Advice for my gaming PC build...

P

PMarge

New Member
I am planning to build a (relatively cheap) gaming PC and i am finalizing the parts i am going to use. My list so far is:

CPU - Intel Core i5-3450 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor

CPU Cooler - Arctic Cooling UCACO-AP111-GBB01 36.0 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing

Motherboard - Gigabyte GA-H61M-DS2 Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard

Memory - Kingston HyperX Grey 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory

Storage - Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive

Video Card - XFX Radeon HD 6850 1GB Video Card

Case - NZXT LEXA S (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case

Power Supply - XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V

Optical Drive - Lite-On DS-8A8SH DVD/CD Writer

This totals at £487.04. If anyone would recommend any changes please post them - but bear in mind that i cannot raise the price too much.
Even better if you could recommend any changes that would decrease the total but keep or increase the performance.

Thank you in advance,

Patrick.
 
I have the Lexa S, not a great case. Go for a Carbide 300R. Sure it doesn't have all the blue LEDs and stuff but it's a much better case.

Maybe spend less on the processor and get an i3 and then spend more on the graphics card (which is what really matters for gaming) and get a 6870 or a 7850. Is this rig going to be solely for gaming?

You want an ATX board too, not mATX. Try to get an ATX board, and a better chipset. H67 or P67 or even Z68 or Z77 would be better.
 
It will be mainly for gaming but will have a side purpose of school/college work. What would you say is better about the Carbide 300R?
 
PMarge said:
It will be mainly for gaming but will have a side purpose of school/college work. What would you say is better about the Carbide 300R?
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An i3 would be absolutely fine then, they're great little gaming chips really. That paired with a 7850 would be great. You want to put as much money as you can into the graphics card.

The 300R has waaayy better cable management features than the Lexa S, and it doesn't have a door, that's an advantage. I find the door on my Lexa S can get quite annoying.
 
PMarge said:
Is the Carbide good at keeping the temperature under control?
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Should keep your components cool.

PMarge said:
I have found the i3 2100 for £89. Is it worth paying a small amount extra for a higher i3?
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I doubt there's going to be a lot of difference between the i3 32xx chips and the older i3 21xx chips. If you want to spend more and get a newer i3, then go for it (those newer i3 32xx chips will work better with the Z77 board too, but the older 21xx chips will still work fine), however if you want to keep it as cheap as possible, then go for a 2100 or a 2120.

Haven't seen any benchmarks yet regarding the 2nd and 3rd generation i3s, so what I just said is purely based on the difference between the 2nd and 3rd generation i5 and i7 chips. Basically there's not a great deal of difference, unless you want PCI Express 3.0.
 
Thank you. Something went wrong when i was changing the list - it went up to £750. I will try again tomorrow. Thank you!
 
If anyone has any suggestions please post them!

I am still no nearer to finalising my build after talking to a knowledgeable person i know - They recommended that i go for and i5 and go for a better graphics card. I am not sure the exact model which he suggested but i will post it when he gets back to me!
 
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