Temporary build under 300€

[Fura_vidas]

Hey guys!

My present desktop was built in 2004 so i really need to get a new one. My budget is limited to 300€ for now and my main concern is that i want to be able to upgrade it in the next 6 months in terms of CPU (a really good one) and graphic card, which means that i need a motherboard with the latest socket (i guess ).

I'll use it mainly for gaming (e.g.: LoL, Pro Evolution Soccer, Call of Duty, Crysis, with a 1280x1024 resolution) and occasionally work on Solidworks.

Thanks

Approximate Purchase Date: next 2 months (July/August)

Budget Range: 300€ (~$430)

System Usage from Most to Least Important: gaming, MATLAB, Soliworks, surfing the internet

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor 17'', speakers, OS, Case

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: (this won't really help because they're in portuguese) http://www.nuno-candeias.pt/, http://www.chip7.pt/

Country of Origin: Portugal

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe

Monitor Resolution: 1280x1024

Additional Comments: I would like a relatively quiet PC, OS - latest window version

 

[rvilkman]

It would appear you already have a case, but not sure if that means with a power supply or not.
Generally though with your budget range it will be difficult to get something which doesn't waste money.
With your resolution you 'might' be able to get by with a sandy bridge system.
Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any budget sandy bridge Z68 boards available from the places you listed so in this budget the H67 is about the only way to go

Asus P8H67+ i3 2100 + G.SKill 4GB (2x2GB) 1333 C9 DDR3 Ripjaws X + dvd drive + Samsung 1TB drive

126e + 117e + 44e + 22e + 55e = 364e ( i know it's a bit more than the 300e, but the options don't allow much lower than that )

No video card, use the onboard graphics until you can afford to upgrade. It won't do much gaming but it will do a little bit.
If you need a psu as well i would say the options just went from bad to worse. But generally you would need about 500W psu to use just about any of the reasonably priced video cards out there. Which 'should' run at about 50-60e for the cheaper end and closer to a 80 or 90e for the good ones.

That CPU should be able to run any of the games you throw at it at that resolution with a video card in the 120-170e range.
pretty much from Radeon 5770 to Radeon 6850 or GTS450 to GTX460 or 550 TI.

And yes your upgrade path would be to get the video card asap and it will give such new life to the build.

 

[Fura_vidas]

First of all thanks for the answer, i don't have a psu but on the other hand i forgot to mention that i already have a dvd drive which saves me 22€, what do you think about this psu:
http://www.nuno-candeias.pt/catalogo/detalhes_produto.php?id=2545 ?

Will the Z68 board make a real difference?

 

[springhalo]

Didn't feel like linking everything, so here's a cap of the cart. You could probably go for a better case if you wanted.

Z68 isn't really necessary for the build you're going for.

 

[rvilkman]

I wouldn't trust a 33e PSU that claims to have 700W, at least not to get anywhere near that 700W.
However it 'might' be ok at the wattage you will be using it at. If you can find a 430w to 520W antec PSU somewhere at a reasonable price
that would do nicely.

The Z68 board would give you a better upgrade path, but i'm sure you will do fine with the H67.
Basically it would allow you to purchase a 2500k or 2600k CPU and overclock it and it would come with all the other possibly nice features such as SSD caching and would allow you to utilize the CPU's built in video for tasks such as trans coding video.

While the build listed by SpringHalo would do nicely, it doesn't seem you can get the same from Portugal at least not at those prices.

 

[springhalo]

I couldn't find a very good selection of parts from those sites, but here's something that might be able to get you by for the time being.. It's nowhere near your budget limit though. You're better off waiting until you have at least 600 euros before you start building anything. Anywho, here's why I tried to conjure up, but it's missing a case and a graphics card, plus this hard drive: Samsung 1tb

If you want something modern, that's where you're set. Something a bit dated, but a lot cheaper and still a heck of a lot better than your current setup would be an athlon build.. I'll look some things up for that.

 

[springhalo]

Here's an AM3+ system, with a budget Athlon II dual core CPU. With the AM3+ chipset, you can upgrade to the new bulldozer chips once they come out, which will give you an upgrade path. I suppose you could game on the integrated graphics right now, but I doubt it. As I said before, you're better off waiting until you've saved up more than getting something now. If you HAVE to get something RIGHT now, I'd go with this, to stay in your budget.

Ram: http://www.nuno-candeias.pt/catalogo/detalhes_produto.php?id=3839

Same hard drive as my last post.

Motherboard: http://www.chip7.pt/catalogo/detalhes_produto.php?id=48417

CPU: http://www.chip7.pt/catalogo/detalhes_produto.php?id=41120 (Dual Core Athlon II 3.0GHz)

PSU:http://www.chiptec.net/incs/verproduto.php?id=11034 (antec 520w)

Case: http://www.nuno-candeias.pt/catalogo/detalhes_produto.php?id=3818 (antec 100)

55
58
44
55
72
54
Total: 338 euro, without a CD drive, so you'd have to install the OS with a USB.

This is the cheapest build I could find, that still uses quality components and leaves some upgradability. I still think you should wait until you have more money. Dem Portugal import taxes.