Low budget build - Is this okay?

[saml1337]

Hey everyone, a few months ago i built my first PC and now my mate is looking to do the same. I just wanted to check with the experts whether the components are okay

HDD:
500GB Seagate ST500DM002 Barracuda SATA 6Gb/s, 7200rpm, 16MB Cache, 8.5ms, NCQ

RAM:
8GB Corsair DDR3 XMS3 PC3-12800 (1600), Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 11-11-11-30, 1.5V

PSU:
500W Silverstone SST-ST50F-ES Strider PSU, Silent, 80 PLUS ATX 12V 2.3 24x7 Use Ready!

Graphics:
1GB Zotac GT 610 Synergy, PCIe 2.0(x16), 40nm, 1066MHz GDDR3, GPU 810MHz, Shader 1620MHz, 48 Cores, LP

Processor:
Intel Core i3 2120, S1155, 3.3GHz, 5GT/s, HD2000 IGP 850Mhz, 3MB Cache, Core R 33x, 65W, Retail

OS:
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit SP1, Operating System, Single, - OEM

MoBo:
MSI Z77A-G41, Intel Z77, S 1155, DDR3, SATA III - 6Gb/s, RAID, PCIe 3.0 (x16), D-Sub/ HDMI, ATX

Case:
Zalman Z11 Plus High Performance Mid Tower Case w/o PSU

Optical disc drive:
Samsung SH-118AB/BEBE Black 18x SATA DVD ROM - OEM

As far as I know the components are all compatible, I just wanted to see if you guys have any suggestions/improvements.

Thanks!

 

[Sret43rg]

Yes they are all compatible, however, there is no point going for a Z77 mobo if your cpu isn't overclockable, also, that PSU brand isn't the greatest. The GT 610 is absolutely terrible to gaming so if you give us your budget we could build a much better system for you.

 

[saml1337]

Yes they are all compatible, however, there is no point going for a Z77 mobo if your cpu isn't overclockable, also, that PSU brand isn't the greatest. The GT 610 is absolutely terrible to gaming so if you give us your budget we could build a much better system for you.

thanks for the reply.

My mate said he's happy to go up to £500, if you can put together a gaming system that would be greatly appreciated

 

[johny392]

OMG LOL instead of an i3 and a gt 610 try out this
http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/p/s3af
Obviously you could work with and make changes but it seems pretty doable. Reliable power supply and 4gb ram (should be enough for gaming). Plus you get omg... hd 7870 and a i5 3470..

Intel core i5 3470 3.2 ghz - £144
XFX Radeon HD 7870 - £174.94
MSI b75 MOBO - £42.90
4gb Crucial DDR3 1600 mhz - £18.94
WD 500gb 7200 rpm HDD - £44.97
Cooler Master 430 case - £37.18
Corsair Builder 430w 80 plus PSU - £35.32
Lite on DVD Drive - £12.92

Do you like?

 

[Pyree]

You forgot OS

 

[johny392]

My bad completely miss that! I could still get ya alot better than what you had:

IDK if you want AMD or not but they have cheap quad cores that will outperform i3 in games like BF3 and Planetside 2. But most games run about the same if not better than it (unless you love large map based mp games with lots of players).

AMD option: http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/p/s3Wn

AMD Phenom 2 x4 965 BE - £69.55 (you could get away with an FX but this is better)
XFX Radeon HD 7870 - £174.94 (there is some other choices but this is the best price)
Asrock 880gm AM3+ Mobo - £49.99
Cooler Master Vortex Cpu fan (if you wanna oc) - £17.27
4gb Crucial DDR3 1600 mhz - £18.94
WD 500gb 7200 rpm HDD - £44.97
Cooler Master 430 case - £37.18
Corsair Builder 430w 80 plus PSU - £35.32
Lite on DVD Drive - £12.92
Windows 7 HP 64 - £72.61

Total: £533.69

Intel: http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/p/s41b
(I would go with this... better upgrade, better in most games)


Intel i3 2120 3.3 ghz - £88.84 (this allows you to upgrade to i5!)
XFX Radeon HD 7870 - £174.94 (you have other choices like i said)
Asrock h61 Mobo - £37.99
4gb Crucial DDR3 1600 mhz - £18.94
WD 500gb 7200 rpm HDD - £44.97
Cooler Master 430 case - £37.18
Corsair Builder 430w 80 plus PSU - £35.32
Lite on DVD Drive - £12.92
Windows 7 HP 64 - £72.61

Total: £523.71 (this seems like a better gamer than the AMD build)

But, like i said you can take these and do whatever you want i'm just giving you my opinions based on what i found for your budget. Lol it was hard putting these together becaue i am in the USA and i had to search around on UK sites. I would personally go with an i3 (like in your original post) but you get a hd 7870 and you could probably max out every game at 1080p VERY few exceptions will you have to turn down settings.

Tell me what you think!

 

[Pingypoker]

What is your budget?

 

[johny392]

What is your budget?

His budget is £500 as stated above.

 

[saml1337]

My bad completely miss that! I could still get ya alot better than what you had:

IDK if you want AMD or not but they have cheap quad cores that will outperform i3 in games like BF3 and Planetside 2. But most games run about the same if not better than it (unless you love large map based mp games with lots of players).

