Help looking for a low budget pc

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
I

I2eaper HD

Reputable
Dec 22, 2014
27
0
4,530
Hi guys,

am trying to build a gaming pc / streaming pc / video editing pc. This pc is for my brother as he want to play games such as BF1, F1 2016, GTA 5 and so on, He also want to record his game play and be able to stream them.

Could you guys be able to recomend me a build for like £500 or so, I tried looking online and came up with a pc parts list, you might notice some things missing such as a PSU but i got an old one that I will use from my old computer which is 750w

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/VTKJgL

any help would be great

thank you
 
Solution
timeconsumer
I agree with the above about an i5 being a much better choice, but if you only have a £500 budget then you would have to change some things.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£189.59 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: MSI H110M Gaming Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£59.69 @ CCL Computers)
Memory: PNY Anarchy 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory (£39.55 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon RX 480 4GB G1 Gaming Video Card (£187.99 @ CCL Computers)
Case: Thermaltake Versa H23 ATX Mid Tower Case (£26.48 @ Aria PC)
Total: £503.30
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts...
Sort by date Sort by votes
elbert

elbert

Glorious
Jan 11, 2005
9,704
6
46,965
I suggest an i5 as it will play games better and is as capable as the 8 core in streaming. The faster DDR4 is the same price so picked it as DDR may be moved to a new motherboard down the line. DDR4 should be around a few years so its a better investment even tho the motherboard will only use 2133~2400.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£189.59 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper TX3 Evo 43.1 CFM CPU Cooler (£20.20 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: MSI B150M PRO-VDH Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£69.99 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (£87.50 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB GT OCV1 Video Card (£259.90 @ CCL Computers)
Case: NZXT S340 (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case (£68.70 @ Eclipse Computers)
Total: £695.88
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-01-03 16:56 GMT+0000
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
timeconsumer

timeconsumer

Splendid
Nov 28, 2011
3,130
0
22,960
I agree with the above about an i5 being a much better choice, but if you only have a £500 budget then you would have to change some things.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£189.59 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: MSI H110M Gaming Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£59.69 @ CCL Computers)
Memory: PNY Anarchy 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory (£39.55 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon RX 480 4GB G1 Gaming Video Card (£187.99 @ CCL Computers)
Case: Thermaltake Versa H23 ATX Mid Tower Case (£26.48 @ Aria PC)
Total: £503.30
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-01-03 16:58 GMT+0000
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
I

I2eaper HD

Reputable
Dec 22, 2014
27
0
4,530




thank you for the reply, i see that the motherboard is a mini atx which mean it doesnt do SLI, do you think it worth maybe spending a little more and just have that for the future to get a second card?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Barty1884

Barty1884

Retired Moderator
Apr 16, 2015
22,250
1,350
108,740
At 500, you don't have the luxury of accommodating some things, like the ability to SLI or CF in future.

Not necessarily a bad thing though, as a stronger single card is always preferred over SLI or CF setups.

I agree on the i5 + 480 for the budget, assuming your old 750W is good enough (what is the make/model?), otherwise you'd need to factor a PSU in too - which makes a 500 budget extremely tight.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
timeconsumer

timeconsumer

Splendid
Nov 28, 2011
3,130
0
22,960
SLI isn't possible on a GTX 1060, only the 1070 and above.

If you opt for the 480 crossfire is possible, but not worth it. Most people who plan for future crossfire or SLI never do it. By the time 2 or 3 years have passed they have a hard time finding the same GPU for a reasonable price as newer, better ones have emerged, and the performance gains aren't that great with many games having poor scaling.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I

I2eaper HD

Reputable
Dec 22, 2014
27
0
4,530


I think i got a EVGA psu i havent opened up the pc yet, but I think i can go over it as I just want to build him a good pc that will be future proof, i hope am making sense
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Barty1884

Barty1884

Retired Moderator
Apr 16, 2015
22,250
1,350
108,740
Future-proof is a buzz word a lot of the time. The only way to be even close to future-proof is to buy the absolute best hardware available today (which can't be done for 500) and hope for the best.

