Ideas needed for a cheap build - £300 quid(ish)

[Scotspaul]

Hi,
my mate has asked me to build him a PC to replace his old vista laptop, which is now full to the brim of music (he's an itunes junkie)

He will be using his TV as the monitor, at least to start with, and onboard graphics with a view to getting a video card later when he has the funds. Priority now is just to get him a working basic pc.
So no monitor, gfx or OS required.
Will need at least 1tb storage though, and wireless keyboard & mouse.
I did have a brows throught he shop last week but a lot of the items i picked were on offer so just wondered whats possible?

He'll largely be using it for web browsing, itunes, and maybe a little light gaming.

 

[Bacon?]

Will he need an OS?

 

[Scotspaul]

No, no OS required.

I have come up with - any thoughts?

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-2100 3.10GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £97.99
1 x ASRock H77 Pro4-M Intel H77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £67.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache - OEM (ST31000524AS) £59.99
1 x Fractal Design Core 1000 Midi Tower Case - Black £32.99
1 x Microsoft Wireless Desktop 800 (2LF-00021) £24.98
1 x GeIL Black Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1600C11DC) £23.99
1 x Samsung SH-224BB/BEBE 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £337.02 (includes shipping : £11.75).



If if dropped from an i3 to a pentium i could squeeze in a small SSD for the OS, would that be a good idea?

 

[Bacon?]

You would need a power supply in that spec so you would need to drop to a Pentium like a G840 anyways.

 

[Scotspaul]

How does this look then?

YOUR BASKET
1 x ASRock H77 Pro4-M Intel H77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £67.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache - OEM (ST31000524AS) £59.99
1 x Intel Pentium G840 2.80GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £56.99
1 x OCZ ZS Series 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £49.99
1 x Fractal Design Core 1000 Midi Tower Case - Black £32.99
1 x Microsoft Wireless Desktop 800 (2LF-00021) £24.98
1 x GeIL Black Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1600C11DC) £23.99
1 x Samsung SH-224BB/BEBE 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £346.91 (includes shipping : £12.50).

 

[Krono5]

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD A10-5800K Black Edition 3.80GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Quad Core Processor (AD580KWOHJBOX) £95.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) £72.98
1 x ASRock FM2A55M-DGS AMD A55 Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £44.99
1 x OCZ CoreXtreme 500w '80 Plus' Power Supply £32.99
1 x Xigmatek Asgard III Gaming Case - Black £29.99
1 x Microsoft Wireless Desktop 800 (2LF-00021) £24.98
1 x GeIL Black Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1600C11DC) £23.99
1 x Samsung SH-224BB/BEBE 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £340.90 (includes shipping : FREE).



Only thing I'd say is drop the wireless kb&m and get some proper wired ones for gaming. CPU's only slightly slower than a 3220 and actually faster than the 2100 while having a very good built in GPU that should be able to play the latest games with reasonable FPS on medium settings.

 

[OliverDavis]

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD A10-5800K Black Edition 3.80GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Quad Core Processor (AD580KWOHJBOX) £95.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) £72.98
1 x ASRock FM2A55M-DGS AMD A55 Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £44.99
1 x OCZ CoreXtreme 500w '80 Plus' Power Supply £32.99
1 x Xigmatek Asgard III Gaming Case - Black £29.99
1 x Microsoft Wireless Desktop 800 (2LF-00021) £24.98
1 x GeIL Black Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1600C11DC) £23.99
1 x Samsung SH-224BB/BEBE 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £340.90 (includes shipping : FREE).



Only thing I'd say is drop the wireless kb&m and get some proper wired ones for gaming. CPU's only slightly slower than a 3220 and actually faster than the 2100 while having a very good built in GPU that should be able to play the latest games with reasonable FPS on medium settings.

As he is using a TV, he may not be sat near the PC/Screen like i wasn't when I first built. The Microsoft 800 KB/M is actually fairly good, mouse isn't smooth enough for gaming so it seems like you are lagging when turning left-right. After a few weeks I hated using the TV, its so blury even at 1080p its ridiculous, having to zoom in on all webpages as text is blurry...

Bought a monitor as soon as funds were available.

