New Build PC Under £400

[screaminalien]

Approximate Purchase Date: Next Few Months

Budget Range: Under £500

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Surfing the net, occasional gaming, watching the odd movie or two

Parts Not Required: OS (Going to use Win 7 64bit) monitor, keyboard and mouse (all personal choices), Nvidia Geforce 9500GT
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Ebuyer.com and Dabs.com seem to be the two with cheapest options

Country of Origin: Scotland

Parts Preferences: Option 1:
Intel Core Duo Processor e7500 £82.29
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/158339

Gigabyte GA-G41M mATX £34.58
http://www.dabs.com/products/gigabyte-lga775-intel-g41-ddr2-matx-a-l-6C6L.html?q=Gigabyte%20GA-G41M-ES2L

Corsair 4096MB Memory Kit £44.24
http://www.kikatek.com/product_info.php?products_id=107777&source=froogle

Samsung HD502HJ 500 GB £34.29
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-HD502HJ-SATA-Drive-Internal/dp/B002J65AHQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1302820253&sr=8-2

Case With PSU £22.98
http://www.dabs.com/products/best-value-1003bs-mid-tower-black-500w-psu-7BDQ.html

DVD Drive £12.99
http://www.dabs.com/products/sony-24x-dvd-rw-sata-black-bare-internal-drive-73PL.html

Or Option 2 with most of the above except;


Asus AM3 AMD 770 M4A77T £53.94
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/200979

AMD Phenom II X4 955 3.2GHz £99.99
http://www.dabs.com/products/amd-phenom-ii-x4-955-3-2ghz-black-edition-socket-am3-l2-l3-6mb-6K8D.html?q=AMD%20Phenom%20II%20X4%20955%203.2GHz

EXTRA VALUE 4GB £29.79
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/192049#reviews

Overclocking: Not really important

SLI or Crossfire: Not sure need help with this one?

Monitor Resolution:
LG 18.5” £69.48 http://www.ebuyer.com/product/194601

Additional Comments: Nothing fancy, would like to have the ability to upgrade RAM if needed in future, my current PC is 10 years old now so feeling its age and it’s time for it to retire so going to try my first new build.
Appreciate any and all help.

 

[Pherule]

Just some random idea's:

CPU - Sandy Bridge... hurr yes. If you find yourself going over-budget with an i5, then tone it down to i3. Core2Duo is a bad buy these days. This chip would be best if you can get it:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004FA8NR8/ref=asc_df_B004FA8NR82583827?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&tag=dealtimecouk-ce-delta-21&linkCode=asn&creative=22206&creativeASIN=B004FA8NR8


Motherboard for SB:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/intel-boxdh67cfb3-intel-h67-1155-pci-e-20-(x16)-ddr3-1066-1333-sata-6gb-s-itx-vga


Graphics - you mentioned SLI or Crossfire, so I assume you want decent graphics. SLI or Crossfire motherboards are more expensive, so you can go that route if you want; otherwise this card would probably be best:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004HXW5OU/ref=asc_df_B004HXW5OU2583827?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&tag=dealtimecouk-ce-delta-21&linkCode=asn&creative=22206&creativeASIN=B004HXW5OU


Total: £360 for those 3 items; you'll probably go over-budget if you're getting both the i5 and the Graphics card. You can consider getting a SB i3 with a slightly lower-end card if needed.

If you really want to choose between the two builds you listed, then the Phenom is clearly better than the Core2Duo.

 

[screaminalien]

Pherule thanks for your advice however that's not what I was looking for, I mentioned I had a graphics card, and was unsure about crossfire or sli, also you suggested a different build altogether than my plans. Appreciate the phenom comment. Seems so far its the better choice, just want to know if good build or any minor changes

 

[Motopsychojdn]

I'd suggest changing the card to an ati 5770 at least, the 9500gt was a nice card but its not what it was,
Crossfire and sli are technologies whereby you have 2 or more cards running together to handle graphics duties, I suspect you dont want to get into that just yet though, youll need 2 cards obviously, a mobo that gives at least x8/x8 on crossfire (that mobo you listed doesnt support crossfire btw) and a decent psu, not one that comes with a case
if you look at my build in my config, something along those lines will do your movies etc fine, although I would say go for the 955 chip, its my next upgrade tbh and I built two systems for about £430 each in jan 2010, prices have dropped though since then obviously,
Moto

 

[jmsellars1]

I would go for the Phenom and get a New GPU to be honest. Maybe something like this:

(Prices from www.aria.co.uk, great site if it delivers to Scotland. Think it does.)

