£340 Gaming Build Advice

[falaki]

Approximate Purchase Date: may to july

Budget Range: £340

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming , Watching movies

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: ebuyer.com/aria.co.uk

Country: UK

Parts Preferences: none

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: No

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080
Additional Comments:

Asus 6850
Coolermaster elite power 500w
Intel Pentium G630
Crucial 4gb ddr3 1333
Samsung DVD Writer
Coolermaster Elite 342 Micro ATX Case
AsRock H61M-VS
Arianet 500gb 7200rpm Hard Drive

 

[metal orient]

That's a very tight budget and you've got a pretty good build (if you could get the budget upto £400 that would be great but i understand it's not always possible) but i would recommend a few changes, it makes it £20 over but you'll be better off for it.
Upgraded the CPU, HDD and PSU, also got dual channel RAM.
Cooler master power supplies at the low end really have to be avoided as they are pretty much lying about what the unit can do.

Build:

Intel Pentium G840 £53.94
https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Processors+-+Intel/Pentium+-+Socket+1155/Intel+Pentium+G840+2.80GHz+%28Sandybridge%29+Socket+LGA1155+Processor+-+Retail+?productId=44716

ASRock H61 H61M-VS £34.79
https://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/ASRock+H61+H61M-VS+Intel+H61+%28REV+B3%29+Socket+1155+DDR3+PCI-Express+Micro-ATX+Motherboard+?productId=48563

4GB Mushkin Enhanced Silverline #996768 £19.99
https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Memory+-+RAM/DDR3/Dual+Channel+-+%281333MHz%29/4GB+Mushkin+Enhanced+Silverline+%23996768+%282x2GB%29+1333+%28PC3-10666%29+240-Pin+DDR3+SDRAM+CAS+9-9-9-24+1.5V+?productId=41783

1TB Seagate Barracuda Green 3.5" SATA 3GB/s £63.54
https://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/1TB+Seagate+Barracuda+Green+3.5%22+SATA+3GB%2Fs+Internal+Hard+Drive+%5BST1000DL002%5D+?productId=44249

Asus 1GB Radeon HD 6850 DirectCU £101.98
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004HXW5OU/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=103612307&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0048027IQ&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=0HKNQVY7KKAE6M46YH7K

430W Corsair Builder Series £35.99
https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Power+Supplies+-+PSUs/Non-Modular+650W+or+less/430W+Corsair+Builder+Series+430CX+V2+80PLUS+Power+Supply+?productId=42487
If you're willing to spend £6 more this is an even better buy:
http://www.shop.bt.com/products/xfx-450-watt-core-edition-single-rail-psu-w--full-wired-cables-7NSV.html

LG GH22NS70 22x DVD±RW £13.66
https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Storage/Optical+Drives/DVDRW+Dual+Layer+-+SATA/LG+GH22NS70+22x+DVD%C2%B1RW+with+DL+%26+RAM+SATA+Optical+Drive+-+OEM+Black+?productId=46140

ARIANET Hydra Black £25.68
https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Cases/Midi+Tower/ARIANET+Hydra+Black+Midi+Tower+Chassis+?productId=47032

Final cost: £359.97

 

[falaki]

Good but i need a micro atx case any suggestions and i used overclock.co.uk to get some things like dvd writer(similar), 6850(same), Motherboard(same),And PSU(same) cheaper the total is £351.54 Is there any modular power supplies at that price range

 

[metal orient]

No, and if there was i really wouldn't consider them suitable as they would have had to spend less on more important parts of the power supply to get the modular interface in budget.

let me know if overclock.co.uk are any good as i like to add possibilities to my builds.

For a case i'd suggest this Fractal Design one:
http://www.overclock.co.uk/product/Fractal-Design-Core-1000-micro-ATX-Case-No-PSU_42056.html

 

[falaki]

overclock.co.uk are quite good they offer competitive prices to aria and free delivery for orders over £50 however they don't really have deals often. I used both aria and overclock.co.uk because they both have areas where they are cheaper.

For fractal design it looks horrible I know they are a good company but i rather have a case that look nicer (at one point i was looking at cooler master silenco but it was too expensive but if you know a budget micro atx case that looks like that then i will buy it) I also don't really care about air flow because my current pc has no case fans, it is in a very bad case and the cpu fan spins at low rpm. I would just keep with cooler master instead because I saw good reviews.

I connect through the internet through wireless(the only way I could connect to the internet)do you know any power line plugs that i could use in the future.

 

[metal orient]

You think so? i think it's looks pretty good.
Do you have to have an mATX case? As there is way more choice for ATX.

I use Netgear HDX101 power plugs for internet.

 

[falaki]

I need a micro atx case i think it looks ugly so i will just go with the one i picked because i saw good reviews

 

[shadowhuntur]

I need a micro atx case i think it looks ugly so i will just go with the one i picked because i saw good reviews

A good Micro-ATX case from Fractal Design is their Core 1000 Series. Its basic but looks good, and you can mod the side panel to have window if your really don't like it being plain. Its around £30 on amazon, so I doubt you will go over budget with it.

