Budget Build €500-600

somurray

1. What is your budget? [€500-600]

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? [Gaming/Video editing/1080p Webcam Video Blogging] (New Games: Skyrim, Modern Warfare 3, Crysis. Old Games: Half-Life 2, Counter Strike Source, Far Cry, Mass Effect)

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? [Yes; I am a student]

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? [No, completely new build from scratch]

5. Do you need a monitor? [Yes; have old 4/3 19" monitor but that will be used for dual monitoring]

5a. If yes, what size do you need. [21.5.-22"]


6. Do you need any of these peripherals? [Keyboard, Mouse, Mouse Pad, Card Reader, Wireless Card]

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? [Yes . . . But I won't go well over my subject to accommodate it]

8. How can you pay? [however the website takes transitions; I prefer Irish companies]

9. When are you purchasing? [not in a rush; but I need to give my dad's iMac back to him soon and I'll be stuck with my crappy Acer Aspire 5051 laptop as my main PC!]


About my budget: if I can stick everything (PC, Monitor, Windows 7 and peripherals) into a €600 budget, I'll be happy. I would like to use Irish companies to build this PC; got to help out one's countrymen!:)

deconduo

Item|Price
Total build cost: €553.08 + €30 shipping
Intel Core i3-2120 Box, LGA1155|€110.62
ASRock H61M-HVS (B3), Sockel 1155, mATX|€42.83
8GB-Kit G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9|€33.65
Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB, SATA II (HD502HJ)|€73.03
NZXT SOURCE 210 Midi-Tower - black, ATX, ohne Netzteil|€30.49
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 450W|€40.87
LG GH22NS50/70/90 bare schwarz|€16.78
Sapphire HD6770 1G GDDR5 PCI-E|€87.01
BenQ G2225HD|€100.98
DIGITUS Wireless 150N USB 2.0 adapter, 150Mbps (DN-7045)|€5.34
LogiLink USB 2.0 all-in-one Card Reader, für 3,5" Einbauchschacht|€6.32
Logitech B110 optical USB Mouse OEM|€5.16


Windows 7 - €45

Has everything except a keyboard.

Jaafa

If you were making the above build except without they monitor and thus an extra hundred to spend, what would you put it on deconduo?

deconduo

Jaafa wrote: »

If you were making the above build except without they monitor and thus an extra hundred to spend, what would you put it on deconduo?

Change the graphics card to a 6870

somurray

deconduo wrote: »

Item|Price
Total build cost: €553.08 + €30 shipping
Intel Core i3-2120 Box, LGA1155|€110.62
ASRock H61M-HVS (B3), Sockel 1155, mATX|€42.83
8GB-Kit G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9|€33.65
Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB, SATA II (HD502HJ)|€73.03
NZXT SOURCE 210 Midi-Tower - black, ATX, ohne Netzteil|€30.49
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 450W|€40.87
LG GH22NS50/70/90 bare schwarz|€16.78
Sapphire HD6770 1G GDDR5 PCI-E|€87.01
BenQ G2225HD|€100.98
DIGITUS Wireless 150N USB 2.0 adapter, 150Mbps (DN-7045)|€5.34
LogiLink USB 2.0 all-in-one Card Reader, für 3,5" Einbauchschacht|€6.32
Logitech B110 optical USB Mouse OEM|€5.16


Windows 7 - €45

Has everything except a keyboard.

Thank you for getting to the trouble of making this build list in short time, deconduo.

1. Yeah, I would at least make that 6770 a 6850.
   
2. What's the story with Radeon graphics cards at the moment, are there successors to the 6850/6870 graphics cards to be released in February?
   
3. Ultimately I would like to get that build from an Irish provider; is www.dabs.ie Irish-owned?
   
4. About the Windows 7; isn't that only an upgrade, don't you need XP or Vista previously?

deconduo

somurray wrote: »

Thank you for getting to the trouble of making this build list in short time, deconduo.

