[Arsenal711]

Hi guys,

Ok, I've decided to build my own PC on a budget (£400) and have picked out the components for it.
The PC needs to be able to play new games, preferably at high settings.

I'm a bit of an idiot with this kind of stuff so need some help!

Here are the parts:

Motherboard - mATX Gigabyte GA-H61M-D2H-USB3 - http://bit.ly/OZxp4B - £53

CPU - INTEL CORE I3-2100 DUAL CORE1155 3.1GHZ - http://bit.ly/QE1Wey - £87

GPU - Sapphire Radeon HD 6580 -http://bit.ly/MWqLg1 - £96

RAM 4GB - Kingston HyperX Blu 4GB - http://bit.ly/LNOYEm - £18

CASE - In-Win BR665 Professional - http://bit.ly/Qjal8b - £55

PSU - Alpine 750W - http://bit.ly/OZIRNu - £20

HDD - Seagate Barracuda Green Hard Drive 1 TB - http://bit.ly/N2h3aY - £56


Will these parts work together?

Can you find any cheaper cases with usb3 for mATX?

Will it be able to handle new games?

Anything you would change for around the same price?

Thanks in advance,
Danny

[rokru]

Your selected components are compatible. The motherboard and CPU are both Socket 1155, and the motherboard chipset supports the i3-2100 (Sandybridge). I would make two suggestions though:

Firstly, get a dual-channel memory kit instead of using a single module. Your chosen motherboard supports this feature, and the performance improvement will be worthwhile.

Secondly, don't buy a cheap PSU -- it is the most important part of your rig. Cheap PSUs use cheap components, are usually advertised with unrealistic specifications, and cannot sustain the power load they claim for very long, if at all.

A poor quality PSU is often the cause of stability issues and system crashes, because it is unable to supply sufficient current. The cheap PSUs are also prone to failing and can often end up destroying some, or all, of your components, by overvoltage or short circuiting.

[Iqbal007]

(Original post by Arsenal711)
Hi guys,

Ok, I've decided to build my own PC on a budget (£400) and have picked out the components for it.
The PC needs to be able to play new games, preferably at high settings.

I'm a bit of an idiot with this kind of stuff so need some help!

Here are the parts:

Motherboard - mATX Gigabyte GA-H61M-D2H-USB3 - http://bit.ly/OZxp4B - £53 links me to a case

CPU - INTEL CORE I3-2100 DUAL CORE1155 3.1GHZ - http://bit.ly/QE1Wey - £87 considered AMD? the phenoms were very good

GPU - Sapphire Radeon HD 6580 -http://bit.ly/MWqLg1 - £96 link doesn't work, http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-x...oogle+shopping £85 on pre-order, or Novatech for £90 and free delivery

RAM 4GB - Kingston HyperX Blu 4GB - http://bit.ly/LNOYEm - £18 fine, might be a bit low for much much stronger intense games

CASE - In-Win BR665 Professional - http://bit.ly/Qjal8b - £55 why this, go for a ATX case, much bigger, better room for future expansion, Zalman Z9 case is good.

PSU - Alpine 750W - http://bit.ly/OZIRNu - £20 spend more on a psu, cos that 750 watt isn't realistic, nor is it certified, its bound to go in the future....suggest getting at least 500 watt+ from a good maker like Corsair, novatech powerstation are a good budget make.

HDD - Seagate Barracuda Green Hard Drive 1 TB - http://bit.ly/N2h3aY - £56 fine slower than a normal hdd


Will these parts work together?

Can you find any cheaper cases with usb3 for mATX?

Will it be able to handle new games?

Anything you would change for around the same price?

Thanks in advance,
Danny

Yes they do................you can for a full ATX case, they fit mATX as well.

It will handle new games yes, may struggle on ultra on full hd on some though.

[Camoxide]

https://secure.scan.co.uk/aspnet/Sho...10c4ce0e7ac967

Edit: Note: You can remove Scan secure on checkout and you can get free shipping with Scan by signing up to some forum or something.

