Hi, thinking of building a computer £300-£400

Petey

New Member
As the title says pretty much. This will be my first build, I only really know the basics of what building a computer would involve so looking for general advice like what proportion of my cash should I be spending on various components, what is essential for a good gaming rig ect ect although builds will be welcome too of course.

Primary focus is gaming, I play team fortress 2 alot. Which I have discovered does not run well on a stock dell laptop.

I am planning to build in maybe 1-2 months, so I have time to think this through fully.

Budget is fairly tight, £400 as absolute max for everything and lower than that is probably better, £300 would be good, I am not looking for insane graphics, more just the ability to run well on average settings.

I do not have a monitor but hopefully will be sorting something out with parents as an early birthday present :cool: I have a mouse, but no keyboard. I think I will need to buy windows 7 which cuts another £50 from the budget, I am kinda open to linux but hear its not great for gaming, so would probably prefer windows unless someone puts up a really convincing argument.

Do I need speakers? To be honest I can hold off that buy and use headphones for now, but it would be nice to know :)

Thanks all, and sorry for the wall of text. :)
 

Yamitoko

New Member
Well, I'll be limited on the advice that I can give you because I live in the US. But, you won't need speakers, the motherboard you get will have an audio chipset built in and the case should have front Auido ports for headphones and a microphone, you can simply use those. As far as an operating system goes, are you looking to build an entirely new system or will you be up for recycling parts from your current CPU? If so, you can recycle your HDD and optical drive and keep the cost down at the same time as keeping your Operating system and CD/DVD drive.

Your primary costs for a gaming comp should be your GPU(Graphics Card) and your CPU(Central Processing Unit) now, if you want a cheaper CPU, AMD will be better for you than Intel will be. Intel can give a bit better performance but at the lower price that you will be looking for, AMD will probably give you the best performance. Now, for gaming, you're going to want to focus more on your GPU than on your CPU but you don't want to bottleneck yourself with a terrible CPU. You should be able to get a standard keyboard very cheap. Motherboard you can go quite low with and as long as you make sure it has the proper slots for your graphics card, it'll work great for you. I'll fetch some links that I've used since I'm in the same boat as you as far as components and such but I've been at it for two days so I've got some okay knowledge on it at this point.

This is a link to www.newegg.com's list of videos on how to build a computer, it's a 3 part video series so feel free to give it a look. They go over choosing components, assembling your build, and then installing the operating system very thoroughly. It's a nice tutorial.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPIXAtNGGCw
 
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Petey

New Member
Well, I'll be limited on the advice that I can give you because I live in the US. But, you won't need speakers, the motherboard you get will have an audio chipset built in and the case should have front Auido ports for headphones and a microphone, you can simply use those.

Ah thanks, as I thought :)

As far as an operating system goes, are you looking to build an entirely new system or will you be up for recycling parts from your current CPU?

Do you mean my current computer? I own a laptop currently, which I still use, so I won't be able to salvage anything from it.
For the operating system, there is a chance that maybe I can find a windows 7 disc about the house when I return from university. I will probably be able to find a vista disc, as it is what my laptop runs on and I seem to remember keeping all that stuff around somewhere.
 

Yamitoko

New Member
Ah yea you would have issues with recycling since they're laptop hardware anyway. But, I would honestly start with that newegg video and then look around. Also, www.pcpartpicker.com is a good place to go on when you have an idea of the products that you want. For your build, I would say 4GB of RAM. TF2 isn't a very graphic intensive game so you should be fine in that department. As far as motherboards go, ASRock, MSI, and Asus are pretty solid boards. You'll want to make sure that you have proper chip sets for your card and your processor.
 

Petey

New Member
Your primary costs for a gaming comp should be your GPU(Graphics Card) and your CPU(Central Processing Unit) now, if you want a cheaper CPU, AMD will be better for you than Intel will be. Intel can give a bit better performance but at the lower price that you will be looking for, AMD will probably give you the best performance. Now, for gaming, you're going to want to focus more on your GPU than on your CPU but you don't want to bottleneck yourself with a terrible CPU. You should be able to get a standard keyboard very cheap. Motherboard you can go quite low with and as long as you make sure it has the proper slots for your graphics card, it'll work great for you. I'll fetch some links that I've used since I'm in the same boat as you as far as components and such but I've been at it for two days so I've got some okay knowledge on it at this point.

