£400 budget gaming build

[tNa]

I am building a computer for a friend who is on a pretty tight budget. I have already picked out some parts but it has been a while since I put a computer together so any advice or suggestions on parts would be very welcome. Failing that a quick glance to check whether things will work / need more cables etc. would be really appreciated.


APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: 2 to 3 weeks

BUDGET RANGE: £300 to £400

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming / mixing music / general use

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Keyboard, mouse, monitor, graphics card

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: ebuyer.com, overclockers.co.uk, any other uk sites really.

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: UK

PARTS PREFERENCES: Leaning towards AMD for futureproofing

OVERCLOCKING: Probably

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: No

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1280x1024

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Would prefer a quad core processor to avoid a future upgrade. The graphics card is a Nvidia 9400 GT.


Arctic Power 500W PSU With PCI-E 2x SATA, 20+4 ATX12V 8pin +12V Connectors - Retail Boxed

Gigabyte GA-MA770-UD3 770 Socket AM2+ 7.1 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard

AMD Athlon II X4 620 2.6GHz AM3 Retail Boxed Processor

Corsair 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 XMS2 Memory Kit CL5 1.8v

Maxtor STM3500418AS 500GB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 16MB Cache - OEM

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium - Complete package - 1 PC - DVD - English - United Kingdom

Sony AD-7240S 24x DVD±RW DL & RAM Internal SATA Black Bare Drive - OEM

2 x Plexus Serial ATA 2.0 (SATA) 7-pin Cable (Red) 46cm / 18"

Casecom LG-3320 Piano Black Mid Tower Case - No PSU - Front USB2.0/Audio

Antec Tricool 92mm Case Fan - 3/4pin connector


£368.10


Thanks very much for your help.

 

[1st duke of marlborough]

Unless I missed something, the Mobo you picked out only supports AM2+ CPU's and that Athlon X4 you have there is an AM3 processor. You need to make sure the socket types match up, or your friend will not be a happy camper!

 

[obsidian86]

am3 can run on most am2,am2+ boards

 

[Proximon]

Arctic Cooling had a 500W PSU that reviewed well, but that is not the PSU you have chosen, which is junk.

You haven't listed the GPU, so I can't say what you actually need.

This OCZ 400W
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/152505

or this Antec 380W
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/120375

Would be far better PSUS than the one you listed, and probably provide more power. If you do actually need at least 500W, then one of these:

Antec
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/120377

Corsair
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/132563

OCZ
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-037-OC&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=

 

[build]

Better and faster HDD for only 70p more http://www.dabs.com/products/samsung-500gb-f3-7200rpm-16mb-ecogreen-6605.html

RAM is overpriced, here are some alternatives:

OCZ Gold 4GB 1066mhz - £54.34
http://www.dabs.com/products/ocz-technology-ocz-ddr2-dual-channel-4gb-kit-5J6C.html?refs=4294953914-52310000

Crucial 4GB (2X2GB KIT) 800mhz - £47.97
http://www.dabs.com/products/crucial-4gb--2x2gb-kit--200-pin-ddr2-pc2-6400-sodimm-584S.html

You most likely won't need that extra SATA cable, the motherboard should come with a lot of em.