[Spaz Man]

That's pretty good if I do say so myself (which I do).

[FO12DY]

(Original post by rokru)
Secondly, don't buy a cheap PSU -- it is the most important part of your rig. Cheap PSUs use cheap components, are usually advertised with unrealistic specifications, and cannot sustain the power load they claim for very long, if at all.

A poor quality PSU is often the cause of stability issues and system crashes, because it is unable to supply sufficient current. The cheap PSUs are also prone to failing and can often end up destroying some, or all, of your components, by overvoltage or short circuiting.

This.

I say it time and time again on a computer help forum I moderate, and yet still people sometimes ignore our advice, and say "na, I'll save a tenner and get the unbranded one". They come back a week later, it's failed and taken the motherboard with it.


Also, though, as it's for gaming don't skimp on the GPU. The 6850 is a good choice, but definitely don't go lower than that.

[Arsenal711]

Glad to hear that it's compatible!

So it looks like I need a different PSU, if I gave you a budget of £70 for a PSU and case, what would you choose?

Also, does the case need to be able to support Usb3.0?

[Scott1541]

(Original post by Arsenal711)
Glad to hear that it's compatible!

So it looks like I need a different PSU, if I gave you a budget of £70 for a PSU and case, what would you choose?

Also, does the case need to be able to support Usb3.0?

This PSU, as Camoxide used in his suggested build. And for a case I would suggest something cheap like a Coolermaster Elite 334/335/330 or even a 430 but those are a bit more expensive.

If you would be willing to spend more you could get this case with included PSU: http://www.ebuyer.com/250952-coolerm...rc-502-kwa1-jp

The case does not need to support USB 3.0, but it could be useful if your motherboard supports USB 3.0.

[Iqbal007]

(Original post by Arsenal711)
Glad to hear that it's compatible!

So it looks like I need a different PSU, if I gave you a budget of £70 for a PSU and case, what would you choose?

Also, does the case need to be able to support Usb3.0?

(Original post by Scott1541)
This PSU, as Camoxide used in his suggested build. And for a case I would suggest something cheap like a Coolermaster Elite 334/335/330 or even a 430 but those are a bit more expensive.

If you would be willing to spend more you could get this case with included PSU: http://www.ebuyer.com/250952-coolerm...rc-502-kwa1-jp

The case does not need to support USB 3.0, but it could be useful if your motherboard supports USB 3.0.

Hate to say this, that case isn't exactly noteworthy by many people especially reviews, but that psu is pretty good.
Novatech had pretty good cases, but they seem to be not there in your price range.

Only motherboard needs to support usb 3.0, you can add on an extra thing for it if you want ports at the front.

[zxh800]

(Original post by Iqbal007)
x

You and your AMDs Iqbal. Love at first sight was it eh? Always like to support the underdog?

[Iqbal007]

(Original post by zxh800)
You and your AMDs Iqbal. Love at first sight was it eh? Always like to support the underdog?

He's on a tight budget and for games, plus the Phenom's are pretty good for price.

[zxh800]

(Original post by Iqbal007)
He's on a tight budget and for games, plus the Phenom's are pretty good for price.

When I was building my PC this time last year before Bulldozer came out I also had to make the decision between an i3 or a Phenom. And at the time, nothing suggested that the Phenom's would be superior in terms of gaming. Sure, they have extra cores but they still lose out in most games and by a decent margin too.

Granted if OP wants to overclock though, it's a different story.

[Iqbal007]

(Original post by zxh800)
When I was building my PC this time last year before Bulldozer came out I also had to make the decision between an i3 or a Phenom. And at the time, nothing suggested that the Phenom's would be superior in terms of gaming. Sure, they have extra cores but they still lose out in most games and by a decent margin too.

Granted if OP wants to overclock though, it's a different story.

