Budget: £800, which must include monitor and OS Main uses of intended build: Gaming/internet Parts required: I have been looking into building my first desktop for sometime now, but I am finding all the information a little overwhelming. I have decided then to use this months affordable all rounder as my blueprint. I would be very grateful for any input/comments or advice anyone may have. Graphics card: GeForce GTS 250 512MB or Radeon HD 4770 512MB CPU: AMD Athlon II X2 250 Motherboard: MSI 770-C45 Memory: 4GB 1,333MHz CI9 DDR3 Chasis: Antec Three Hundred PSU: Corsair CX400W PSU Cooler: Asaka AK0876 Optical: DVD-RW SATA Optical drive Storage: 2 x 500GB SATA 3Gbps Hard Drive Previous build information (list details of parts): Currently using laptop. Monitor resolution: I would like 1920 res but should I settle for less for now and upgrade at a later point? Storage requirements: 1TB min. Should I split this or have one drive? will you be overclocking: Would like to in the future, but not necessarily with this system.
The affordable allrounder is a good starting point. I would suggest a few changes though: Graphics card: Radeon HD 5770 - £130 CPU: AMD Phenom II X2 550 - £70 Motherboard: MSI 770-C45 - £50 Memory: 4GB 1,333MHz CI9 DDR3 - £80 Chasis: Antec Three Hundred - £40 PSU: Corsair CX400W PSU - £40 Cooler: Stick with the stock cooler. Optical: DVD-RW SATA Optical drive - £20 Storage: Samsumg F3 500GB - £40 OS: Windows 7 64 bit - £90 That lot comes in at just under £600 which would leave £200 for the monitor. If you wanted to up the spec to a Core i5 750 it would cost an extra £80 or so.
The performace of the i5 750 is considerably better than the Phenom II X2 550. The Core i5 750 is a quad core, it processes more instructions per cycle and it overclocks better. The thing to bear in mind is that when using it with a HD5770 the limiting factor is most prbably the graphics card so although you may have a great CPU it is not necessarily always working to its full potential
CPU: i3-530 £94.62 RAM: 4GB Corsair 1333 CAS 9 £89.42 Board: MSI P55-GD45 £91.12 could be any P55 board in the price range this was just the first one i clicked on HDD: Spinpoint F3 1TB £61.30 GPU: 5770 £116.29 Monitor: 22inch Viewsonic £132.75 See tonpal's first post for the rest of it. Total = 775.50 Knowing you wont need a new board to get i5-750 = priceless
At its current price Core i3 is really a waste of time. You will be paying £50-60 for no more performance and all you will gain is the opportunity to trade up to a CPU that will be virtually obsolete in a few years time when you are ready to update. If you particularly want an i5 750 get one now, don't piss about with a core i3.
case Thank you both for your advice. Bearing in mind I will want to upgrade as I can afford it, would it be worth paying a little extra now and getting a better case now, eg antec 902? Another 'stupid' question... would I need to have a wireless card for internet use if this PC was not going to be attached directly to my landline (almost embarrased to have to ask this one!)
Cases, power supplies and monitors are the components that are most likely to be kept when upgrading a computer so when you do replace then it is worth spending a bit more to make sure you have something that will last. It is possible to get motherboards with built in wifi however they tend to be the more expensive boards. For a more modest built the best option would be to buy a PCI/PCIe wireless card. I would suggest 11n if your router/AP can support it.