 

[falaki]

i just don't like the front it looks nasty but I like plain cases I am thinking of this http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/cases/nov-aura.html


Ive used overclock.co.uk and novatech to take my price down to £321.87

 

[metal orient]

Has 2 120mm fan mounts which is good. Nothing looks too bad there, may have a few issues with cabling but if you're happy with it, go for it.

 

[falaki]

Has 2 120mm fan mounts which is good. Nothing looks too bad there, may have a few issues with cabling but if you're happy with it, go for it.

it is wriiten wrong it has one 80/92mm mount and one 120mm mounts is this ok

 

[metal orient]

Yeah it's fine will just mean it might get a bit warmer or louder when you stress it.

 

[falaki]

how much do you think i could sell my old pc for it has a amd athlon ii x2 215 2gb ddr3 ram 500gb hardrive with windows 7 home premium and amd radeon hd 3000

 

[metal orient]

Not a lot, I have no idea but i'd be surprised if you got much.

Your best bet is to look at ebay and see if you can see any similar systems.

 

[falaki]

Is this build good enough
intel pentium g620
gigabyte gah61ma-d3v
coolermaster elite power(reviews say its OK and 7770 doesntt take much power)
samsung 22x dvdrw
gskill 4gb
xenta black keyboard casecom kb case(its ok for a mid tower now)
generic hdd 320gb
gigabyte m6900 optical gaming mouse(i picked this because it has higher dpi than even laser mouses at the same price range)
linksys ae1000(very good wireless adapter)
antistatic wrist strap
gigbyte GV-R7770C-1GD Graphics card amd 7770(similar performance much lower price than 6850(surprisingly)

 

[metal orient]

where are you buying from? SCAN?

 

[falaki]

Ive already bought it from both ebuyer.com and amazon.co.uk

 

[falaki]

should have got that msi 6850 from scan

 

[metal orient]

Well it looks OK, don't like the PSU but or the generic HDD but otherwise fine

 

[falaki]

generic hdd are basicly open box hdd like my old one which is a wd cavier blue 640gb and whats wrong with the psu except for aesthetic which i dont have a case with a side panel it has combined 38a on the 12v rail which is th equivelent to 30-34a on a single rail it may not have 80PLUS but it is met by energy star at 70%+ efficiency.
Btw ive heard 7series graphics cards are very good at overclocking is it possible to oc to 6850-6870 performance.
finally will i max out all games at 1366x768(i will upgrade to 1080p soon)

 

[metal orient]

I hope you're right about the HDD,

I have yet to find a positive review on the elite power series,

7770 is a bit anaemic but with heavy overclock you can get to 6850 levels and that shoudl keep you gaming at high/med quality with ~30fps . When you get to 1080 though you'll want to turn down the textures or upgrade.

 

[falaki]

7770 is 5% slower than the 6850 7770 is highly overclockable because it only uses 5w from the auxiliary 6pin pci connector 6870 will be hard so im thinking oc somewhere between

 

[falaki]

also why does every one like 30 fps when even 17fps is ok(thougth 24 is better)dont they know even movies cap at 24fps normaly.
7770 30 fps med what games do you play if its bf3 no wonder but if you are talking about mw3 then even integrated amd radeon 3000 is enougth for even high settings(multiplayer low)

 

[metal orient]

In tom's words:
In absolute terms, AMD’s new Radeon HD 7770 matches or is just a little bit slower than the 256-bit GeForce GTX 460 1 GB. AMD should probably just be happy that card is quickly disappearing. A 19 month-old product that gives a brand new value-oriented board a run for its money is a little awkward, after all.

The more painful comparison is to AMD’s own Radeon HD 6850. Generally faster, much less expensive, and still very prolific in the channel, there’s just no contest between the 16 month-old Barts-based board and Radeon HD 7770.

Now, you can factor in low power use and make an argument that the 7770’s efficiency makes it a more attractive buy. But I don’t agree that efficiency trumps absolute performance in the minds of most. Instead, we get a new card with performance comparable to what’s already available at a price point already being hit. Almost makes you wonder why they didn't just shrink Barts to 28 nm?

I’m not just picking on AMD here. The GeForce GTS 450, launched between AMD’s Radeon HD 5770 and 5750 (but a year later) was similarly disappointing. The Radeon HD 7770 does a fair job of setting AMD up to phase out its Juniper-based cards manufactured at 40 nm with something comparably-quick. But it doesn’t push the performance it’d need to be a winner at £125 - £130.

In general you're right 25 fps is all we need, but you can unconsciously tell the better frame rate.

 

[falaki]

dont you get it only 5% decrease for £30-40 lower price is good to me 6850 cost £115-130 but i get an overclocked gigabyte card only for £90 because of low power usage i can take £10 of the psu(of my previos option xfx 450w core edition pro)the lower price is neccesary for stuff like keyboard/mouse wireless etc if 7770 didnt exist then i would have had to get 6770 which is much worse