£400-£450 PC Advice?

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AlexRWH

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Jan 7, 2013
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A freind asked me to put together a part list for his new pc, He has a target budget of £400-£450 but can spare a little extra if needed (£25-£50). His Primary use for the system will be recording/playing games and editing video

Can anyone advise me on whether these parts are a good pick at this pricepoint or if there are better/cheaper parts available?

They don't have to be from amazon but if they are from elsewhere they need to be available in the UK and All available from one site e.g. Amazon, Scan, Overclockers etc..

CPU: Intel Core i3 3220 Dual Core CPU (£89.87 @ Amazon)

Motherboard: MSI Z77A-G45 (£77.72 @ Amazon)

Memory: G-Skill 8GBXL Ripjaws X (£35.76 @ Amazon)

Storage: WD Caviar Blue 500GB SATA III (£46.01 @ Amazon)

Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B5ST 24x Internal SATA DVD Drive (£19.50 @ Amazon)

Video Card: ASUS NVidia Geoforce GTX 650 (£99.12 @ Amazon)

Case: Cooler Master RC-430-KWN1 Elite 430 Midi Tower with Window (£39.47 @ Amazon)

Power Supply: Corsair CX750 Builder Series (£67.98 @ Amazon)

Total: £475.43
 
g-unit1111

g-unit1111

Titan
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Jul 27, 2011
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That's a decent rig, ideal? Not really. A better combo would be a Pentium G860/870 paired with a Radeon 7850:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Pentium G2120 3.1GHz Dual-Core Processor (£69.85 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: ASRock H77 Pro4/MVP ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£66.50 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£34.99 @ Scan.co.uk)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£43.87 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7850 1GB Video Card (£125.98 @ Dabs)
Case: Fractal Design Core 3000 ATX Mid Tower Case (£45.98 @ Dabs)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 600W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply (£54.98 @ Novatech)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer (£12.98 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £455.13
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-01-07 22:02 GMT+0000)
 
A

AlexRWH

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Jan 7, 2013
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Thanks for replying so quickly, i have one question though does the:

ASRock H77 Pro4/MVP ATX LGA1155 Motherboard & the MSI B75MA-P45 Micro ATX LGA1155

Have an extra PCI Express slot as he said he would like to try and upgrade in the future to a dual Sli/Crosfire config when he can save up some more money
 
djangoringo

djangoringo

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Nov 14, 2012
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None are good for that, SLI support none of those two have, crossfire only the h77, but it's 16x and 4x...
Also i don't recommend going to do crossfire with lower end cards...
If you want a good board with upgrade for a k series(only worth if you can pay only the i3) and SLI/Crossfire dual 8x 8x get either : http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gaz77xd3h
http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/part/asus-motherboard-p8z77vlk

But for recording/video editing i recommend an i5 or at least an i3 over the pentiums gxxx...
 
quilciri

quilciri

Splendid
Mar 16, 2012
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Stronger CPU, and 2gb 7850.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3350P 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor (£130.98 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: MSI B75MA-P45 Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£45.30 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£31.57 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Hitachi 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£39.72 @ Scan.co.uk)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card (£138.94 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£31.12 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply (£35.32 @ Scan.co.uk)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer (£12.98 @ Scan.co.uk)

Total: £465.93 (Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

Enjoy!


*edit: you can et the case from Scan.co.uk as well, it's almost exactly the same price there.
 
djangoringo

djangoringo

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Well if he can pay more 50£, he can get the 660 gtx over the 7850 2GB, for gaming the 660 gtx is much better, also the xfx 450w has more value and quality it's at the same price, and the hdd hitachi just sucks, do not get hitachi hdds...
 
quilciri

quilciri

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Mar 16, 2012
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No they don't. Any evidence you may have to the contary is purely anecdotal and has no basis in statistics. Every study with a large sample size on HDD reliability has been unable to publish the company names along with statistics (though how the HDD manufacturers can get away with stifling that info is beyond me).