AMD option: http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/p/s3Wn

AMD Phenom 2 x4 965 BE - £69.55 (you could get away with an FX but this is better)
XFX Radeon HD 7870 - £174.94 (there is some other choices but this is the best price)
Asrock 880gm AM3+ Mobo - £49.99
Cooler Master Vortex Cpu fan (if you wanna oc) - £17.27
4gb Crucial DDR3 1600 mhz - £18.94
WD 500gb 7200 rpm HDD - £44.97
Cooler Master 430 case - £37.18
Corsair Builder 430w 80 plus PSU - £35.32
Lite on DVD Drive - £12.92
Windows 7 HP 64 - £72.61

Total: £533.69

Intel: http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/p/s41b
(I would go with this... better upgrade, better in most games)


Intel i3 2120 3.3 ghz - £88.84 (this allows you to upgrade to i5!)
XFX Radeon HD 7870 - £174.94 (you have other choices like i said)
Asrock h61 Mobo - £37.99
4gb Crucial DDR3 1600 mhz - £18.94
WD 500gb 7200 rpm HDD - £44.97
Cooler Master 430 case - £37.18
Corsair Builder 430w 80 plus PSU - £35.32
Lite on DVD Drive - £12.92
Windows 7 HP 64 - £72.61

Total: £523.71 (this seems like a better gamer than the AMD build)

But, like i said you can take these and do whatever you want i'm just giving you my opinions based on what i found for your budget. Lol it was hard putting these together becaue i am in the USA and i had to search around on UK sites. I would personally go with an i3 (like in your original post) but you get a hd 7870 and you could probably max out every game at 1080p VERY few exceptions will you have to turn down settings.

Tell me what you think!

Wow! Thank you soooo much for putting all the effort in for us! also thanks for introducing me to pcpartpicker, damn that website is amazing!

we have decided to go for the intel list you provided. we are thinking about changing the graphics card from a 7870 to a 6870, i have that one in my machine and i can max out most games, what do you think, is the 7870 worth the extra cash?

Also instead of a cooler master case we can get the Zalman Z11 Plus, which i believe has ATX compatibility,and therefore we are getting an ATX mobo instead. thoughts on that?

 

[tiny voices]

Its worth the extra cash. It will use a ton less power and it is a year and a half newer than a 6870. Get the 7870 for sure.

 

[saml1337]

Its worth the extra cash. It will use a ton less power and it is a year and a half newer than a 6870. Get the 7870 for sure.

Okay, going for that. You get FarCry 3 with it too!

 

[nix327]

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/p/s9Pf
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/p/s9Pf/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/p/s9Pf/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Pentium G860 3.0GHz Dual-Core Processor (£49.03 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: ASRock H77M Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£62.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£32.01 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£54.95 @ Scan.co.uk)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7870 2GB Video Card (£174.94 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: BitFenix Merc Beta (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£32.90 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply (£47.99 @ Novatech)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer (£12.92 @ Scan.co.uk)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£72.30 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £540.03
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-12 18:00 GMT+0000)

you can later upgrade to an i5

edit: G860 performs similarly to an i3 in single threaded applications..the only difference in hyper threading which won't give you the performance of a quadcore CPU..you can later upgrade to an i5 when you have the money and you won't need to change anything else.

 

[johny392]

Okay, going for that. You get FarCry 3 with it too!

Actually if you really need to decrease the price of the system i would not go for a 6870. Instead i would go for the 7850 as it is a bit stronger. It also has the low power consumption of the 7000 series cards. And for the case you will be more than fine. The case is what you will see on the build so go right ahead and get what you want.

Id go with the 7870 but if you need to, cut it down to 7850 instead of 6870.

 

[johny392]

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/p/s9Pf
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/p/s9Pf/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/p/s9Pf/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Pentium G860 3.0GHz Dual-Core Processor (£49.03 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: ASRock H77M Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£62.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£32.01 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£54.95 @ Scan.co.uk)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7870 2GB Video Card (£174.94 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: BitFenix Merc Beta (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£32.90 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply (£47.99 @ Novatech)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer (£12.92 @ Scan.co.uk)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£72.30 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £540.03
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-12 18:00 GMT+0000)

you can later upgrade to an i5

I'm pretty sure he can fit a i3 in his budget. I'm also pretty sure he only needs 500gb HDD. And a Corsair 430w 80+ PSU is more than enough for a single 7000 series card and a sandy bridge CPU. The power usage these days is pretty low. @saml1337 This build is definetly an option if you want to upgrade to a i5 within the next few months. Because the 2 cpu's are similar (same architecture but no HT and -300mhz) but if he needs the raw power right now, then go with the i3.

 

[Sret43rg]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-3220 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor (£89.68 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: ASRock H77M Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£62.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£40.00 @ Scan.co.uk)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7850 1GB Video Card (£125.98 @ Dabs)
Case: Xigmatek Asgard II Black ATX Mid Tower Case (£28.36 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£49.98 @ Novatech)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer (£12.92 @ Scan.co.uk)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£72.30 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £482.21
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-12 18:49 GMT+0000)

Well balanced, amazing gaming build it will be great for gaming at 1080p, it won't be able to max out games but it can certainly run them on medium to high settings with good fps. Under your budget too!

 

[johny392]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-3220 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor (£89.68 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: ASRock H77M Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£62.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£40.00 @ Scan.co.uk)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7850 1GB Video Card (£125.98 @ Dabs)
Case: Xigmatek Asgard II Black ATX Mid Tower Case (£28.36 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£49.98 @ Novatech)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer (£12.92 @ Scan.co.uk)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£72.30 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £482.21
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-12 18:49 GMT+0000)

Well balanced, amazing gaming build it will be great for gaming at 1080p, it won't be able to max out games but it can certainly run them on medium to high settings with good fps. Under your budget too![/quotemsg

Definitely go with this or with a HD 7870. The 7870 would give a good FPS boost over the 7850. But if you really don't wanna go over the 7850 can game!