Cheaper without performance loss

[z6f]

Hello tomshardware

I'm going to be building my first ever computer hopefully on Saturday and I need some help reducing the price. I will be buying the parts off Amazon UK in a few hours.

I want to get it as cheap as possible but have good performance. I'm hoping for medium/high/max settings on games such as SR3, BO2, Portal 2 etc.

I don't need an OS, Keyboard, Mouse and Monitor. I'm hoping to keep the price of everything near £400

Here is a build I have so far:

Intel Core i5-3450 - £142.68
ASRock B75 Pro3-M - £55.80
Zalman Z9U3 - £49.99
Xigmatek NRP-VC603 600W - £40.93
Adata Premier Series 4GB - £11.68
VTX3D AMD Radeon HD 7850 - £126.98

Subtotal: £428.06

Is there anyway to get this build cheaper without sacrificing performance?

I don't mind getting a cheaper case or mobo. I'm only interested in the mobo because it has a toslink port so I can use my Turtle Beach x41s as wireless headphones.

Also are all the parts compatible? Is the PSU good?

Thanks in advance

- z6f

 

[camohanna]

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/p/uL1x
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/p/uL1x/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/p/uL1x/benchmarks/

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor (£99.54 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock 970 Extreme3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard (£64.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£45.54 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7850 1GB Video Card (£125.98 @ Dabs)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case (£31.18 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£49.98 @ Novatech)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer (£12.98 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £430.19
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-29 05:22 GMT+0000)

 

[angaddev]

http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/p/uLao
If you don't need the 1tb WD black it will cost £410, the i3-3xxx series provides some good gaming power and the 7870 once you oc it will play all games at high, 1080p

 

[camohanna]

TBH 6300 over a i3.... 6 cores vs 2 cores...

 

[angaddev]

tbh I am an amd guy but the only place it wins is in multi-threaded. For all gaming the i3 trumps it due to the fact that the per core performance of fx is shite.

 

[ohiou_grad_06]

Honestly, if it were me, if you are going to go FX 6300, might as well go for the FX 8120. I picked one up at Microcenter for 140. If you start overclocking that 6300 I bet it would whip the i3. Note, i3 can't overclock. From what I'm hearing, down the line, intel will leave socket 1155 behind. Vs you might possibly have an upgrade path later to steamroller and excavator if AMD brings them out.

 

[angaddev]

the performance increase when oc'd in the fx range is 10-20%. This still doesn't make up for its dire core performance. The FX has a small advantage in applications but the i3 b*tch-slaps it in gaming.