Moderate Built Gaming PC

[The_Reaper95]

Firstly I would like to say I am not looking to pay over 400. This is a PC I am building with the money from my 18th Birthday. I have got a PC in full that I want to buy but I thought just to make sure that this is the best place to ask on anything.

Build I am planning:

OS: Windows 7 Home Premium
1 TB HDD
500 Wat Cooler Master PSU
ATI Radeon 7770
Lite-On 24x DVD-RW
8GB DDR3 Corsair Vengeance RAM

The only things I'm struggling on deciding to get hardware wise is the motherboard and the CPU.
I had my eye on a AMD Bulldozer FX-4100 Socket AM3+ Quad Core and a MSI H61M-P31-G3. If you need the links I can post links to every piece of hardware.

I was also instead advised to (instead of the ATI 7770 and AMD Bulldozer) get a ATI Radeon 7850 and a AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition as apparently according to the one that recommended I do this "The Phenom II, while starting to become dated, is still miles better than the FX-4100" so what do people think of this? Is this person right or do you have something better to tell me. With my current build shown above apart from the recommendations my build would cost a total of £377.03 With the recommendation I received after I had setup my build just to clarify would cost: £410.50.

I already have a Store Bought Windows 7 from Currys
http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/microsoft-windows-7-home-premium-03351305-pdt.html

And the PC Case:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/CiT-Vantage-Gaming-Audio-Reader/dp/B0071KZNUY/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1361780490&sr=1-1

I'm not an expert but I wouldn't be posting this if I didn't have at least some understanding of computers and hardware.

Links:

My Build

http://www.amazon.co.uk/AMD-Bulldozer-FX-4100-Socket-Processor/dp/B005UBNL0A/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1361780031&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-7770-Radeon-Graphics-Card/dp/B0081LDXW2/ref=sr_1_2?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1361780094&sr=1-2

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Seagate-ST31000524AS-Barracuda-7200rpm-Buffer/dp/B004HBAGSO/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1361780141&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.co.uk/LiteOn-IHAS124-04-DVDRW-Height-Internal/dp/B009GV7ZQG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1358958160&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9-1600MHz-Vengeance-Memory/dp/B004CRSM4I/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1361780215&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cooler-Master-Elite-Power-Supply/dp/B004XG6I1W/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1360943919&sr=1-1

Recommended CPU and GPU:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/AMD-HDZ965FBGMBOX-Phenom-II-965/dp/B002SRQ214/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1361780605&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-Radeon-DirectCU-Graphics-Express/dp/B008RW0R10/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1361780636&sr=1-1

 

[stickmansam]

i3 over the IIx4 (i3 is better for gaming and board costs of i3 offset the more espensive CPU)
7850 2gb is best for this budget and better than 7770 by quite a bit and worth the extra price
USB3 case, can drop price by about 10 pounds if you cut this out
B75 mb over h61 to get usb3
Only a 500GB hdd but storage is easily upgradable (do not get the seagte drives ending in AS get the ones ending with numbers or the wd blue ones ending with X)
Left out optical drive but you can add it for about 17 pounds
8GB of ram
always best to get the best core parts (CPU, PSU, GPU, RAM, MB) and then upgrade the rest later

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-3220 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor (£89.88 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: MSI B75MA-E33 Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£42.47 @ Aria PC)
Memory: Patriot Intel Extreme Master, Limited Ed 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£36.23 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£39.98 @ Novatech)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card (£141.12 @ Aria PC)
Case: Silverstone SST-RL01B-USB 3.0 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£35.16 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 450W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£34.99 @ Aria PC)
Total: £419.83
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-25 08:03 GMT+0000)

 

[TimeLass]

i would go for Phenom II and avoid Bulldozer CPU... your build is good but the PSU you chose is BAD...you need to swap that PSU out...get something like these
PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/FRpO
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/FRpO/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/FRpO/benchmarks/

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£73.30 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard (£52.24 @ Aria PC)
Memory: Corsair XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£32.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Toshiba 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£38.99 @ Ebuyer)
Video Card: Asus Radeon HD 7770 1GB Video Card (£94.86 @ Amazon UK)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£39.95 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£48.17 @ Aria PC)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer (£12.85 @ Aria PC)
Total: £393.35
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-25 08:55 GMT+0000)

yes go for HD 7850 if the budget allow... HD 7850 is way more better HD 7770...

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

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£73.30 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard (£52.24 @ Aria PC)
Memory: Corsair XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£32.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Toshiba 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£38.99 @ Ebuyer)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card (£141.12 @ Aria PC)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£39.95 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£48.17 @ Aria PC)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer (£12.85 @ Aria PC)
Total: £439.61
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-25 08:59 GMT+0000)

 

[Swordkd]

What is your overall budget?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor (£101.44 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock 970 Extreme3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard (£64.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£32.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£50.00 @ Ebuyer)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card (£141.12 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£48.17 @ Aria PC)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS90 DVD/CD Writer (£14.99 @ Novatech)
Total: £453.70
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-25 09:01 GMT+0000)

It's in the ballpark possibly, but need to know if that is too much.

