Hi all, Building a PC soon (1st build) Im on a pretty tight budget (the cheaper the better tbh) so Ive seen the following and was wondering what you guys think. Main use will be everday things - email / Internet. Games : WoW / TF2 / Guild Wars 2 when it arrives. Case : Silverstone PS02B CPU : Athlon II X3 450 3.2ghz Ram : Corsair XMS3 4gb (2x2gb sticks) 1600mhz HDD : 500gb Samsung F3 GPU : 1gb XFX 5770 Mobo : MSI 870-C45 Optical : Sony DVD 24x PSU : Corsair CX430 OS : Win7 OEM. Total Price is about £460 inc VAT. The idea is to use stock cooler atm - maybe try unlock 4th core pre buying a decent cooler, undecided yet. Eventually I would consider putting a PII X4 or X6 cpu in there eventually. Thanks for any advice. NB Changes to config discussed further down - inc revised cost.
That build looks good to me, except for this one thing: ATI asks for a 450W PSU or higher for the 5770 source Now while a 430W PSU is fairly close and because it's corsair it'll probably be fine, I would still recommend spending a little more to get a stronger PSU. A supporting reason I have for recommending this is for a second PCI-E power connector. While you may not be able to do dual graphics on that motherboard, higher end graphics cards are beginning to use 2 6 pin power connectors instead of one. This would open up a higher end graphics card that uses 2 power connectors as an upgrade option for you. I would look at the Corsair CX500 or Antec EA500 if you want to get a stronger PSU. Other than that everything looks great.
i would drop the psu and get an antec earthwatts 430W or seasonic psu. The CX range of Corsair PSU's are NOT getting good reviews. The CX430 is not 80plus rated either.
I would go for the Phenom x2 555. the Athlons lack L3 cache and performance. I also agree with the above. ^^
Thanks for the replies. I reconfigured with : PII X2 555. Antec EA-500 GB 500W. Price went up £30 to £490. Do you reccomend the X2 55 over the X3 450 ? especially with it being more expensive.
Well the X3 has the extra core, but the X2 has more cache, which will help with gaming. I'd still say go for the X3 450 though. If you're not set on getting that case, then try the Coolermaster Elite 335. Its a little cheaper. Also, why not use the saving from the case and get a GTX 460?
Pretty set on the case tbh. GTX 460 pushes price up by £40 for the 1gb version so Ill stick with 5770. X3 450 system is £500 X2 555 system is £513 These prices include scansure (insurance incase i mess up when building) which is usefull with it being my first build. suppose I need to decide on CPU now. Would anyone recommend a cooler now or later down the line was thinking the Artic cooler freezer 7 pro rev 2 for £15. Heard good things and its pretty cheap. Can anyone recommend this cooler for AM3?.
Yeah thats a great budget cooler! You can't go wrong with it. As for the CPU, two cores will do you fine, and you have a chance of unlocking one or two more cores. Good luck mate.
Final Specs : Case : Silverstone PS02B CPU : Phenom II X2 555 BE 3.2ghz Ram : Corsair XMS3 4gb (2x2gb sticks) 1600mhz HDD : 500gb Samsung F3 GPU : 1gb XFX 5770 Mobo : MSI 870-C45 Optical : Sony DVD 24x PSU : Antec EA-500 GB 500W OS : Win7 OEM. Cooler : Arctic Freezer 7 Pro - rev 2.
