Gaming PC for £500

TheJJBman11 · Nov 18, 2016

Hey,

My brother is looking for a cheap gaming PC to run simple games at 60fps for between £300 - £400

Games (for example):
CS:GO
Garry's Mod
Minecraft

Do need:
HDD 500gb
Windows 7/8/10 - whichever is cheapest
-Preferably from Amazon so I can get it all from the same place

And the rest is down your discretion

Don't need:
SSD
CD-ROM
Peripherals

Hardware:
CPU: i3?
GPU: GTX 750ti
MB: ?
RAM: 8GB
PSU: 400w?
HDD: 500GB
OS: Windows 10
Case: Medium

Thanks a lot!

chrissymoe · Nov 18, 2016

TheJJBman11 :

what part of the world are you want to buy these parts in uk?

TheJJBman11 · Nov 18, 2016

chrissymoe :

Yep, the UK! Preferably between £200 - £300; however, we can go to £400 if need be.

Thanks.

WildCard999 · Nov 18, 2016

I don't think your going to get a system that cheap unless you look into used/prebuilt market.

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/bk6MTH (£435.13)<<<Best I can do without using much older parts.

TheJJBman11 · Nov 18, 2016

WildCard999 :

This looks pretty solid, thanks a lot for the help!

EchohcE · Nov 18, 2016

I highly recommend that you do NOT get a dual-core cpu. The i3 is an exception(barely) because it has hyper-threading. Dual-core cpus will bottleneck almost ALL modern and semi-modern games.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/multi-core-cpu-scaling-directx-11,4768.html

The i3 in that review has its hyper-threading disabled, so it's nearly identical to a Pentium.

chrissymoe · Nov 18, 2016

TheJJBman11 :

chrissymoe :

Yep, the UK! Preferably between £200 - £300; however, we can go to £400 if need be.

Thanks.

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/bnttKZ £350.56

TheJJBman11 · Nov 18, 2016

Do you guys reckon I could fit this stuff suggested in a small case? Or is it best to get a medium one?

And I have decided on a few parts thanks to you all:

Hardware:
CPU: i3?
GPU: GTX 750ti
MB: ?
RAM: 8GB
PSU: 400w?
HDD: 500GB
OS: Windows 10
Case: Medium

EchohcE · Nov 18, 2016

If this is your first build, I wouldn't go smaller than micro-atx. Mini-ITX is far smaller potentially, but to hear people talk about it they're a pain in the rear to work inside if you have to replace parts.

TheJJBman11 · Nov 18, 2016

EchohcE :

The Mini looks like a challenge so yeah, not feeling that one - but the other one looks nice.

Do you have any recommendations on what PSUs I should look out for or avoid? I've heard many a horror story of faulty PSUs..

i.e. Bronze, Silver and Gold ratings - idk what it means.

geofelt · Nov 18, 2016

I would suggest you look at a I3-6100 bundle for 220.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Skylake-3-7Ghz-Motherboard-2133Mhz-Crucial/dp/B01ALSKH76/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1479492111&sr=8-1&keywords=i3-6100+bundle

Defer on the discrete graphics card. It is a start. See how decently you play on on integrated graphics.
Then, decide if you really need a discrete graphics card and what your budget will permit.

How large is your ssd?
If it is at least 120gb, you can consider deferring on the hard drive until you actually need the room.

chrissymoe · Nov 18, 2016

if you go to pc part picker and play around within you budget you will find that you may be better going for an older quad core cpu over a newer duel core as the answer before said most duel core cpu's will bottle neck your system making a good gpu pointless

EchohcE · Nov 18, 2016

I've had quite a bit of success with Corsair's CX line, particularly the 600m and 750m(mistakenly thought I was going to SLI). Both are Bronze, which is really the minimum you should aim for. Do not buy a power supply unless it is Bronze or higher, and don't waste your money with Titanium or PLatinum at your price point. I think this forum has a psu hierarchy list somewhere, should be simple enough to look up.

logainofhades · Nov 18, 2016

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor (£104.94 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H110M-H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£51.60 @ CCL Computers)
Memory: Crucial 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory (£22.59 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Toshiba 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£23.94 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card (£89.99 @ Novatech)
Case: BitFenix Nova ATX Mid Tower Case (£23.04 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: XFX TS 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£36.60 @ Eclipse Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home Full 32/64-bit (£83.90 @ More Computers)
Total: £436.60
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-11-18 18:24 GMT+0000

EchohcE · Nov 18, 2016

^ Looks like we have a winner.

TheJJBman11 · Nov 18, 2016

logainofhades :

This looks very good, my bro is willing to go to this price so I'm seriously considering this one - except the case, but that's fine

geofelt · Nov 18, 2016

TheJJBman11 :

logainofhades :

This looks very good, my bro is willing to go to this price so I'm seriously considering this one - except the case, but that's fine

Make that ram a 2 x 4gb kit so you can operate in faster dual channel mode.

chrissymoe · Nov 18, 2016

TheJJBman11 :

logainofhades :

This looks very good, my bro is willing to go to this price so I'm seriously considering this one - except the case, but that's fine

you can also save a few pounds if you go for the 30 odd pound windows 8 64bit as there still doing a free upgrade to windows 10 threw the windows accessibly server

TheJJBman11 · Nov 18, 2016

Nice ideas, thanks for these ^^

EchohcE · Nov 18, 2016

My advice would be to not skimp on the case. It's what you'll be seeing and working inside for at least three years if you want to get your money's worth. Good cases can last a decade, so make sure its one you can live with.

logainofhades · Nov 18, 2016

EchohcE :

I disagree. Performance > looks. Case is far cheaper to change, at a later date.

geofelt · Nov 18, 2016

Two conflicting opinions on the case.

Looks count. As does performance.
Assuming you buy a cheaper M-ATX motherboard, look at Silverstone M-ATX cases.
For an inexpensive one, look at the PS-08 £34.99
https://www.amazon.co.uk/SilverStone-SST-PS08B-Precision-Tower-Micro/dp/B009NSU9YC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1479497339&sr=8-1&keywords=silverstone+ps08b

One thing I like is that it has a washable front filter which will keep your pc parts cleaner.

EchohcE · Nov 19, 2016

Agreed, performance trumps looks every single time, no question. I'm not saying get a flashy, LED-encrusted case, I'm saying make sure its a quality case with good airflow and cable management, since cases usually last 2-3 builds, if not longer. I also personally wouldn't spend more than $80 on a case.

TheJJBman11 · Nov 21, 2016

Case - Cougar QBX
CPU - Intel® Pentium® G4400
RAM - 4GB Crucial 2133mhz DDR4 (1x4GB)
Graphics card - NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 750 Ti 2GB
Motherboard - NEW! Asus H110i-Plus
Operating System - Windows 10 Home (64-bit)
Hard Drive - 1TB S-ATAIII 6.0Gb/s
PSU - 450W Corsair VS

How does this look?

logainofhades · Nov 21, 2016

I would not use a pentium, and the 450w VS is not a good PSU. Some games literally will not run, with the pentium. 4gb is no longer enough ram either.

Gaming PC for £500

Honorable

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Titan

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Honorable

Titan

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