First-time Budget build (£600)

thegoldelite · Sep 7, 2014

Hey I'm into my PC gaming but I've never had the money; I have a Gaming laptop with a Geforce 435M card and 2.67 dual core processor. It's also 4 years old! Needless to say it's not up to the task anymore, and I was looking for something more future proof and powerful.

I'm in my 2nd year of uni and I'm good at saving money so I reckon I can easily manage £600 for a computer, without peripherals (I can scrape those together until I have more money for proper ones)

I looked around on the internet for good preset builds, and then checked around to see if I could get any more cost efficient parts for just a little more money. At first I did it all on Amazon.com, but turns out they it'll cost a bomb to ship it from US with customs, so I redid it on Amazon.co.uk; it's more pricey but there we go.

I mean once I got down to it, I started to realise that there are lots of prebuilt comps that are the same price as all the parts! Am I missing something here?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Freshtech-Computer-Motherboard-Performance-Barracuda/dp/B00KB0UTHI/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1410092225&sr=8-7&keywords=i5+4460

i'd like to build my own PC, but I thought it would be much cheaper than buying one, it's starting to seem like alot of hassle if it costs the same!

I mean here's the build I came up with:

MSI B85M-G43 m-ATX Motherboard (£54)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00CXOMKJU/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=AIFY5DTQ3TNHB

Intel i5 4590 Quad Core CPU (£150)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00K5J22GG/ref=ox_sc_act_title_8?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

EVGA Nvidia GeForce GTX 760 Superclocked 2GB (£187)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00DMB6D8W/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

Crucial Sport 8GB Kit (£61)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B006YG94Y2/ref=ox_sc_act_title_6?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

EVGA 500B 500W 80+ BRONZE PC Power Supply (£35)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00DZ6R9GE/ref=ox_sc_act_title_4?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

WD 1TB 3.5 inch Internal Hard Drive - Caviar Blue (£40)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0088PUEPK/ref=ox_sc_act_title_5?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

Thermaltake Commander MS-I Midi Gaming Case (£39)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0056IZDP8/ref=ox_sc_act_title_7?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

DVD ROM (£13)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00CU1DYP0/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

Extras: I have I crucial M500 120GB SSD, it's 2.5" so I'm wondering if I can just throw that in there or what? it's in my laptop right now.

I mean have you guys got any advice? I don't really want to change it too much but if I've made any obvious mistakes then any advice is good. I'm thinking the processor is better than it needs to be but it only costs a little more than the others I've seen which aren't as good.

I'm not looking for stunning graphics, just a good cost effective PC, I mean it has to be a high performer just not in that area where the cost per gain in performance shoots up. I don't want any cheap and nasty parts in there too, but I don't want anything unnecessary and flashy

I've looked up guides on how to build PCs and it seems really simple so long as I don't fry the motherboard/chip with static D:

So yeah any tips?

TomSkini · Sep 7, 2014

If you use pcpartpicker the build will be cheaper. I changed the cpu to the i5 4690 for a few quid more and this motherboard is better for the same price. I selected the msi gtx 760 as it is rated highly and cheaper.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£157.00 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£53.82 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Crucial 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£61.49 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£37.14 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 760 2GB TWIN FROZR Video Card (£169.92 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: Thermaltake Commander MS-I ID ATX Mid Tower Case (£34.54 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply (£31.55 @ Aria PC)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/RSBS DVD/CD Writer (£12.64 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £558.10
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-07 16:52 BST+0100

plywrlw · Sep 7, 2014

The price difference is quite often Windows. You can buy Windows cheaper on the Microsoft store as a student £49 for 8.1 Pro last I checked.

Another area where the prebuilt PC's come out cheaper is that they often use inferior power supplies and slow RAM. I'll see if I can spec out a decent build for you for £600. If you limit yourself to say, 2 or 3 sellers it can often work out cheaper than just using Amazon

thegoldelite · Sep 7, 2014

Ah! Thanks alot for your reply I appreciate you taking the time to help me out

Well I'll have to check on the day which is actually cheaper in terms of postage because Amazon is free; and some of the parts had no free postage options when I went to checkout and cost a little more than the listed price.

