Gaming set up for £600

kaylanx · 1 Mar 2013 at 16:06

Hi,

I'm looking for the best gaming rig I can buy for £600

I will need everything, case, memory etc etc (I won't need a monitor, keyboard nor mouse)

What do you recommend? I don't know whether to buy a bog standard pc and put in a brilliant graphics card in or build it from scratch. (I have done this before not for a number of years)

Thanks in advance

ianforbes44 · 1 Mar 2013 at 16:13

Do you need an OS?

Incrauze · 1 Mar 2013 at 16:22

Intel i3,

YOUR BASKET
1 x Sapphire HD 7850 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Tomb Raider & Bioshock PC Games £169.99
1 x Intel Core i3-2120 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £99.95
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £83.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £59.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020059-UK) £54.98
1 x TeamGroup Elite 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED38GM1600HC11DC01) £39.95
1 x BitFenix Merc Alpha Gaming Case - Black £32.99
Total : £555.94 (includes shipping : £11.75).

Intel i5 with aftermarket cooler to overclock the CPU

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £187.99
1 x Sapphire HD 7850 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Tomb Raider & Bioshock PC Games £169.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £83.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £59.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020059-UK) £54.98
1 x TeamGroup Elite 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED38GM1600HC11DC01) £39.95
1 x Cooler Master Hyper 612S CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £32.99
1 x BitFenix Merc Alpha Gaming Case - Black £32.99
Total : £676.97 (includes shipping : £11.75).

kaylanx · 1 Mar 2013 at 16:29

Sorry, yes need an OS as well.

Thanks

Idleman · 1 Mar 2013 at 16:53

YOUR BASKET
1 x **B Grade** Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD 7850 OC Windforce 2X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card w/ Nexuiz, Sleeping Dogs & Dirt Showd (GX-100-GI) £129.95
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £92.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £83.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £59.99
1 x GeIL EVO Leggera 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GEL38GB1600C9DC) £44.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430W V2 '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020046-UK) £40.99
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £11.99
Total : £592.86 (includes shipping : £12.50).

honosuseri · 1 Mar 2013 at 17:06

YOUR BASKET
1 x HIS HD 7850 IceQ X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H785QN2G2M) with Tomb Raider & Bioshock PC Games £161.99
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £92.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £83.99
1 x BeQuiet Pure Power L8 530W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply - With 120mm Silent Wing Fan Built in £66.95
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £59.99
1 x Zalman Z9 USB 3.0 Midi Tower Case - Black £54.98
1 x GeIL EVO Leggera 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GEL38GB1600C9DC) £44.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £11.99
Total : £591.96 (includes shipping : £11.75).

Give windows 8 a try for free with the evalutation edition (link). After 3 months you can choose wether to buy 7 or 8. My buddy Idlemans build is quite nice but you don't get the games going B grade.

stulid · 1 Mar 2013 at 17:11

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-191-MS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=411

Is the MSI's longer warranty, faster core speed not worth an extra £3.

kaylanx · 1 Mar 2013 at 17:20

Do I need a heatsink and fan, thermal paste etc? I know I used last time I did this.

stulid · 1 Mar 2013 at 17:22

kaylanx said:
Do I need a heatsink and fan, thermal paste etc? I know I used last time I did this.

The retail CPU comes with a heatsink with paste pre-applied.

The motherboard has the SATA cables included.

honosuseri · 1 Mar 2013 at 17:26

Im not going to get excited over an extra 40Mhz on the stock clocks, the 7850s overclock well so the stock clocks don't really matter.......the extra year on the warranty is nice for such a small amount extra.

I just threw that together to show what's possibubble if he leaves the OS out for now. When we here back from the OP we can tweak something better I'm sure

kaylanx · 1 Mar 2013 at 20:51

Lol, the wife's just bought a "VTX3D Black Edition Radeon HD 7870 (Tahiti LE) OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card" for a good price that she found on hotukdeals with 5 games

So now looking for all of the above except a graphics card for £420 max including OS, still recommend the same specs minus the graphics card?

Cheers

honosuseri · 1 Mar 2013 at 21:12

kaylanx said:
Lol, the wife's just bought a "VTX3D Black Edition Radeon HD 7870 (Tahiti LE) OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card" for a good price that she found on hotukdeals with 5 games

So now looking for all of the above except a graphics card for £420 max including OS, still recommend the same specs minus the graphics card?

Cheers

You'll be better off using the windows 8 evaluation. Anything we spec for £420 with an £80 OS inc. isn't going to do that GPU (basically a 7950) you have justice.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £92.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £83.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £59.99
1 x XFX Pro 550W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £54.98
1 x GeIL EVO Leggera 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GEL38GB1600C9DC) £44.99
1 x NZXT Source 210 Elite Midi Tower Case - Black £39.98
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £11.99
Total : £403.01 (includes shipping : £11.75).

Almost £20 to play with to adjust some parts if you want, different case or a modular PSU etc.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £92.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £83.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.99
1 x XFX Pro 550W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £54.98
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 500GB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA050) HDD £42.95
1 x NZXT Source 210 Elite Midi Tower Case - Black £39.98
1 x Adata XPG Gaming v1.0 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AX3U1600GC4G9-2G) £37.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £11.99
Total : £458.96 (includes shipping : £11.75).

Made some "cuts" and it's still over £420 with the OS. Had I used a B75 mobo it would get closer to £420. I'd rather have the Z77 myself.

kaylanx · 4 Mar 2013 at 20:13

Thanks guys

Doc Holliday · 5 Mar 2013 at 08:42

everyone is pointing down the i3 1155socket route here. What no AMD love?

I think its worth considering the AMD FX 6200 or 6300 and a 990 AM3+ socket mobo if its gaming performance you want for the same price or less. These should beat the i3 / 1155 socket hands down in gaming performance and will make better use of the GPU power you have.

The added plus to this is your not tied into a soon to be outdated Mobo socket and overpriced intel CPU range.

I've been down that route and its expensive trying to keep up.
The new socket coming out might drop the prices slightly, who knows?
Anyhow I'm no expert or AMD diehard but I've just swapped over because of price performance and budget constraints which won't be going away anytime soon.

Happy building

snips86x · 5 Mar 2013 at 10:16

Doc Holliday said:
everyone is pointing down the i3 1155socket route here. What no AMD love?

I think its worth considering the AMD FX 6200 or 6300 and a 990 AM3+ socket mobo if its gaming performance you want for the same price or less. These should beat the i3 / 1155 socket hands down in gaming performance and will make better use of the GPU power you have.

The added plus to this is your not tied into a soon to be outdated Mobo socket and overpriced intel CPU range.

I've been down that route and its expensive trying to keep up.
The new socket coming out might drop the prices slightly, who knows?
Anyhow I'm no expert or AMD diehard but I've just swapped over because of price performance and budget constraints which won't be going away anytime soon.

Happy building

If you really must, the FX-6300 would be the AMD chip of the moment. Intel's are faster clock for clock, but the 6300 is a good competitor to the i3, but not one to beat it.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/699?vs=677