First Time Custom Builder Budget of £600

[AntOwnsOkay]

Hi there,
i am custom building for the first time with a budget of 600 pounds. i want to know your opinion on the components
Accessories like Monitors Keyboards etc have been taken care of. Heres my list:

Graphics Card: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-295-SP&tool=3 £173.50

Bundle (Processor, Ram, Motherboard, Cooler http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-202-OK £199.98 i am upgrading the 8GB ram


PSU (Power Supply): http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-CMPSU-750TXV2UK-Enthusiast-Series-Performance/dp/B004O0P9VC/ref=sr_1_2?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1348687016&sr=1-2 £80.91

SSD (120GB): http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004Z0S6SO/ref=noref?ie=UTF8&psc=1&s=computers £64.19

Optical Disc Drive (still deciding): http://www.amazon.co.uk/LG-GH24NS90-AUAA50B-SATA-Internal-Rewriter/dp/B007267YRC/ref=sr_1_4?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1348354604&sr=1-4 £13.97

Total: 532.55

I will buy a HDD so i have not included.
What case would you recommend that has good airflow and is under 75 pounds?

 

[malbluff]

Personally, I wouldn't go with that bundle, and if I'm reading their notes correctly, upgrading the RAM voids their support/warranty. Unless you intend to add a second graphics card, which also wouldn't work well with that bundle, you don't need anything like that PSU. Also the SSD is far from the best.
Provided you don't plan to add a second GPU, it would be possible to put together a much better build, using Intel i3 Ivybridge, which would perform better, for, at least, similar cost.

 

[AntOwnsOkay]

i

 

[AntOwnsOkay]

I am upgrading to 8gb ram with them over the phone, i am pretty sure it does not void the warranty

 

[metal orient]

Look at other stores for better prices:

dabs.com
aria.co.uk
ebuyer.com

 

[lighter17]

You didn't indicate what you plan to use the system for, but since you included a 7850 I'm assuming gaming is one intended use. This is a better way to spend your money:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3450 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor (£138.74 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: ASRock H77M Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£62.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£30.96 @ Scan.co.uk)
Storage: OCZ Vertex 4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£80.00 @ Ebuyer)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 2GB Video Card (£187.89 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Antec Three Hundred Two ATX Mid Tower Case (£49.98 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£49.98 @ Novatech)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS90 DVD/CD Writer (£13.98 @ Novatech)
Total: £614.52
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

It's a little outside your budget but will give you a much better system. I would advise you to drop the SSD and go with an HD to free up some money to improve other components.

 

[AntOwnsOkay]

Okay thanks for the input

im a beginner at this stuff but isnt a 4.2ghz quad core processor better than a 3.1ghz quad core?

 

[metal orient]

If it were the same processor, but they are very different and intels CPU's have much more efficient micro architecture and are faster overall.

 

[AntOwnsOkay]

im pretty sure ill stick with the 4.2 thanks

 

[lighter17]

Clock speed is a poor indicator of how fast a processor really is. Efficiency, sometimes referred to as Instructions Per Cycle (IPC), plays a big role in how fast the CPU completes tasks. Intel CPUs are much more efficient that the AMD FX series.

Check out this article that compared CPU performance in games. The i5-3470 I've recommended is slightly faster (about 5-7%) than the i5-2400 used in the comparison. See how it compares to the FX 4100 (which is about 15% slower than the 4170 you're considering).

Also I would point out that the FX bundle you're considering includes an old motherboard (the 760G chipset is 2 generations behind what's currently available) and cheap value RAM.

But it's your money, do what you want.

 

[AntOwnsOkay]

Okay, i have seen the article

i googled your i5-3470 and i found this techradar review.

http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac/pc-components/processors/intel-core-i5-3470-1089415/review

Do you still think i should get the i5?

 

[lighter17]

That article compares the 3470 to the 3570k and concludes that the 3570k is worth the extra £15. However what they're not saying is that to overclock the 3570k you need to upgrade the motherboard to a Z77 and you would want an aftermarket CPU cooler. So the real cost difference is really around £60. The only way to fit that in your budget would be to downgrade the video card which would hurt your gaming performance.

IMO the i5-3450 is the best buy for you at the moment. That's what I included in the build I recommended. In my previous post I mistakenly mentioned the 3470.

 

[AntOwnsOkay]

I have looked into the i5-3450 and its looking really good.

Just give me an example
with the 7850, on battlefield 3

What frames per second would i get on the FX-4170

and What frames per second would i get on the i5-3450

Just an estimate

 

[lighter17]

I don't know what your screen resolution is, but if its 1920 x 1080 you're going to GPU limited at that point so both CPUs will perform the same. The 7850 should get about 30 fps at the highest video quality settings.

 

[AntOwnsOkay]

Ok

would you recommend the i5 for gaming and everything in general because i have seen many reviews saying the AMD 4170 is really good for gaming etc

 

[lighter17]

I'm not sure what reviews you're talking about. Everything I've seen indicates the FX series are not good gaming CPUs.

 

[AntOwnsOkay]

Well there is this youtuber who has an AMD 4170 with an 7850 and he runs skyrim at 60 fps and Dirt Showdown etc.
But is the i5-3450 very good for gaming? for example
if i have the required GPU at the time,
will i able to play games coming out in the future such as GTA V etc

 

[metal orient]

Both are good for gaming, the GPU is going to be the limiting factor in almost every game, Intels CPU's are just the better choice for gaming atm. This is reflected in AMD having only one CPU, which is a tie, in Tom's buying guide:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,review-32531.html

 

[AntOwnsOkay]

Okay but is the motherboard i originally linked out of date like lighter17 said?

because if it is ill get the intel with a decent mobo

 

[metal orient]

It's certainly a bit old, it has some of the mod cons e.g. USB3 but no SATA3.

Go for an intel build, you won't regret it.

 

[AntOwnsOkay]

Yeah ill go with the intel.

What do you think of the i5-3570K?
i dont mind going a bit above my budget

 

[metal orient]

A very capable CPU, if you're happy to pay the extra for it. The unlocked multiplier is was makes it worth while as you'll be able to eke out more performance later on the line when you need it. Instead of buying a new cpu.

 

[AntOwnsOkay]

Can you find me a good motherboard for under 100 pounds? Around the 70-80-90 pound mark

 

[AntOwnsOkay]

I have found some budget Motherboards

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-M5A78L-M-USB3-Motherboard-Socket/dp/B0054U7HIO/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007OCJWTM/?tag=pcp0f-21

Which one would you pick?

and also, would i be able to use 16gb of ram?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-CMX16GX3M2A1600C11-1600MHz-Memory-Stick/dp/B006ZINK0S/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1349523531&sr=1-1

 

[metal orient]

Of the 2 boards you've posted only one is an Intel board, but I wouldn't suggest an H77 if you go for a 3570K as you cannot overclock on it. You need Z77.

I normally recommend this gigabyte one:
http://www.dabs.com/products/gigabyte-z77-d3h-s1155-intel-z77-ddr3-atx-800V.html?refs=48760000-4294943314&src=3

But if you can stretch to £100, you'll get a nicer board with a few more features.
http://www.dabs.com/products/gigabyte-z77x-d3h-s1155-intel-z77-ddr3-atx-8006.html?refs=48760000-4294943314&src=3

Yeah both these boards support 32GB of RAM