Gaming build under £500

[fort90]

Hey guys just wanting your opinion so I've opened this poll to see what you guys think!
After some help from a few of you, I have revised this numerous times but this is it, the final decision (apart from psu, I still need to work out what wattage I'll need)

I already own the case and motherboard which I ordered the other day, the rest I'll be ordering next week!

Zalman z11 plus mid case
Asrock 970 extreme4, Tri crossfireX/Sli Mobo
AMD FX 8350, 8 core 4.0ghz BE
Corsair vengeance 2x4gb 1866mhz RDam
128gb agility 4 sata iii SSD
XFX radeon HD 6850 (possibly crossfirex in future)
500-650w Ctx corsair builder PSU
Windows 7 pro 64 bit

I haven external DVD drive so I don't need an internal one.

What you think guys? Should I crossfire the gpus eventually? Will this handle bf3 on max/ultra?

NOTE: this is my first build, and it was done on a £500 budget!

 

[fort90]

Lol sorry, could a mod change "rare" to "rate" on poll title please.

 

[stickmansam]

EDIT: Hit the reply button before i finished *self-facepalm*

 

[fort90]

I am yes,

Zalman z11 plus mid case £65
Asrock 970 extreme4, Tri crossfireX/Sli Mobo £75
AMD FX 8350, 8 core 4.0ghz BE £135
Corsair vengeance 2x4gb 1866mhz RDam £33
128gb agility 4 sata iii SSD £57
XFX radeon HD 6850 (possibly crossfirex in future) £99
500-650w Ctx corsair builder PSU £48-55 depending on wattage

£512, sorry do apologise.. I was going for a seagate 250gb 7200rpm HDD which was around £25, so that was under £500 then!

I'd change the title now but for some reason I can't edit my posts..

Anyway besides that, any thoughts on the build? I said it was final but I do have a week to change my mind on parts P

 

[stickmansam]

Assuming prices are about the same over there as over here:
The 6850 is pretty good for that price range and will probably offer more in terms of crossfire than the 7770 esp at higher resolutions.
At the prices I am looking at an i5 will be a better gamer while costing about the same. Also a personal choice I guess
I don't think the faster ram is really necessary, 1600mhz should be fine.
I don't know too much about PSU and motherboards but corsair is a good brand to go with (I'll let someone more knowledgeable comment about them).
OCZ had some issues before but I think they fixed them.
Its really good for a first build and seems like you did some research yourself already =)

EDIT: self-facepalm, did not see that you already have the board

EDIT 2:Better off this part as new reply

 

[fort90]

Yes I am mate, I was actually looking at the 7770 which is probably around $100-110? Whilst I found the 6850 is around $130-140?.. I was thinking about cooler master which would same me about $13 over corsair. Also I have the mono already and want to go with amd myself! Cheaper parts n such especially for future upgrades.. also, I figured since 1866 ram isn't that much more expensive and fix CPUs handle them straight out of the box, I figured.. why not!? Lol

 

[stickmansam]

What resolution do you plan to game at and what games do you usually play?
It might be better to grab a cheaper AMD chip and OC it to match the FX8350 and spend the difference on a stronger GPU like a 650ti or even 7850, also save some on the ram and put that towards the GPU

 

[fort90]

How are you editing your posts? My spelling is atrocious because I'm using my tablet PC lol

 

[fort90]

Well I plan on getting a cheap 24" monitor with res at 1920 x 1200. I was also thinking about the phenkm ii x4 965 BE at 3.4 but I don't plan on over clocking.. only then that will support 1333mhz ram without overclocking

 

[fort90]

If you guys voting have suggestions, please share them!

 

[stickmansam]

At that resolution the 6850 will probably only handle medium settings in most games and older games, high should be okay. Depends what games you play though. You save quite a bit by going to the 965 but I would not pair a 965 with crossfire 6850's, the 965 will probably hold them back then.
I just helped a friend with a build and he went FX 6300 and a 7850 with 1600 mhz ram.

At the bottom right corner of your posts there should be 3 buttons and the first one is the edit button.

EDIT:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6396/the-vishera-review-amd-fx8350-fx8320-fx6300-and-fx4300-tested/5

Judging by the chart above the FX8350 does perform better than the FX6300 but mostly due to clock speed rather than core count. I have no idea why AMD decided to gimp the FX6's so much clock speed wise. This does make the FX8350 better i guess.

 

[fort90]

Any suggestions on a GPU around £100 that would be good for that sort of res?

 

[fort90]

Also ive tried to edit it, it just keeps saying I'm not able to edit my post :/

 

[stickmansam]

So what games do you play or plan to play?
Do you have the website you get your parts because I have a feeling prices are different in UK than what i have over here.

 

[fort90]

I plan to play bf3 on the max settings I can ofc, whilst being smooth.. 7850 a good card?

 

[fort90]

Oh and eBay

 

[fort90]

Actually been looking at the 6000, 6850 2gb seems tempting, if I trim off some things from my build like the ssd and such I could budget that in, what you think?

 

[fort90]

Scrap that I think I'll get a evga gtx 570, which is around $250.. I've got rid of the ssd and gone for a cheaper (still 80 plus bronze) 650w psu.. Also having to go for cheaper ram :/

 

[stickmansam]

Is your original 6850 the single gb one?
If you can afford the 7850 it performs on average 50% better than that was with older drivers, the newer runs raised perf about 20% (dunno how much changed inregards to the 6850). A two gig card will allow you to use higher textures and bf3 uses quite a bit.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Gigabyte/HD_7770_OC/26.html

Well the 6850 will do fine for now but for crossfire the 6850 2gb will have a longer lifespan.
7850 2gb will perform quite a bit better when crossfired and last longer than crossfire 6850.

I wish ppl with firsthand experience with these cards can answer

 

[stickmansam]

Looking at toms hierachy chart, the 570 is about the same as the 7850 (2gb 7850 is a bit better esp in higher res than the 1gb one), don't know about the pricing though.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html

 

[stickmansam]

If you grab a 2gb version of the 6850, that is probably the best choice right now with your budget

 

[stickmansam]

With a single 6850 you can mange most games at least with medium settings, and with another one, you can crossfire them and it'll be a great match with your cpu for 1080p

 

[fort90]

Thanks for your help mate, I'm still deciding lol.. I think it's either 560 ti or 7870 now.. I still have a few weeks until I can afford it but ATM I've been debating on what psu I should get if I was to crossfire. Was thinking fractal r2 650w

 

[stickmansam]

If the pricing for them is very close I would go a 7870 for the PCI-E 3, lower power consumption, and better performance
I think 650w should be fine for cross firing 7870 but you might want to double check that.

 

[fort90]

Only thing is my mobo is pcie 2.0 :/
I've also changed my mind on the CPU and saved around $120 and gone with a phenom ii x4 965 BE.. Hopefully it won't bottleneck my gpu! Lol this is so stressful yet fun!