1st PC Build on a budget

B-wings · Jun 9, 2014

I Live in the UK
I would like to build a new system on a budget either now or maybe i will wait til the new lines of CPU's are out.
I already have a GPU, HDD and an Optical drive, monitor and keyboard & mouse.

Build 1:

**CPU** | [AMD Athlon X4 750K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor] £53.70 @ Scan.co.uk
**CPU Cooler** | [Cooler Master Hyper TX3 54.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler] £23.50 @ Amazon UK
**Motherboard** | [MSI FM2-A75IA-E53 Mini ITX FM2 Motherboard] £63.11 @ Dabs
**GPU** | XFX HD-5850 Black Edition
**Memory** | [Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory] | £66.45 @ Amazon UK
**Storage** | [Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive] £59.99 @ Aria PC
**Power Supply** | [Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply £35.74 @ Amazon UK
| | **Total**
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available. | £304.50

I think i could OC build 1 but im not sure if it would actually be better than build 2.

Build 2:

**CPU** | [AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor] £101.99 @ Aria PC
**Motherboard** | [MSI 970A-G43 ATX AM3+ Motherboard] £45.31 @ Amazon UK
**GPU** | XFX HD-5850 Black Edition
**Memory** | [Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory] £66.45 @ Amazon UK
**Storage** | [Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive] £59.99 @ Aria PC
**Power Supply** | [XFX ProSeries 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply] £35.34 @
Scan.co.uk
| | **Total**
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available. | £309.08

Im open to suggestions and advice. I think im off to a good start.

numanator · Jun 9, 2014

I would go for this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor (£101.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard (£64.77 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£59.91 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Crucial M500 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£52.94 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£46.98 @ Aria PC)
Total: £326.59
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-09 22:04 BST+0100)

or this:

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: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£59.91 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Crucial M500 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£52.94 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£46.98 @ Aria PC)
Total: £361.61
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-09 22:06 BST+0100)

The fx-8320 build could be overclocked if you added a cpu cooler whereas the i5 build can not but really doesn't need to be.
The 550w psu is in case you decide to upgrade the GPU in the future.

RookieOfTheYear · Jun 9, 2014

Definitely go with build 2. That processor is much more capable. And you can overclock that baby quite a lot if you wanted. I'm not the greatest with motherboards but all the other components are good quality. The only change I would make is your RAM. I would get G Skills Sniper Series 8GB. They are £16 cheaper and have a very good reputation, and have a lifetime warranty that they stand by. Also, RAM speeds don't really have that big of an impact on system performance.

http://www.newegg.com/global/uk/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231460

I hope this helps. Good luck!

RookieOfTheYear · Jun 9, 2014

Also, I think I would go with the Crucial M500 SSD that Numanator just suggested over the Kingston you have listed. The Crucial M500 has had some pretty good reviews.

B-wings · Jun 9, 2014

numanator :

I would go for this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor (£101.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard (£64.77 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£59.91 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Crucial M500 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£52.94 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£46.98 @ Aria PC)
Total: £326.59
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-09 22:04 BST+0100)

or this:

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: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£59.91 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Crucial M500 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£52.94 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£46.98 @ Aria PC)
Total: £361.61
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-09 22:06 BST+0100)

The fx-8320 build could be overclocked if you added a cpu cooler whereas the i5 build can not but really doesn't need to be.
The 550w psu is in case you decide to upgrade the GPU in the future.

Thanks, would the motherboard in the AMD build be ok for OverClocking and what cooler would you suggest if i was to OC the 8320.

