£400 Rig?

[HolyFruitLoops]

Just found out I can get Windows OS through my University and Dreamspark, so that should save some money.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I think you're twisting my arm over the AMD chips now, I'm getting out of my depths now as I've never previously played PC games, but would the AMD machine be able to run games such as Battlefield 3? or is a game like that needing a much more powerful and expensive system?

I had the Core i3 2100(slightly slower than a Core i3 3220), and a mate who has a FX6300. We have both the same cards and for the games I play,I consider the FX6300 better. However,between a FX8350 and a Core i5,I would probably take the latter.

For BF3 MP the FX6300 is a decent amount quicker than a Core i3 3240:

http://www.pcgameshardware.de/Battle...hmark-1039293/

Of course this is with a GTX680 and Ultra details,so if you go with high details you can use a slower card. If you were running Skyrim,the Core i3 is probably a bit ahead but then it uses a version of a old engine.

However,I would try to get this card as a minimum:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-m...oogle+shopping

That should put the build upto around £440.

An FX6300 and a HD7850 1GB would be a good budget setup IMHO. As noted earlier once you hit 20 posts you can get free postage from Scan, and the Farcry3 vouchers sell for around £13 to £15 on Ebay,so that should reduce the cost of the card,and you can save another £10 if you shop around for a 500GB hard drive instead of a 1TB one for example.

[HolyFruitLoops]

Thanks for all the help buddy! Think I'm twisted to go for the AMD machine now, or honestly would the better idea be to save up for an i5 machine? and if so how much would you recommend I need for an i5 machine?

I'd love to get into PC gaming, would even consider selling off my consoles etc to free up funds.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Thanks for all the help buddy! Think I'm twisted to go for the AMD machine now, or honestly would the better idea be to save up for an i5 machine? and if so how much would you recommend I need for an i5 machine?

I'd love to get into PC gaming, would even consider selling off my consoles etc to free up funds.

A Core i5 would be more powerful but you would spend more,so it really depends on the budget you have,and what you can spare. For example with a non-overclocked Core i5 you would be looking at a 20% improvement with a £350 graphics card over a FX6300 in BF3 MP,but then you spend 35% to 45% more. Some games can be somewhat faster than that using a Core i5 with a high end card but as you see,the pricing is more or less relative to the performance level you get.

The parts in post 12 for example would be the kind of basic Core i5 rig,I would consider. I think with a bit of shopping around you might be able to get a slightly better mix of parts. I have not specified an overclockable Core i5 as that would eat into your graphics card budget. Of course you could cut down the graphics budget more and get it nearer to £500.

[ik9000]

i know this wouldn't be new, but have you seen this guy's thread? http://forums.hexus.net/classifieds-...d-1tb-hdd.html £360+delivery for a reasonable system. You may need to get your post count up so you can PM him as don't think you'll be able to post in the for sale thread yet.

[Bonebreaker777]

i know this wouldn't be new, but have you seen this guy's thread? http://forums.hexus.net/classifieds-...d-1tb-hdd.html £360+delivery for a reasonable system. You may need to get your post count up so you can PM him as don't think you'll be able to post in the for sale thread yet.

Well, he will need to pick up his posting frequency for something like that

To HolyFruitLoops: Can't but agree with CAT, really depends on your budget. And what you would like to use it for.

[Jake_UK]

This thread reminded me of this £300 build video which the OP might find useful as it shows the 'results' in a couple of games.

[HolyFruitLoops]

Hi guys, I've decided to raise the budget too about £650 but that will need to include monitor, Although I don't need an OS now, so that should save some cash. Ideally like a core i5 machine now.

[Bonebreaker777]

From Scan.co.uk :

CPU : Intel Core i5 3570K - £168.20
MB : MSI Z77A-G43, Intel Z77 - £69.30
RAM : 2x4GB Corsair DDR3 Vengeance LP 1600MHz - £38.20
SSD : 128GB SanDisk 2.5" - £66.40
PSU : 450W XFX Pro Core Edition - £35.40 (not really sure but I think a 450W PSU would be pushing it a bit) EDIT: But Google says it should be fine.
GPU : 1GB MSI Radeon HD 7850 4800MHz-GDDR5-1GB, GPU-900MHz-1024 Cores - £119.70
LCD : 22" LG IPS224V-PN IPS Monitor - £107.10
Cooling : Arctic Cooling Freezer 13 - £20.70
Case : One of your choice - £25
Optical drive : Skipped - £00

Or replace the first FOUR items with a Scan.co.uk [Intel Core i5 3570K Combo] - Better motherboard and 2TH HDD instead of SSD.

Total : £650 with free shipping after 20 posts.

