£500 Gaming PC

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E28

E28

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Sofa
So, I've been thinking about a new PC, and would like to build one together the best value for money, since a decent prebuilt one would set me back £1000, which is way to much.

However, im a bit of a noob when it comes to picking parts for a computer, amd I need some help grtting the best value for money. My budget is £500 and I want to be able to play games like BF3, GTA IV and ArmA II (DayZ mod) at high settings with decent FPS if possible.
 
I don't know much myself but as no one else has replied yet I'll just say some stuff:

An i5 2500K isn't incredibly expensive, a GTX 560Ti shouldn't be too much now either, you could probably get away with a P67 motherboard, 4GB RAM should be your minimum but RAM is surprisingly cheap now but I don't know enough about PSUs nor how much power you'd need for that stuff. I know nothing about value for money though as I've just recommended an old motherboard and the best i5 there is, so... Yeah, someone else can probably help better.
 
Do you have any existing parts (Like a case for example) that can be part of the new build? Do you already have a Windows 7 disc or do you need to buy one?

For £500 it is possible, but you are going to have to compromise on either the processor or the graphics card, or both. It would be much easier if you already had a case and an OS you could use, that would save you the best part of £100.

An i5 2500k system with a 560 Ti (Which is a great mid-ranged system, plenty of bang for your buck) would easily set you back £600-650.
 
Dare I suggest AMD, or will I be thrown into a pit of Lava?...

Other than that, 500 quid sounds OK. You could skimp and go with a MicroATX board which are userally cheaper than full sized.
 
AMD is like a normal base model civic, Intel or Nvidia(GPUs) are like a Civic Type R.

You may pay a bit more but you get more powah.
 
Well for 500 quid, would a Civic be so bad? I'm sure an FX 6100 or (if he could find one) a Phenom II X4 960 or X6 1045 would be more than enough to get him going...?
 
tlowr4, I got you an early birthday gift:
final.jpg
 
I cannot believe that the forum has devolved into such a narrow mindset.

Build an AMD based computer. Save money, get nearly the same specs, and never notice the difference between your computer and an Intel one. Or spend far too much on an Intel based machine, get less performance in one department and hate yourself till you can afford to get the actual part you need. 500 pounds will get you quite a lot with an AMD machine, so just do it. All AMD machines I've built have been running perfectly fine with no issues whatsoever.

Though if you're going to do it, wait a little bit as AMD are releasing new CPU's that are fairly powerful and should be better than the last generation by quite a bit.
 
bergauk
I cannot believe that the forum has devolved into such a narrow mindset.

Build an AMD based computer. Save money, get nearly the same specs, and never notice the difference between your computer and an Intel one. .
Click to expand...

But why? Why limit yourself to no upgrading possibilities for the same cost actually. An I3 2120 is $120 CDN so what AMD processor are you going to show me is better let alone one a $120 AMD processor that beats the i3?

Well I can tell you that you can't because there isn't one. Go with an i3 to save the money on the i5 and if you feel the need down the road an upgrade to the i5 will only cost you the processor instead of the the CPU and motherboard. Don't go AMD as there is literally NO reason to. It does not save you money and it does not give better performance...

AMD x6 (better benchmarks than any bulldozer) vs i3 2120:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/147?vs=289

Benchmarks are higher for the 2120 in ALL games tested and I doubt you could even find an x6 anymore and the bulldozer's numbers are worse than the x6 so I have no idea why you'd throw away FPS just to go with AMD but your decision I guess.

Something like this would be good:

http://www.videogamer.com/pc/diablo...ild_a_diablo_iii_gaming_pc_for_under_500.html


If I were you though I'd hold off and save a bit more to go with a 2500k/z68 motherboard and possibly a bit better graphics card but working within your budget the build I posted is likely the best bang for the buck you'll get out there for 500.
 
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Any ivy bridge board and a 2500K will work fine.

That way if you do want to go to a ivy bridge CPU you can.
 
Umm, I heard someone mention no upgrade ability with an AMD platform

Yeah, ok, Bulldozer was 🤬. No other way to put it. But, AMD are bringing out (or so I hear) a new line or CPUs based on Bulldozer, but with some thingy to make performance better. Either way, they're gonna pick up their slack. I'll see if I can find a link...
 
I would prefer an i5 and may be able to get one if I really shop around offer the best deal. My old PC is pretty useless, it has a copy of Vista I can use, but it's Vista...

I don't need a monitor, keyboard or mouse, but I will need a case.
 