AMD Phenom II x4 955 - £93.59
Asus M4A78LT-M LE - £40.78
4GB Corsair XMS3 (2x2GB) 1333Mhz - £36.95
Asus ATI Radeon HD 5770 - £94.99
19" HANNS-G Monitor - £68.39
430W Corsair Builder Series 430CX Power Supply - £34.99
Coolermaster Elite 335 Case - £28.79

Total - £398.47

 

[screaminalien]

Ok quick edit to post after everyone's help. Option 2 seems like the better option of the 2, seems like general consensus is to get a new GPU.
I did mention occasional gaming and I do mean occasional, currently playing Half Life, would maybe like to try Call of Duty, but not a huge gamer so thoughts please.
And as already mentioned the off movie or two

 

[screaminalien]

Asus AM3 AMD 770 M4A77T ebuyer.com £53.94
AMD Phenom II X4 955 3.2GHz dabs.com £99.99
EXTRA VALUE 4GB ebuyer.com £29.79
Hanns - G 19" aria.co.uk £68.39
320GB Western Digital Caviar Blue Hard Drive - HDD aria.co.uk £27.59
Quickfind; 7bdqwsoo 500w Black dabs.com £22.98
Quickfind; 73plwsoo Sony 24x Black dabs.com £12.99
Logitech S120 2.0 Channel Speakers aria.co.uk £7.79
Logitech Desktop Bundle MK120 KB + Mouse ebuyer.com £16.19
Asus ATI Radeon HD 5770 amazon.co.uk £92.95

Total £432.60

Ok so this is what I have came up after everyones suggestions?
Whats your opinions, good build for price? Everything go ok together?
I know its a stock PSU but if i have any problems with it then its easy to update

 

[Motopsychojdn]

If your not overclocking then I can vouch for this,
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/600w-storm-storm-600w-black-edition-23db-120mm-silent-fan-black-atx12v-v20
its also about a fiver cheaper too,
if your happy with a 320Gb hd thats cool, are you sure its going to be enough storage for you?
and are you re-using your old case? I dont see one listed there
Moto

 

[screaminalien]

500w black from dabs.com is my case and psu, 320gb will be enough I also have external 500 gb drive

 

[Motopsychojdn]

Cool, I'd be wary of the included psu though, it probably wont be fantastic and may let you down sooner rather than later,
but otherwise looks like your ready to go (if your happy ofc)
Moto

 

[screaminalien]

Ok thanks for your help Moto much appreciated

 

[Motopsychojdn]

No probs man, dont hesitate to post any issues/questions you have once the build starts mate,
Moto

 

[screaminalien]

Ok been a while since i first asked for help on this subject and im back looking at it again and seeing what changes could i make sticking to £500 budget wise.

Saw some nice reviews about I5 2500k, looks quite good(certainly better than what i had planned), sort of silly question but ditch the Mobo and Phenom and go for the I5 and what mobo??

If anything needs adjusting eg RAM etc as long as i dont go to far over £500 then shouldnt be an issue??

Any and all help appreciated.

 

[rvilkman]

For your intended use, the i5 2500k is a waste of money. If you want to go Intel vs AMD then some H61 based m-atx motherboard, an i3-2100 and 2x2GB kit of ram such as the suggested corsair 1333MHz one will do the job nicely.

To take full use of the 2500k you would have to overclock it and to overclock it you would need a P67 or Z68 based motherboard which would cost much more than the H61 boards do. Also nothing in what you listed needs that horsepower.

 

[screaminalien]

ok, was just thinking that id like my new build to last me as long as my current one(9years) with a couple of upgrades along the way nothing major, but just want to make sure the system i build is good for what i need for the next few years and wont need to go out and rebuild or spend more money than necessary

 

[jmsellars1]

Maybe go for an i5-2400 and H61. Personally i think the Phenom II x4 would be best though.

