Spec me a PC

magicroundabout

magicroundabout

magicroundabout

Soldato
Joined
20 Apr 2008
Posts
3,864
Location
West Midlands
Hi all,

long time out the loop for building a PC but my son is after one for xmas.

I've no idea what is current specs etc but basically i'm after something around the £300 mark.
Is this at all possible?

Any help would be appreciated
 
Hi Magic, the Member's Market here which you have access too should be a good source for some used items (processor, RAM, GPU). Those could be coupled with a new PSU, motherboard and drive. Unless you find a great all-in-one offer.

The budget is way too small for Windows USB or DVD so hope you know other means or have that sorted already. Hopefully you also have a monitor and peripherals sorted.
 
Hey Danny thank you for your reply.

All peripherals are sourced already.

I know the budget is low so was also hoping someone who is selling a PC may see also and offer me a fully built unit.

I'm not sure where to start on CPU/Motherboard etc.

Last build i had was in my sig :)
 
magicroundabout said:
Hey Danny thank you for your reply.

All peripherals are sourced already.

I know the budget is low so was also hoping someone who is selling a PC may see also and offer me a fully built unit.

I'm not sure where to start on CPU/Motherboard etc.

Last build i had was in my sig :)
Click to expand...

Alright. Hope you do get fully built offers. If you end up going for separate, so many ways to go about it but starting with processor:

CEX have used i7-4820K going for £75, which is a steal. That route would depend on finding a used socket 2011 board for £50 (not sure if too plausible) and 8GB DDR3 RAM for £25 (very plausible, see them going in the MM for that money apart from a few that ask way too much).

Which would leave £150 for PSU (£40), 1TB HDD (£40) GPU (£70 for GTX 960, GTX 770, RX 280 etc along those lines). Then just find a cheap case and cooler, and won't be too much over £300. The tricky one here is the 2011 board, but the possibility of a i7-4820K is very tempting lol.

I'll have a look at other options because it's something I enjoy, and let you know if there's something good.
 
cheers Danny i really do appreciate this help.

Spec looks good so need to snipe a bargain it seems.

What kind of games could my lad be playing on this and at what graphics resolution?
 
I played GTA V with my old GTX 680 on Mid/High settings at 1080p no problem (60-ish fps). Just a question of finding the right settings for each game. That's still a demanding game. GTX680 is a tad slower than a GTX 770/RX 280, for comparison.

I'm playing Fortnite Battle Royale a lot now, it's free and great, with a GTX 970 that stomps it on high/ultra at 1080p (90-130 fps). Those older cards I mentioned would have no problems with it either. Doom is another game that churns out a lot of fps, so he'd get great performance on that even on high/ultra. Less demanding than GTA, Witcher 3, BF 1 and such. So yeah it depends on the game but it will cope with every game, and the processor won't let it down.

Just be sure you can source a 2011 board before going that route! They are quad channel but can also run dual channel in the slots the motherboard manual indicates.
 
Sometimes see Corsair CX 450W grey label (avoid older green label) with 5 year warranty, for £40-ish. Quite decent option for that money. Has 2 x PCIe cables which not all 450W's do.

And it's an X79 motherboard you'd be looking for. Ideally with the BIOS updated to take Ivy Bridge-E processors like the 4820K.
 
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