As we've seen with GPUs especially, a $250(ish) GPU in a 1060 outperforms a GTX980 that was $550 on launch. Major diminishing returns.
So, if you bought the 'best' GPU available today (a GTX1080 if you ignore the Titan Xp for ~$1,000), there's a pretty good chance a comparable performing card will be released, as the mid-range of it's series in a year or two.

$200 now + maybe $250 later will achieve what most people need, for a $450 investment over time. Opposed to ~$600+ today, that won't be 'king' for long.

The smarter option is incremental upgrades, usually via the GPU - buy something that does what you need, today - and upgrade as necessary. Provided you give yourself a solid foundation (CPU/Mobo) like an i5-6500 or better, you should be set for a few years, with only a GPU upgrade likely to be required.
 
Upvote 1 Downvote
timeconsumer

timeconsumer

Splendid
Nov 28, 2011
3,130
0
22,960
Excellent advice above. If you like I can add an anecdote or two about being SLI ready as well.

I built a computer in 2007 with the brand new 8800GT. I made sure to have an SLI motherboard and power supply. Fast forward a couple years to when I felt it was time to add in a second card, and there weren't any 8800GT cards to be found. Why? Nvidia had rebranded the 8xxx line into the 9xxx line so the 8800GT became the 9800GT, but the two could not be used together in SLI. I couldn't even find any on Ebay (at reasonable prices). So the additional money I spent on the board and the bigger PSU was wasted. I could have bought a Q6600 instead of the Athlon X2 had I the foresight to ignore an SLI-ready setup.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I

I2eaper HD

Reputable
Dec 22, 2014
27
0
4,530


thank you guys for the help, I will take the advice about building a solide foundation to only upgrade the cpu and gpu in the future, i would rather spend a little more and have a good foundation than have issue from the start, so this is what i have so far what do you guys think https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/hRDyVY
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Barty1884

Barty1884

Retired Moderator
Apr 16, 2015
22,250
1,350
108,740
I wouldn't say it's well balanced, in all honesty.

A locked i5 and aftermarket cooler with a Z170 chipset is a waste. You can't OC the 6500, so the Z170 brings nothing to the table other than SLI support - and a 1060 doesn't support SLI (+the comments above re: building for SLI).

The PSU is not the best either, especially for the price.

Some options, both a little north of 800.

1. No overclocking. Solid foundation and much stronger GPU
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£189.59 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: MSI B150M Pro-VD Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£65.47 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory (£85.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£45.78 @ Misco UK)
Video Card: Palit GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Dual Video Card (£377.94 @ Aria PC)
Case: NZXT S340 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case (£54.95 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 620W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£64.76 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £884.48
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-01-03 18:09 GMT+0000

2. Overclockable CPU/Mobo, higher clocked RAM (still no SLI)
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£215.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£29.98 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: ASRock Z170A-X1/3.1 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£96.88 @ More Computers)
Memory: Kingston Savage 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory (£83.98 @ BT Shop)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£45.78 @ Misco UK)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB WINDFORCE OC 6G Video Card (£229.92 @ Ebuyer)
Case: NZXT S340 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case (£54.95 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 620W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£64.76 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £822.24
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-01-03 18:06 GMT+0000

Both builds would feel 'snappier' with an SSD, but that's something you can add in future. A bit of a luxury on a 'budget' build.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I

I2eaper HD

Reputable
Dec 22, 2014
27
0
4,530


I see, sorry am not very good with all the specs and so on, its been a while since i build my computer, I think I will go ahead and stat looking for the items as i think this will be able to run most games?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I

I2eaper HD

Reputable
Dec 22, 2014
27
0
4,530


thank you guys for the help, I hope my little bro will enjoy this computer :)
 
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