New system. £500 budget?

Dogboy73

Dogboy73

Dogboy73

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Joined
27 May 2004
Posts
693
Location
UK
I'm looking to build a new system soon. But I'm a bit out of touch with the current crop of hardware. I'm thinking about an i3 or hopefully i5 based system running Windows 7 64-bit, 4GB RAM, at least a 500GB HD & a budget but decent gfx card. I don't play to many games these days but I love a blast on the latest FPS. So I'd like a gfx card that can handle the latest games, albeit with the settings turned down a bit where required ;) Is this possible for £500 these days?! Cheers :)
 
Come up with this:

Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5850 Extreme 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **OcUK Exclusive** £99.98
(£83.32) £99.98
(£83.32)
Intel Core i3-2100 3.10GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £89.99
(£74.99) £89.99
(£74.99)
Asus P8H67-M Intel H67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Micro-ATX Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** £80.40
(£67.00) £80.40
(£67.00)
Microsoft Windows 7 Bundle - Home Premium 64 Bit £68.40
(£57.00) £68.40
(£57.00)
Options applied to the above product:
Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (WD5000AAKX) £32.99
(£27.49) £32.99
(£27.49)
Cooler Master Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black (with 500w Elite Power PSU) £64.99
(£54.16) £64.99
(£54.16)
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £32.99
(£27.49) £32.99
(£27.49)
OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
(£14.16) £16.99
(£14.16)
Sub Total : £405.61
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £11.25
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £83.37
Total : £500.23
 
Something like this? (No OS included)

Intel Core i5-2300 2.80GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £139.99
(£116.66) £139.99
(£116.66)
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5850 Extreme 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **OcUK Exclusive** £99.98
(£83.32) £99.98
(£83.32)
Asus P8H67-M Intel H67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Micro-ATX Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** £80.40
(£67.00) £80.40
(£67.00)
Cooler Master Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black (with 500w Elite Power PSU) £64.99
(£54.16) £64.99
(£54.16)
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £32.99
(£27.49) £32.99
(£27.49)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST3500413AS) £29.99
(£24.99) £29.99
(£24.99)
Samsung SH-S222AB/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
(£14.16)

Total: £477.94
 
Doesn't the 500W Elite Power PSU only have 1 PCI-E 6 pin power connector?

This would involve the use of an adapter to provide the second 6 pin supply for the 5850.

Elite Power 500W

The OP should be aware of this when they come to connect everything up.
 
Intel Core i3-2120 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £99.98
(£83.32) £99.98
(£83.32)
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5850 Extreme 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **OcUK Exclusive** £99.98
(£83.32) £99.98
(£83.32)
Microsoft Windows 7 Bundle - Home Premium 64 Bit £68.40
(£57.00) £68.40
(£57.00)
Options applied to the above product:
Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (WD5000AAKX) £32.99
(£27.49) £32.99
(£27.49)
MSI H67MA-E35 Intel H67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Micro-ATX Motherboard - (Sandybridge) **B3 REVISION** £59.99
(£49.99) £59.99
(£49.99)
OCZ StealthXStream 2 600W Power Supply £50.99
(£42.49) £50.99
(£42.49)
Cooler Master Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black £33.98
(£28.32) £33.98
(£28.32)
Corsair Value 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Low Voltage Dual-Channel Kit £33.58
(£27.98) £33.58
(£27.98)
Sony DDU1681S-0B 18x DVD-ROM (Black) - OEM £13.99
(£11.66) £13.99
(£11.66)
Sub Total : £411.57
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £11.25
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £84.56
Total : £507.38

£496.13 with Free Shipping
 
Here is my spec for you, now it is somewhat over the budget but it will devour pretty much any game you throw at it depending on the resolution you game at. If you can't stretch this far then we can change the CPU to something lower and buy a cheaper case. It includes a 500GB HDD, Windows 7 and a decent video card for the money.

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI GeForce GTX 560Ti Twin FrozR II 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £178.99
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM £157.99
1 x MSI P67A-C45 Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** £89.98
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-00599) £79.99
1 x Antec High Current Gamer 620W Power Supply £59.99
1 x Cooler Master HAF 912 Plus Case - Black £54.98
1 x Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £32.99
1 x Samsung SpinPoint F1 750GB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD753LJ) £26.99
1 x Arctic Cooling Freezer 13 High Performance CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775/1155/1156/1366/939/AM2/AM2+) £22.99
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98
Total : £735.88 (includes shipping : £12.50).

Stoner81.
 
I would have to disagree with most of the specs suggested so far. Getting an i3 is not recommended if you plan to play any of the newer games as these now utilize all 4 cores. I also don't like the look of the OcUK 500W PSU that comes with the Coolermaster 430 case. As long as you don't mind going AMD over Intel I would recommend this:


YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus GeForce GTX 560 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £146.39
1 x AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition "125W Edition" 3.20GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £83.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Bundle - Home Premium 64 Bit £68.40
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (WD5000AAKX) £32.99
1 x BeQuiet Pure Power L7 530W Power Supply £44.99
1 x Antec 100 One Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case - Black £43.99
1 x Gigabyte GA-M68MT-S2 (AM3) Motherboard - Retail £36.00
1 x Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £32.99
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98
Total : £505.72 (includes shipping : £00.00).

