A first time gaming PC build with an £800 budget.

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Lumpydisk

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Sep 2, 2013
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As the title suggests, this is my first attempt at a gaming PC build. I have a rather modest budget of £800 with a little room to go over if absolutely necessary. As you guys are more knowledgeable than I, if you could provide feedback on a few things:

  • Will this set up run?
    Will this at least last a year or two, without upgrading?
    Are there any other absolute essentials I need?
This is intended to be a near bare bones build, with occasional bits and bobs added on later.


My build is.
It all comes to around £820, Ideally I'd like to drop the cost, but if I can manage to keep it around this price, that'd be great.
 
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gopher1369

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That graphics card is poor. Get rid of it. If you want to drop the cost lose the Core i5 processor and get a Core i3 3220. Use the money you free up to get a proper graphics card, something like the Nvidia 660.

Why a 3rd generation processor though? These 3rd generation Ivybridge processors have recently been replaced with 4th generation Haswell processors.


The Samsung SSD isn't considered to be very good (the write speeds are terrible). Swap it for a different make/model. The Sandisk Ultra Plus would be a good alternative.

At work so apologies for my rushed reply, I'll try to give you a lengthier reply later today if I can.



Edit: the PSU and case both look like junk as well. I wouldnt go with either of those.
 
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gopher1369

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PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/1z2H1

Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/1z2H1/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/1z2H1/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor (£103.36 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87-HD3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£94.64 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Kingston HyperX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£49.09 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Sandisk Ultra Plus 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£72.96 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£86.99 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 660 2GB Video Card (£141.59 @ Aria PC)
Wireless Network Adapter: Asus PCE-N15 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter (£14.99 @ CCL Computers)
Case: Antec Three Hundred Two ATX Mid Tower Case (£58.04 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: SeaSonic G 550W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£76.26 @ Scan.co.uk)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£12.94 @ Amazon UK)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) (£69.66 @ CCL Computers)

Total: £780.52
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-09-02 13:47 BST+0100)

I've probably missed something obvious so if anyone else wanted to just sanity check this....

You asked if possible to reduce the price. If you want to spend more swap out the Core i3 for an i5 4670K and add in a proper cooler and you can overclock away, which would look like....
 
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gopher1369

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PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/1z2KM
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/1z2KM/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/1z2KM/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£184.24 @ CCL Computers)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£22.85 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87-HD3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£94.64 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Kingston HyperX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£49.09 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Sandisk Ultra Plus 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£72.96 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£86.99 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 660 2GB Video Card (£141.59 @ Aria PC)
Wireless Network Adapter: Asus PCE-N15 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter (£14.99 @ CCL Computers)
Case: Antec Three Hundred Two ATX Mid Tower Case (£58.04 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: SeaSonic G 550W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£76.26 @ Scan.co.uk)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£12.94 @ Amazon UK)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) (£69.66 @ CCL Computers)

Total: £884.25
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-09-02 13:51 BST+0100)
 
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gopher1369

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Last post, just noticed the warning on the PC Part Picker website! The voltage of the RAM I selected exceeds the recommended voltage for Haswell. The Corsair Vengeance RAM you suggested in your original post, go with that instead, that will owrk fine.
 
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Lumpydisk

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Sep 2, 2013
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gopher1369

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Hello again :)

Extra case fans and water cooling are probably unnecessary, you aren't going for super high-end components that need masses of cooling, the included case fans will work just fine.

In my second config I listed the Cooler Master Hyper processor cooler. It's not necessary but definitely worth buying, it both cools better and is quieter than the stock fan. I personally never use the stock fans that come with processors, I strongly recommend buying this.

As far as cases are concerned, there are plenty of others you can consider, eg the Fractal Design Core 3000 and the Corsair Carbide 300R, both also well worth a look (Google for some reviews). I went with the Antec because I've used it before. It's plain looking on the outside but well designed on the inside.
 
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gopher1369

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Sorry completely missed the second half of your question. Seasonic are a great make so anything by them. I've read elsewhere on these forums that all XFX power supplies are actually Seasonic PSUs with an XFX badge on them, so consider XFX as well.

Never heard of Aerocool, which initially made me wary. Had to Google them and they seem OK according to this:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Aerocool/GT-700SG/1.html but I've never had any experience with this brand so I can;t really give a proper opinion either way.

Also this: http://www.eggxpert.com/forums/thread/323050.aspx

 
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