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Gaming Budget Pc

M

Miltos2304

Limp Gawd
Joined
Sep 2, 2006
Messages
210
Help me with a budget gaming build for a 14 year old. And please tell me if its possible with 600-650 euro budget to have at 1080p and smooth framerates on games like Battlefield 4, COD and in upcoming games like Divinity ,Dragon age,Doom 4.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Mostly Gaming- Battlefield 4, COD,(and waiting for new games like Age of Dragons Inquisition,Divinity...etc) Our target is to play the most games with ultra settings and smooth gameplay/framerates . AA and vsync is mostly off for faster framerates.
2) What's your budget? 600-650 euro Are tax and shipping included? Yes
3) Which country do you live in? Greece
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case,mobo,storage,gpu,psu
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? keyboard,mouse,monitors
6) Will you be overclocking? No
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it? 1920x1080 - 24"
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC? 2-3 weeks top
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? USB3 would be nice but not that important
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? Yes, Windows 7 - 64bit

Iam considering this build:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4570 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£138.26 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£59.98 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£29.77 @ Scan.co.uk)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£38.70 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 760 2GB DirectCU II Video Card (£170.11 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£22.99 @ Novatech)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£35.41 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHDS118-04 DVD/CD Drive (£9.58 @ Scan.co.uk)

Total: £504 - 650 euro with shipping
 
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No USB3.0 header on motherboard, no USB3.0 on case.
Realtek ALC887 audio chip, adequate, but would prefer 889 or 892.
Case mounts HDD vertically.
 
wtourist said:
No USB3.0 header on motherboard, no USB3.0 on case.
Realtek ALC887 audio chip, adequate, but would prefer 889 or 892.
Case mounts HDD vertically.
Click to expand...

I chose it because i t has some good customer reviews. Now about the usb 3 i dont mind if they are not in the front panel. What i want is to be able to put longer gpu card for future upgrade. Any other suggestions?

What do you mean by that? Can you explain please? "Realtek ALC887 audio chip, adequate, but would prefer 889 or 892."
 
Personally, I would get the i5-4590 over the i5-4570 as it is slightly better performance per £ as it is only £5 more for an extra 100 MHz. Other than that, it looks like a solid build.
 
Novatech no longer has the £22 Fractal Design Core 1000 case availlable. The recently released Core 1100 is available there for around £29, and it comes with one front USB 3.0 port (the other port is USB 2.0).

If Battlefield 4 is the priority for this system, you should buy the Radeon R9 280X (£189), which is a bit faster in that game than the GTX 760. It should be able to play the upcoming games you mentioned, but until they arrive, we can't (accurately) predict how well the card will run.

To make room for those parts, we have to reduce costs elsewhere. For starters, swap out the Corsair Vengeance dual-channel kit for one 8GB stick of Crucial RAM (£54). You won't suffer any performance loss, but you free up a RAM slot for a (potential) future upgrade.

You should also swap out the i5-4570 for the i5-4440 (£122). The i5-4440 is only 100MHz slower than the i5-4570, which isn't noticeable while gaming. The i5-4440 was recently released, so there is a possibility that the MSI H81-P33 can't handle it without a BIOS update. In that case, the MSI board can definitely handle the older i5-4430 (£129).

Don't worry about the Realtek audio chip. If the onboard sound isn't great to your ears, you could always buy a sound card later.
 
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tiraides said:
Novatech no longer has the £22 Fractal Design Core 1000 case availlable. The recently released Core 1100 is available there for around £29, and it comes with one front USB 3.0 port (the other port is USB 2.0).

If Battlefield 4 is the priority for this system, you should buy the Radeon R9 280X (£189), which is a bit faster in that game than the GTX 760. It should be able to play the upcoming games you mentioned, but until they arrive, we can't (accurately) predict how well the card will run.

To make room for those parts, we have to reduce costs elsewhere. For starters, swap out the Corsair Vengeance dual-channel kit for one 8GB stick of Crucial RAM (£54). You won't suffer any performance loss, but you free up a RAM slot for a (potential) future upgrade.

You should also swap out the i5-4570 for the i5-4440 (£122). The i5-4440 is only 100MHz slower than the i5-4570, which isn't noticeable while gaming. The i5-4440 was recently released, so there is a possibility that the MSI H81-P33 can't handle it without a BIOS update. In that case, the MSI board can definitely handle the older i5-4430 (£129).