1. Yeah, I would at least make that 6770 a 6850.
2. What's the story with Radeon graphics cards at the moment, are there successors to the 6850/6870 graphics cards to be released in February?
3. Ultimately I would like to get that build from an Irish provider; is www.dabs.ie Irish-owned?
4. About the Windows 7; isn't that only an upgrade, don't you need XP or Vista previously?

Yep, they're expected in mid Feb. Dabs is owned by an english company I'm pretty sure. The Windows is an upgrade version, but you can install it on a fresh system pretty easily.

Monotype

Dabs are owned by BT. You'd be paying Irish VAT though.

somurray

Here's a dab.ie build I've made. Should I wait until February for the next gen Radeon graphics cards?

ShadowHearth

Keep in mind lads, 7870 won't be around 150eu mark. With 7950 and 7970 pricing I am prety sure 7870 will be around 250-300eu.

If you got that money to spend then on it, then wait. If you won't have that money, then get 6870 now. They won't drop in price that much anyway.

Monotype

It looks more like the 7850 will be replacing the 6870 and could be a little better. But we won't know until they're released.

ShadowHearth

Dunno bud, the way I see it: 7850 and 7870 will be around 6950 and 6970 mark. 7950 and 7970 are just blowing everything out of the water. They are around 500 and 400 marks, so by all logic the. Should have something for around 300 mark too. It is financially stupid to leave such a gap between 150eu and 400eu.

Well we will see, but I am really hoping that 7870 = gtx570 without stupid amount of power needed to run it. I just can't believe how inefficient nvidia cards are

deconduo

ShadowHearth wrote: »

Dunno bud, the way I see it: 7850 and 7870 will be around 6950 and 6970 mark. 7950 and 7970 are just blowing everything out of the water. They are around 500 and 400 marks, so by all logic the. Should have something for around 300 mark too. It is financially stupid to leave such a gap between 150eu and 400eu.

Well we will see, but I am really hoping that 7870 = gtx570 without stupid amount of power needed to run it. I just can't believe how inefficient nvidia cards are

We have that already, its called the 6970 ~80W less than the 570 on full load.

But yeah, the way things are going I would expect the 7870 to perform similar to the 570 and be slightly cheaper.

somurray

Ok, I admit it. I'm a scabby student who is quite broke. My parents said they would pay for half of the build as a PC build but I think 700 euro is looking quite expensive.:eek:

Sorry if I wasn't completely specific but I think a decent CPU, GPU and 4gb of memory is all I need. When I said "video editing", I meant 720p/1080p webcam recording; I am not a Digitial Media student!

When it comes to games, my main priorities are getting some golden oldies up again such as Half Life 2, Counter Strike Source, Far Cry, Rise of Nations. I wouldn't mind getting MW3 and Skyrim but I don't need to be wowed by insanely high performance; it just needs to be competent.

My main PC at the moment is an Acer Aspire 5051, which is also my laptop. I had to uninstall a whole bunch of stuff (except for Firefox and OpenOffice) because I didn't want to weight it down as it is a college/library laptop, not a desktop replacement. It is also 6 years old and I am getting quite tired of not being able to play even Counter Strike. My expectations of a modern PC are very low indeed.

I understand that intel socket PCs seems to be more upgradable but I won't be doing upgrading that often anyway.

So here is an alternative build of my new budget 400-500 Euro:



I am going to add this CPU:http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/8028637/art/amd/athlon-ii-x3-455-3-3-ghz.html

and I will scab a 7200rpm hard drive off adverts. I don't want to spend too much on post-Thai flood drives at the moment; I go for a better, bigger one when the prices are saner.

Sorry for changing my mind but thank you for everyone's help so far.

Eboggles

A celeron is better than an athlon x3 for upgradeability, and gives great performance for the price. Not only that, you could stick in an ivybridge quad later on when funds permit. The mobo can be picked up for €50, asrock h61 del I believe.

somurray

Thanks, Eboggles, which celeron would you recommend? A quick search on dabs.ie for "Celeron" gives me this: http://www.dabs.ie/category/components-and-storage,motherboards-and-processors,processors/11147?q=celeron

deconduo

Get a G530 instead, same gaming performance as the X3 for cheaper.