But the MS 800 Kit is a good starter

 

[Ethermaster]

My idea,

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD A10-5800K Black Edition 3.80GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Quad Core Processor (AD580KWOHJBOX) £95.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) £72.98
1 x ASRock FM2A55M-DGS AMD A55 Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £44.99
1 x GeIL EVO Leggera 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-14900C10 1866MHz Dual Channel Kit (GEL38GB1866C10DC) £35.99
1 x Cooler Master Elite Power 500W Power Supply £32.99
1 x BitFenix Merc Alpha Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x OcUK Compact Wireless Desktop Set (6309ARF) £19.99
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £13.99
Total : £364.01 (includes shipping : £11.75).



Used faster RAM as the iGPU on the FM2 socket APU's really really perform much much better when the RAM is clocked over 1866Mhz.

I picked a cheap and keyboard and mouse because as at this price point I don't personally feel it makes to much of a different really. ( its cheap it works basically)

 

[Krono5]

1866 only gives around 5% greater performance than 1600, for a budget system the extra £10 is for only an extra couple FPS. However the 2133mhz Geil leggers are only £39 so may be suitable as the jump from 1600-2133 is noticeable.

 

[Mei]

just a heads up, that mobo no hdmi
and OP said will be used on a tv
they could use d-sub or dvi to hdmi adapter? i duno

 

[Bacon?]

That Cooler Master PSU does not come with kettle lead.

 

[stulid]

That Cooler Master PSU does not come with kettle lead.

It's worse than that.

It doesnt have ActivePFC, and other voltage protection that we take for granted on other cheaper PSU's, efficiency rating is around 70%


P.S, do you know you won a case?
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18445186

 

[Bacon?]

I did?

*runs around room screaming(

I bloody love this forum!

 

[Ethermaster]

It's worse than that.

It doesnt have ActivePFC, and other voltage protection that we take for granted on other cheaper PSU's, efficiency rating is around 70%


P.S, do you know you won a case?
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18445186

I know but im getting bored of speccing OCZ PSU's

 

[DN3000]

Can anyone spec me a system as well for the £300/350 price range?
ps i dont need memory, ssd/hdd or a monitor. I wll be using it primarily for gaming (borderlands 2 etc)/browsing and streaming via the tv. At some point i wll probably attach my usb 3.0 external hd to the system.

 

[Idleman]

Can do.

But it would be better if you open your own thread. It will be a lot less confusing.

 

[DN3000]

Ok will do

 

[Scotspaul]

OK sorry to necro this thread but my mate has finally given me 400 quid to build his pc, and i will be ordering the bits tomorrow / Thursday.

A lot of the parts already mentioned are not available any more.

I will need

Case
Mobo
CPU
8gb RAM
1tb HD (Minimum)
Wireless KB/M
PSU
DVD RW
Some means of connecting to internet (Either WIFI or Homeplugs)

When I get home I will put together my own thoughts but as i'm still at work (and bored) I thought I would ask now.

 

[NeostarNeko]

Okay you can try this though it's slightly over budget

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD A10-5800K Black Edition 3.80GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Quad Core Processor (AD580KWOHJBOX) £92.39
1 x MSI A85XA-G65 AMD A85X Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £79.99
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache WD10EZEX - OEM ** Single Platter ** £58.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500W V2 '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020047-UK) £49.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 200R Compact ATX Case - Black - with FREE Corsair Dual Pack AF120 Performance Fans £49.99
1 x GeIL EVO Leggera 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17000C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (GEL38GB2133C11DC) £39.95
1 x OcUK Wireless Media Centre Keyboard - Black (9039ARF) £19.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £13.99
Total : £417.89 (includes shipping : £10.50).

 

[Scotspaul]

Okay you can try this though it's slightly over budget

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD A10-5800K Black Edition 3.80GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Quad Core Processor (AD580KWOHJBOX) £92.39
1 x MSI A85XA-G65 AMD A85X Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £79.99
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache WD10EZEX - OEM ** Single Platter ** £58.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500W V2 '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020047-UK) £49.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 200R Compact ATX Case - Black - with FREE Corsair Dual Pack AF120 Performance Fans £49.99
1 x GeIL EVO Leggera 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17000C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (GEL38GB2133C11DC) £39.95
1 x OcUK Wireless Media Centre Keyboard - Black (9039ARF) £19.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £13.99
Total : £417.89 (includes shipping : £10.50).

That looks pretty good but the 400 budget is firm.
How about I save a few quid and go for this case instead www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-012-XG&groupid=2362&catid=2277&subcat=
Any thoughts? I would rather scrimp on the case than the functional bits but want to maintain a smart appearance.