Gaming PC Build - £500

Thank you!

Ah see that seems over complicated to me :/ surely you can just make your large HDD the main drive, and everything like downloads & music will automatically save to there (so you don't have to do the steps in the video?) and then just make the SSD the boot drive? Wouldn't that be easier?


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Well I'm not an expert because I'm just running a standard 1 HDD, but I think whichever you designate your boot drive IS your main drive. So downloads and everything goes in there, because it's located in Users, under the Windows installation. For games and programs you can always pick the location manually though

Ah okay what size is the HDD in your computer?

Hey everyone,

I've had an Xbox 360S for quite a while now and I'm thinking of selling it and building my own gaming PC.

Is there anyone out there who's built their own PC? Any tips/guidance/warnings before I begin?




Thanks!

2TB

Like the PSU, I was of the opinion that going overboard was best for the long-term components, and it's just so cheap. I might add a SSD later on when the value ratios become less ridonkulous, but for now I can deal with an extra 45 seconds or so on my boot time

You got your own monitor?
Also windows OS?

Also you trying to maximise the £500? also which games?

This is what I'm thinking at the minute...

CPU: either AMD fx 8350 (http://www.amazon.co...z/dp/B009O7YUF6) or Intel i5-4330 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Intel-Graphics-BX80646I54430-Generation-Technology/dp/B00CO8T9VC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407170153&sr=8-1&keywords=intel+4430) Generaly viewpoint is that the i5 in terms of gaming gets the better performance out overall, however that said it is more expensive and mobo is expensive
CPU Cooler: stock cooler Consider getting one in the future, cos the stock coolers in my opinion are very noisy and high temps.
GPU: Sapphire Radeon R9 270X (http://www.aria.co.u...productId=57842) Better deals on ebuyer and check around for the R9 280, prices have dropped for those
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x 4GB) - DDR3(http://www.ebuyer.co...z8gx3m2a1600c9r) Aim to get the low profile version, if you plan on getting a cooler in the future just in case the heatsink from the ram block it
HDD: Western Digital 1TB - I hear these are better than Seagate??(http://www.aria.co.u...productId=57559)
SSD: Samsung EVO 120GB(http://www.amazon.co...120 samsung evo)
Motherboard: need help with this! no idea what is good/bad
Optical Drive: LG Blu-Ray DVD Combo(http://www.ebuyer.co...-combo-uh12ns30) Why do you need the blu-ray version?
PSU: EVGA 500W(http://www.aria.co.u...productId=60504) Up the wattage, I would aim for the 600watt for just safety to have a bit of headroom
Case: not sure yet
Mouse: already own
Keyboard: already own
Operating System: windows 8.1 pro


I presume I can install the operating system and my favourite games (like BF4) onto the SSD, then have the HDD for all my other files? Would this work?

Yeah, just make the ssd the boot device from the bios and install windows on it and everything will be fine.
Case wise, sub £30 Sharkoon,Cit and Coolermaster have decent budget ranges....or look around for a case+psu deal.

Also aim to get your components from as few retailers as possible, makes things easier especially if an issue arises. If your with ebuyer, already have an account, you tend to have free next day delivery for free.

If you can get the installation disc and files from somewhere, you can buy a windows code for about £20 or less. If you've got friends who have their Windows 7 or whatever OS installation disc, you can just use that and buy a code.

The R7 260x is good, and costs around £105 on Amazon. If you can afford it, the R9 270x is good for around £155.

I bought my parts from overclockers.co.uk, you can get some pretty good deals on there.

heres my part recommendation

amdfx6300 £73
r9 270x £130 for the sapphire model
get an asus or gigabyte motherboard asrocks series and msi's are terrible for am3+ (i own one) £45
any decent brand 8gb kingston on amazon £55
1tb wd blue£45

BIG TIP: get a 500w psu evga one is very cheap on amazon a little over £30, people overkill on watts when recommeding psu. (unless youre planning crossfire)

btw if youre getting a micro atc motherboard get a micro atx case that was something i didnt foresee. thats another £35

total cost is £415

buy peripherals with the rest of the budget. you can get an i5 but its double the price of an fx6300 its better for you to get a better gpu, or just a £25 cpu cooler.

ive got this build for myself similar budget and im playing almost everything on ultra 1080p

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/sWXmmG
I've forgone your SSD just for the sake of RAW GPU performance. You can put an SSD in later on but this way you still get a great upgrade to your GPU.
If you're going the intel route, then unless you're using an overclockable (k version) processor, you won't need a better CPU cooler. However no matter what AMD FX CPU you get, you'll want to upgrade the CPU cooler as its just terrible. The regular intel CPU coolers are perfectly fine for gaming as long as you don't overclock.
The PSU In this build is made by seasonic and is one of the best entry level PSU's on the market. as a rule of thumb if a PSU isn't made by seasonic or isn't the EVGA supernova 750W Gold, I never recommend it. PSU is key, use the best you can.
I've used a basic motherboard to save money, since with this GPU you won't need to SLI. plus an SLI MOBO is quite expensive.
lastly the case here is the corsair 200r, its one of the noob friendliest and budget friendly quality cases on the market. There is also a windowed version available if you prefer.
this rig will play everything at 30+ FPS at Max guarenteed.
Good luck.

Don't like the EVGA unit nor the Case, but the case is just my personal opinion.
Remember get a quality PSU, the brand isn't important, its the quality of the unit underneath.
the EVGA 500W is made by HEC who never really made any quality units, its either crap or just "ok". please check the XFX 550W. its worth the extra money.

Yeah I noticed on G2A there's a Windows 8.1 Pro code for like £18 or something, but yeah I don't have the ISO... need to find out if anyone I know has one, doubt it :/

GPU wise I'm pretty set on the R9 270x unless I find something else in the next few weeks that is!

Ah okay I'll check them out, thank you!

I've read that EVGA is very good? Also saw it on a gamers PC-build YouTube video (JackFrags) - and he recommends it also.

Why don't you like the case?

Since posting that build list, I've just stumbled across this... very nice imo