£500-£600 Gaming Build

[Niallh]

Hi guys, Im putting together a PC build for a friend I game with, a group of us have started to play BFBC2 and his computer cant handle it so he wants to buy a new one. He is fairly casual so around £550 is an ideal price.

Would also hope for it to run the new Battlefield, I imagine what I have put together wont do it on max but low to medium I hope.

Anyway, id like to get some opinions, is this build worth the money and are there any parts I should sub out?

Approximate Purchase Date: (ASAP)

Budget Range: (£500-£600)

System Usage from Most to Least Important: (Gaming)

Parts Not Required: (Only parts listed are needed)

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: (http://www4.hardwareversand.de)

Country of Origin: (Will be delivered to Scotland)

Parts Preferences: by brand or type (Keen to use an i3 and the Radeon 6870)


Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: No


Build:

CPU:
Intel i3-2100
http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=41220&agid=1617&pcconfAddUri=pcconfigurator.jsp%3FpcConfigurator.cpu.cpu.0%3D41220%3A1001&pcconfBackUri=pcconfselect.jsp?pcConfigurator.catid=0&pcConfigurator.maid=0&search.sKey=

Mobo:
MSI H67MA-E35 (B3), Intel H67, mATX, DDR3
http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=44937&agid=1603&pcconfAddUri=pcconfigurator.jsp%3FpcConfigurator.mainboard.mainboard.0%3D44937%3A2001&pcconfBackUri=pcconfselect.jsp?pcConfigurator.catid=1&pcConfigurator.maid=0&search.sKey=

Graphics Card:
Powercolor HD6870 1024MB Dual-DVI/HD1M2I5
http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=39510&agid=1004&pcconfAddUri=pcconfigurator.jsp%3FpcConfigurator.vga.vga.0%3D39510%3A3007&pcconfBackUri=pcconfselect.jsp?pcConfigurator.catid=6&pcConfigurator.maid=0&search.sKey=

Case:
Revoltec Sixty 1 schwarz, ATX, ohne Netzteil
http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=24811&agid=631&pcconfAddUri=pcconfigurator.jsp%3FpcConfigurator.pccasewopa.pccasewopa.0%3D24811%3A3004&pcconfBackUri=pcconfselect.jsp?pcConfigurator.catid=43&pcConfigurator.maid=0&search.sKey=&rp=1

PSU:
Corsair GS Series, 700 Watt
http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=48787&agid=1629&pcconfAddUri=pcconfigurator.jsp%3FpcConfigurator.pwradaptor.pwradaptor.0%3D48787%3A3005&pcconfBackUri=pcconfselect.jsp?pcConfigurator.catid=44&pcConfigurator.maid=0&search.sKey=

HDD:
Samsung EcoGreen F3 1TB,SATA II HD105SI
http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=30028&agid=1284&pcconfAddUri=pcconfigurator.jsp%3FpcConfigurator.satahdd1.satahdd1.0%3D30028%3A4008&pcconfBackUri=pcconfselect.jsp?pcConfigurator.catid=41&pcConfigurator.maid=0&search.sKey=

DVD Drive:
ASUS DRW-24B3ST Bulk SATA schwarz
http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=42993&agid=699&pcconfAddUri=pcconfigurator.jsp%3FpcConfigurator.satadvdwriter.satadvdwriter.0%3D42993%3A4011&pcconfBackUri=pcconfselect.jsp?pcConfigurator.catid=54&pcConfigurator.maid=0&search.reset=1&search.sKey=

RAM:
8GB-Kit Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 MHz CL9
http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=40701&agid=1193&pcconfAddUri=pcconfigurator.jsp%3FpcConfigurator.ram.ram.0%3D40701%3A3002&pcconfBackUri=pcconfselect.jsp?pcConfigurator.catid=3&pcConfigurator.maid=0&search.sKey=&rp=1

Any help/tips are much appreciated, thanks in advance.

 

[cutebeans]

Hello friend, you only need

500w of power.
I would get a samsung spinpoint f3 or a seagate barracuda 1tb than a green HDD.

 

[Niallh]

Thanks for the quick reply

I thought that myself, the configurator will only let me choose a minimum of a 650 W PSU, I took the 700W Corsair one as the 650 on offer wasnt a great brand.

This HDD?