Dabs:
Item|Price
Total build cost: €442.11 (inc delivery €0.57)
Intel Celeron G530 2.4GHz LGA1155 2MB|€43.36
ASRock S1155 Intel H61 DDR3 mATX|€42.74
Kingston 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3 1333MHz DIMM 240-pin CL9|€19.59
Sapphire Technology ATI Radeon 6770 HD 775MHz 1GB PCI-Express HDMI|€96.12
XIGMATEK Asgard Chassis|€33.06
Corsair 430 Watt CX430 V2 Builder Series 80 Plus Power Supply|€40.50
Samsung 22x DVD-RW SATA Black|€16.43
BenQ GL2250M - LCD display - TFT - LED backlight - 21.5" - widescreen - 1920 x 1080 - glossy black|€124.98
Logitech B110 Optical USB Mouse|€6.81
Logitech Keyboard K120 - USB|€9.55
TP LINK 150Mbps Wireless USB Adapter|€8.40


HWVS:
Item|Price
Total build cost: €377.69 + €30 shipping
Intel Celeron G530 Box, LGA1155|€36.94
ASRock H61M-HVS (B3), Sockel 1155, mATX|€42.83
4GB Patriot AMD Entertainment Edition PC3-12800 1600MHz|€18.49
Sapphire HD6770 1G GDDR5 PCI-E|€87.01
NZXT SOURCE 210 Midi-Tower - black, ATX, ohne Netzteil|€30.49
Antec BasiQ VP350|€33.67
LG GH22NS50/70/90 bare schwarz|€16.78
BenQ G2225HD|€100.98
Logitech B110 optical USB Mouse OEM|€5.16
DIGITUS Wireless 150N USB 2.0 adapter, 150Mbps (DN-7045)|€5.34


HWVS build doesn't have a keyboard, but you can get them from adverts for €5 pretty easily.

Monotype

ShadowHearth wrote: »

Dunno bud, the way I see it: 7850 and 7870 will be around 6950 and 6970 mark. 7950 and 7970 are just blowing everything out of the water. They are around 500 and 400 marks, so by all logic the. Should have something for around 300 mark too. It is financially stupid to leave such a gap between 150eu and 400eu.

Well we will see, but I am really hoping that 7870 = gtx570 without stupid amount of power needed to run it. I just can't believe how inefficient nvidia cards are

We know that the the 7600s and below are just recycled 6000 series.
If the 7800s replace the 7900s and the 7700s replace the current 6800s, that will leave a big gap where the current 6790, 6770 and 6750 are.

They'd either have to release a 7730 or shift down the 7770 and 7750, I think.

The 7750 and 7770 is two weeks away now iirc, I think so I suppose there's not much value in speculating a whole lot.

somurray

Here's some interesting news about the upcoming 7000 series cards:


http://gamerfront.net/2012/02/radeon-7750-and-7770-cards-due-out-february-15-rumor/16228



Here's my build so far:



Plus Windows 7 (€45) and a 7200rpm hard drive (which bare minimum space should I go for? I have a 1TB external hard drive. I won't spend too much on a hard drive due to flood prices; perhaps 160-320gb will do).

ShadowHearth

somurray wrote: »

Here's some interesting news about the upcoming 7000 series cards:


http://gamerfront.net/2012/02/radeon-7750-and-7770-cards-due-out-february-15-rumor/16228



Here's my build so far:



Plus Windows 7 (€45) and a 7200rpm hard drive (which bare minimum space should I go for? I have a 1TB external hard drive. I won't spend too much on a hard drive due to flood prices; perhaps 160-320gb will do).

well no one can predict how much you will need m8. i would recomend 500gb just for the peace of mind. those hdds fill up very fast. check adverts.ie, there are good few for good price ( mostly )

in off topic today ( thanks for link m8 ):

For those with a bit more patience, you’ll find the 78xx cards sometime in March. These are going to be the higher-end of the mainstream cards. Look for 256-bit memory, and 2GB of memory. We should expect these to keep on part with the performance of current 69xx cards, with a better price point, ranging from $179-$249.

looks like i was right with pricing and performance thought it will come out only in march!!! thats a looooong wait lads!

somurray

Actually, after chatting with my friends, I figure the i3 is the way to go:



and dabs.ie



My gut says go for dabs despite the slight price difference in favor of the German site. Like to spend Irish and is dabs.ie good service? Also, the power supply and the monitor would have UK/Ireland AC power plugs rather than Euro ones, right?

