Entry level build for Christmas

[MichaelMcGrade]

I have posted quite a few builds here before but Christmas is coming and I think I have finally decided on what I am going to go with.
- I have the peripherals that I need and a change to my chosen monitor is welcomed (based on first hand experience of course).
- I don't intend on overclocking or making any modifications. I also am not expecting for a second to be able to run the newest games very well but it is for gaming/school.
- Finally, should I go for a SSHD (Hybrid drive) instead of the Caviar?

My budget is £600-700 and I am once again, hopefully for the final time asking the good people of Tom's Hardware. Can any price/performance changes be made to this build?

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/Tdw8zy

 

[capt_taco]

I would go for a little better video card for sure - see if you can find a r9 270X or 280 on sale. Otherwise your system is really unbalanced - lots of CPU power held back by the GPU.

The Corsair Builder series is not the same as regular Corsair; it is a cheap stick of poo with the Corsair name on it.

You can sacrifice on the case a little to improve either of those parts; lots of good ones for half that price.

If money is an issue, don't worry about an SSD right now ... they are nice, but you don't absolutely need one. Save that for later.

 

[MichaelMcGrade]

I would go for a little better video card for sure - see if you can find a r9 270X or 280 on sale. Otherwise your system is really unbalanced - lots of CPU power held back by the GPU.

The Corsair Builder series is not the same as regular Corsair; it is a cheap stick of poo with the Corsair name on it.

You can sacrifice on the case a little to improve either of those parts; lots of good ones for half that price.

If money is an issue, don't worry about an SSD right now ... they are nice, but you don't absolutely need one. Save that for later.

I have changed to an R9 270X, I did have a hunch that it was unbalanced but thanks a lot.

Is there a power supply you can recommend?

 

[coops1]

How about this:

PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/mN7yQ7
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/mN7yQ7/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£129.95 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£65.40 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£61.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£39.99 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 280 3GB WINDFORCE Video Card (£152.72 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: NZXT Phantom 240 ATX Mid Tower Case (£54.29 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: Corsair CSM 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£55.99 @ Aria PC)
Monitor: BenQ GL2450HM 60Hz 24.0" Monitor (£109.99 @ Amazon UK)
Other:
Total: £670.32
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-11 21:59 GMT+0000
You drop a bit of CPU performance (though not much - all i5's are great) and havew a slightly cheaper case, but make up for it with a decent PSU and vastly superior GPU - it'd run new games, 1080p with decent graphics settings no problem. Also, I aimed for a black / blue theme so it looks nice through the case window.

 

[logainofhades]

Build at the lower end of budget.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£129.95 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£65.40 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Mushkin Stealth 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£59.94 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£39.99 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 270X 2GB Dual-X Video Card (£119.00 @ Amazon UK)
Case: BitFenix Comrade ATX Mid Tower Case (£33.59 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£36.54 @ Amazon UK)
Monitor: LG 24MP55HQ-P 60Hz 23.8" Monitor (£116.15 @ More Computers)
Other:
Total: £600.56
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-11 22:10 GMT+0000

Upper end of budget

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£129.95 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£65.40 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Mushkin Stealth 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£59.94 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£39.99 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 280X 3GB Dual-X Video Card (£194.74 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: BitFenix Comrade ATX Mid Tower Case (£33.59 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£61.62 @ Amazon UK)
Monitor: LG 24MP55HQ-P 60Hz 23.8" Monitor (£116.15 @ More Computers)
Other:
Total: £701.38
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-11 22:12 GMT+0000


The 4690 just isn't worth the added cost vs a 4460. Changed the monitor to one with a better IPS panel.