If it's budget gaming than Phenom it is to be fair, I got a bulldozer, barely notice any difference between someone on youtube with an i3 or higher. At most 1 core hits 100%.

He could get a good deal going Phenom, he'll have money to get a decent graphics card and amd motherboards are cheaper.

[Daviant]

(Original post by Arsenal711)
Hi guys,

Ok, I've decided to build my own PC on a budget (£400) and have picked out the components for it.
The PC needs to be able to play new games, preferably at high settings.

I'm a bit of an idiot with this kind of stuff so need some help!

Here are the parts:

Motherboard - mATX Gigabyte GA-H61M-D2H-USB3 - http://bit.ly/OZxp4B - £53

CPU - INTEL CORE I3-2100 DUAL CORE1155 3.1GHZ - http://bit.ly/QE1Wey - £87

GPU - Sapphire Radeon HD 6580 -http://bit.ly/MWqLg1 - £96

RAM 4GB - Kingston HyperX Blu 4GB - http://bit.ly/LNOYEm - £18

CASE - In-Win BR665 Professional - http://bit.ly/Qjal8b - £55

PSU - Alpine 750W - http://bit.ly/OZIRNu - £20

HDD - Seagate Barracuda Green Hard Drive 1 TB - http://bit.ly/N2h3aY - £56


Will these parts work together?

Can you find any cheaper cases with usb3 for mATX?

Will it be able to handle new games?

Anything you would change for around the same price?

Thanks in advance,
Danny

The graphics card isn't great, I would spend a bit more if you can. Also, get an 80+ PSU by antec or seasonic. That hard drive will be slow, either get a better one or add an SSD.

[Inverse]

If you're looking to play the most recently released games, I would not recommend making a "cheap" build. If you can't afford a more high-end rig at this moment in time, I'd skip the GPU and sound card and construct a PC with the bare necessities until I could afford a fairly powerful GPU. The great things about building computers is that you can upgrade them at any point in time, so you're not obliged to do everything at once and be stuck with it. I'd also recommend using an SSD as your main storage drive; you can pick up a Sandisk Extreme 120GB SSD for around £80 on www.overclockers.co.uk (excellent website, by the way) and it will boost load times for games/improve boot times, etc.

[FO12DY]

(Original post by Inverse)
If you're looking to play the most recently released games, I would not recommend making a "cheap" build. If you can't afford a more high-end rig at this moment in time, I'd skip the GPU and sound card and construct a PC with the bare necessities until I could afford a fairly powerful GPU. The great things about building computers is that you can upgrade them at any point in time, so you're not obliged to do everything at once and be stuck with it. I'd also recommend using an SSD as your main storage drive; you can pick up a Sandisk Extreme 120GB SSD for around £80 on www.overclockers.co.uk (excellent website, by the way) and it will boost load times for games/improve boot times, etc.

6850 is fine to get going with, it may be 'last-gen' but that's arbitrary really, it'll play everything at playable framerates and decent settings.

I get 40-50fps with mine everything at max on BF3. Obviously it also depends on resolution though, that's at 1440x900.


SanDisk Extreme? You can't be serious?

For that money you could get a Crucial M4 or a Samsung 830. Both much better buys.

[Inverse]

(Original post by FO12DY)
6850 is fine to get going with, it may be 'last-gen' but that's arbitrary really, it'll play everything at playable framerates and decent settings.

I get 40-50fps with mine everything at max on BF3. Obviously it also depends on resolution though, that's at 1440x900.


SanDisk Extreme? You can't be serious?

For that money you could get a Crucial M4 or a Samsung 830. Both much better buys.

I had the 830 SSD before they rolled out the firmware update a fair few months ago and had a few slight issues with it, there really isn't a difference between the SDisk SSD and the Samsung 830, I've owned both and am currently using the SDisk. It's a decent card, but I prefer NVidia cards. For future-proofing it's best to get a more high-end, new GPU.