Suggestions on new budget gaming pc

Nathaniel Josephs · Dec 19, 2013

I was thinking of going for a build like this and around this budget, can you guys tell me what you think i should change and possibly advise me on the things i am missing as well

btw all the prices i am just getting from amazon, i am aware i may be able to find them cheaper somewhere else this is just a rough estimate.

CPU: AMD FX6300 Black Edition 6 Core(£82.99)
Motherboard: Asus M5A97 LE R2.0 Motherboard(£54.84) Not 100% sure on this
GPU: not sure at all but keep in mind i want to keep my overall budget below £400-£500
Hard Drive: Western Digital 1TB internal Hard Drive - Caviar Blue (3.5 inch) (£45.49)
Ram: Thinking of 8gb of ram i'd like suggestions on best price for it etc.
PSU: once again need suggestions on this i reckon 500w would end up covering for the system. Please advise me on the best for this!
Case: Not bothered just got to be cost efficient and practical

P.S - i must add the fact that i doubt i would overclock much so that may take an effect on the options you reccomend

legokill101 · Dec 19, 2013

what about os

Nathaniel Josephs · Dec 19, 2013

oh sorry a version of windows 7 forgot to say

legokill101 · Dec 19, 2013

ok here you go http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/2mL0T

logainofhades · Dec 19, 2013

Have to redo my suggestion. Got interrupted and forgot ram. :lol:

Nathaniel Josephs · Dec 19, 2013

thanks mate looks at the sort of thing i was wanting to build the only thing i wanted to ask was the reasons why you picked each part so i can get a better understanding if that makes sense? if that isn't to much trouble of course.

logainofhades · Dec 19, 2013

Took me a bit, but managed to upgrade you to an FX 8320, without sacrificing too much. Would have preferred an ATX case, but had to settle for Micro-ATX to keep from going too high on price.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor (£109.62 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard (£36.96 @ CCL Computers)
Memory: GeIL Black Dragon 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£55.92 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Samsung Spinpoint F1 DT 750GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£34.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB Video Card (£123.90 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£26.98 @ Ebuyer)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£39.92 @ Scan.co.uk)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£11.98 @ Ebuyer)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£67.93 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £508.20
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-19 15:14 GMT+0000)

Nathaniel Josephs · Dec 19, 2013

Thanks for all the replies would you probably say hades build is better for the money as i am getting an upgrade in the CPU as the GPU's look indifferent the only thing i seem to be sacrificing is the size of the HDD which doesn't really bother me

Nathaniel Josephs · Dec 19, 2013

DeathAndPain-1360803 :

Nathaniel Josephs :

Definitely yes. The FX-8320 is still not an amazing chip, but you get what you pay for. I would go Intel and spend a little more, seeing that the CPU is a minor factor in overall PC cost, but a highly decisive factor concerning overall PC performance, but if you are on this unstretchable fixed budget and do not mind a higher electricity bill (seeing that these AMD chips draw a lot more power), then Hades' latest build is an option.

Have you got an intel alternative around the same budget, just out of interest

logainofhades · Dec 19, 2013

DeathAndPain-1360803 :

There is nothing wrong with the FX 8320 either. The power difference would only affect power bill if running F@H or something similar 24/7. Quit trying to confuse the OP with your blatant fanboyism.

Nathaniel Josephs · Dec 20, 2013

Thanks for all replies and i feel as though hades build is the one i am going for (despite what deathandpain keeps trying to force through as i dont feel that the heating wise of it will pose a problem). As this is the first time i will be building a pc is there anything else i have to consider?

beyondlogic · Dec 20, 2013

Nathaniel Josephs :

death of pain makes a few good points about heat and power consumption thats basicly it his comparisons to a i3 to a fx 6300 for gaming isnt even close.

point is the 8 core fx range are power hogs there idle states are appauling to intel

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6396/the-vishera-review-amd-fx8350-fx8320-fx6300-and-fx4300-tested/6

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/fx-8350-8320-6300-4300_8.html#sect0

the issue in uk is the electric prices are jumping this is why i will say intel is the better move

and im not just saying that due to processor power consumption im saying it for whole rig

cpu
and graphics card take up quite a bit of power by themselves round the 200-300w mark depending on game

if your going to pay for fx 8320 you may as well pay for a i5 processor

now with amd fx viresha was suppose to be taken over by steamroller which there has been no mention of it for fx for sometime.