Gives you something to look at. If you can go over budget and don't need an OS then go for something close to Ridell's build but get the PSU seperate from the case.
Also depends on if you are willing to overclock, if not interested than the i5 might be a better idea (the non k version of course)
 
DJ how dare you!!! Stealing my budget AMD build suggestions, although in fairness you have saved me spec'ing a rig lol

I will post a link so the OP can compare CPUs i3 vs i5 and AMD.

In short the 965 is on par with an i3 2100. Although in games that want a quadcore the 965 will beat it. Of course an i5 is a better core system but a decent mobo and i5 CPU is gonna eat half your budget up.

I would change DJ's spec slightly. Change the GPU for the 5850 which is on offer and has excellent performance for the price. Also swap the mobo for Gigabytes GA-880GM-UD2H (£58) slightly more expensive but a better mobo with more RAM slots.

What DJ didnt mention is that you can make the 955 a 965 by upping the mulitplier in the bios. You get a £15 more expensive CPU for pressing a couple of buttons.

I would agree with Surveyor about the PSU, I usually make that observation on that bundled case and PSU. Your GFX card may come with a molex adapter but if it doesnt your stuck till you get one. You wont have any issues with that Bequiet psu and has plenty of power for your needs.

Good luck with the build, any problems or questions come back to us

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/289?vs=102
 
honosuseri said:
DJ how dare you!!! Stealing my budget AMD build suggestions, although in fairness you have saved me spec'ing a rig lol

I will post a link so the OP can compare CPUs i3 vs i5 and AMD.

In short the 965 is on par with an i3 2100. Although in games that want a quadcore the 965 will beat it. Of course an i5 is a better core system but a decent mobo and i5 CPU is gonna eat half your budget up.

I would change DJ's spec slightly. Change the GPU for the 5850 which is on offer and has excellent performance for the price. Also swap the mobo for Gigabytes GA-880GM-UD2H (£58) slightly more expensive but a better mobo with more RAM slots.

What DJ didnt mention is that you can make the 955 a 965 by upping the mulitplier in the bios. You get a £15 more expensive CPU for pressing a couple of buttons.

I would agree with Surveyor about the PSU, I usually make that observation on that bundled case and PSU. Your GFX card may come with a molex adapter but if it doesnt your stuck till you get one. You wont have any issues with that Bequiet psu and has plenty of power for your needs.

Good luck with the build, any problems or questions come back to us

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/289?vs=102
Click to expand...

I'm stealing knowledge off everyone and using it to make me look clever :)
 
It's all good mate, was only teasing ;)

If the OP could stretch to £600 he could swing a decent i5 system and a "good" GPU. As you well know DJ £500 is a tricky price point for a budget gaming build.
 
I like the look of RJC's build. If you could stretch the extra £10 over budget to get a p67 board, I think it would be worth it. That way you'd have the i3 for current gaming titles and if it begins to show its age down the line you can pick up a cheap i5 or i7 or even ivybridge slap in in then overclock its nuts off. For £10 extra seems to make sense to leave the future upgrade option a bit more open.
 
Wow! thanks people. plenty to think look at there. I should have mentioned that I don't have a copy of Windows 7. I'm still on XP (full current spec is shown in my signature). With that in mind I guess I'm looking at an i3 if I'm going to stay with Intel, which I would like to. With a decent mobo I can always upgrade further down the line.
 
Well the key word in the original post was "SOON". What we are suggesting is for buying now, prices are changing weekly. Bulldozer may even be released by the time the OP wants to build adding more options for debate.

I know the AM3 socket is at the end of it's life. However it does work out as a cheaper core system and still has plenty of "poke" for gaming. The money you save can be redirected to the GPU funds as DJ has shown.

I agree with your point about the mobo Mr. knight, if the OP goes the intel route it would make sense to get the best chipset the budget will allow. However the 965 is on par with the i3 and by the time he wants to upgrade he can reuse the other parts and opt for a new CPU and MOBO combination, which may infact give him better options at that time.
 
Last edited:
how's this?


YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-2300 2.80GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £139.99
1 x Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5850 Extreme 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **OcUK Exclusive** £99.98
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Bundle - Home Premium 64 Bit £68.40
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (WD5000AAKX) £32.99
1 x Cooler Master Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black (with 500w Elite Power PSU) £64.99
1 x MSI H61M-P23 Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard **B3 REVISION** £43.99
1 x Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £32.99
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98
Total : £499.32 (includes shipping : FREE).

you can get free shipping by linking your shop account to your forum account because you have more than 100 posts, and have been here for more than a year
 
Thanks again. Plenty of ideas there. Based on these ideas I put this together;

14906Untitled-1.jpg


How does it look? It does go a little over budget but it gets me some of the kit from manufacturers I've used before & was very happy with. The case I picked I used for a budget home PC build I did for a work colleague a few months back. I was really impressed with this case for the money. I think the gfx card people recommended is a definite at the moment. looks like one of the best cards around at under £100. I also went for a Gigabyte mobo as I've used Gigabyte for four or five previous builds I've done & I've been really pleased with them. I should have pointed out as well that I never bother with the overclocking thing. I can't really be bothered with all that so I always run everything as it comes.

Cheers ;)
 
I would switch the PSU for the bequiet 530W, same price and it's a better branded PSU.

I would still opt for the XMS RAM over the OCZ. When are you thinking of buying? That 5850 is usually £125 it's on offer at the moment.
 
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