£600 ($950 Equivalent) Build needed

[darthstef]

Approximate Purchase Date: e.g.: Hopefully, this month

Budget Range: £600 ($950 Equivalent)

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Web Browsing, Email

Are you buying a monitor: No

Do you need to buy OS: No

Preferred Websites for Parts: Amazon UK & ebay UK

Location: Worcestershire, United Kingdom

Parts Preferences: I would like a SSD for the OS, Critical apps and 2-3 games. An intel CPU (not sure which, though) and I do not want an optical drive as, for me, it's useless nor do I need a reg HDD as I already own one. Also not interested in WiFi, Card Readers or a Specialized Sound Card.

Overclocking: Yes

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe

Your Monitor Resolution: Haven't decided. Was planning on buying a ~40" TV to use for both the Desktop and my xBox 360. Would appreciate help with this decision as well as my knowledge is very limited.

Additional Comments: A quiet PC would be great but if it comes at too much of an expense I don't care that much.
I would love to be able to play games like the newest NFS, Battlefield, Crysis, Justcause, etc. without having to worry about having to compromise too much between quality for performance. I do not use my PC for any Audio/Graphic editing.

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: My laptop recently died completely and I am taking advantage of it to finally get a decent desktop as I am fed up with the limitations of affordable laptops in terms of gaming performance. I have some money saved up so I added 2+2. The budget mentioned is not my ideal budget but, after 2 days of research while lacking much previous knowledge, it seems implausible to get a decent rig that will stand its ground for 3-4 years and will be upgradable for a smaller budget. If I am wrong and it can be done for less then I'd love to be corrected!

As a final word, I really admire this community after spending a few hours browsing through requests, guides and discussions so I just wanted to say "Thank you!" in advance for all the guides and support this community has to offer and I can't wait to finally get rid of the headache I've been having for the past 3 days due to me struggling on my own.

Regards,
Stef

 

[jmsellars1]

You could certainly build a decent gaming PC for less but you would have to make small compromises in graphics settings. If you want something that generally be good for maxed out settings and be relatively quiet, I'd go for this:

i5-3570k
2x4GB Corsair Vengeance LP 1600Mhz 1.5v C9
MSI Z77MA-G45
MSi Twin Frozr III HD 7850 2GB
Samsung 840 Series 128GB
Corsair CX-430 430W
Fractal Design Define Core 1000

Total - £595.42 on Scan

Both the CPU and GPU are great for overclocking, that case has decent enough ventilation and space for two more fans. Also, that CPU could handle a more powerful GPU when overclocked so that's another good upgrade option.

 

[darthstef]

Thanks for the reply!

I looked into most of them and they look great. However, will the 430W PSU be enough? Especially if I will upgrade the GPU later on.

Also, are there any alternatives to the HD7850? I'd be ok spending a little extra on the GPU, I think. Something like £30-40 ($50-60) extra. Any thoughts?

Thanks again!

 

[jmsellars1]

Get the 500W for anything more powerful. GTX 660 is good.

EDIT: I believe the HD 7870 is slightly better than the GTX 660 at the same price though. The HD 7850 is perfectly fine on 430W, it's plenty. As mentioned, I'd be tempted to get something slightly more powerful for a more powerful card though.

This one looks good for the price, Silverstone should be decent enough.

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/500w-silverstone-sst-st50f-es-strider-psu-silent-80-plus-atx-12v-23-24x7-use-ready!

 

[darthstef]

Thank you very much for all your help! I've ordered the parts and I can't wait to get my hands on them!

 

[jmsellars1]

Cool! So which parts did you go for?