This is a link to www.newegg.com's list of videos on how to build a computer, it's a 3 part video series so feel free to give it a look. They go over choosing components, assembling your build, and then installing the operating system very thoroughly. It's a nice tutorial.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPIXAtNGGCw

Thanks for the links mate.

I hope not to go too cheap on the CPU to be honest, I read that team fortress 2 (and source games in general) are very heavy on it. However I do want a decent GPU too for gaming in general. So I guess I will aim for a fairly balanced set up between the two whilst still hopefully keeping the cost down a bit overall.
What about number of cores versus speed ect? How would these affect performance? (gaming in particular)


Btw, your link to the newegg vids seems to be broken (?) I will find them via google.
 
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Yamitoko

New Member
Thanks for the links mate.

I hope not to go too cheap on the CPU to be honest, I read that team fortress 2 (and source games in general) are very heavy on it. However I do want a decent GPU too for gaming in general. So I guess I will aim for a fairly balanced set up between the two whilst still hopefully keeping the cost down a bit overall.
What about number of cores versus speed ect? How would these affect performance? (gaming in particular)


Btw, your link to the newegg vids seems to be broken (?) I will find them via google.

Well, when it comes to cores vs. speed, I found that it's not really too big of a correlation, most of it has to do with overclocking, honestly some good solid CPU's to look at are the following:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727

and if you want to go intel, though if you were to go intel, you would need to build your motherboard around that try this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115077

Many people would be objected to going with an i3 because it's such an older model CPU but, it is still as reliable as it once was and it gives pretty good power for the price.
 

wolfeking

banned
please. That i3 has been out for a year. Its a great CPU and no one is going to object to it as it is ust as powerful as the 965 you linked and can upgrade farther.
 

Yamitoko

New Member
Intel Vs. AMD Thorough Testing Results

This link will take you to some testing that was done on AMD and Intel processors at various stages of loads and games as well as resolutions. The Intel is almost consistently better though they say it cannot be noticed in gameplay, the knowledge is pretty nice and this is with an intel that is slightly lower powered than the one that I have linked you(Though there is only a $5 difference in price).

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/fx-4100-core-i3-2100-gaming-benchmark,3136.html
 

Petey

New Member
Hmm they both seem pretty good options.
I can get the AMD for £78.00 and the intel for £90.00 ($125 and $140 respectively).

Is the intel worth the extra £12? It seems slightly higher performing, but if they are close I think the AMD would be better to just cut that extra little bit of cost.

What sort of money do I want to be spending on other components? I imagine GPU will be the next most expensive component? (if it is less expensive)

Say, Im building for £300 and I get hold of the OS and monitor outside of that budget.

£80 on CPU
£90 on GPU
£40 on motherboard
£20 on RAM
£40 on Hard drive
£20 on case
£40 on power
£10 on DVD drive

What do you think as a general pricing? Where would I cut cash from here? (still adds up to £340 or about $500 if you are in the US)

Thanks :)
 

WeatherMan

Active Member
That seems about right, although if you want to overclock I would suggest spending at least £60 on a motherboard!
 

Yamitoko

New Member
I don't think he'll need to OC it to be honest with you, and Petey, as far as a GPU goes, for that price range, the HD Radeon 6850 will do just fine for you. Also, for the Nvidia route, you could try the GeForce GT 520, a rather inexpensive card and I currently use its little brother the GT 220 and it works just fine for games like TF2 on my 2.8GHz processor and 3GB of system RAM.
 

Petey

New Member
I don't think he'll need to OC it to be honest with you, and Petey, as far as a GPU goes, for that price range, the HD Radeon 6850 will do just fine for you. Also, for the Nvidia route, you could try the GeForce GT 520, a rather inexpensive card and I currently use its little brother the GT 220 and it works just fine for games like TF2 on my 2.8GHz processor and 3GB of system RAM.

