[Build ready] £600 budget gaming PC!

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bioSLOTH

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Nov 16, 2013
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So here is my final build! I have to say thanks to Rammy on this site for his/her advice. If you guys have any opinions/suggestions then let me know!

CPU: Intel Core i5-3470 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£136.06 @ Ebuyer)
Motherboard: ASRock H77 Pro4-M Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£54.99 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: Kingston Blu Red Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£55.38 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£46.45 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Sapphire Dual-X Radeon R9 270X OC 2GB (£150 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case (£30.99 @ Ebuyer)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£54.62 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer (£12.36 @ Amazon UK)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) (£69.99 @ Dabs)
Total: £601.85
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-11-21 22:52 GMT+0000)

Let me know what you guys think of the build? upgradability? future directions? cpu cooler needs? I've spent a good month researching this, and am very happy with what i've managed to achieve with a £600 budget, but there is always room for improvement!
 
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Trustdesa

Trustdesa

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Nov 2, 2013
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Get an 1150 CPU / Motherboard so you can upgrade to core i7 when this will lower in price keeping your investment worth in the long run. I spent exactly the same amount of money (well more or less) and I have got:

- Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced USB 3.0 Mini ITX Case
- Gigabyte Z87N-WIFI Motherboard Express, DDR3, S-ATA/600, Mini ITX, PCI Express 3.0, USB 3.0
- Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600 Mhz CL9 XMP Performance
- Intel Core i5 4570 Quad Core Retail CPU (Socket 1150, 3.20GHz, 6MB, Haswell, 84W
- Zalman ZM500-GS 500W ATX Power Supply
- Sapphire Radeon R9 270X OC DUAL
- SSD Samsung 840 EVO

It is a small missile, load in a few seconds and it runs everything I throw at it! Plus I would be able to upgrade cpu to i7 anytime and with PCI 3.0 you would still be able to upgrade to future powerful graphic card (if needed).



 
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Rammy

Rammy

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Sep 3, 2012
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o/

So that people don't duplicate everything I said in the previous thread-
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-1885000/opinions-wanted-600-gaming.html

You know most of my thoughts already. I think for £600 all in, you'll struggle to equal something of that kind of quality, but then, I'm pretty biased.
I'd still go for the 7870XT over a 270X, especially considering it's cheaper, but there's not a vast difference in performance.
Ideally, you want 2*4Gb of ram to enable dual channel, but it's not the end of the world.
 
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bioSLOTH

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Nov 16, 2013
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i ended up going for the non-xt for three reasons 1) i read a lot a lot of forum posts from people with the XFX 7870xt complaining of driver issues. about 1/2 of them sent the card back! 2) sapphire seem to be renowned for low temp and power 3) with £10 p+p from aria it wasn't any cheaper.

I know if all went well, I would be getting a sig. boost in performace at the high end, but i'd rather the reliability of this card.
 
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Rammy

Rammy

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Sep 3, 2012
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Yeah that's totally reasonable, the 7870XT is definitely an anomaly, it pops up in so many recommendations over the last year as it's always been incredibly well priced. For something that is incredibly close to a HD7950 in performance, it's been among the best mid range bang/buck there is. I imagine due to it's confusing name it never got much manufacturer support, only about 4or5 cards ever came to market so there wasn't much choice.

The 270X and HD7870 are basically the same thing, and perfectly acceptable mid range cards. Given the fact a GTX660 is a bit cheaper and very similar in performance (it also has a size/power advantage too) it's also worth consideration, but I'm sure you'll be perfectly well served by a 270X.
 
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bioSLOTH

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Nov 16, 2013
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Yeah i had a good look at the gtx 660 (specifically the zotac version). As you say, very similar - but i'm just more drawn to the 7870s. Having read a fair bit over the last few weeks, my general impression is that everyone online is in love with 7870s :D. Regarding 7870 vs r9 270x - i agree, as fair as i'm concerned they are one and the same. But the 270x is a bit newer and i'm a sucker for that.

@Trustdesa I will look into a switch to haswell, the reason behind my current choice is simply that the 3470 ivybridge performs a bit better than the 4430 haswell and the same price point. but the upgradabiliy is worth considering. As a rough adjustment, how about this?

CPU: Intel Core i5-4430 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (1150)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B85M-HD3 Motherboard
Memory: Kingston Blu Red Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£55.38 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Kingston Technology 120GB Solid State Drive 2.5-inch V300 SATA 3
Video Card: Gigabyte NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 2GB Windforce Card
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case (£30.99 @ Ebuyer)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£54.62 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer (£12.36 @ Amazon UK)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) (£69.99 @ Dabs)
 
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bioSLOTH

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Nov 16, 2013
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Yeah in reality I'm buying everything from amazon uk except for the graphics card, which I will get from CCL (free delivery and free games offer).

Thanks for the concern though!
 
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bioSLOTH

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Nov 16, 2013
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Last night amazon.co.uk posted the Haswell i5-4570 for £109! So i snapped it up fast and am now committed to a 1150 build. Mastermace has a good point - and for this reason I am not too interested in getting a great mobo. The next time i upgrade it will probably be for mobo, DDR4 RAM and sli/crossfire GPU. With this in mind, does anyone have suggestions for a budget 1150 mobo in the <£50 range?
 
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