[Bonebreaker777]

From Novatech :

CPU : Intel Core i5 3570K - £180.00
MB : MSI Z77A-G41, Intel Z77 - £63.00
RAM : 2x4GB Crucial Ballistix Sport DDR3 1600MHz - £33.60
SSD : 128GB SanDisk 2.5" - £73.00
PSU : 450W XFX Pro Core Edition - £37.00 (not really sure but I think a 450W PSU would be pushing it a bit) EDIT: But Google says it should be fine.
GPU : 1GB MSI Radeon HD 7850 4800MHz-GDDR5-1GB, GPU-900MHz-1024 Cores - £130
LCD : 22" LG IPS224V-PN IPS Monitor - £110.00
Cooling : Gelid Tranquillo Rev 2. - £23.00
Case : One of your choice - £25
Optical drive : Skipped - £00

Bundle here is not really worth it.

Total : £675 with free shipping, £27.30 cashback.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The parts come from Ebuyer. The HD7870 Myst Edition 2GB is around the same speed as a GTX660TI 2GB or HD7950 3GB at 1920X1080. It is bascially a HD7870 Special Edition card which uses a version of the GPU found in the HD7950.

Some of the more modern games can easily push 1.5GB of VRAM at higher settings and games like BF3 can push graphics cards.

I would get this case:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

The case can take long cards and has decent cooling. Here is a review:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4913/b...uch-can-39-can

The build should be around £660 to £670. You can save some money going for a GTX660 if £650 is a hard limit.Its a bit slower but most models sould be a bit quieter than HD7870 Special Edition cards.

The CPU cannot be overclocked,but again that is because going for a more expensive CPU and motherboard would reduce the graphics card budget.

[Bonebreaker777]

From eBuyer :

CPU : Intel Core i5 3570K - £167.40
MB : Gigabyte GA-Z77P-D3, Intel Z77 - £63.00
RAM : 2x4GB Crucial Ballistix Sport DDR3 1600MHz - £30.40
SSD : 128GB SanDisk 2.5" - £70.50
PSU : 450W XFX Pro Core Edition - £41.00 (not really sure but I think a 450W PSU would be pushing it a bit) EDIT: But Google says it should be fine.
GPU : PowerColor HD 7850 1GB GDDR5, 1024 Cores - £139.00
LCD : LG IPS234V-PN - 23" - £115.00
Cooling : Gelid Tranquillo Rev 2. - £22.30
Case : One of your choice - £25
Optical drive : Skipped - £00

Bundle here is not really worth it.

Total : £671.60 with free shipping, £10.15 cashback.

[HolyFruitLoops]

Hi Guys,

I've came up with this build



Any ideas on where I could save a few pennies? Is that GPU worth it or better for same price? Would the PSU be okay?

Thanks!

[Bonebreaker777]

Even a 450W good quality PSU would be all right for i5 + 7850. But If you going to have i5 3330, I would say it is a waste of money for you to have a Z77 motherboard, save some money and choose some lower chipset equipped motherboard.

XFX Core Edition Radeon HD 7850 AMD Graphics Card - 2GB - £138.94 vs £149.99 on eBuyer

Choose a different cooler instead of the retail? On the other hand, if you are not going to overclock, you should be all right.

EDIT : Seagate 2TB SATA III 7200rpm 64MB - £68.39 vs 1TB HDD for 59.99 on eBuyer

OCZ Technology 120GB Vertex 2E SSD - Slightly slower but double the size £58.94 vs 49.59 on eBuyer.

And your build is £582 excluding a monitor was there any specific reason why you choose that motherboard? If you are not going to overclock, and you will not use the IGP (the GPU in the CPU) and can live without RAID and Intel Rapid Response, then you could go for literally any motherboard.

[HolyFruitLoops]

Which motherboard chipset would you recommend I go for then?

I'm not planning on overclocking 3GHz should be okay for gaming right?

Thanks for the heads up on the GPU, SSD and the HDD definitely take them into consideration.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The Z77 has some extra features and also and additional SATA3.0 port. Also,if you look at the B75 ATX motherboards from Gigabyte and Asus they cost around the same. The MSI ones cost a bit less,but TBH I am not a fan of some of their cheapers one,as they do have a tendency to underspecifiy the VRMs a bit(it might be more an issue with their AMD motherboards though).

I would only really go with a mATX motherboard if you intend to get a smaller mATX case.

Also,unless OCZ has a new ModXStream Pro out,it was an average design AFAIK which is not that new. TBH,I would go with the XFX PRO 550W I have mentioned before. It is made by Seasonic and gives you extra headroom if you intend to change the graphics card. However,for an HD7850,HD7870 or a GTX660 a decent 450W with a strong 12V line should be enough.

Regarding the graphics card,I would avoid XFX for graphics cards as the warranty is not great. They are fine for PSUs from what I gather but not for graphics cards.