Personally, I've had 3 Hitachi HDD's over the years, and none of them have failed yet. One is almost ten years old. I can't say the same for drives I've owned from either Seagate or WD. The seagate drive that failed wasn't even kind enough to spit a smart error first.

As far as the video card, the extra money he offered was "if needed". The build is £16 into that extra money already. A 660 would put him over even his stretched budget.

besides, 7850's are some of the best overclocking cards of all time, so if so inclined, he could easily reach 660 performance with little to no voltage bump (a 7850 @ 1100mhz matches a stock 7870, and most 7850's can reach a stable 1050 without any voltage increase). I'm currently running 2 Asus 7850's @ 1200 mhz core, 1.18v
 
djangoringo

djangoringo

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Not the same bullsh*t story of the 7850 when oc is better than a 660 gtx please, i'm getting tired of that.
And don't make me count how many hitachi(the deathstars) hdd i've seen fail, i've see a LOT, saying the wd and seagate are worse is really the joke here...you don't have a clue in hdds...
 
g-unit1111

g-unit1111

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Jul 27, 2011
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It's recently been brought to my attention that Hitachi sold their HD division to Western Digital, and Samsung recently sold theirs to Seagate, so it's come down to a "pick yer poison" type of deal. :lol:
 
djangoringo

djangoringo

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Hitachi Deskstar are the worst poison ever then...there are those that can be lethal, the others not...deathstars are within highest units with failure rates...
And from my experience it's really true.
As for the deals, the impact will come in the future, those hdd were manufacture long ago the deals or any restructuring in the corporations...
 
quilciri

quilciri

Splendid
Mar 16, 2012
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Wow, you have no clue what you're talking about.

Here's uniengine heaven on a 660 Ti - 59.9
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=gtx+660+unigine+heaven&qpvt=gtx+660+unigine+heaven&FORM=IGRE#view=detail&id=A5BDA0182E94D956513E600133C4AF1E28477BCB&selectedIndex=9

and here's an overclocked 7850 at higher settings than the 660 Ti (shaders are high and tesselation is normal). @61.7 FPS

post #145
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18389760&page=5

so yes, the 7850 can easily reach stock-clocked levels of a regular 660 levels. It's true whether or not you choose to believe it.

And what I said was, your sample size is puny. I was making fun of your illogical reccomendation based on personal experience through imitation with my own anecdote.

I'm gonna go with the studies that have sampled thousands or drives over your *or* my personal experience, because what we have experienced is far more likely to be an outlier. While they couldn't publish manufacturer names, they do seem to agree that no HDD in any price bracket (or maybe at all) fails significantly more than any other HDD. Your reccommendation is more based on personal feelings than logic.

Now, if you want to reccommend something like a WD cav black because it has a 5 year warranty as opposed to the 3 year warranty on most drives, that's different. But failure rate is a laughable reason.

If I had a dollar for all the techs that reccomended HDD's based on personal experience, I'd retire.
 
djangoringo

djangoringo

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Search for hitachi hdd failures...or hitachi deskstar failures, hitachi deathstar...
I don't see what are you talking about...your experience with three hdds(which could be not true, no facts) is what counts, not the truth about hitachi...?
I just cannot honestly recommend an hitachi hdd to anyone, you just tried to cheap out on the hdd, like many do on the psu and other parts.
As for the 660 gtx vs 7850, common your gonna show that ?...i can see that you're biased to the 7850...and i don't have a clue...i guess all sites around the web don't have a clue.

http://tpucdn.com/reviews/Zotac/GeForce_GTX_660/images/perf_oc.gif
http://www.techspot.com/review/603-best-graphics-cards/page4.html
http://www.techspot.com/review/603-best-graphics-cards/page5.html
http://tpucdn.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_660_HAWK/images/perf_oc.gif
http://tpucdn.com/reviews/Gigabyte/GTX_660_OC/images/perf_oc.gif
 
quilciri

quilciri

Splendid
Mar 16, 2012
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It's intersting how you're hung up on my persnoal experience when I only used it to make fun of you basing a HDD reccomendation off of your own.