Samsung SpinPoint F3 1000GB, SATA II (HD103SJ)
http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=28152&agid=689&pcconfAddUri=pcconfigurator.jsp%3FpcConfigurator.satahdd1.satahdd1.0%3D28152%3A4008&pcconfBackUri=pcconfselect.jsp?pcConfigurator.catid=41&pcConfigurator.maid=0&search.sKey=

 

[Silvune]

Thanks for the quick reply

I thought that myself, the configurator will only let me choose a minimum of a 650 W PSU, I took the 700W Corsair one as the 650 on offer wasnt a great brand.

This HDD?

Samsung SpinPoint F3 1000GB, SATA II (HD103SJ)
http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=28152&agid=689&pcconfAddUri=pcconfigurator.jsp%3FpcConfigurator.satahdd1.satahdd1.0%3D28152%3A4008&pcconfBackUri=pcconfselect.jsp?pcConfigurator.catid=41&pcConfigurator.maid=0&search.sKey=

Yes that is the HDD that cutebeans was referring to.

I don't understand why you are using a German site when you/your friend is, presumably, in Scotland?
Surely it would be better/easier/cheaper to use a site based in the UK?

Anyway, when I went through the PC Configurator on that site, choosing the same or similar components there were quite a few other options for ~650W PSUs which are superior to the GS700 for a similar or cheaper price.
These were:
XFX PRO650 Core Edition
Thermaltake Toughpower XT 675
Antec High Current Gamer HCG-620
Antec Earthwatts EA-650D Green
Corsair TX650 V2
Super Flower SF650P14XE Golden Green Pro

Personally I think I would choose the Thermaltake Toughpower XT 675 as it is modular.

Tall heatspreaders on memory modules these days are unnecessary and are just likely to cause compatibility issues if you ever decided to install an aftermarket CPU heatsink. So unless you know that your friend will never want to install a CPU cooler, or doesn't mind being restricted in choice then I would suggest changing to a set without tall heatspreaders.
Such as:
8GB-Kit Corsair Vengeance Low Profile blau PC3-12800U CL9 €45.29
Art.Nr.: HV20CO74DE
http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=48851&agid=1193&pcconfAddUri=pcconfigurator.jsp%3FpcConfigurator.ram.ram.0%3D48851%3A3002&pcconfBackUri=pcconfselect.jsp?search.sKey=8gb&pcConfigurator.catid=3&pcConfigurator.maid=0

 

[Niallh]

Firstly, really appreciate the reply, Thanks.

He is in Scotland yes, I always use this site when im configuring PCs, the prices are good and delivery/build is fairly cheap. He isnt confident in building it himself and im in Ireland/He's in Scotland so I cant build it for him

I tried overclockers, overclock and cyber power, both were much more expensive.

Ill sub out the PSU for the thermaltake one then. I doubt he will ever change anything in it but might aswell change the RAM aswell and leave him the choice.

Aside from those changes would this build be about the best option to go for in his price range?

 

[Silvune]

Fair enough.

Yes I think it probably is the best option in the price range.

 

[Niallh]

That's great man, thanks for the help. Will pass the info on to him when I get home from work.

 

[Motopsychojdn]

Some U.K. sites for you to browse mate,

Scan.co.uk
Aria.co.uk
Dabs.co.uk
Pixmania.co.uk (technically a french Co but U.K. warehouse, always done fine by me)
Ebuyer.co.uk
Shinyhardware.co.uk
and don't forget amazon and egay, sometime you can grab a deal,
see if you can't trim a few quid off and maybe uprate the bling factor on that case
if he wanted to ofc
Moto

 

[Niallh]

Thats fantastic, ill have to get a look at them and see if any are as competitive in price as the one im using.

He doesnt care as far as the case is concerned so I trimmed cash by using a very plain one, if I had my one it woulda been alot better looking lol XD.

The help is much appreciated

 

[Motopsychojdn]

No probs man, glad to help,
but remember Amazon doesn't always give the cheapest price, only the cheapest price out of the sites linked to Amazon
If he's not fussed on the case, I picked two of these up on Egay for £15 a while back, the preice seems to have gone up but scout about http://new.ukdvdr.co.uk/product.php?product=LOOKWIND-01108&nav=659&title=Aopen+F501G+Computer+Case
I built my Gf's rig into one so check
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/forum2.php?config=tomshardwareuk.inc&cat=13&post=287494&page=1&p=1&sondage=0&owntopic=1&trash=0&trash_post=0&print=0&numreponse=0&quote_only=0&new=0&nojs=0 for more views/ modding ideas for them
sidefan mod is easy and helps her graphics card a ton
Moto