Need 1st time PC build advice?

Dan00130 · Mar 19, 2014

For long time I've been struggling with my laptop for gaming, as the lack of a GPU is a real issue for me - it can't even run Fall Out 3 on lowest res. So I've decided to build my first desktop, but it needs to be cheap due to my low income.
I'd appreciate it if the community could check out my hypothetical build and give me some feed back!

CPU: Intel i5 4670k
GPU: Nvidia GTX 650 Ti
Motherboard: AsRock Z87 3Extreme
PSU: XFX 450W Core Edition
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 8gb
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1Tb
CPU COOLER: CoolMaster hyper 212 evo
CASE: Aerocool VS-92 ATX
Network Card: TP Link TL-WDN4800 (450mbps)

Total build cost is £605, probably go an extra £50 if it's worth it. I also have a CD/DVD writer from an older family desktop, so that shouldn't be an issue.
Thanks everyone!

fatboyslimerr · Mar 19, 2014

That is a seriously unbalanced build. Very powerful CPU and very weak GPU. You should balance it out by getting an i5 4440 and Asus H81M-Plus motherboard, paired with something like a GTX 760. Cheaper GPU options include the new maxwell GTX 750 Ti or R9 270. The rest of the build looks fine.

Ahmadjon · Mar 19, 2014

I would suggest you this build

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£161.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£25.45 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£79.98 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£61.85 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£42.99 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card (£186.98 @ Dabs)
Case: Cooler Master K280 ATX Mid Tower Case (£29.99 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£44.98 @ Amazon UK)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WDN4800 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter (£26.98 @ Dabs)
Total: £661.19
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-19 14:46 GMT+0000)

It's worth build because of GTX-760, you'll play all games on max settings at 1080p!

fatboyslimerr · Mar 19, 2014

Ahmadjon's build is good. Also consider the Gigabyte R9 270X which is only £148 and offers very similar if not slightly better performance in some games to the GTX 760. http://www.scan.co.uk/products/2gb-...050mhz-boost-1100mhz-1280-streams-displayport

geofelt · Mar 19, 2014

For a balanced gamer, budget 2x the cpu cost for the graphics card.
You are now at 1:1.
You will game better with a stronger GTX760 graphics and a i3-4130 cpu.
Lest you think the cpu is too weak, few games can use more than 2 cores, and the intel cores are very strong.
The i3-4130 is somewhat stronger than the i3-3220 in this report:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-processor-frame-rate-performance,3427-9.html
The cheapest lga1150 motherboard will do.
All motherboards will have a Ethernet port.

You will not need an aftermarket cpu cooler.

XFX and Seasonic are about the best quality psu's. But, a GTX760 will need more like a 500w unit.

I will never again build without using a SSD for the OS.
It just makes everything you do so much quicker.
A one hour widows update will take 15 minutes.
Files open instantly.
A 120gb ssd will hold the OS and a half dozen games.
Consider deferring on the hard drive, you can always add one later.
With a 240gb ssd, you may never need a hard drive.
I like Samsung EVO for the ssd.

Dan00130 · Mar 19, 2014

Ahmadjon :

I would suggest you this build

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£161.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£25.45 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£79.98 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£61.85 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£42.99 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card (£186.98 @ Dabs)
Case: Cooler Master K280 ATX Mid Tower Case (£29.99 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£44.98 @ Amazon UK)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WDN4800 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter (£26.98 @ Dabs)
Total: £661.19
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-19 14:46 GMT+0000)

It's worth build because of GTX-760, you'll play all games on max settings at 1080p!

How's this then? I managed to squeeze in a cheap SSD as well

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/3cSya

geofelt · Mar 19, 2014

Do not waste your money on OCZ petrol..
Over half of the buyers gave it the worst rating:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227780
Stick with known brands. You can't go wrong with Samsung evo.
You will pay 2x, but it will work well.
Save elsewhere.

For a similar price, I would buy a 2 x4gb kit of ram. You will get better dual channel performance.
Also buy low profile ram so it does not interfere with your cpu cooler.
I would suggest g.skil ares.
This kit costs the same and has a better cas of 8 :
http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f31600c8d8gab

sora · Mar 20, 2014

Get 2x4GB Corsair Vengeance compared to 1x8GB Corsair Vengeance RAM. More performance.

Ahmadjon · Mar 20, 2014

Dan00130 :

Don't cheap on PSU! everytime get a bit higher than recommended, and as mentioned above don't get that SSD your gaming PC will work without SSD but without good GPU it won't meet your expectations!
Just get that PC and later add 120GB Samsung EVO SSD.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£161.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper TX3 Evo 43.1 CFM CPU Cooler (£15.94 @ Ebuyer)
Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£79.99 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£61.85 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£35.99 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card (£186.98 @ Dabs)
Case: Cooler Master K280 ATX Mid Tower Case (£29.99 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£44.98 @ Amazon UK)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WDN4800 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter (£26.98 @ Dabs)
Total: £644.69
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-20 08:18 GMT+0000)

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Need 1st time PC build advice?

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Ahmadjon

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geofelt

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sora

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