I can find failures on any model HDD you like. Here's one about high failure rates on WD dives.
http://www.macintouch.com/readerreports/harddrives/topic3970.html. Once again, claiming high failure rates on one HDD over another is ludicrous. We simply don't have enough information.

And you're missing the point of the build. The 660 puts him over budget even with the additional money he offered. Are you saying that the 7850 doesn't overclock better than any other card out now, percentage wise?

I'm claiming that the 7850 is much better bang for the buck than the 660, (and once again, fits in his budget *not* that it is a faster card at stock clocks. Please talk about what I actually said, rather than what you imagine I said.

p.s. What do you think posting 660 benches compared to a stock clocked 7850 is supposed to prove?
 
djangoringo

djangoringo

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I'm just saying you don't have a clue, about hdds, i cannot recommend hitachi, they fail more than any other hdds brands like the wd and seagate.
I didn't say 7850 cannot oc, your just being biased by wrongly saying that's better than a 660 gtx, you forget a 660 gtx also overclocks well, that argument can be said for both cards.
The 660 gtx is a better card, period.
Not to mention the better drivers and features.
He said more 50£, the 660 gtx will do, for the i3 it fits under less 450 and with the i5 for 500£.
I'm not gonna discuss any further,
 
quilciri

quilciri

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Mar 16, 2012
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The 7850 reaches stable 50% core overclocks. No other card can do that right now.

and you're confusing "better bang for you buck" with "faster card"
 
djangoringo

djangoringo

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I don't, please...just stop...when the only hdd that i had to replace last past few weeks for a guy was a hitachi deskstar hdd, cause it failed (tested with hirens boot).
Please just don't the defend the hdd just because you put it the list to cheap out.
Please stop, i'm not even responding anymore.
 
quilciri

quilciri

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Mar 16, 2012
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And He'll get more out of a quad core i5 over an i3 than he will out of a 660 over a 7850.
 
djangoringo

djangoringo

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I'm not pretending anything, just my recommendation to stay away from hitachi deskstar hdds, also see the web...
It's curious that your recommended builds in your signature, don't have any hitachi hdd, why not ?...just admit it, you put the first hdd 500 gb that appeared on the pcpartpicker list lol.
Oh, another thing, the msi board doesn't support the i5-3350p out the box...needs a bios update.
Also the 660 gtx comes with AC3, it pays off...

So if he can pay up to more 50£ :

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3350P 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor (£130.98 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: ASRock B75M-GL Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£47.99 @ Novatech)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£31.57 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£40.42 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 660 2GB Video Card (£159.95 @ Aria PC)
Case: BitFenix Merc Beta (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£32.90 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 450W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£36.98 @ Novatech)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer (£12.98 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £493.77
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

If not i rather get the cheapest 7850 1GB
No performance difference between the two in 1080p (7850 2GB vs 1GB)
http://tpucdn.com/reviews/Club_3D/HD_7850_RoyalQueen/images/perfrel_1920.gif

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3350P 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor (£130.98 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: ASRock B75M-GL Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£47.99 @ Novatech)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£31.57 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£40.42 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7850 1GB Video Card (£125.98 @ Dabs)
Case: BitFenix Merc Beta (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£32.90 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 450W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£36.98 @ Novatech)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer (£12.98 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £459.80
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)


And that's it.

 
quilciri

quilciri

Splendid
Mar 16, 2012
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23,965


Stop posting if you're going to stop posting, but stop pretending your personal experience is a good enough reason to reccommend a hard drive.

http://www.data-master.com/hard-drives-BestMake.html

oh, and to add to that article, Hitatchi drives are used in lenovo thinkpads, which are very heavily used by both enterprise and government. Were Hitachi drives as unreliable as you say, I think someone might have caught on by now.
 
quilciri

quilciri

Splendid
Mar 16, 2012
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And this is just flat out wrong. I can't tell if you just don't know or if you're actually trying to spread misinformation at this point. All B75 chipset boards support all current ivy-bridge processors, both 77 and 69w, with no need for a BIOS update.
 
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