Eboggles

I'd change the psu in the hardwareversand build to a super flower amazon 450 watt. Should do up to a 6870 and a bit of head room.

somurray

If I go for the Xigmatek case, should I put in two more 120mm fans, perhaps this:

http://www.dabs.ie/products/arctic-cooling-f12-tc-case-fan-7H0N.html

somurray

somurray wrote: »

If I go for the Xigmatek case, should I put in two more 120mm fans, perhaps this:

http://www.dabs.ie/products/arctic-cooling-f12-tc-case-fan-7H0N.html

im actually considering a g530 build at the moment from dabs.ie too.
Im probably going to get the following case and fans (x2)
CoolerMaster Elite 360 Mini Tower ATX Case (Black) €36.28

Akasa 8cm Silent Blue Case Fan €3.51

Total = €43.30


Its the same price as the asgard case + 2fans. You would need the two fans as theres none included with the case from what I can see

somurray

bezka,

The Xigmatek case comes preinstalled with a 120mm fan.

From dabs.ie: Fans Front : 1 x 12 cm - ( 1 installed) , Rear : 1 x 12 cm - ( 0 installed) , Side : 2 x 12 cm - ( 0 installed)

somurray

Ok, I want to get this build pretty soon, I don't want to wait for the 7770 so I'll get the GTX 550 Ti instead. It also comes with Shogan Total War 2 for free!:)


Now, is there any thing I need to add? I presume the processor comes pre-thermal pasted. Any cables (ex: SATA) I need to add?

save yourself a fiver by getting one 4gb stick of the cheap ram instead of 2x2gb blue colored ones.

also, the dvd rom drive you have included is just the bare drive (no manual, cables, box etc). You mightn't need the retail one but here is one of them anyway

EDIT: forgot most mobos come with sata cables

Serephucus

I'd second the 4x1GB, especially since that motherboard only has two RAM slots. You never know if you might want more, and it's always nice to have the option.

somurray

Serephucus,

Isn't in better to have a pair of memory sticks together rather than one on its own? I'm happy to have 4gb, If I need 8gb in the future, I'll go for 2 x 4gb sticks.

Serephucus

Technically, yes. It will double your memory bandwidth. The thing is that absolutely nothing (short of certain memory benchmarks) will even show a difference. Games, applications, whatever you want, won't show the slightest bit of improvement.

somurray

Serephucus,

Great, thanks for that! Saves me a fiver!

somurray

Righto, here's it so far. I would like to order this chap pronto.

somurray

I've yet to order this PC, because I've been waiting for the HD 7770 and 7750 cards to come out. Both of them have come out today, I'm not impressed, dabs.ie has the 7750 at the same price as the GTX 550 Ti but the latter looks like the best choice, Shogun 2 Total War also comes free with the the 550 ti!:D

So should I stay with the order I've made in my last post?

Eboggles

somurray wrote: »

I've yet to order this PC, because I've been waiting for the HD 7770 and 7750 cards to come out. Both of them have come out today, I'm not impressed, dabs.ie has the 7750 at the same price as the GTX 550 Ti but the latter looks like the best choice, Shogun 2 Total War also comes free with the the 550 ti!:D

So should I stay with the order I've made in my last post?

The 7700 series are pretty underwhelming. Last-Gen performance aat Next-Gen prices . The best choice would be to stick with the 550 ti, even though power consumption is much better on the 7700s, but who really cares about that in a budget build? Have a look at this:



Bear in mind that the 7770 is retailing around the 6850, some a bit over. That is all.

somurray

Say, should I replace the GTX 550ti with a ATi Radeon HD 4890 if I can get the latter for 70-80 euros?