First budget Build to get in to PC gaming

[spider361]

Hello

I am looking to get in to PC gaming, and because of that will need to build a new rig.

Budget Range: around £300
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, surfing the web
Are you buying a monitor: No

Parts to Upgrade: cpu,mobo,ram,HDD,psu,gpu, case
Do you need to buy OS: Yes
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Scan, ebuyer, ebay
Location: Uk

Parts Preferences: intel/ati
Overclocking: no
SLI or Crossfire: no

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: I am looking to build a budget gaming pc to get me in to pc gaming, but also buy a few parts that will allow with upgrade later on down the road if possible.

Why are you upgrading: Laptop is giving up so need a desktop ASAP

I have been looking around and dont know which one would be best for my budget either the Pentium G860 or the i3 3220, and maybe pair that with a B75 motherboard but not sure which one?

Also would it be a good idea to get a refurb or 2nd hand GPU to keep to the tight budget?

thanks

 

[blibba]

i3 is ok BUT if you want to play all games in future too go for intel xeon 1230V2

But here is the set. Windows is missing. SSD is missing. Not so good case.

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

CPU: Intel Core i3-3220 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor (£85.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B75M-D3V Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£48.02 @ CCL Computers)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Low Voltage Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£53.99 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£57.59 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7870 2GB Video Card (£184.89 @ Amazon UK)
Case: BitFenix Merc Beta (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£32.90 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 450W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£36.98 @ Novatech)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS72 DVD/CD Writer
Total: £500.36
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-01-22 18:43 GMT+0000)

GPU is overkill for 1080p.

 

[spider361]

Hello

thanks for the replies, could anyone suggest a setup that would be ok/good for gaming around my £300 budget as i am on a very tight budget and need a pc asap, maybe a setup that doesn't include a gpu for now as i could buy that at a later date, would the hd 7770 be a good choice.

thanks

 

[blibba]

Hello

thanks for the replies, could anyone suggest a setup that would be ok/good for gaming around my £300 budget as i am on a very tight budget and need a pc asap, maybe a setup that doesn't include a gpu for now as i could buy that at a later date, would the hd 7770 be a good choice.

thanks

CPU: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Intel-Pentium-G640-CPU-processor-with-akasa-cooler-new-system-pull-/261159656461?pt=UK_Computing_CPUs_Processors&hash=item3cce541c0d
Motherboard: http://www.amazon.co.uk/MSI-H61M-P31-G3-Motherboard-Processor-Gigabit/dp/B007QUPENU/ref=sr_1_6?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1358944936&sr=1-6
PSU: http://www.ebuyer.com/271798-corsair-430w-v2-cx-series-psu-cp-9020046-uk
RAM: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-CT2KIT51264BD1339-8GB-4GB-Memory/dp/B005LDLV3Q/ref=sr_1_42?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1358943854&sr=1-42
HDD: https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BG-108-SE&groupid=595&catid=671&subcat=
case: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fractal-Design-Core-Series-Micro/dp/B004ZH18G4/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1358944179&sr=1-1
gpu: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/nVidia-Palit-GTX460-1GB-Sonic-Platinum-Factory-Overclocked-2-Available-/140908581539?pt=UK_Computing_Computer_Components_Graphics_Video_TV_Cards_TW&hash=item20cece52a3

 

[blibba]

CPU: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Intel-Pentium-G640-CPU-processor-with-akasa-cooler-new-system-pull-/261159656461?pt=UK_Computing_CPUs_Processors&hash=item3cce541c0d
Motherboard: http://www.amazon.co.uk/MSI-H61M-P31-G3-Motherboard-Processor-Gigabit/dp/B007QUPENU/ref=sr_1_6?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1358944936&sr=1-6
PSU: http://www.ebuyer.com/271798-corsair-430w-v2-cx-series-psu-cp-9020046-uk
RAM: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-CT2KIT51264BD1339-8GB-4GB-Memory/dp/B005LDLV3Q/ref=sr_1_42?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1358943854&sr=1-42
HDD: https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BG-108-SE&groupid=595&catid=671&subcat=
case: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fractal-Design-Core-Series-Micro/dp/B004ZH18G4/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1358944179&sr=1-1
gpu: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/nVidia-Palit-GTX460-1GB-Sonic-Platinum-Factory-Overclocked-2-Available-/140908581539?pt=UK_Computing_Computer_Components_Graphics_Video_TV_Cards_TW&hash=item20cece52a3

That comes to £300 delivered. It uses a better GPU than a 460 and quality components throughout. I don't think you'll do better for the price.

 

[spider361]

That comes to £300 delivered. It uses a better GPU than a 460 and quality components throughout. I don't think you'll do better for the price.

Hello thanks for the reply, much appreciated and really helped, I have been able to slightly up my budget to £350 would it better/ a option to get a B75 mobo so i can easily upgrade the cpu later to say a i3 3220 without having to update the bios.