Another thing to consider would be that I could temporarily skimp on the GPU and get by on a cheapish model for now, choosing a more upgradable set up then get a decent GPU later on.

Would this make sense? My friend suggested it too me who has also built a computer.

The GT 520 is only £35 so could be a decent option for this. If I am looking at the right model...

Or should I just fork out for a good set up to start with?
 
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Yamitoko

New Member
The 520 GPU is going to work fine for your low/mid end gaming purposes and you can always buy a better GPU and place it in your rig after the fact. GPU's are the most easily interchangeable part of the rig, you pull one out, put the new one in, and that's about it.
 

FatManSam

New Member
This is what I built for the parents. I've just copied this from my order history on Scan, the total is £370ish when you include VAT - though the prices may have changed slightly. This doesn't include monitor, keyboard, OS, mouse etc

I'm really pleased this PC, I had some input from this forum and it will happily run Skyrim at high settings....though don't tell the parents!! ;)

(PS, the numbers highlighted in bold are the price of the product inc. VAT)

1 500W CMaster Elite Power PSU 24.98 29.98
1 GIGABYTE H61MA-D2V MOTHERBOARD 36.61 43.93
1 Intel PentDC G620 2.6G 1155 38.62 46.34
1 A/Cooling Freezer 7 Pro v2 13.71 16.45
1 1GB ASUS HD6850 DC2DIS/1GD5 V2 74.50 89.40
1 SH-S222BB/BEBE 22x dvdrw 10.98 13.18
1 4GB 2x2GB CMX4GX3M2B1600C9 18.79 22.55
1 500GB SEAGATE ST500DM002 SATA3 48.98 58.78
1 CMASTER ELITE 334U CASE 26.79 32.15
1 Carriage 7.99 9.59
1 Auto. generated by E Orders 0.00 0.00
Sub Total £301.95
VAT £60.40
Scansure (Inc IPT) £10.58
 

Petey

New Member
May have accidently deleted last post...


Alright that all looks good, I modified my prices a bit and added a keyboard.

The cheaper GPU keeps it on the £300 mark

AMD x4 965 £78
GPU gt 520 £35
mobo £40
RAM £20
Hard drive £40
Case £20
DVD drive £15
PSU £40
Keyboard £15

TOTAL £ 303

Is there any juggling in that budget that will improve things?

Then I guess If my budget opens towards the 400 mark then I can put more cash into the GPU rather than upgrading later on.


What about the OS? I really wouldn't mind going with linux to save money if nothing else, learning how to use it is really a non issue for me. The only thing is if it messes up with games and direct X stuff.
If I can find a windows 7 disc I will use that, but I dont think I will... and £55 is alot.
 

Yamitoko

New Member
As far as Linux goes, I have never used it but I know quite a few people who do. It's a good system, but not for gaming :/. Most people will run Linux for normal tasks and switch to 7 for gaming on their setups. I would say to get 7 if it all possible, I mean it's going to be the best bet that you have for gaming. That's really the main reason I'm keeping my HDD from this PC. Windows 7 is $100.
 

wolfeking

banned
If you are gaming there are 2 ways to go. Learn Linux and use Play on linux (its modified Wine) and hope it will come out good, or you can run windows. I highly recommend the linux route either way as it is far more secure than windows. If you are not prepared to do quite a bit of work and learning, then I would not try gaming on linux except for linux native games. I remember that they had one that was like a CNC game that was fairly fun.
 

Petey

New Member
I think I will try to get hold of windows 7, I dont want to risk not being able to run stuff (or it being very hard to get working).

So, for picking the rest of my parts... I know I have to worry about compatability with CPU and GPU for the motherboard. How exactly would I go about checking this, and find a good motherboard for £40? I have tried googling but it seems like there is alot of factors to worry about.
I was looking at the Asus M5A78L-M/USB3 for £40 but it seems to only support up to 90W CPUs and the phenom is 125W.

For the other components is there anything I need to consider or should I just pick the best rated components for the price? What kind of power will I need from my PSU?

Thanks again :)
 
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