B-wings · Jun 9, 2014

RookieOfTheYear :

£16 cheaper? i just went on the link its £8 less and Pcpartpicker has it listed at £66. unless im looking at the wrong RAM

numanator · Jun 9, 2014

Yeah the Gigabyte UD3P is one of the best mobos for overclocking at that budget since it has a 8+2 power phase design, which you mostly find on $100+ mobos. For coolers I would recommend either the Cooler Master 212 Evo (light overclocking, $30) or the Noctua NH-D14 (heavy overclocking, $65)

RookieOfTheYear · Jun 9, 2014

The link shows it at £50.61 and your original post shows Corsair Vengeance listed at £66.45 from amazon UK

B-wings · Jun 9, 2014

RookieOfTheYear :

Crucial m500 is £10 cheaper, the 120gb Crucial, Samsung and Kingston are all good. i might even just get a 60gb, im only going to use the SSD for the OS and maybe a few Programs or a game or two. cheers

B-wings · Jun 9, 2014

RookieOfTheYear :

Sorry, i thought u meant the RAM in the AMD build Numanator suggested.

Elie Abou Issa · Jun 9, 2014

Do you have a case?

B-wings · Jun 9, 2014

numanator :

Sweet, i was looking at the Cooler Master 212, i saw this but was wondering would it be any good? http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cooler-Master-Hyper-212-120mm/dp/B0068OI7T8

it would be quieter i think.

RookieOfTheYear · Jun 9, 2014

No worries my friend. Good luck with the build!

Elie Abou Issa · Jun 9, 2014

Here is the build, I added water cooling:

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor (£70.20 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Seidon 120M 86.2 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (£49.63 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: MSI 970A-G43 ATX AM3+ Motherboard (£45.31 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£63.98 @ Dabs)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£54.99 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£49.93 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £334.04
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-09 23:13 BST+0100)

B-wings · Jun 9, 2014

Elie Abou Issa :

No, not yet. Case for me is the hardest choice. Theirs so many to choose from. i wouldnt spend more than say £60 on a case. but i dont want a cheap case that has bad air flow and i would like it to be quiet.

I was looking at the Zalman Z11, Bitfenix Shadow, Corsair Graphite Series 230T, Corsair CC-9011052-WW, NZXT LEXA S, GX700 and the NZXT Phantom 240.

the Shadow, Lexa S and the phantm 240 look stunning and they seem like their sturdy.

RookieOfTheYear · Jun 9, 2014

Just to throw another option out there. I am looking to get this case when I can justify spending more on my system.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811144275

I really like the looks and the color scheme is perfect with my speakers and monitor. Also looks like it has great airflow with its 5 system fans. Thought it might be worth a look.

B-wings · Jun 9, 2014

RookieOfTheYear :

its nice, i think the £35-40 cases are actually good for value

numanator · Jun 9, 2014

B-wings :

Yeah, that is the one I had in mind. Works well but it won't be able to push you into the extreme overclocks. You would probably be looking at around 4-4.2 Ghz with the CM 212 Evo. You could push it up a bit higher with the Noctua, I know people can get it up to 4.5 without much trouble

Edit: For the case, I personally like the phantom and the corsair cases, both typically have good airflow too

Elie Abou Issa · Jun 9, 2014

Wow, one hell of a case but there is no informations about it on pcpartpicker

Elie Abou Issa · Jun 9, 2014

B-Wings, what is your budget?

6R1M01R3 · Jun 9, 2014

Everyone who recommended a "better" build, forgot about the GPU ._.

Elie Abou Issa · Jun 9, 2014

6R1M01R3, the asker said that he already has a GPU that he will use.

numanator · Jun 9, 2014

6R1M01R3 :

He said in the OP that he already has the GPU and was just looking at the rest of the system.

Elie Abou Issa · Jun 9, 2014

I modified the build now with case included and new MoBo:

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

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor (£70.20 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Seidon 120V 86.2 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (£33.24 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard (£64.77 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£63.98 @ Dabs)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£54.99 @ Amazon UK)
Case: NZXT Phantom 240 ATX Mid Tower Case (£50.69 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£45.27 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £383.14
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-09 23:57 BST+0100)

numanator · Jun 9, 2014

Elie Abou Issa :

Personally, I am not a fan of watercooling on the low end of the price spectrum, air coolers do the job just as well. Also, I would take the xfx 550w over the EVGA 600w due to the build quality of the XFX being better (they are about the same price).

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