£300-350 Game build possible?

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
K

Kezmeister

Reputable
Nov 20, 2015
43
0
4,530
My main games are Overwatch, WoW, GW2 and FFXIV.

My budget is £300-350 and I'm wondering if any build is possible to get these running on the best settings within that range. I've had a play with pcpartpicket but honestly I don't know what's good and what's bad when picking the stuff :( Was trying to pick around an i3 as i believe that's probably best budget CPU?

I don't need a monitor as I'll stick with my 1650x1080 and I don't need an OS as I've already got Window 10 64bit ready for it.
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
Herc08

Herc08

Distinguished
Aug 6, 2016
5,905
2
19,960
It will be tough, you will be very limited. If you are ok with low to medium settings at 720p, it's possible. I guess as long as you are playing those games, you could happy. But my suggestion is why not save up another 150, and be able to get a decent computer instead of getting low-quality parts with probably no upgrade path.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
BadActor

BadActor

Expert
Ambassador
Oct 31, 2015
8,749
1
54,965
A little over your budget, but you could play on the integrated graphics until you can afford the graphics card.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor (£101.24 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: MSI H110M PRO-VD PLUS Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£46.61 @ More Computers)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory (£52.00 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£43.99 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Palit GeForce GTX 1050 2GB StormX Video Card (£107.99 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case (£34.49 @ Ebuyer)
Power Supply: Corsair CXM 450W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£51.60 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £437.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-12-21 14:56 GMT+0000
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
K

Kezmeister

Reputable
Nov 20, 2015
43
0
4,530


I have an old AMD HD5670 1GB GDDR5 Sapphire lying around. is the integrated i3s graphics better or will the HD5670 be better?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
bahnstormer

bahnstormer

Honorable
Jan 5, 2015
47
0
10,560
Kez - what do you HAVE to buy now?


e.g. do you have a previous case + PSU lying around? If so, that will get you down to a sniff over £350...

Save the money on storage if you can too? (limp along with ANY old SATA drive for now and get a 200Gb+ SSD later). Down to £310...

I'd normally advise that you find a 2nd hand Ivybridge/Haswell 3rd/4th gen i5 or i7.... but the upgrade path is limited, so the i3-6100 is a great option where you sacrifice a few cores now for a CPU that is still very capable and gives you a great base to start with.

Personal preference, but since it's cheaper, I'd definitely consider this RAM alternative: Corsair Vengeance LPX 2400Mhz (<£50 on Amazon UK).
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
K

Kezmeister

Reputable
Nov 20, 2015
43
0
4,530


I have an ancient seagate barracuda 7200.11 320GB hard drive which I've stuck windows 10 64bit on. I've had it for like 5 years i think so not sure how bad it'll be

I don't have a case though and for a PSU i've only got a Seasonic SS-300TFX 300watt which probably wont be powerful enough I'm guessing?

So taking into account just the storage I'm guessing what do you recommend now?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Multipack

Multipack

Honorable
Sep 5, 2016
4,283
3
9,960
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor (£101.24 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Asus H110M-K Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£47.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory (£52.00 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Palit GeForce GTX 1050 2GB StormX Video Card (£107.99 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Thermaltake Versa H23 ATX Mid Tower Case (£26.48 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: XFX TS 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£42.60 @ Eclipse Computers)
Total: £378.30
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-12-21 18:44 GMT+0000
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
elbert

elbert

Glorious
Jan 11, 2005
9,704
6
46,965
This is the lowest I would go. the 460 is a decently powerful video card so should get you 100+ fps in CSGO with a bit of an overclock. Here is tomshardware's overclock of the CPU and motherboard to compare.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/pentium-g3258-b81-cheap-overclocking,3888.html

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor (£64.60 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£26.99 @ Ebuyer)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£39.99 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£49.43 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£43.99 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: XFX Radeon RX 460 2GB Video Card (£90.89 @ CCL Computers)
Case: BitFenix Nova ATX Mid Tower Case (£23.04 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts Green 380W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£41.99 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £380.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-12-21 19:02 GMT+0000
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
K

Kezmeister

Reputable
Nov 20, 2015
43
0
4,530
Thank you all for the help.

