Recomend the best CPU for about £150

[bombardinii]

Can you please recommend me the best CPU and motherboard that would fit a £500 computer build? I would like Intel.

[Bonebreaker777]

Need to be more specific.
What are you going to use the PC for?
Do you need a monitor plus peripherals as well?
Do you need a OS?
Do you need a dedicated GPU (for gaming) or the Intel IGP is fine?

Edit: tried to put together a build,but with a £500 budget and the uncertainty if you wish to have a monitor plus and OS included - is hard.

[bombardinii]

Oh yes I am very sorry
No I am not in need of a monitor or any peripherals except a wireless internet card.
I do not need an OS.
I need a dedicaed GPU as I will be mainly gaming on this rig.

[EndlessWaves]

Intel don't do multiple ranges so there's only one socketed CPU at £150 at the moment. The i5-4000 series. Probably the 4590 is the closest to what you want.

[bombardinii]

I was thinking something like this?
Mobo http://www.scan.co.uk/products/msi-h...dvi-d-hdmi-atx
CPU http://www.scan.co.uk/products/intel...84w-cpu-retail
Its unlocked so room for overclocking if needed?

[EndlessWaves]

I was thinking something like this?
Mobo http://www.scan.co.uk/products/msi-h...dvi-d-hdmi-atx
CPU http://www.scan.co.uk/products/intel...84w-cpu-retail
Its unlocked so room for overclocking if needed?

Except that's a £186 processor. Plus you'll want the Z97 version of the board for overclocking so that's another £4 and you'll probably want to spend more on the cooler. Another £10 say.

So you've got a £200 processor that's about 6% faster at stock speeds than a £150 processor and closer in price to a 5675C or i7-4790 than the rest of the i5-4000 range.

I personally consider the 4670k as an option mid-way between i5s and i7s and overclocking a required part of it's use otherwise it makes little financial sense at the prices Intel charge these days.

Also, that motherboard appears to specialise in supporting old technology with PCI, Serial and Parallel ports. If you don't need that then consider something with more modern technology like an M.2 slot and DisplayPort output. MSI's B85M-G43 for ~£7 cheaper for example.

Finally, we'll see the rest of the Skylake range in a month or two so now is not the ideal time to build if there's no time pressure.

[bombardinii]

Okay well Im planning to have the money by Christmas, I am not the best with computers so could you possibly recomend me a build? I was hoping for about £500 with nothing apart from the computer and insides and networking internet card.

[KeyboardDemon]

If you are planning to buy in December then I would wait until mid-November before you start thinking about what to put into your build, prices and availability now will have changed by then and then so all the planning you do now will go completely to waste. Instead use that time between then and now to learn about the parts and features that are available. Research all of the types of parts you will need, learn about CPUs, GPUs, SSDs/HDDs and PSUs etc... so you would better understand what will be going into your PC and then all you need to do is focus on the specifics, as in which CPU, which GPU etc... Also look at how to build a PC guides on YouTube, watch many, you'd be surprised at how even after watching a few you'll still be picking up some good tips and ideas.

[bombardinii]

Yeah well I have been doing all of that for the last couple of months aha and I have already bought my new computer case. So I took an old pc took everything out of it and put it into my new pc but the mobo was outdated and didn't support the main things from my case. And I have done my research but still I would feel lots better if someone that new more about computers could like give me a build rather then me buying something only to find I didn't get the best I could of. But thankyou for telling me to hold out because I didn't know that the prices would change that much.

[KeyboardDemon]

I would look at the threads on here and then start looking at the specs on listed under people's usernames, such as here in this post where you see the drop down arrow next to KeyboardDemon's system. When I built my first PC I used to do just that, I was a member of a forum and I would look at the specs under people's posts in order to get a good idea about what combinations seemed to work well.

I'd also look at the kind of issues people were posting for help with and after a few months I was confident enough to start offering advice or posting references to other threads on the same topic. I still don't see myself as an expert after 15+ years of building PCs but I have some good ideas from time to time and can even fix some of my own issues now, though not always!

[EndlessWaves]

But thankyou for telling me to hold out because I didn't know that the prices would change that much.

They don't change that much but they can certainly change enough to make something else a better deal, especially combined with new hardware releases.

Now is the worst time to buy this sort of CPU because you've just had a brand new top of the range chip released (6600k/6700k) as well as lots of urgent buying from gamers due to big titles that come out this time of year. Generally the cheapest periods seem to be the start of summer (slow sales, everyone's thinking about outdoorsey stuff) or November/Decemberbecause people spend a lot and there's lots of competition between retailers.

Hence, the sensible thing to do from a technology perspective is to buy the 6600k rather than the 4690k if that's what you're looking at, but you'll pay a hefty premium for it right now and that could well be half the size or less come November.

[bombardinii]

okay thankyou guys for the help I really appreciate it, I will be sure to use your tips and will continue to learn about computers before purchasing mine.

[gupsterg]

Just wanted to verify you require no storage hardware?

i5 4690k can be had for about £135 inc VAT & shipping, about a week ago ebuyer were doing them for £148. If you take the link of the item and run it through "Beat My Price" on Bespoke offers you'll get for £135 IMO.

An Asus Z97 Pro Gamer can be easily had for £90 via "Beat My Price" on Bespoke offers most of the time.

Amazon / ebuyer recently had 16GB of Kingston Fury 1866MHz RAM going for £58, again via Bespoke you could nail it for £48.

So that's about £273 out of your £500, leaving £227 for GPU and CPU cooler.

IMO I'd get a cooler from ebay, for example the Archon SB-E X2 I've got was ridiculous price for performance. Just take a gander at this Thermalright SilverArrow SB-E Special edition going for £35 or best offer.

That would leave you about £192 for decent GPU.

FYI currently some cashback sites give upto 15% back on purchases made on Bespoke offers via "Beat My Price". Yes these cashback sites can be unreliable on paying up but if buying any how and they pay up it's a nice little bonus (CPU/MOBO/RAM @ above prices could net you £41).

As you've stated you're building in Dec I'd start haunting HUK computer section and viewing Amazon Warehouse deals for bits.

[Millennium]

Don't discount the new Skylake 6600k, it may have dropped a little in price before Christmas, granted it's not going to wipe the floor with a 4690k but it's the newer equivalent. That will mean spending a little more on a z170 platform though.

[bombardinii]

Yes well I am going through websites and checking prices daily but all the main deals are in US and I'm UK so the shipping is through the roof. And also the problem with me doing this is yes I have a job so I'm getting money but I'm 15 so it's only £16 a week so i was going to buy a part every so often but then I thought with shipping costs it would make sense to get it all at once unless it's free shipping. And that is why I already have my case because it had a deal on with free shipping. Could you recommend some websites for UK to get some good computer deals?
Also I'm getting some say wait for Skylake to drop in price and I'm not sure what to do? Because I'm only gaming doing some Photoshop and watching videos. and I have also been told that there is no point paying the extra for Skylake at the price it currently is as the improvement isn't worth the money at the moment?

[techflunkie]

I know there are a lot of people that really prefer Intel but if its going to be mostly a gaming rig in that price range I'd look into AMD solution for the processor and spring for a better graphics processor.