£500 build for a friend

[RadeonHDx]

Thanks for that suggestion! I think I'm gonna use that for the build.

 

[Tripp]

no worrys man always happy to help, enjoy your build

 

[Lakers]

Having such a low budget is always tricky, I only had around £350, so I feel you. Am I right in assuming he doesn't need an OS?

CPU: AMD Athlon II X4 740 (Quad Core)
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/amd-athlon-ii-x4-740-virgo-quad-core-s-fm2-32ghz-4mb-cache-65w-retail

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A55-DS3
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/giga...dr3-sata-ii-3gb-s-raid-pcie-20-(x16)-hdmi-atx

RAM: Corsair Memory XMS3 8GB
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/8gb-...0-(1600)-non-ecc-unbuffered-cas-9-9-9-24-165v

PSU: Corsair CX500W
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/500w...ronze-sli-crossfire-eps-12v-quiet-fan-atx-psu

GPU: GeForce GTX 650 Ti (SSC version)
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/2gb-...0mhz-gddr5-gpu-1071mhz-cores-768-dl-dvi-mhdmi

HDD: Seagate 1TB
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1tb-...014-sata-6gb-s-7200rpm-64mb-cache-8ms-ncq-oem

SSD: Sandisk 64GB - (Can't afford to be picky about SSD's with such a low budget, least he'll have one)
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/64gb...-490mb-s-write-240mb-s-7200-iops-1800-iops-ma

Case: Corsair 200r
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/cors...-atx-case-black-w-o-psu-with-solid-side-panel

Total = £480.08 (With £20 To spear for shipping)

 

[RadeonHDx]

Yea, my friend was looking at the athlon's, are they powerful enough in single core performance?

 

[SeekaX]

Yea, my friend was looking at the athlon's, are they powerful enough in single core performance?

No. Amd just doest work for PS2.

 

[Deejeta]

why doesnt your friend just get a second hand sandy or even 1366 setup for a couple of hundred. then buy a new gpu? im positive that this would be a dirt cheap option and you could then buy a good card like a 7950 etc.

 

[RadeonHDx]

I'll have a look at the 1366 setup's etc and work out what is best price/performance.

 

[Lakers]

I wouldn't if I were you.. As I've said on a couple occasions, buying used PC components is always a bit risky. Plus, the rig I linked is pretty much the best you're going to get for £500.

 

[alienware]

Yea, my friend was looking at the athlon's, are they powerful enough in single core performance?

They're utter crap tbh. And the 650ti non boost is pretty crap too.

 

[SeekaX]

I wouldn't if I were you.. As I've said on a couple occasions, buying used PC components is always a bit risky. Plus, the rig I linked is pretty much the best you're going to get for £500.

mate he wants to play PS2 and that game runs like hell on AMD cpus. your rig wont help him one bit.

 

[Lakers]

Is PS2 a specific game or do you mean PlayStation 2 games in general?

But to answer that, you can't complain with a low budget, you get what you pay for. The OP could switch for an i3 3220, however therefore requiring an Intel Motherboard.

i3 3220: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/inte...bridge-dual-core-33ghz-3mb-smart-cache-retail -
MSI B75: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/msi-...r3-sata-iii-6gb-s-raid-pcie-30-d-sub-hdmi-atx

 

[alienware]

He doesn't need a board as good as that. A £32 board will do the job more than fine, I was running one last year with my 670 and Xeon.

Only sacrifice was SATA III but then I don't even have any SATA III drives.

 

[SeekaX]

Is PS2 a specific game or do you mean PlayStation 2 games in general?

But to answer that, you can't complain with a low budget, you get what you pay for. The OP could switch for an i3 3220, however therefore requiring an Intel Motherboard.

i3 3220: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/inte...bridge-dual-core-33ghz-3mb-smart-cache-retail -
MSI B75: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/msi-...r3-sata-iii-6gb-s-raid-pcie-30-d-sub-hdmi-atx

PS2 = planetside 2
that game does not work well with amd cpus, the framerate is horrifying.
that is the game he mainly wants to play, so he has to get an intel cpu.

 

[RadeonHDx]

Ok thanks guys! But what GPU should I get with ~£120?

 

[alienware]

Ok thanks guys! But what GPU should I get with ~£120?

Try and push for a 1gb 7850 or a 650ti Boost.

 

[RadeonHDx]

The final build that I will recommend to my friend.
i3 3220 £94
MSI 650Ti BOOST £141
8GB Kingston 1333 RAM £35
ASRock H61M-VG3 £32
Corsair CX430 £36
1TB Seagate HDD £49
Zalman T2 £18

 

[Lakers]

Which equals £405, which allows £95 For improvements, right?

The last thing I'll recommend is that you bump up to 1600MHz RAM and throw in an SSD, your friend would greatly appreciate having one. The differences with one and without are outstanding.

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Stor...A-III+Solid+State+Hard+Drive+?productId=50184 = £53.51

 

[Josh Weston]

Which equals £405, which allows £95 For improvements, right?

The last thing I'll recommend is that you bump up to 1600MHz RAM and throw in an SSD, your friend would greatly appreciate having one. The differences with one and without are outstanding.

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Stor...A-III+Solid+State+Hard+Drive+?productId=50184 = £53.51

In a previous post the OP mentions that his friend wanted to include a monitor in his £500 budget, thus lessening the money to be spent on hardware to £400.

 

[SeekaX]

Which equals £405, which allows £95 For improvements, right?

The last thing I'll recommend is that you bump up to 1600MHz RAM and throw in an SSD, your friend would greatly appreciate having one. The differences with one and without are outstanding.

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Stor...A-III+Solid+State+Hard+Drive+?productId=50184 = £53.51

300read/200write u srs? corsair force gt, way faster. but else i agree, ssds are amazing. not sure if the bumped up ram is needed though, maybe get a better gpu instead.

 

[Lakers]

In a previous post the OP mentions that his friend wanted to include a monitor in his £500 budget, thus lessening the money to be spent on hardware to £400.

Ohh right I see.

300read/200write u srs? corsair force gt, way faster. but else i agree, ssds are amazing. not sure if the bumped up ram is needed though, maybe get a better gpu instead.

Well yes of course a Corsair Force GT is way faster haha, it's also way more expensive. Which is why I recommended the Vortex 4, which yeah I personally wouldn't buy, but you can't afford to be choosy when you're on such a strict budget. And to answer you, a further upgraded GPU from the 650Ti Boost would mean lowering everything else, which with the current components already being rather stretched, he would simply have a decent GPU, but everything else would be completely poop. But yeah, 1600MHz.