Sub 450 GBP gaming PC build log!

[MrRockliffe]

So my family and I have put a little bit of money together for a computer this Christmas for my mother and little brother and sister. For my mother, she wants a quick computer and a nice monitor (so nothing fancy) however my little brother and sister want to play games on the computer (Minecraft and many other games over the next few years) so it needs to play games now and for the next few years without much, if any, servicing needed as I'll be off to University next summer. Budget was around £450 and to my pleasant surprise, it was plenty to build a very capable gaming computer!

This is what I've chosen:

Pentium G3220
Kingston V300 120GB SSD
Gigabyte H81M-H
Sapphire R7 260x
EVGA 430W PSU (way overkill, but I'd rather the load be less and therefor be quieter and less demanding)
4GB HyperX Fury
Fractal Design Core 1100
LG 24 Inch IPS Monitor
Logitech Wireless Keyboard + Mouse combo

Total price was £438.62 with everything purchased on Amazon UK (I'm sure I could have got things a little cheaper elsewhere, but I like Amazon's service so it's worth paying that little bit extra, plus being a student free prime for 6 months!

I'll keep this updated when I start building it (within the next few weeks so I can get it done before the manic Christmas period with College). A few things I could use some help with is restricting what a user can do on Windows 8 - I've never had to do this before. I'll be creating a separate account for the kids, and don't want them to have the ability to change anything really (programmes etc etc) so any help would be much appreciated.

If anyone would like me to do some gaming benchmarks (obviously within reason as it's only a 120GB SSD) then I can, just so you can get a feel for how it'll perform for anyone in a similar position looking to do the same thing.

Pictures can be included if you want, as well as any other mini reviews of any of the components above

[SUMMONER]

I think you are underestimating the ability of the little ones to download stuff off the Internet. Get a bigger SSD, or pair it with a hard drive and then move the documents, downloads, music, etc folders for each user into a folder on that.

[MrRockliffe]

They won't have access to the internet freely - use will be limited as they each have iPods for that sort of thing.

[Pob255]

If there's still time to swap bits I'd look at the Fractal Design Core 1300, it's only a couple of quid more but it's got far better cable management and a better layout.

as to photos, yes please.

[scaryjim]

They won't have access to the internet freely ....

Unless your mother is some kind of network admin genius, if the computer can connect to the internet at all your little brother and sister will be all over the internet downloading any and all of the crudware they can get their hands on. I'd totally support the recommendation for additional storage. Also, make sure they have their own non-admin accounts so your mum has to approve anything they try to install (which will work great until she gets sick of being asked for the password all the time and just gives them it).

Seriously, don't under-estimate the power of children to ruin the family computer for everyone else (I've had to nuke at least one computer for a client because of their kids). If you're concerned about spiralling costs just go with a spinning rust drive instead of an SSD - I know everyone raves about the performance boost but Windows 8 is actually pretty efficient at caching and I've not really noticed any lack of performance on my new laptop (with a 1TB HDD) compared to my old one with a 120GB Kingston HyperX SSD....

[MrRockliffe]

The computer isn't for them to freely use - only between certain hours. For example, between half 5 and half 6 is homework time, and that's the only time they have access to it, and that's just to their school website. An hour each day at the weekend will be for minecraft.

I looked at that case, but my mum preferred the one I ordered - she did find one she liked but it was 80 ish pounds (350D). She's aware of the fact were getting the computer because she needs to be shown how to remove parts from the computer and stuff (I'm going to show her the basics so if there's a problem with it, I can help diagnose it and she'll know what to do; it'll save her from being ripped off by a PC shop).

But seriously, access time to the computer will be extremely strict and they won't have free access to the computer at all.

Are there any Web browsers that offer restricted access to certain websites or something? Until they've learned enough about computers it's safer that this is done - they've just started using them at their school).

In the future when they've got more access I may advise my mum that it'd be a good idea to get extra storage.

Thanks for the input

[SUMMONER]

It's build in. Microsoft Family Safety

- deny/allow access to certain categories of websites
- manual deny/allow lists for you to specify individual websites of your choice
- deny/allow access to specific programs
- a schedule, to limit hours spent on the computer each day

You need to create/sign-in with a Microsoft/Hotmail/Outlook.com account. Once you have it all setup on the website/computer, you will be able to alter usage schedules/access lists remotely by signing into the Family Safety website. It even allows you to monitor what the little ones have been up to.

I have used it on a few Windows 7 computers and it works rather well.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I would try and get a Core i3 - some of the newer games are starting to have problems with dual cores without HT.

Edit!!

This monitor is around £100:

http://www.ebuyer.com/611907-asus-vs...onitor-vs239nv

[MrRockliffe]

At 9 years old, they won't be playing the latest games, plus the i3 is ~50 pounds more than the pentium. For the monitor, I went with the LG one because I've seen the monitor in action and really liked it.

Stuff is already ordered and will be here today so no part changing now :/

[Biscuit]

Im a bit surprised this didn't go the route of FM2+, would have thought it would be exactly the right product for the job.

[MrRockliffe]

I looked at it, but this route was a similar price and offered much better gaming performance.

[MrRockliffe]

Parts have arrived! Yes, this is the first time I've cleaned my room (and by clean, I mean moving everything to places where I'm not taking pictures of) for a few weeks (and by weeks I mean a month).

Next step - partially build it on the motherboard box and test to make sure all parts are working outside of the case.

[MrRockliffe]

Preparing for the truth. http://i1193.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSC_0209.jpg

Possibly the only time us men read a manual? http://i1193.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSC_0206.jpg

This RAM looks incredible. I may have to buy some, even though I really don't need it! http://i1193.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSC_0208.jpg

Question time; does it blend? Wait, no I mean POST. http://prntscr.com/59ytc8

YES! So far, everything works



Time for everything to go into the computer case

[MrRockliffe]

And so it begins, the transition into the case, and what a beautiful case it is! http://i1193.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSC_0215.jpg

Progress update #1

Motherboard, CPU, Cooler, RAM, Fan and PSU installed. Now time to do a little pre-routing. http://i1193.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSC_0216.jpg

Progress update #2

Everything except the graphics card plugged in and installed. Next step - hammer time! No, not that... GPU time! http://i1193.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSC_0217.jpg

Progress update #3

All installed Just need to do some extra cable tidying and the build is complete http://i1193.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSC_0218.jpg

Progress update #4

Computer is complete. Considering the lack of cable routing options, it doesn't look too bad thanks to that HDD mounting bracket thingy





But wait, what's this? ANOTHER parcel? I had better take a look! http://i1193.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSC_0221.jpg

http://i1193.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSC_0222.jpg

Can you guess what it is yet? (Australian accent)

http://i1193.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSC_0224.jpg
http://i1193.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSC_0225.jpg

As you can now tell, my one plus one arrived today I'm not sure if I like it yet, will update once I've had a good play with it. Size isn't an issue - it's no bigger than my Z1

[Bonebreaker777]

Like the picture guide and congrats to your build. Nice and tidy.

Shame about not choosing FM2+. You would have more performance I would say.

[MrRockliffe]

Like the picture guide and congrats to your build. Nice and tidy.

Shame about not choosing FM2+. You would have more performance I would say.

I was looking at benchmarks and the 260x offers better performance than a 7850k