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/2nqHD

my intel alternative is a bit over your budget but will save you money in the long run and will allow you to play games without heat issues ( logain hades has no cooler mentioned unless he says use the stock cooler which is mad there rubbish) while amds especially with a 7870 will be handing the cash you do save to the electric company instead.

im talking saving per year and it all depends if your a casual user or hard core gamer ignore the wattage calculators in pcpartpicker they are quite wrong most of the time

if were going by the calculator intel 313w
gaming 6 hours a every day for a year 113.14
now the amd calculator says 390w
143 per year

thats a decent saving keep in mind though that these calculations were done by a wattage calculator and that its going by the dtp of the processor and amd and intel measure it diffrently 125w processors will draw 190w and intels roughly

keep in mind prices are going to go up and it will keep going up and in the uk etc it aint cheap lol

also this was done by my power company hydro
prices may vary depending on your electric company

also cheers to jook D for the insight edited my post to remove the info didnt realise that had been changed with broadwell. either way broadwell is still better in single thread and you have a upgrade path to a i7 later on and dont have to worry about bios flashing for the i5 as with viresha you may very well need to bios flash your board to get it running as alot of places can sell older models not refreshed with a new bios. As i found out >.>

JOOK-D · Dec 20, 2013

beyondlogic :

Nathaniel Josephs :

death of pain makes a few good points about heat and power consumption thats basicly it his comparisons to a i3 to a fx 6300 for gaming isnt even close.

point is the 8 core fx range are power hogs there idle states are appauling to intel

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6396/the-vishera-review-amd-fx8350-fx8320-fx6300-and-fx4300-tested/6

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/fx-8350-8320-6300-4300_8.html#sect0

the issue in uk is the electric prices are jumping this is why i will say intel is the better move

and im not just saying that due to processor power consumption im saying it for whole rig

cpu
and graphics card take up quite a bit of power by themselves round the 200-300w mark depending on game

if your going to pay for fx 8320 you may as well pay for a i5 processor

plus with no actual proof of a upgrade path in future i wouldnt recomend amd fx line at present

something logain of hades failed to mention

with intel you have haswell and then broadwell which has offically been mentioned

now with amd fx viresha was suppose to be taken over by steamroller which there has been no mention of it for fx for sometime.

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/2nqHD

my intel alternative is a bit over your budget but will save you money in the long run while amds especially with a 7870 will be handing the cash you do save to the electric company instead.

im talking saving per year and it all depends if your a casual user or hard core gamer ignore the wattage calculators in pcpartpicker they are quite wrong most of the time

if were going by the calculator intel 313w
gaming 6 hours a every day for a year 113.14
now the amd calculator says 390w
143 per year

thats a decent saving keep in mind though that these calculations were done by a wattage calculator and that its going by the dtp of the processor and amd and intel measure it diffrently 125w processors will draw 190w and intels roughly

keep in mind prices are going to go up and it will keep going up and in the uk etc it aint cheap lol

js, the Haswell line may also stop dead too. It seems they'll move to Haswell-E (new socket?) and then broadwell, also a new one. So I don't see that as an 'argument'.

Anyway, the electricity point is very useful, should be taken into consideration.

Nathaniel Josephs · Dec 21, 2013

Thanks for the informative posts so basically what my choices are:
1. the fx-8320 which is better value for money in the original build but in the long run could be more expensive due to power consumption and could even cause a heat problem
2. the intel build which will cause me to part with £80 more in the first place but will have no heating or power issues.

so as far as i am aware the actually performance of the computer will be fairly indifferent it is just about the economically option now.
P.s. If i was to get the amd would you suggest a different cooler possibly as i have heard not so amazing opinions on the stock one

beyondlogic · Dec 21, 2013

Nathaniel Josephs :

yes amd has issues with power consumption and heat the chips get very hot

yeah the intel build will make you part with a lil more with a decent cooler and os but apart from that your still getting good value.

as for the fx 8320 cooling it can be controlled cheap enough

better paste then the coolermaster evo 212
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Arctic-Cooling-MX-4-Thermal-Compound/dp/B0045JCFLY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1387630168&sr=8-1&keywords=mx4+paste

