First build. £420 gaming PC.

[ChrisWilson9]

I am trying to build my first gaming PC, I am on a budget of around £420. I know what I want but i am unsure if they would be compatible and would like some clarity before purchasing. If anything isn't compatible, could you please suggest something else. I would prefer to buy from Novatech, so it would all be from the same place.

Novatech Shadow Midi Tower Case With 500w PSU & Red LED Fan - Black (NOV-SHADR) - £26.98
http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/cases/cases/shadow-black-redfan.html
Novatech AMD Radeon HD 6850 1024MB GDDR5 (NOV-6850) - £99.98
http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/atiradeongraphicscards/atihd6800series/nov-6850.html
Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800 C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CRU-BS8G16) - £34.99
http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/memory-pc/ddr3-pc3-12800/1600mhz/bls2cp4g3d1609ds1s00ceu.html
Western Digital Caviar Green Power 2TB 64MB Cache Hard Disk Drive 6Gb/s - OEM (WD-20EARX) - £97.98
http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/harddrives-internal/sataover1tb/wd20earx.html
AMD Bulldozer FX-4 Quad Core 4100 Black Edition 3.60Ghz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail (AMD-FX4410) - £86.99
http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/processors/amdfx/fd4100wmgusbx.html
MSI 870A-G54 (FX) AMD 870 (Socket AM3+) Motherboard (MSI-870G54) - £66.98
http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/motherboards/amdam3plusallchipsetmotherboards/870a-g54(fx).html

 

[Memnarchon]

Hello. I just saw that you want a gaming pc. So why do you want a bulldozer?

If you want the best for gaming you should chance a few parts.

Case: Xigmatek Asgard Case http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/cases/cases/cpc-t45ub-u01.html £25.98

PSU: Corsair CX 500W V2 ATX2.2 80 PLUS http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/powersupplies/cmpsu-500cxv2uk.html £47.99
Now you will say why you should change the tower and psu. I dont know what PSUs novatech uses at their cases but I simply cant trust such a cheap combination. Not because its cheap but its impossible to get a solid psu and case with such a low price. But if you are ok with this you can save £40+.

Memory: your choice is very good. Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800 C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CRU-BS8G16) - £34.99

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/harddrives-internal/sata500gbto1tb/wd5000aakx.html £67.98
Never buy a green WD for primary hard disk. It has really low speeds. You can use it however as storage but hell no for start up/programmes disk.

CPU: 2nd Generation Intel® Core™ i3 2120 3.3GHz http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/processors/intelcorei3,i5andi71155socket/bx80623i32120.html £89.99
For gaming even core i3 2100 3.1Ghz (which costs £86 and for £3 more you can get the 3.3ghz) is far superior to FX 4100. http://media.bestofmicro.com/X/F/323907/original/Averages.png
You can check it in this wonderful article by toms today: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-fx-pentium-apu-benchmark,3120-10.html

Mobo: [strike]MSI Z68S-G43 (G3) Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) Motherboard[/strike] http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/motherboards/intel1155z68chipsetmotherboards/z68s-g43-g3.html Sorry I just saw it has no usb3 ports so better pay £5 more to get Gigabyte GA-Z68AP-D3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) Motherboard http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/motherboards/intel1155z68chipsetmotherboards/ga-z68ap-d3.html £84.98 But If you want you can keep the previous which had PCIX3.0 but no usb3.

GPU: I believe the 6850 you picked its a great choice especially with the price you found it and a good combo with core i3 ^^. Novatech AMD Radeon HD 6850 1024MB GDDR5 (NOV-6850) - £99.98


Total with Xigmatek case and Corsair psu: [strike]£446,90[/strike] £451,89
Total with Novatech combo psu+case: [strike]£399,91[/strike] £404,90

 

[Guest]

I totally agree with the guy above, just get a Intel i3-2100 Sandybridge 3.3GHz as it's very good. http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004FA8NPK/ref=asc_df_B004FA8NPK6332926?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&tag=googlecouk06-21&linkCode=asn&creative=22206&creativeASIN=B004FA8NPK

It's great!

 

[ChrisWilson9]

Will the CPU only be running with 2 cores?

 

[Memnarchon]

Will the CPU only be running with 2 cores?

2 cores 4 threads. Hyperthreading. ^^

As you can see at http://media.bestofmicro.com/X/F/323907/original/Averages.png more cores doesnt absolutely mean better performance. Intel architecture is so superior in games that even 2 cores with hyperthreading are beating any bulldozer cpu. And with today's article about gaming cpus show us that "Intel's $125 Core i3-2100 easily beats more expensive Phenom II and FX models." as Don Woligroski wrote.