Need a spec - £500

JeffBaines · 28 May 2013 at 15:22

Hi guys,

Friend is looking to spend £500 on a PC that he can use for gaming. Perhaps can have his arm twisted for a little more provided I can explain the benefits. He's toying between a PC and a PS4 and would like to know how the £500 will compare to a PS4s power.

This is just for the PC itself (case/PSU/mobo/gpu/ram/cpu). Anybody able to start me off in the right direction?

Thanks.

varkanoid · 28 May 2013 at 17:20

Sounds like he wants a PS4 and you want him to have a PC.

You can't really compare a PC with a PS4 power wise. There are loads of threads about it head over to the games / console forum and see the Xbox One Power v PC arguements.

CorrodedTemplar · 28 May 2013 at 17:54

Coolermaster HAF 912 advanced (£75)

XFX 750W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Silver' Power Supply (£85)

Gigabyte GA78LMT USB3 (£40)

Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD 7850 OC Windforce 2X 2048MB GDDR5 (£162)

8GB (2x4GB) Corsair DDR3 XMS3, PC3-10600 (1333), Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 9-9-9-24, 1.50V (£50-55)

AMD Phenom ii x4 965 Black edition (shop around, available for £75 or less)

£492

Shopping around could make it cheaper. That's a solid CPU for the money, the MOBO I have and it's reliable for what it is. The case is a HAF and a good one at that, I also run the same power supply and find it very good.

Could easily save £50 or so with a cheaper case and go down to 4gb ram.

That will blow the PS4 or Xbox 1 out of the water.

Doomedspeed · 28 May 2013 at 18:31

CorrodedTemplar said:
Coolermaster HAF 912 advanced (£75)

XFX 750W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Silver' Power Supply (£85)

Gigabyte GA78LMT USB3 (£40)

Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD 7850 OC Windforce 2X 2048MB GDDR5 (£162)

8GB (2x4GB) Corsair DDR3 XMS3, PC3-10600 (1333), Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 9-9-9-24, 1.50V (£50-55)

AMD Phenom ii x4 965 Black edition (shop around, available for £75 or less)

£492

Shopping around could make it cheaper. That's a solid CPU for the money, the MOBO I have and it's reliable for what it is. The case is a HAF and a good one at that, I also run the same power supply and find it very good.

Could easily save £50 or so with a cheaper case and go down to 4gb ram.

That will blow the PS4 or Xbox 1 out of the water.

That is so awful i don't even know where to start... (OP please ignore this post above)

Case is personal but a £75 case in a £500 build, really?

No need for 750W

Speccing a 4 Year old CPU? It's massively out of date.

The GPU is good...

Can people stop comparing the new consoles to a PC, they are completely different, its impossible to compare them..

Back to the top you can get a good PC for £500, something like:

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7850 OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Cards - £10 Cashback £149.99
1 x AMD Piledriver FX-8 Eight Core 8320 Black Edition 3.50GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail £119.99
1 x MSI 990XA-GD55 AMD 990X Chipset (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99
1 x XFX Pro 550W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £54.98
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £49.99
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £32.99
Total : £502.03 (includes shipping : £11.75).

I personally prefer the Intel i5's but that will come in around £550-£570..

For £500 the 8320 PC is very good.

Ethermaster · 28 May 2013 at 18:43

CorrodedTemplar said:
Coolermaster HAF 912 advanced (£75)

XFX 750W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Silver' Power Supply (£85)

Gigabyte GA78LMT USB3 (£40)

Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD 7850 OC Windforce 2X 2048MB GDDR5 (£162)

8GB (2x4GB) Corsair DDR3 XMS3, PC3-10600 (1333), Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 9-9-9-24, 1.50V (£50-55)

AMD Phenom ii x4 965 Black edition (shop around, available for £75 or less)

£492

Shopping around could make it cheaper. That's a solid CPU for the money, the MOBO I have and it's reliable for what it is. The case is a HAF and a good one at that, I also run the same power supply and find it very good.

Could easily save £50 or so with a cheaper case and go down to 4gb ram.

That will blow the PS4 or Xbox 1 out of the water.

WOW that's an epic fail right there for a £500 gaming rig,

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7850 OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Cards - £10 Cashback £149.99
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £92.99
1 x Asus P8Z77-V LX2 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £49.99
1 x Patriot Intel Extreme Masters 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (PVI38G160C9K) £49.99
1 x Thermaltake Smart Series 530w Modular '80Plus Bronze' Power Supply £49.99
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Midi Tower Case - Black £28.99
Total : £516.04 (includes shipping : £11.75).

Doomedspeed said:
That is so awful i don't even know where to start... (OP please ignore this post above)

Case is personal but a £75 case in a £500 build, really?

No need for 750W

Speccing a 4 Year old CPU? It's massively out of date.

The GPU is good...

Can people stop comparing the new consoles to a PC, they are completely different, its impossible to compare them..

Back to the top you can get a good PC for £500, something like:

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7850 OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Cards - £10 Cashback £149.99
1 x AMD Piledriver FX-8 Eight Core 8320 Black Edition 3.50GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail £119.99
1 x MSI 990XA-GD55 AMD 990X Chipset (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99
1 x XFX Pro 550W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £54.98
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £49.99
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £32.99
Total : £502.03 (includes shipping : £11.75).

I personally prefer the Intel i5's but that will come in around £550-£570..

For £500 the 8320 PC is very good.

No HDD Doom

Doomedspeed · 28 May 2013 at 18:46

Ethermaster said:
No HDD Doom

JeffBaines said:
This is just for the PC itself (case/PSU/mobo/gpu/ram/cpu).