What about the actual hard drive if it was wiped of Vista? That saves you 80 quid, which could be put into Win 7.
 
tlowr4
Umm, I heard someone mention no upgrade ability with an AMD platform

Yeah, ok, Bulldozer was 🤬. No other way to put it. But, AMD are bringing out (or so I hear) a new line or CPUs based on Bulldozer, but with some thingy to make performance better. Either way, they're gonna pick up their slack. I'll see if I can find a link...
Click to expand...

It is the new CPUs that have the same lithography as ivy bridge or 22nm.

E28
I would prefer an i5 and may be able to get one if I really shop around offer the best deal. My old PC is pretty useless, it has a copy of Vista I can use, but it's Vista...

I don't need a monitor, keyboard or mouse, but I will need a case.
Click to expand...

I am looking at this case for my file server I am making from my old PC parts.

Antec 1(no not the Antec 100)

If you are on a budget but it is not going to be good for long video cards or CPU coolers larger than 150mm.
 
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Grayfox
I am looking at this case for my file server I am making from my old PC parts.

Antec 1(no not the Antec 100)
If you are on a budget but it is not going to be good for long video cards or CPU coolers larger than 150mm.
Click to expand...

I'll check that out, thanks. :)

The more I look, the harder it seems it'll be to get the components I want for the money I have. My max budget is £550 (if I can get that much for my old PC) so I may have to save and wait until I have £600 to spend..
 
Hey guys, I don't mean to hi-jack the thread here, but I'm in a similar boat at the moment, looking to build a decent spec computer on a budget, and it didnt seem worth making a new thread for, so here goes.

I'm currently looking at purchasing this i5 3450 bundle, along with a NVIDIA GeForce 560 GTX and a 550W PSU (plus this case and HDD) which comes to around £520. This is the first time I've ever built a computer, so some kind of approval/advice would be much appreciated.

How 'good' exactly would a setup like this be? And is it worth the cash? I could also add an extra £50 and go to the i5 2500k bundle instead if it's worth the dough. Also, how much cooling am I likely to need for it as well?

If you think I'm being too cheeky here E, just let me know and I'll gladly remove my post. :)
 
No worries about hijacking the thread, that looks like a good bundle which I might consider! :)
 
tlowr4
Umm, I heard someone mention no upgrade ability with an AMD platform

Yeah, ok, Bulldozer was 🤬. No other way to put it. But, AMD are bringing out (or so I hear) a new line or CPUs based on Bulldozer, but with some thingy to make performance better. Either way, they're gonna pick up their slack. I'll see if I can find a link...
Click to expand...

You're talking about Piledriver for AMD. As I understand it.

It seems that they're using it as an APU capable chip as well, as far as I understand their plan for the future.
 
tlowr4
Umm, I heard someone mention no upgrade ability with an AMD platform

Yeah, ok, Bulldozer was 🤬. No other way to put it. But, AMD are bringing out (or so I hear) a new line or CPUs based on Bulldozer, but with some thingy to make performance better. Either way, they're gonna pick up their slack. I'll see if I can find a link...
Click to expand...

:lol: The CEO of AMD just made an announcement that they aren't going to continue in competing with Intel for the highest performance CPUs and are going to be focusing on the mobile sector because of their APU technology that they feel is superior to Intel's integrated graphics. Now if that sounds like a brand a gamer should get involved with to you then be my guest but I wouldn't touch one with a 10 foot pole.

http://news.softpedia.com/news/AMD-Not-Competing-With-Intel-Anymore-Goes-Mobile-237103.shtml

Anyway if you can squeeze a 2500k in the budget it is by far the best bang for the buck processor out there today.

With that bundle posted keep in mind you won't be able to overclock whatsoever with it and the ram is only 1333 mhz which isn't a big issue but with RAM so cheap now the difference in cost for 1600 mhz is very little so if building on your own go with 1600 mhz RAM. Now with a 500 budget those things likely aren't very big issues but just something to keep in mind.
 
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tlowr4
Umm, I heard someone mention no upgrade ability with an AMD platform

Yeah, ok, Bulldozer was 🤬. No other way to put it. But, AMD are bringing out (or so I hear) a new line or CPUs based on Bulldozer, but with some thingy to make performance better. Either way, they're gonna pick up their slack. I'll see if I can find a link...
Click to expand...

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5831/amd-trinity-review-a10-4600m-a-new-hope



Also, AM3+ hosts the FX Platform, which so far has gone through quite a few different CPU types.

The FM1 platform will host the newer versions of AMD's APU's. Both sockets still have life in them.
 
tlowr4
^ Isn't FM2 going to be hosting the new versions of APU, though?
Click to expand...

Oh perhaps you're right. Either way, Trinity shows a drastic improvement over the last generation of APUs. It's been a while since I read that article so a few bits of info must have slipped my mind. Still, Trinity looks promising.
 

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