Also what is the integrated graphics like on the i3 3220 and what type of games would i expect to play on it, if i was to get this and wait to get a gpu

Thanks

 

[blibba]

Hello thanks for the reply, much appreciated and really helped, I have been able to slightly up my budget to £350 would it better/ a option to get a B75 mobo so i can easily upgrade the cpu later to say a i3 3220 without having to update the bios.

Also what is the integrated graphics like on the i3 3220 and what type of games would i expect to play on it, if i was to get this and wait to get a gpu

Thanks

As long as you have an older CPU (e.g. the Pentium 640 I linked), updating the bios should be no hassle at all. Most manufacturers have tools now to allow you to do it either form Windows or with a USB stick in the BIOS. I'm sure if you posted on a forum like this one at the time, someone would help you out if you were confused.

That said, if you can find a bargain on a B75 motherboard, you might find one with other features you'd like to have.

A third option is to try to eBay an i3-2120. This would work out of the box with an H61 motherboard and perform pretty similarly to the i3-3220 (no more than 10% slower). Just depends if you can get one cheap enough.

Regarding the integrated graphics on the i3, no, they wouldn't be good for gaming. You could look at buying a £30 graphics card to keep you over, but make sure you buy a card designed for gaming. It's easy to get hold of older gaming cards like the GTX260 and HD4870 at that price now (used, obviously).

 

[spider361]

As long as you have an older CPU (e.g. the Pentium 640 I linked), updating the bios should be no hassle at all. Most manufacturers have tools now to allow you to do it either form Windows or with a USB stick in the BIOS. I'm sure if you posted on a forum like this one at the time, someone would help you out if you were confused.

That said, if you can find a bargain on a B75 motherboard, you might find one with other features you'd like to have.

A third option is to try to eBay an i3-2120. This would work out of the box with an H61 motherboard and perform pretty similarly to the i3-3220 (no more than 10% slower). Just depends if you can get one cheap enough.

Regarding the integrated graphics on the i3, no, they wouldn't be good for gaming. You could look at buying a £30 graphics card to keep you over, but make sure you buy a card designed for gaming. It's easy to get hold of older gaming cards like the GTX260 and HD4870 at that price now (used, obviously).

Hello

Ok thanks for the advice, sorry to ask lots of question but but confused about which motherboard to go for if i was to get a B75, are they any you would suggest that are good value?

thanks

 

[blibba]

Hello

Ok thanks for the advice, sorry to ask lots of question but but confused about which motherboard to go for if i was to get a B75, are they any you would suggest that are good value?

thanks

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MSI-B75MA-P45-Intel-Socket-1155-Motherboard-New-/230916481390?pt=UK_Computing_LaptopMotherboards_CPUs_CA&hash=item35c3b1e16e

That's about as good value as it gets on B75.

I would still recommend going for an H61 board like the one I originally linked, then updating the BIOS if you ever want to use an Ivy Bridge CPU.

 

[spider361]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MSI-B75MA-P45-Intel-Socket-1155-Motherboard-New-/230916481390?pt=UK_Computing_LaptopMotherboards_CPUs_CA&hash=item35c3b1e16e

That's about as good value as it gets on B75.

I would still recommend going for an H61 board like the one I originally linked, then updating the BIOS if you ever want to use an Ivy Bridge CPU.

Hello

Ok thanks, i am planning on buying the parts next week, so just to double check would you say the Pentium G setup would be better value for money for gaming or should i go for a i3 and get a cheap gpu for now till i get the funds or get a second hand one ?

Does the i3 give enough performance boost to spend that bit more on it

thanks again

 

[blibba]

Hello

Ok thanks, i am planning on buying the parts next week, so just to double check would you say the Pentium G setup would be better value for money for gaming or should i go for a i3 and get a cheap gpu for now till i get the funds or get a second hand one ?

Does the i3 give enough performance boost to spend that bit more on it

thanks again

Ideally you'd get an i3 and the GTX460, and that'd set you up for a good few years. But I think it'd be better to get the Pentium 640 with the GTX460 than an i3 with a really weak GPU. To some extent, it depends what games you're going to want to play.

When you've got a bit more cash down the line, you can get an i3 or i5, and you'll probably want an SSD as well. The used Pentium 640 I linked is only £35, so you won't have wasted much, especially if you sell it on.

Regarding getting stuff second hand, a few of the links I gave are to second hand parts (including the processor and GPU). You won't get a build like this under £300 if you buy everything new.

 

[iceclock]

best u can do is this.

