Need some advice on a £379 build ($611)

[omega1368]

Hi

Recently i decided to build a new mid gaming rig with a budget of 600$, i curently live in england and im a game design student. I will be using programs such as 3ds max and photoshop quite often, i also will be playing a lot of game's due to be released in the next few months such as battlefield bad company 2 and diablo 3. What im after is a gaming rig that will alow me to play and work with high preformance, im not after amazing quality of graphics but also i would like to enjoy the visual aspects of the games that are to be released.

I currently have a 5 year old PC with a faily useable graphics card HIS Radeon HD 4670 IceQ 1 GB DDR3, 250 GB hard drive and a 500W PSU which i can salvage from my current machine. my budget is limited but i can afford to go up to £370-$600 for CPU-MOBO-RAM-CASE. I do not have much knowledge on gaming/preformance hardware that will match each other for example what to chose between i5 or Quad core. Because im a student i cannot afford to buy the wrong hardware and end up wasting my university loan. Im looking for some advice on what to buy and where to buy (the less i spend the better). I also wanted to know if Intel is better for gaming or the new AMD CPU due to my budget the less i pay the better.

I aplogize for the long read.
Thanks for your time.

 

[omega1368]

Coolermaster CM-690 V2 Dominator Black Midi Tower Case with Mesh Top Panel w/o PSU

4GB (2x2GB) Corsair Dominator DDR3, PC3-12800 (1600), 240 Pin, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 9, DHX

Intel Core i5 750, s1156, Lynnfield, Quad Core, 2.66GHz, DMI 2.5 GT/s, 8MB Cache, 95W, Retail

Asus P7P55-M, Intel P55 Express, S1156, PCI-E 2.0(x16), DDR3 2200(OC), SATA 3Gb/s, SATA RAID, mATX

this is what i came up with on scan.co.uk all together for £399 inc vat and carriage

 

[MadAdmiral]

You can probably get some cheaper sticks of RAM. Look for some 1333 mhz, CAS Latency 7 sticks.

 

[omega1368]

What about the other parts are they good enogh for that budget or will i be able to get the same preformance for less price

 

[Silvune]

You won't find RAM like this on scan: Crucial 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz/PC3-10600 Ballistix Memory Kit CL7 (7-7-7-24) 1.65V £81
Everything else is pretty similiar in price, but usually ebuyer charges less for delivery.
Intel i5 750 £150
Asus P7P55-M £86
Coolermaster CM690 £60

Or you could save yourself about £30 going for one of the nearest AMD processors to the i5 750 in performance terms:
Amd Phenom II X4 955 £122
and £18 for a suitable motherboard.
Asus M4A77TD Pro £68
The 955 is pretty similiar in terms of gaming performance, but for the programs that you use and the needs of your system the i5 750 is probably going to be much better.

The Antec 300 is a solid case for the price, but the CM690 that you linked is a case that I like the look of.

 

[MadAdmiral]

Another case to consider is the Antec 300 Illusion. It's like the 300, just has 2 extra blue LED fans in front.

I also like this mobo better for an AMD build: Asus M4A79XTD EVO 87 pounds. It's a little more expensive, but has PCIe 2.0 slots at 8x/8x instead of 16x/4x.

 

[omega1368]

i have heard from a friend of mine that AMD is not doing so good, but its cheaper which one do you think is the ideal CPU at that budget?

 

[omega1368]

also for the i5 mobo and cpu which ram will suit the hardware?

 

[MadAdmiral]

AMD makes great products. The company itself is not doing so good, but the huge payout from Intel as an anti-trust settlement will help.

For the budget, it will be hard to get an i5. I would say go with AMD to save some money.

EDIT: The RAM will work regardless of the setup.

 

[omega1368]

Im happy to get AMD cpu as long as it delivers the game preformance im looking for

 

[Silvune]

Nothing wrong with an AMD Phenom II X4 955 in gaming.

 

[omega1368]

right i took ur advice on the AMD build and it saves me about 40 pounds i have 4 hours to buy the products so i can receive delivery tomarow. This is the current build

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition 3.2 GHz Socket AM3 8MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/164047

ASUS M4A77TD PRO 770 Socket AM3 8 channel audio ATX Motherboard
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/171664

X2 Kingston 2gb Ddr3 1600mhz Hyperx Memory Cl9(9-9-9-27)
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/169270

Antec 300 case
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/143854

Xilence Red Wing 120mm Quiet Fan - 3&4pin connection
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/138586

all of this comes to a total of £351.79 with delivery

Is this a good build for that price or should go for a i5 build?

 

[omega1368]

Also will my 500W PSU handle the current hardware?

 

[MadAdmiral]

This RAM is better: Kingston 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz HyperX Memory Kit CL7 1.7V

This board is more future proof: Asus M4A79XTD EVO. It's a tad bit more, but has the second PCIe slot working at a speed that will allow you to have the option to Crossfire/SLI later.

Rest is good. What's with the red fans?

 

[MadAdmiral]

Yes, 500W will be enough for what you have.

 

[omega1368]

the red fan was recommended, also im not looking to crossfire should just save money on that? and my power supply is 5 years old but it works fine would i need to get some diffrent wires for it? and my HD is SATA will it work with the mobo thanks

 

[MadAdmiral]

If you never want the option to Crossfire, then that board is fine. Your PSU's main connectors should be alright, but make sure you have the proper connectors for the GPU.

 

[omega1368]

I have the connectors for the GPU so thats fine. this 50 pounds cheaper than the i5 build will this give me the same preformance as the i5 (in game's) or less? i also want to thank you for you advice and time

 

[MadAdmiral]

It will be a little less performance, but it will be easier to upgrade.

 

[omega1368]

thanks so much for help, the hardware will be delivered tomorrow and when the build is done il post back some feedback on how it runs.