My first gaming rig.

[Brad2705]

Intel i5 3570K

G.Skill 8GB DDR3 1600Mhz RipjawsX Memory

MSI B75MA-P45 Socket 1155 VGA DVI 8 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard

Powercool 650W Modular PSU

CiT Vantage Gaming Case Black

Radeon HD 6870

Samsung SH-118AB 18x DVD ROM Drive

WD 750GB Blue Desktop Drive

Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO £30

Any suggestions on how I could improve the build but at around the same price? It is costing me at around £500-510, any advice would be good.

 

[Azn Cracker]

You might want an ssd for your os and a few games. reduces boot time and load time by a lot. 128gb one would be more than enough. you might even manage with a 64gb ssd

 

[Poltregeist]

You might want an ssd for your os and a few games. reduces boot time and load time by a lot. 128gb one would be more than enough. you might even manage with a 64gb ssd

Well with this low budget of a build, an SSD is out of question due to price. Any money that could be put toward an SSD really should be invested in a GPU.

 

[Poltregeist]

Where to start.... Well never heard of that case OR brand, but doesn't make it horrid. For a 650W PSU, you cannot defeat the Corsair HX650. Has a 80+ Gold rating which means it is very efficient. The only rating higher is Platinum which is usually only granted to 1000W+ PSUs. Just a personal preference but for me, all things MSI equal death. That Ripjaws X RAM may conflict with your 212 EVO due to it's high heat spreaders. Let me see if I can fix you a build. Sorry but the price will be in USD, and I will try to stay within 50 pounds of your 500 pound budget.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($169.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($26.29 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($124.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($37.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 750GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($80.45 @ Amazon)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card ($204.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Antec Three Hundred Illusion ATX Mid Tower Case ($75.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Professional 650W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $840.65
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-11-15 20:50 EST-0500)

Did my best, comes out to around 530 Pounds

 

[Sakkura]

For a 650W PSU, you cannot defeat the Corsair HX650.

Sure you can. On the price. TX 650 would be plenty for most people, and is cheaper. By the way, a 650W PSU is overkill for either of these builds, unless Crossfire is intended later on.

As for the actual build, you can't just convert the currency to pounds because hardware prices are different on the other side of the pond. Sad but true. PCPartPicker does have a UK version, though it's not quite as reliable.

 

[Poltregeist]

Sure you can. On the price. TX 650 would be plenty for most people, and is cheaper. By the way, a 650W PSU is overkill for either of these builds, unless Crossfire is intended later on.

As for the actual build, you can't just convert the currency to pounds because hardware prices are different on the other side of the pond. Sad but true. PCPartPicker does have a UK version, though it's not quite as reliable.

A 650W isn't that much of overkill. Under full load GPUs can suck some amount of power, not so much this 7850 though. And the extra power leaves room for the OP to overclock. I mostly prefer the HX series for their modular design, I HATE that tangle of wires behind the PSU. Ruins the aesthetics and also is just a hassle to route.

 

[Sakkura]

A 650W isn't that much of overkill. Under full load GPUs can suck some amount of power, not so much this 7850 though. And the extra power leaves room for the OP to overclock. I mostly prefer the HX series for their modular design, I HATE that tangle of wires behind the PSU. Ruins the aesthetics and also is just a hassle to route.

Well, with this graphics card there's definitely still room to overclock with a 500W PSU. I do like the HX series too, and modular PSUs are nice to have. They're unfortunately too pricey in this case. A build similar to yours will run over £600 with UK prices (which is only logical - try adding 20% VAT on top of the price of your build).

 

[Poltregeist]

Well, with this graphics card there's definitely still room to overclock with a 500W PSU. I do like the HX series too, and modular PSUs are nice to have. They're unfortunately too pricey in this case. A build similar to yours will run over £600 with UK prices (which is only logical - try adding 20% VAT on top of the price of your build).

Very true, yet I was referring to overclocking the CPU.

 

[Sakkura]

Very true, yet I was referring to overclocking the CPU.

So was I. Well CPU and GPU actually.

Still, no matter. It's not going to fit the budget, unless OP is okay with going past £600.

Here's a build in the same just-over-£500 caliber. It completely ditches CPU overclocking (which the original build wouldn't be capable of anyway because of the motherboard chipset), but picks up a better graphics card and reliable PSU.

*edited because the GPU was unavailable*

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3350P 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor (£132.85 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: MSI B75A-G43 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£57.30 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£30.96 @ Scan.co.uk)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£41.98 @ Scan.co.uk)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660 2GB Video Card (£169.99 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (White) ATX Mid Tower Case (£39.98 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£49.98 @ Novatech)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-222BB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£11.96 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £535.00
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-11-16 02:37 GMT+0000)