Alright I'll take onboard the changes you suggested, the parts you mentioned seem to be rated higher from what I can gather

And to plywrlw: Don't worry about it too much, I'm very grateful for the help. I'm not sold on going for windows 8, but I'll keep that in mind if I can't get an OS spare

TomSkini · Sep 7, 2014

The total comes to £558 including shipping and P&P it says. I think your original build is around 20 pounds more.

plywrlw · Sep 7, 2014

OK, well I did a build, sorry. I've limited it to CCL and Amazon as they both do free shipping!

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor (£147.08 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty H97 Killer ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£55.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Kingston 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£62.11 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£39.18 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 280 3GB Double Dissipation Video Card (£152.46 @ CCL Computers)
Case: BitFenix Merc Alpha (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£32.90 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£46.93 @ CCL Computers)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£10.22 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £546.87
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-07 17:23 BST+0100

plywrlw · Sep 7, 2014

That B85 motherboard in the other above build may not work with that new i5 chip. It depends if the BIOS has been updated.

Oh and the M500 will work great in your new build.

Edit, I checked the CPU list for the B85 motherboard and it should be OK with the original BIOS (F12)

TomSkini · Sep 7, 2014

Why have you completely changed his build when he said he didn't want to change it too much?

thegoldelite · Sep 7, 2014

Alright well don't be sorry I'm appreciate the effort! Thanks for the second option; I honestly can't say what I'll go for in the end. I mean comparing the two motherboards side by side, the H97 seems newer and that's all I can really gather!

The thermaltake case seems abit better for me, seing as it has USB3.0 ports and more importantly a 2.5" slot which the other lacks?

Hey it's alright suggesting new things, doesn't mean I'll certainly go for them but why not consider it. I'll be 100% so long as it's around the same price I don't mind taking a look at the different options but yeah I won't be changing too much unless there's a solid argument

plywrlw · Sep 7, 2014

TomSkini :

Tight budget --> Similar stuff -> Still same (or better in the case of the PSU) quality -> why not offer other suggestions?

Honestly, don't be so aggressive

thegoldelite · Sep 7, 2014

I think the PSU I posted probably isn't the best D:

TomSkini · Sep 7, 2014

Apologies if you felt that way, it wasn't meant to be aggressive I just thought you might not have read that part of something.

plywrlw · Sep 7, 2014

TomSkini :

OK no worries, I just like to see people get good value for their money

TomSkini · Sep 7, 2014

thegoldelite :

Its not that bad in all honesty all though there are better PSUs out there. This might help you chose a different one but the one you have now will be fine and its a good price.
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-1804779/power-supply-unit-tier-list.html

thegoldelite · Sep 7, 2014

Now hug! Well I'm glad we're all grown up here. I'm learning alot here so anything is constructive really!

thegoldelite · Sep 7, 2014

TomSkini :

Well, the XFX ones seem very highly rated. I know that the lesser parts are just as important as the chip and card

TomSkini · Sep 7, 2014

Then go for it

probably worth the extra money.

plywrlw · Sep 7, 2014

The XFX PSU's are some of the best around and are made by Seasonic who are very highly regarded.

The difference between the XFX units and the EVGA one is the quality of the components inside. The EVGA uses OK Taiwanese capacitors whilst the XFX uses high quality Japanese ones for example. As you can see however the increase in quality comes at a slight price premium but a PSU is not an area you would want to make too many cuts.

thegoldelite · Sep 7, 2014

Thanks for all the help guys it means alot

First-time Budget build (£600)

Reputable

Reputable

Admirable

Reputable

Reputable

Admirable

Admirable

Reputable

Reputable

Admirable

Reputable

Reputable

Admirable

Reputable

Reputable

Reputable

Reputable

Admirable

Reputable

Share this page