Don't worry about the Realtek audio chip. If the onboard sound isn't great to your ears, you could always buy a sound card later.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestions.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4430 3.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£131.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£29.77 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Crucial 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£53.98 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£38.70 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 280X 3GB Double Dissipation Video Card (£188.74 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case (£29.37 @ Ebuyer)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£35.28 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHDS118-04 DVD/CD Drive (£9.58 @ Scan.co.uk)

Total: £517.41 - 650 euro with shipping
 
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The motherboard and PSU are any good? Do we have better alternatives at that price range?
 
Miltos2304 said:
The motherboard and PSU are any good? Do we have better alternatives at that price range?
Click to expand...

That PSU seems under powered to me. i5 and 280x almost demand 550w+. IMO its always good to overbuy on the PSU. Its gives you a little leeway and some upgradability overhead as well.
 
Miltos2304 said:
According to this website http://www.extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine the i5-4430 and 280x require 370W
Click to expand...
Yes, maybe even a little more.

The CX430 can supply 384w on the 12V rail - which is awesome for a 430w PSU - but it's also cutting it mighty close.

I'm not somebody who's into oversizing PSUs, but in this case I agree with GonzoP and a 550+ watts PSU might be a better choice.

Then again 370w is the max power draw under benchmark conditions.
AMD's last generations of GPUs are really going to town when you send them into Furmark or Unigine Heaven. nVidia introduced Power Target for that reason, because modern benchmarks produce a totally unrealistic stress scenario for GPUs.

If you never benchmark, being fully aware of the fact, in gaming alone (even latest AAA titles) the power draw will be closer to 300w and thereby fully within the capabilities of the CX430.
 
timmay said:
Yes, maybe even a little more.

The CX430 can supply 384w on the 12V rail - which is awesome for a 430w PSU - but it's also cutting it mighty close.

I'm not somebody who's into oversizing PSUs, but in this case I agree with GonzoP and a 550+ watts PSU might be a better choice.

Then again 370w is the max power draw under benchmark conditions.
AMD's last generations of GPUs are really going to town when you send them into Furmark or Unigine Heaven. nVidia introduced Power Target for that reason, because modern benchmarks produce a totally unrealistic stress scenario for GPUs.

If you never benchmark, being fully aware of the fact, in gaming alone (even latest AAA titles) the power draw will be closer to 300w and thereby fully within the capabilities of the CX430.
Click to expand...

I always stress testing the pc's i build. Ill try to find a 500w PSU then
 
Miltos2304 said:
According to this website http://www.extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine the i5-4430 and 280x require 370W
Click to expand...

timmay said:
Yes, maybe even a little more.

The CX430 can supply 384w on the 12V rail - which is awesome for a 430w PSU - but it's also cutting it mighty close.

I'm not somebody who's into oversizing PSUs, but in this case I agree with GonzoP and a 550+ watts PSU might be a better choice.

Then again 370w is the max power draw under benchmark conditions.
AMD's last generations of GPUs are really going to town when you send them into Furmark or Unigine Heaven. nVidia introduced Power Target for that reason, because modern benchmarks produce a totally unrealistic stress scenario for GPUs.

If you never benchmark, being fully aware of the fact, in gaming alone (even latest AAA titles) the power draw will be closer to 300w and thereby fully within the capabilities of the CX430.
Click to expand...

Miltos2304 said:
I always stress testing the pc's i build. Ill try to find a 500w PSU then
Click to expand...
Yeah you gotta remember the total system draw. That PSU calculator is default at 90%. With just your cpu and gpu you're over 90% of the 12v rating. In reality the price difference between the Corsair 430 and something in the 550w range should be less than 10 pounds in your case. Well worth it
 
Always get the K series. Even if you don't overclock the resale value added is key.
 
I don't really want to recommend these, but there are some silverstone ST50F models in the sub £40 range, they up the 12V reail to 400 watts, or for a few £ more you can get the ST60F-ESB and have 540W on the 12V.
Unfortunately I can't find any proper in depth review on these models.

I just have to recommend that you do not skimp on the PSU.
A bad PSU can/will shorten the lifespan of your HW, and the extra money spend up front on a good PSU is saved in higher efficiency and reusing the same unit for the next couple of builds.
 
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