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

CPU: AMD A8-5600K 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor (£74.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: MSI FM2-A55M-E33 Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard (£37.55 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Kingston 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£18.20 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 250GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£37.99 @ Aria PC)
Case: Xigmatek Asgard II Black ATX Mid Tower Case (£28.31 @ Novatech)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply (£35.32 @ Scan.co.uk)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer (£12.98 @ Scan.co.uk)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£67.99 @ Aria PC)
Total: £313.33
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-01-24 15:52 GMT+0000)

all new,. 4core. with best integrated gpu on the market. and eventually upgrade ur videocard when u get more money

 

[blibba]

best u can do is this.

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

CPU: AMD A8-5600K 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor (£74.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: MSI FM2-A55M-E33 Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard (£37.55 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Kingston 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£18.20 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 250GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£37.99 @ Aria PC)
Case: Xigmatek Asgard II Black ATX Mid Tower Case (£28.31 @ Novatech)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply (£35.32 @ Scan.co.uk)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer (£12.98 @ Scan.co.uk)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£67.99 @ Aria PC)
Total: £313.33
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-01-24 15:52 GMT+0000)

all new,. 4core. with best integrated gpu on the market. and eventually upgrade ur videocard when u get more money

But that's more expensive than the build I linked and worse in every way except that it has moar coars - which isn't gunna help much in games, especially with the bandwidth starved onboard graphics. And when you upgrade it'll still be a waste of money because you'll have an APU being used as a CPU.

 

[blibba]

In addition, whatever PCPartPicker may claim, its prices do not always include shipping. Some of those certainly don't.

 

[blibba]

Regarding operating systems btw, I am assuming that OP is in full time education and thus can legitimately acquire Windows through Dreamspark, and install it via a bootable USB stick.

 

[iceclock]

ur comparing used components to new witch have no warranty, sorry but thats a nono

 

[blibba]

A warranty isn't worth it on stuff like this anyway. If it works when you buy it, it'll be years before it breaks, by which time the warranty would be out anyway.

I've been building PCs to sell from used components for years, and I've yet to hear of anything failing.

 

[iceclock]

thats simply untrue, ive bought new and used, and used have broke before the new stuff, also when u buy used u can rma it unless u got the original box and receipt.

witch most of the time u dont get, sorry but warranty does count, ur simply and sadly mistaken here.

 

[blibba]

I take it that it's the first sentence of my previous post that you wish to claim is untrue. If so, fair enough, I'm just talking from personal experience.

OP's choice I guess, but an APU for a gaming machine is a load of sh*t either way. Even a 6670 and a Celeron G540 would be an improvement.

 

[blibba]

Not that I'd recommend such a configuration, obviously - even if one insists on buying new, there are still clearance AM3 CPUs to be considered.

 

[iceclock]

the am8 apu is the fastest integrated on the market and can do gaming on low to medium, and the 4core fm2 cpu would kick the hell outta that pos celeron.

 

[frzlr]

hey,

thats what i got for my very very budget pc:

check my post on forum

i spent 414 euro which is around 350 pounds

this is what im cming up on
pcpartpicker

note theres no ram included as i didnt need it but u can easy pick up 2x2gb for 20pounds
u can drop dvdrom if not needed
u can change psu - i only got it cuz of sale in pcworld it cost me 50euro
no gpu but i3 3225 has intel hd 4000 on board which im gona use in mean time till i can buy gpu

intel hd 4000 benchmark

thats plenty for me for the time being, dont think you will get uber gpu in 350 pound build anyway

hope i helped and good luck

 

[blibba]

the am8 apu is the fastest integrated on the market and can do gaming on low to medium, and the 4core fm2 cpu would kick the hell outta that pos celeron.

Being the fasted integrated on the market is no accolade worth writing home about. Sure, the quad beats the celeron as a CPU, but in games, the celeron is less of an issue than the APU's GPU. Read the $600 build guide on this very site from a few months ago that used a slower Celeron with a 7950.

 

[blibba]

hey,

thats what i got for my very very budget pc:

check my post on forum

i spent 414 euro which is around 350 pounds

this is what im cming up on
pcpartpicker

note theres no ram included as i didnt need it but u can easy pick up 2x2gb for 20pounds
u can drop dvdrom if not needed
u can change psu - i only got it cuz of sale in pcworld it cost me 50euro
no gpu but i3 3225 has intel hd 4000 on board which im gona use in mean time till i can buy gpu

intel hd 4000 benchmark

thats plenty for me for the time being, dont think you will get uber gpu in 350 pound build anyway

hope i helped and good luck

I already linked a build with a GTX460 in under £300. It had 8GB of RAM rather than 0GB, too.

 

[frzlr]

not trying to be smart or anything but i mentioned that you can buy 4gb ram for ~20 pounds
its not rocket science to go and find it

another thing, why get oldish gpu if u can just get none as he mentioned above
get none and save some money for better one (or get gtx460 and start saving money for better one anyway)

just an idea

good luck