Based on my budget I'm going for;

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor (£101.24 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: MSI H110M PRO-VD PLUS Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£46.61 @ More Computers)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory (£52.00 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB Mini Video Card (£134.90 @ Ebuyer)
Case: Thermaltake Versa H23 ATX Mid Tower Case (£26.48 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: Corsair CXM 450W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£51.60 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £412.83
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-12-21 22:06 GMT+0000

Except for the GPU I'll buy the GTX 1050ti 4GB at a later date and just use the integrated intel for now :)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
logainofhades

logainofhades

Titan
Moderator
Apr 27, 2009
37,552
3,221
143,290
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor (£101.24 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: MSI H110M PRO-VD PLUS Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£46.61 @ More Computers)
Memory: Crucial 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory (£43.50 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Toshiba 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£35.94 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Palit GeForce GTX 1050 2GB StormX Video Card (£107.99 @ Amazon UK)
Case: BitFenix Nova ATX Mid Tower Case (£23.04 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: Super Flower Golden Green HX 350W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply (£39.95 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Total: £398.27
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-12-22 04:00 GMT+0000
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
bahnstormer

bahnstormer

Honorable
Jan 5, 2015
47
0
10,560


Good call on holding off on the GPU. See if you can wait until the 1060GTX is in range :D

Decent components, but personal preference would have me going for the Asus motherboard (£2 more) and the Corsair RAM, £3 less (and from Amazon). I've just had better experiences with the Corsair and a preference for the Asus Bios.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
K

Kezmeister

Reputable
Nov 20, 2015
43
0
4,530
Hi again. I've got everything ordered now and would like to thank you all again for the help.

I noticed with the MSI Mobo it comes with an installation CD and I'm not sure if anything else will come with one either. Now is this going to be a problem for me as I don't have a cd/dvd drive? Can I instead just get all the stuff that'll be on the CDs as .exe downloads or something?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
K

Kezmeister

Reputable
Nov 20, 2015
43
0
4,530
Hmm tempted to cancel the order on the i3-6100 and get a 2nd hand i5-6500 for £125 along with cooler master hypo tx3 evo cooler at £20 since the 2nd hand i5 doesn't include its stock cooler.

What's peoples thoughts on this, is it a huge improvement over the i3 for the difference of £45 or not worth it because of being a 2nd hand processor?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
M

MatthewGB

Respectable
Jun 15, 2016
487
0
1,960
I'd recommend a Raijintek Aidos. It's quite small, has a 92mm fan, and costs a mere 16£. I have one myself, and it's very quiet once you adjust the fan speed curves. If the i5 is a mere 25£ more, it's definitely worth getting.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
K

Kezmeister

Reputable
Nov 20, 2015
43
0
4,530
Thanks. got the i5 and bought a cooler :)

Just curious about my ancient HD. It's a seagate barracuda st3320813as 7200.11 320gb and i think 8mb cache? either way is this going to effect my performance not sure how bad of a HD it is. only reason I've not bought a new one is because it already has windows 10 on so will be the last thing I upgrade once I have the funds available
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
M

MatthewGB

Respectable
Jun 15, 2016
487
0
1,960
Replacing the HDD with an SSD makes boot and loading times a lot faster. You should buy a small SSD (60-240GB,25-100£) for your OS and important programs, and use an HDD for storing files that don't need as fast access.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Multipack

Multipack

Honorable
Sep 5, 2016
4,283
3
9,960
Yes it will definitely affect your performance, but you dont need a copy of Windows 10 - it wont work with your new system anyway - as you can reinstall it from a USB drive and reactivate provided you have linked your Microsoft account to the installation and only plan on using it on one system.

And you made a v good decision opting for the i5 btw. CPU's are very durable and rarely fail, and you'll see a big improvement from the i3 and will be a lot more future proofed.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
K

Kezmeister

Reputable
Nov 20, 2015
43
0
4,530


What do you mean by it wont work with my new system?

It's on the hard drive which i was going to stick into this new build or doesn't it work like that or something?

Edit: Just having a read around now and from what I'm gathering it's something to do with the OS being tied in with the mobo or something like that?

So to move this hard drive over and continue using the windows 10. I need to deactive the key then format the hard drive. Put it into the new build reinstall windows then get in contact with microsoft to reactivate it?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
K

Kezmeister

Reputable
Nov 20, 2015
43
0
4,530
Sod it, may as well just buy a new hard drive and be done with my old junk lol.

Which out of these 3 is the best? https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/products/compare/MwW9TW,jDGkcf,t238TW/

The size isn't an issue as I never even manage to eat through 320gb so just comparing them for best performance and I know that an SSD will be better but I just don't have the money to splash on one of those yet

Hmm there's also a Seagate desktop SSHD 1TB, SATAIII 6Gb / s going for £40. It's 2nd hand though and also doesn't say what the RPM, Cache or Hybrid SSD Cache on it is.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom