Want to get back on the pc bandwagon Budget: £650 (i need a monitor and windows 7 in this) Main uses of intended build: Im not a hardcore gamer so i dont need to be playing games in the highest settings. i just want to know i will be able to play something new if i like the look of it. I will also be learning some programming, browsing and some office work. Parts required: All Previous build information (list details of parts): none Monitor resolution: dont have one Storage requirements: Would like an ssd for operating system and games if budget allows. I dont need a massive 1tb hard drive (unless games have started taking alot more spaced than back when i used to do pc gaming). Will you be overclocking: no Any motherboard requirements (no. of USB, Xfire/SLI, fan headers): I would like the option to upgrade my processor when games do start getting a bit demanding on the system. Extra information about desired system: i wont need a dedicated graphics card straight away so the budget COULD ignore the price of a graphics card. If your going to recommed an amd processor could you please link to some kind of bench mark, as from what i can tell from all the reviews ive been reading i mite as well get an i3 instead. thanks guys
Firstly, welcome to bit tech! Now as for your build here would be a good example Spec I5 3570K from Scan @ £176 http://www.scan.co.uk/products/29-4i...art-cache-34x- Gigabyte Z77-D3H from Scan @ £78.92 http://www.scan.co.uk/products/gigab...dvi-d-hdmi-atx Corsair Carbide 300R from Scan @ £59.99 http://www.scan.co.uk/products/corsa...usb-30-w-o-psu Samsung Spinpoint F3 1tb from Ebuyer @ £65 http://www.ebuyer.com/173804-samsung...-drive-hd103sj Corsair Vengeance 4gb from Ebuyer @ £16.47 http://www.ebuyer.com/341130-corsair...l4gx3m1a1600c9 Be Quiet Pure Power L8 620W from Ebuyer @ £63.16 http://www.ebuyer.com/283836-be-quie...ular-psu-bn182 Samsung SH-222BB (optical drive) from Ebuyer @ £12.99 http://www.ebuyer.com/342873-samsung...-sh-222bb-bebe LG IPS235V 23" IPS from Ebuyer @ £124.98 http://www.ebuyer.com/284103-lg-ips2...ips235v-bn-aek Windows 7 Home Premium 64Bit OEM from Scan @ £74.04 http://www.scan.co.uk/products/microsoft-windows-7-home-premium-64-bit-sp1-operating-system-single-oem GRAND TOTAL £671.55 So as you can see it's about £21.55 over budget without a graphics card or SSD. If you really wanted I could try and skimp else where to place it closer £650 or there abouts but for now I'll leave you with this. Happy hunting Extras Samsung 830 Series 64gb from Ebuyer @ £53 http://www.ebuyer.com/318419-samsung...-mz-7pc064d-eu XFX Core Edition 7850 from Scan @ £154.54 http://www.scan.co.uk/products/2gb-x...-dvi-i-hdmi-2x Arctic Cooling I30 from Scan @ £29.16 http://www.scan.co.uk/products/arctic-cooling-freezer-i30-cpu-dt-4-heat-pipe-cooler-with-120mm-silent-fan-for-intel-socket-lga-2011 Now you could rely on the HD4000 onboard graphics for a little while until you can go for a graphics card if you really wanted to. It's a beast as onboards go. As for the SSD it's not essential if you're working on a budget so it could be easily added later. Also with that build you could go cheaper with a lower CPU and motherboard, but I included that combination in there just in case you warmed up to overclocking in the future But don't forget the cooler if you do decide to overclock.
thanks for the reply Couple of things I want to ask. does overclocking make that much difference to speed. I ask because clock speeds seem to have remained the same for so many years that it seems to me it shouldnt really increase much. Would an i3 ivy bridge be a good enough cpu, or is the extra £70 more than worth it for the performance boost. and finally i dont really know what the difference between the oem and retail versions of win7 are. Am i gonna have any kind of trouble with an oem version? thanks again
Drop the 1tb drive and get a 2 tb drive which is only about £10 more. http://www.scan.co.uk/products/2tb-...4-sata-3-6gb-s-7200rpm-64mb-cache-8ms-oem-ncq I think an i3 won't be good enough for gaming.
In my opinion, I have heard awful things about sea gate on performance and reliability. The F3 is much better plus if you were to grab another in the future, you could RAID them. For overclocking, you will see much better performance when gaming. If you were to go for i3, that voids the opportunity to OC plus you will be bottle necking performance with the 7850. Forget on board graphics if you can and wait until you can afford the card and buy the whole system. OEM licenses are tied to the very first computer (Motherboard) you install and activate it on and you cannot upgrade from your previous OS so you have to do a clean install.