 

[screaminalien]

Ok folks think im ready(got the money) to build my pc but looking around the sites that i have chosen shows a few items out of stock, higher spec CPU's for same price so looking for your help so i can finalise the build.

I would say im not too fussed about changing RAM type as that generally is the same bang for buck but things i have saw roughly same price but looking better processor are;

AMD Phenom II X4 3.4GHz
http://www.dabs.com/products/amd-phenom-ii-x4-965-3-4ghz-black-edition-am3-socket-l2-l3-8mb-6B0X.html?refs=4294946173-432750000-50521-4294963789

Need advice for motherboard as the one i chose is now discontinued at that store so looking for something again similar price range (this one is £30 dearer anything along £50-£60 would be better)- saw this Motherboard
http://www.ebuyer.com/197546-gigabyte-ga-890gpa-ud3h-890gx-socket-am3-hdmi-dvi-vga-out-8-channel-audio-ga-890gpa-ud3h

Also looking at graphics cards the one i chose Asus ATI Radeon HD 5770 around £100 on Amazon so something similar spec around the same price.

The other parts are fairly adjustable and shouldnt really affect end result so no major issue for monitor not being available

Much appreciated

 

[Motopsychojdn]

Thats a decent enough board but if you want to be able to upgrade in future, go for an Am3+ socket on the motherboard
http://www.ebuyer.com/262269-gigabyte-ga-870a-usb3-amd-870-socket-am3-7-1-channel-hd-audio-atx-motherboard-ga-870a-usb3 its a lower chipset but a better socket,
Ram is getting cheaper as well,
http://www.ebuyer.com/262587-corsair-vengeance-4gb-2x2gb-ddr3-1600mhz-memory-kit-cl9-cmz4gx3m2a1600c9
and the 5770 is still a decent enough card for now and will manage your movies no sweat
thought I'd reply in here as I rarely check my P.m.'s
Still not sure on the psu btw check a corasir cx500 out maybe and throw the included one in your spares box
Moto

 

[screaminalien]

Cheers again Moto, quick question maybe a bit obvious but dont ask never know, do you recommend going for the AMD Phenom 3.4GHz or stick with the 3.2GHz one?
3.4
http://www.dabs.com/products/amd-phenom-ii-x4-965-3-4ghz-black-edition-am3-socket-l2-l3-8mb-6B0X.html?refs=4294946173-432750000-50521-4294963789?ReferrerID=tb&utm_source=td&utm_medium=affiliates&utm_content=TB00
3.2
http://www.dabs.com/products/amd-phenom-ii-x4-955-3-2ghz-black-edition-socket-am3-l2-l3-6mb-6K8D.html?q=AMD%20Phenom%20II%20X4%20955%203.2GHz

Ta

 

[Motopsychojdn]

Theres no real difference between the two, its basically the same chip
200MHz isn't going to make a massive difference but you aren't overclocking yet so I say the 965 for an extra £4 is worth it,
If you were going to overclock then the 955 because you'd blow the 200MHz gap as soon as you started.
clearer?
Moto

 

[screaminalien]

Does any one have a recommended GPU similar to the one i chose, the one i chose is out of stock or costing £130!
Looking to spend under £100.
Needing quick reply as I have ordered everything else

 

[metal orient]

Will a GTX 550Ti be OK? (£96)

http://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/Other+products/Asus+GeForce+GTX+550Ti+1024MB+GDDR5+PCI-Express+Graphics+Card+?productId=46517

Could always go for this 6770 (basically the 5770) for £72

http://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/Other+products/VTX+ATI+Radeon+HD+6770+1024MB+GDDR5+PCI-Express+Graphics+Card+?productId=46123

 

[Motopsychojdn]

You should be able to grab a 5830 for under a ton,
Moto

 

[screaminalien]

got the new pc build all installed with no isssues and worked first time thanks to moto for yourt help during the processes

 

[Motopsychojdn]

No problem mate enjoy the fruits of your labour
Moto