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cooler-Master-Hyper-212-120mm/dp/B0068OI7T8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1387630214&sr=8-1&keywords=coolermaster+evo

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Aerocool-Shark-Blade-Dynamic-Bearing/dp/B00432T2JQ/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1387630252&sr=8-14&keywords=120mm+fan

stick this fan on the rear of the cooler so it pulls to the back of the case have the evos stock fan push the air towards the back

duel fan recomended to keep the temps down and wouldnt recomend occing with this cooler this is just to keep the temps at 45c -50c load when gaming

plus occing draws more power and shortens the life of the chip

Nathaniel Josephs · Dec 21, 2013

so if i had the fx-8320 it would set me back another £35 anyway to ensure proper cooling....

I hate making decisions

JOOK-D · Dec 21, 2013

Nathaniel Josephs :

At stock speeds you will be fine with the stock cooler, if a little noisy.

If you're planning to overclock you'll need an aftermarket cooler, same goes for the intel.

Nathaniel Josephs · Dec 21, 2013

JOOK-D :

i am not planning on overclocking in the foreseeable future but i suppose buying the cooler later on if i do decide too will pose no problem

beyondlogic · Dec 21, 2013

Nathaniel Josephs :

the stock coolers by amd are a joke and very limited it would be fine for the fx 6300 barely the 8 cores are so damn hot that the stock coolers they provide are rubbish i owned the fx 8120 and knew someone with fx 6300 when gaming he was barely under the max temp by a few c

and the intel coolers fair no better either are break easy

Nathaniel Josephs · Jun 10, 2014

Bump,

I was thinking about getting a build similar to some of the ones earlier on but never got around to it. Definately going to do it soon due to exams finishing but wondering if anything has changed over the past few months and if so what i should be looking at with a similar budget to last time.

thanks in advance

P.s - i think i was leaning towards the amd ones before but i am open to all suggestions

logainofhades · Jun 10, 2014

Nathaniel Josephs :

This would be my pick. Slightly over budget, but not by a lot.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£127.19 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£74.59 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Memory: Mushkin Stealth 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£56.99 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£35.99 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 270X 2GB Dual-X Video Card (£129.00 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Thermaltake Versa H22 ATX Mid Tower Case (£26.24 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£45.27 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/RSBS DVD/CD Writer (£12.76 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £508.03
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-10 19:08 BST+0100)

Nathaniel Josephs · Jun 10, 2014

logainofhades :

Nathaniel Josephs :

This would be my pick. Slightly over budget, but not by a lot.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£127.19 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£74.59 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Memory: Mushkin Stealth 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£56.99 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£35.99 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 270X 2GB Dual-X Video Card (£129.00 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Thermaltake Versa H22 ATX Mid Tower Case (£26.24 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£45.27 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/RSBS DVD/CD Writer (£12.76 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £508.03
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-10 19:08 BST+0100)

thanks for the quick response and like the look of it but i might have forgot to mention windows 7 OS included in price

sorry if that has messed it up completely, which it might well have

logainofhades · Jun 10, 2014

You can always save up for a better CPU and get one when Broadwell comes out.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-4150 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor (£77.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£74.59 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Memory: Mushkin Stealth 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£56.99 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£35.99 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card (£104.01 @ Ebuyer)
Case: Thermaltake Versa H22 ATX Mid Tower Case (£26.24 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£45.27 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/RSBS DVD/CD Writer (£12.76 @ CCL Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£67.32 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £501.16
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-10 19:43 BST+0100)

Nathaniel Josephs · Jun 13, 2014

What about this if i was to for an AMD build?

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/zmmFK8

logainofhades · Jun 13, 2014

I no longer recommend AMD as the AM3+ socket is a dead end. No new CPU's coming out for it. 1150, on an H97 chipset, like this build will suggest, will be Broadwell capable. The GPU is just slightly under a gtx 760, but the CPU is better, plus you have an upgrade option in the future.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£127.19 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£74.59 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory (£56.71 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£35.94 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 270X 2GB Dual-X Video Card (£129.00 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Thermaltake Versa H22 ATX Mid Tower Case (£26.24 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£43.92 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/RSBS DVD/CD Writer (£12.76 @ CCL Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£59.00 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £565.35
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-13 21:03 BST+0100

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