Why a K version and a Z77 mobo ? He's not going to OC. An i5-3450 + H77 (or even B75 if he's doesn't need more than 1x SATA 6.0 nor raid support). This would save quite a few quid. The i5-3450 cost £142 (it's already £34 less than the 3570K)
Well Samsung sold their HDD part to Seagate last year. So in my opinion the F3 is just a rebranded seagate....
The thing with the i5-3570K is, as far as I'm aware, it's one of only two i5's that has HD4000 graphics. The other one, I think, is the i5-3550, only saving £15. (apologies for being vague, Intel's site, or mine having problems). OP could use that with H77 mobo, and save a bit, if he doesn't want to OC, and still keep good graphics.
i5 3570k http://www.scan.co.uk/products/inte...-s-dmi-650mhz-gpu-6mb-smart-cache-34x-ratio-7 corbide 300R http://www.scan.co.uk/product.aspx?productid=52071 650W Corsair Enthusiast Series 650TXV2UK http://www.scan.co.uk/product.aspx?productid=41835 Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H http://www.scan.co.uk/product.aspx?productid=54172 23" Iiyama E2382HSD-GB1 Prolite Black LED Monitor Full HD DVI/VGA ,1920x1080P http://www.scan.co.uk/product.aspx?productid=59223 Arctic Cooling Freezer i30 http://www.scan.co.uk/products/arct...th-120mm-silent-fan-for-intel-socket-lga-2011 1TB Seagate ST1000DM003 Barracuda 7200.14 SATA 6Gb/s 7200rpm 64mb Cache 8ms NCQ OEM http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1tb-...014-sata-6gb-s-7200rpm-64mb-cache-8ms-ncq-oem 8GB (2x4GB) Corsair DDR3 Vengeance Jet Black Low Profile, PC3-12800 (1600) http://www.scan.co.uk/products/8gb-...pc3-12800-(1600)-non-ecc-cas-9-9-9-24-xmp-15v Samsung WriteMaster SH-S222BB http://www.scan.co.uk/products/sams...dr-12x-dvdr-dvdplusrw-x8-rw-x6-sata-black-oem thanks for the replies guys. This is what I have come up with. tell me what you think.
My advice is to lean towards graphics rather than CPU when you're spreading your budget. Also a good monitor like that LG is a must, as is an SSD; even if it's a tiny OS-only one it will make the whole machine feel faster. Finally, Windows 8 looks like it will be significantly cheaper than Windows 7 when it launches. The perfectly capable consumer preview is free to use until after the launch, as I understand it, so you could save a few pounds by using that for now and getting the full release when it's available.
I am using this monitor and it is very good for the money: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/23-l...l-hd-dvi-vga-hdmi-1920x1080-250cd-m-5m1-12-ms Agree with the small SSD advice. Get the 128gb if you can otherwise 60gb will do. I am using the following. Now I can barely hear my PC run and it is much faster. http://www.scan.co.uk/products/128g...mm-sata-iii-read-520mb-s-write-320mb-s-pc-mac Also get the 2TB drive as it is only £13 more and you get twice the capacity. http://www.scan.co.uk/products/2tb-...4-sata-3-6gb-s-7200rpm-64mb-cache-8ms-oem-ncq
If you arn't going to be overclocking there is no point forking out for a Z77 motherboard and a K version processor. Instead you should get something like these Intel I5 3450 and Asus p8h77 Motherboard
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks CPU: Intel Core i5-3450 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor (£140.87 @ Amazon UK) Motherboard: MSI H77MA-G43 Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£63.32 @ Scan.co.uk) Memory: Corsair XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£26.99 @ Scan.co.uk) Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£43.90 @ CCL Computers) Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 6870 1GB Video Card (£120.98 @ Dabs) Case: BitFenix Merc Beta (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£32.90 @ Amazon UK) Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply (£45.89 @ Ebuyer) Optical Drive: Sony AD-7280S-0B DVD/CD Writer (£12.58 @ CCL Computers) Monitor: Dell ST2220L 21.5" Monitor (£119.06 @ Scan.co.uk) Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) (£67.66 @ CCL Computers) Total: £674.15 (Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.) (Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-09-21 10:24 BST+0100) A bit over but best performance so far IMO.
