~£600 New build

[Icipher]

Hey guys,

I'm looking to build a new machine for my brother. Will mainly be used for gaming, Guild Wars 2, Borderlands 2, BF3 that sort of stuff.

I have had a quick shot at putting some parts together and would appreciate some feedback to let me know if I've made any silly choices, or if there are cheaper alternatives to bit's I've picked.

Here's the list: http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/p/iodk

I didn't go for the unlocked processor as I doubt my brother will ever be interested in overclocking.

No monitor or OS needed.

Thanks in advance for any comments.

 

[malbluff]

With that processor, you could use slightly cheaper H77 motherboard. The only thing you lose is CPU overclocking, that you can't do anyway, with that processor.
I would go with nVidia for GPU. Better for BF3, and you get Borderlands 2, free, with a lot of the GTX660's and 660Ti's.

 

[Icipher]

From my research, most people seem to say in general the 7870 is better than the 660, also it seems to be cheaper as well.

Free copy of borderlands 2 would be nice, but since it's only £20 or so already on Amazon, it's not that big of a deal breaker...

I changed out the motherboard to http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007NOYCZ0/?tag=pcp0f-21 which is cheaper and brings the system to under £600 which is nice.

 

[Nw333]

What resolution is he gaming at? 660s at 1080p is equal to the 7870.

nVidia performs better on BF3 than AMD as malbluff said and its nice to have that PhysX feature of nVidia for Borderlands.

 

[malbluff]

Across a broad range of games, there's nothing much to choose between GTX660 and HD7870. BUT, if you want good performance, particularly, in BF3, and even more so if you want Borderlands 2, the GTX660 is MUCH better VALUE.

 

[Icipher]

I myself am having no problems running Borderlands 2 on max settings with a 6870, and as much as the 660ti is tempting, I don't think my brother would be up for spending the extra £50 or so, but ill see what he says. Thanks guys

 

[malbluff]

I wasn't talking about the 660Ti, it's the 660 that's compative with HD7870. The 660 will give up to 20% higher framerates in BF3, compared to HD7870, at 1920x1080. The 660 is often CHEAPER than HD7870, even without allowing for free Borderlands 2!!

 

[Kamen_BG]

The build you made is pretty good but i improved it quite a bit and it costs a bit less.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3350P 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor (£132.85 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: MSI B75MA-P45 Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£47.70 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Kingston 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£33.62 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Sandisk Extreme 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£59.99 @ Scan.co.uk)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£59.99 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 2GB Video Card (£187.99 @ Amazon UK)
Case: BitFenix Shinobi ATX Mid Tower Case (£42.98 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 520W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£55.82 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £620.94
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-09-24 15:14 BST+0100)