Budget gaming system for £500 - £550

[Hayden77]

Having got some fantastic advice for my own new build which I followed to the letter here:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/378863-31-build-advice-needed

with great results, my brother in law is now building a gaming system but on a smaller budget. The budget does not include an operating system, monitor, keyboard or mouse. I imagine in this price range a GTX660 is prob best value, or at a push a 7870 tahiti if you can spare the money elsewhere? Thanks in advance!

 

[Spectronox]

Here is my suggestion.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£63.59 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£24.49 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: Asus M5A97 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard (£67.30 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: PNY XLR8 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£40.49 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£43.19 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card (£208.30 @ Amazon UK)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£41.99 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£49.99 @ Aria PC)
Total: £539.34
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-07-01 21:38 BST+0100)

 

[Hayden77]

Thanks, going amd for the CPU makes a big difference doesn't it

 

[Spectronox]

You're welcome! On a tight budget, it's a decision about whether/how soon you wish to upgrade. If you're not upgrading in the short term then AMD wins, but if you are then maybe Intel is better. (Start with an i3-3220 on a ZZ7 board and swap it for an i5-3570K later.) Either way, the Phenom II X4 is a great deal for such a budget (facilitating the 7950).

 

[Hayden77]

That's interesting, I wasn't expecting to get a 7950 on that budget (I got the xfx 7950 dd on the linked build), will the 7950 work ok on that i3-3220?

 

[Spectronox]

It's thanks to the processor and motherboard being cheap and cheerful. The i3 might bottleneck it a little if at all, but it wouldn't be a huge problem - it'd work fine. Bear in mind the i3 and a Z77 board would be more expensive and take the build to about £600.

 

[Hayden77]

Cool, I'll give him the options, thanks again

 

[Spectronox]

No worries, happy I could help!