Ethermaster · 28 May 2013 at 18:53

Oppps, you will need one tho OP

CorrodedTemplar · 28 May 2013 at 18:55

Considering that my 4 year old CPU can be the equivalent of an I5 then I suppose you guys have no idea how good the phenom ii black editions are.

Doomedspeed · 28 May 2013 at 19:09

CorrodedTemplar said:
Considering that my 4 year old CPU can be the equivalent of an I5 then I suppose you guys have no idea how good the phenom ii black editions are.

I had a 955 and now i have a 2500k, so i think i do...

The 955 is no where near equivalent to the 2500k let alone the 3570k.

As proved here the 2500k dominates (in some cases upto 50% better, though around 30% average): http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/102?vs=288

And the 2500k is now is 2 year old CPU.

Please don't question us when you don't know the facts yourself.

stulid · 28 May 2013 at 19:44

CorrodedTemplar said:
Considering that my 4 year old CPU can be the equivalent of an I5 then I suppose you guys have no idea how good the phenom ii black editions are.

I know exactly how a PhenomII 955/965BE compares to a i5 2500k/3570K, it doesnt.

And don't suggest the OP shops around either, that is against forum rules.

JeffBaines · 30 May 2013 at 10:51

Ethermaster said:
WOW that's an epic fail right there for a £500 gaming rig,

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7850 OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Cards - £10 Cashback £149.99
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £92.99
1 x Asus P8Z77-V LX2 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £49.99
1 x Patriot Intel Extreme Masters 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (PVI38G160C9K) £49.99
1 x Thermaltake Smart Series 530w Modular '80Plus Bronze' Power Supply £49.99
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Midi Tower Case - Black £28.99
Total : £516.04 (includes shipping : £11.75).

Thanks for much for the speedy reply, I did forget to mention the HDD.. guess I take mine for granted! I'll send him this spec and see how we feels. Thanks.

ubersonic · 30 May 2013 at 11:14

What I came up with:

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7950 OC BE 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (R7950-3GD5/OC BE G) - £10 Cashback £217.99
1 x AMD Piledriver FX-6 Six Core 6300 Black Edition 3.50GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail £95.99
1 x Gigabyte 970A-D3 AMD 970A (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £69.95
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £49.99
1 x Antec VP550P 550W '80 Plus' Continuous Power Supply £49.99
1 x Zalman T1 Mini Tower Case - Black £19.99
Total : £503.90 (includes shipping : FREE).

Trades superfluous CPU performance for GPU performance, cheaper case though actually nicer than the Xigmatek (have built systems in both, the Zalman is a great case and extremely well designed, build quality is insane for the money), PSU is made by Delta so while not a Seasonic is still an A class brand.

olivier renault · 30 May 2013 at 11:49

This weeks only offer, GTX 660 Windforce 2X, £150. Worth a shot if you are thinking of a 7850.

Ethermaster · 30 May 2013 at 12:44

olivier renault said:
This weeks only offer, GTX 660 Windforce 2X, £150. Worth a shot if you are thinking of a 7850.

Good call

a quick refresh,

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660 WindForce 2X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £149.99
1 x AMD Piledriver FX-6 Six Core 6300 Black Edition 3.50GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail £95.99
1 x MSI 970A-G46 AMD 970A (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £64.99
1 x Thermaltake Smart Series 530w Modular '80Plus Bronze' Power Supply £49.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £49.99
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 1TB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA100) HDD £47.99
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Midi Tower Case - Black £28.99
1 x LG GH24NS95 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
Total : £520.92 (includes shipping : £12.50).

stulid · 30 May 2013 at 12:57

ubersonic said:
What I came up with:

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7950 OC BE 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (R7950-3GD5/OC BE G) - £10 Cashback £217.99
1 x AMD Piledriver FX-6 Six Core 6300 Black Edition 3.50GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail £95.99
1 x Gigabyte 970A-D3 AMD 970A (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £69.95
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £49.99
1 x Antec VP550P 550W '80 Plus' Continuous Power Supply £49.99
1 x Zalman T1 Mini Tower Case - Black £19.99
Total : £503.90 (includes shipping : FREE).

Trades superfluous CPU performance for GPU performance, cheaper case though actually nicer than the Xigmatek (have built systems in both, the Zalman is a great case and extremely well designed, build quality is insane for the money), PSU is made by Delta so while not a Seasonic is still an A class brand.

Motherboard and case compatible?

medseven · 30 May 2013 at 13:28

stulid said:
And don't suggest the OP shops around either, that is against forum rules.

Seriously linking competitor's sites and suggesting a certain site is against forum rules as far as I know, but suggesting a certain product can be found below average by 'searching google or shopping around', or saying its good to shop around... ****** no way...

You could pull in a Radeon 7870 Tahiti LE, VTX 7870 Black for **NO COMPETITOR HINTING EITHER!**

snitcher · 30 May 2013 at 13:42

i would choose the Radeon 7870 Tahiti LE anyday, no lags whatsoever in fast moving graphics.

stulid · 30 May 2013 at 14:55

medseven said:
Seriously linking competitor's sites and suggesting a certain site is against forum rules as far as I know, but suggesting a certain product can be found below average by 'searching google or shopping around', or saying its good to shop around... ****** no way...

You could pull in a Radeon 7870 Tahiti LE, VTX 7870 Black for **NO COMPETITOR HINTING EITHER!**

Hopefully the yellow notes and edit of your post will help clarify the rules for you