 

[The_Reaper95]

i would go for Phenom II and avoid Bulldozer CPU... your build is good but the PSU you chose is BAD...you need to swap that PSU out...get something like these
PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/FRpO
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/FRpO/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/FRpO/benchmarks/

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£73.30 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard (£52.24 @ Aria PC)
Memory: Corsair XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£32.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Toshiba 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£38.99 @ Ebuyer)
Video Card: Asus Radeon HD 7770 1GB Video Card (£94.86 @ Amazon UK)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£39.95 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£48.17 @ Aria PC)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer (£12.85 @ Aria PC)
Total: £393.35
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-25 08:55 GMT+0000)

yes go for HD 7850 if the budget allow... HD 7850 is way more better HD 7770...

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

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£73.30 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard (£52.24 @ Aria PC)
Memory: Corsair XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£32.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Toshiba 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£38.99 @ Ebuyer)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card (£141.12 @ Aria PC)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£39.95 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£48.17 @ Aria PC)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer (£12.85 @ Aria PC)
Total: £439.61
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-25 08:59 GMT+0000)

What's wrong with the PSU? Also currently I only trust Amazon.co.uk for online purchasing. All my prices are taken from Amazon and trusted you think I am being difficult I am sorry, but I would much rather just get the products from Amazon. I know I should of course trust anything you tell me considering most likely 80% of people on this site will know a hell of a lot more about computers and custom built rigs than I do. But my free choice is limited to amazon unfortunately. I will go with the CPU, Motherboard, RAM, PSU and HDD You offered however.

 

[The_Reaper95]

What is your overall budget?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor (£101.44 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock 970 Extreme3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard (£64.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£32.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£50.00 @ Ebuyer)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card (£141.12 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£48.17 @ Aria PC)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS90 DVD/CD Writer (£14.99 @ Novatech)
Total: £453.70
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-25 09:01 GMT+0000)

It's in the ballpark possibly, but need to know if that is too much.

That is literally about my maximum (450) so this is a perfect price but cheaper is always better if it can be helped you know. Thanks so much for the suggestions.

 

[TimeLass]

What's wrong with the PSU? Also currently I only trust Amazon.co.uk for online purchasing. All my prices are taken from Amazon and trusted you think I am being difficult I am sorry, but I would much rather just get the products from Amazon. I know I should of course trust anything you tell me considering most likely 80% of people on this site will know a hell of a lot more about computers and custom built rigs than I do. But my free choice is limited to amazon unfortunately. I will go with the CPU, Motherboard, RAM, PSU and HDD You offered however.

so it will be something like this right
http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/FRIk
http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/FRJE

because most of CM's PSU tends to fail a lot...
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/power-supply-psu-review,2916.html

 

[The_Reaper95]

so it will be something like this right
http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/FRIk
http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/FRJE

because most of CM's PSU tends to fail a lot...
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/power-supply-psu-review,2916.html

Thanks for the post I read through all of that and I am by far not getting my original choice but the one you recommended. I am glad I came to this site before making my choice, this way I save money most efficiently. Thank you.

 

[The_Reaper95]

so it will be something like this right
http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/FRIk
http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/FRJE

because most of CM's PSU tends to fail a lot...
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/power-supply-psu-review,2916.html

Yeah I will go with this over anything I could choose http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/FRJE

Thanks a lot, and this means I can afford a new game to try out this beastly PC you have got me. Thanks so much. I've seen Crysis 3 and Far Cry 3 being played at either max or high and beyond settings so I am sure any game that I own or am going to own (Like the fact I own all of VALVe's games on Steam like Left 4 Dead 2 and new games like BioShock: Infinite will work perfectly considering it has surprising low recommended hardware)

Oh yeah. I'm getting a 7850 over the 7770.

 

[TimeLass]

You are always welcome...

 

[michxymi]

BitFenix Merc Alpha Midi Tower Chassis - Black

Corsair Builder Series CX 500 Watt ATX/EPS 80 PLUS Bronze Power Supply Unit

AMD HDZ965FBGMBOX Phenom II X4 965 - 3.4 Ghz AM3 Black Edition CPU, Retail Packaged

AsRock 970 Extreme3 Motherboard

Patriot 8GB (2x 4GB) 1600MHz Dual Channel DDR3 Viper 3 Black Mamba Memory Kit

XFX AMD Radeon HD 7870 2GB GDDR5

Western Digital WD5000AAKX

With the above build which cost ~450 pounds you have the best possible GPU along with a good CPU and a full upgrade able platform!

 

[The_Reaper95]

BitFenix Merc Alpha Midi Tower Chassis - Black

Corsair Builder Series CX 500 Watt ATX/EPS 80 PLUS Bronze Power Supply Unit

AMD HDZ965FBGMBOX Phenom II X4 965 - 3.4 Ghz AM3 Black Edition CPU, Retail Packaged

AsRock 970 Extreme3 Motherboard

Patriot 8GB (2x 4GB) 1600MHz Dual Channel DDR3 Viper 3 Black Mamba Memory Kit

XFX AMD Radeon HD 7870 2GB GDDR5

Western Digital WD5000AAKX

With the above build which cost ~450 pounds you have the best possible GPU along with a good CPU and a full upgrade able platform!

Yeah, thanks but I have already decided on what I am getting. But if my choice doesn't work out in the long run, I will go with this.