrade is a used product that has been returned, theres not much Bgrade I would personally buy, but a GFX card is safer than buying a case for example that could be marked/damaged.

You get a 90day warranty with OcUK and whatever remains of the manufacturer warranty.

What does "B-Grade" mean?
B-Grade items are manufacturer's repairs or items we are unable to sell as new, they may be subject to packaging damage or may be a brown box product. All B-Grade items come with a 90 day warranty and may be missing items such as driver CD's and cables. Unfortunately we are unable to provide you with the reason why this is B-Grade as each B-Grade item is different.
Click to expand...


i5 is generally better than AMD especially at games.
 
Pigsy said:
Also not sure about the SSD, I am aware they have lots going for them but surely 240GB is not enough? Could I build the i5 spec with the Seagate 1TB drive?
Click to expand...

240gb is enough for os + programmes, ofcourse if your kid has loads of mp3/movies/media files then it may not be enough.
the advantage of having an ssd is for its speed. and once you've used an ssd, you can never go back.
an alternative is to get the ssd now, and then if you/son feel that 256gb is insufficient, to get a hdd down the line.
 
Its easier to add a HDD later than a SSD as you really want your OS on your SSD and switching it over is hassle.

As 1tb drives are only £40 odd, its not a massive investment later.
 
tamzzy said:
a wee bit overbudget, but...
intel i5 build
256gb ssd as storage

YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus H81M-K Intel Core i5 DIY Micro ATX Motherboard, CPU & RAM Bundle £225.97
1 x **B Grade** MSI HD 7870 Black Knight 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card ( (GX-185-MS) £79.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £77.99
1 x Kingston 240GB SSDNow V300 Drive SATA 6Gb/s 3 2.5" (7mm height) Solid State Hard Drive - (SV300S37A/240G) £64.98
1 x BeQuiet Pure Power L8 400W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply - With 120mm Silent Wing Fan Built in £39.95
1 x Zalman T2 Plus Mini-Tower USB 3.0 - Black £19.99
1 x Pioneer 24x Internal DVR-221LBK DVD Rewriter - OEM £13.49
Total : £531.96 (includes shipping : £8.00).

Click to expand...

Thanks Guys, If I go with this set up but with the 1TB HDD rather than the SSD is that a good set up fully compatible. Will I need a CPU cooler on top?

If the SSD is the better solution, can the 1TB drive be fitted to run in tandem, i.e boot up with the SSD and storage on the HDD, is that possible?
 
You will need to find another case, Zalman have/maybe have not gone bankrupt so stocks may not be replenished.
 
Pigsy said:
Thanks Guys, If I go with this set up but with the 1TB HDD rather than the SSD is that a good set up fully compatible. Will I need a CPU cooler on top?

If the SSD is the better solution, can the 1TB drive be fitted to run in tandem, i.e boot up with the SSD and storage on the HDD, is that possible?
Click to expand...

no, the intel cooler is fine as it is. you're not overclocking.

yes, the full ssd build would be best, but given the budget, you could get a sshd instead of a ssd/hdd combo or ssd alone. the kingston v300 is now not on offer, so it isn't worth the money.
an advantage of having a sshd rather than ssd/hdd combo (other than price) is that there is no confusion over what files needs to go where. given this build is for your son, it may well save some headache.

an alternative:
YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus H81M-K Intel Core i5 DIY Micro ATX Motherboard, CPU & RAM Bundle £227.98
1 x **B Grade** MSI HD 7870 Black Knight 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card ( (GX-185-MS) £79.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £77.99
1 x Seagate SSHD ST500LM000 500GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM £46.99
1 x BeQuiet Pure Power L8 400W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply - With 120mm Silent Wing Fan Built in £41.99
1 x Zalman T1U3 Mini-Tower USB 3.0 - Black £20.99
1 x Pioneer 24x Internal DVR-221LBK DVD Rewriter - OEM £13.49
Total : £523.51 (includes shipping : £11.75).



ps: case is in stock. so no need to worry. in fact, all parts are in stock.
 
tamzzy said:
no, the intel cooler is fine as it is. you're not overclocking.

yes, the full ssd build would be best, but given the budget, you could get a sshd instead of a ssd/hdd combo or ssd alone. the kingston v300 is now not on offer, so it isn't worth the money.
an advantage of having a sshd rather than ssd/hdd combo (other than price) is that there is no confusion over what files needs to go where. given this build is for your son, it may well save some headache.

an alternative:
YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus H81M-K Intel Core i5 DIY Micro ATX Motherboard, CPU & RAM Bundle £227.98
1 x **B Grade** MSI HD 7870 Black Knight 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card ( (GX-185-MS) £79.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £77.99
1 x Seagate SSHD ST500LM000 500GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM £46.99
1 x BeQuiet Pure Power L8 400W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply - With 120mm Silent Wing Fan Built in £41.99
1 x Zalman T1U3 Mini-Tower USB 3.0 - Black £20.99
1 x Pioneer 24x Internal DVR-221LBK DVD Rewriter - OEM £13.49
Total : £523.51 (includes shipping : £11.75).



ps: case is in stock. so no need to worry. in fact, all parts are in stock.
Click to expand...

Ok guys, I went with this set up and have started my first time build. Have stumbled across a couple of issues.

When I inserted the motherboard only 6 of the 7 standoffs lined up with the case, is it ok to leave one? Also the stand offs were already in the case and there were no additional ones in the kit so I assume the one is enough for clearance against the case.

Secondly the Seagate SSHD came on its own in an anti-static bag, no discs, no no brackets or instructions and I can't fathom out how to fit it in the case. The case instructions suggest clamping to the inside of the case but I assume I should have some adapter brackets to do this. Should this have come with the drive or do I have to order these separately.
 
Yea 6 is enough.

You mount the sshd to the 2.5 inch bay. No need for a bracket. The screws to mound the sshd should come with the case

Ewyz2sIl.jpg.png

see the bottom right of this image, that's where the sshd should go...
 
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Thanks tammzy much appreciated fitted nicely.

A couple more questions if I may (sorry for being a pain in the arse), I have a USB 3.0 cable in the case front panel and cannot see a location on the MB for it, is this one redundant? There is a blue usb port in the front of the case under the DVD.

Also when fitting the front panel cable connectors like the power reset and LED's etc is there a +ve and -ve side on the connectors or can they go in either way when there are two pins?

Checked the MB manual but it doesn't make it clear about these issues/

Sorry for all the questions, don't want to damage anything on my first build!
 
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