New Family PC

Trilla90

1. What is your budget?
€500

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer?
Family computer, word processing, light gaming if possible (nothing too fancy just a bit of football manager/able to play recent games on decent enough level, not expecting to play Crysis tho)

3. Do you need a copy of Windows?
Windows 7 if you could direct me to the cheapest site possible

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer?
No, old pc is a good few years old now doubt anything could be used

5. Do you need a monitor?
Yes

5a. If yes, what size do you need?
21-24"

6. Peripherals Needed:
optical mouse
wireless network card
speakers
soundcard
HD 1TB
DVD burner

7. Are you willing to try overclocking?
Possibly

8. How can you pay?
Credit Card

9. When are you purchasing?
Next 30 days

10. If you need help building it, where are you based?
will buy prebuilt if construction cost under €30

Just to be clear €500 would be the absolute max the budget could stretch too (incl. monitor.)

I understand thats not a lot for a new pc but if i could get a decent enough spec with the ability to upgrade in the future that would be great. I'm looking for as much power as possible for the budget and something future-proof that could be upgraded over time if needed.

I know my way around a computer but i've never built one from scratch before. I'm just not too sure with what parts and components would be best thats why i need the help.

BloodBath

That is asking a lot on that budget but it's just about doable.

You will have to get a keyboard locally as the German layout is different. Tesco do cheap ones for about €10.

HWVS offer a build service for €20. Add this to the cart if you want them to assemble it.

Item|Price
AMD A8-5600K Accelerated Processor mit AMD Radeon HD 7560D Grafik Box|€78.65
WD Caviar Blue 1TB 6Gb's|€54.81
LogiLink Gaming & Grafikdesign Mauspad XXL|€2.99
LogiLink 2.1 Aktivlautsprecher System|€15.90
BenQ GW2255|€99.00
LiteOn iHAS124-04 schwarz SATA|€16.45
TP-Link TL-WN781N, 150Mbps, PCIe x1|€9.53
MSI FM2-A75MA-P33, FM2, mATX|€46.04
8GB-Kit G-Skill RipJaws PC3-12800U CL9|€65.40
Corsair VS Serie VS350, Non-Modular, 80+|€30.17
LogiLink USB Gaming Laser Maus, 2400dpi|€6.32
Zalman T2 Mini Tower - schwarz, ohne Netzteil|€19.65
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€463.90

Windows 7 €35

Trilla90

BloodBath wrote: »

That is asking a lot on that budget but it's just about doable.

You will have to get a keyboard locally as the German layout is different. Tesco do cheap ones for about €10.

HWVS offer a build service for €20. Add this to the cart if you want them to assemble it.

Item|Price
AMD A8-5600K Accelerated Processor mit AMD Radeon HD 7560D Grafik Box|€78.65
WD Caviar Blue 1TB 6Gb's|€54.81
LogiLink Gaming & Grafikdesign Mauspad XXL|€2.99
LogiLink 2.1 Aktivlautsprecher System|€15.90
BenQ GW2255|€99.00
LiteOn iHAS124-04 schwarz SATA|€16.45
TP-Link TL-WN781N, 150Mbps, PCIe x1|€9.53
MSI FM2-A75MA-P33, FM2, mATX|€46.04
8GB-Kit G-Skill RipJaws PC3-12800U CL9|€65.40
Corsair VS Serie VS350, Non-Modular, 80+|€30.17
LogiLink USB Gaming Laser Maus, 2400dpi|€6.32
Zalman T2 Mini Tower - schwarz, ohne Netzteil|€19.65
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€463.90

Windows 7 €35

thanks very much and you even got it under-budget i suppose i can use old keyboard and mouse to save a bit more

just to confirm would a custom build like this have a significantly better all-round performance than say a basic Dell PC? http://www.dell.com/ie/p/inspiron-660s/pd

BloodBath

The €499 Dell is similar in performance. The cpu and dedicated gpu on the dell are pretty much even in performance with the cpu and igp on the custom amd system.

The other components would be of a lower quality though. Case, power supply, ram ect in the Dell are usually very generic cheap parts. It doesn't include a monitor either.

With the custom build you're also getting a faster 1tb drive vs 500gb and 8gb of ram vs 4gb.

The cpu, igp and ram can be overclocked on the amd system to give significant performance gains as well. As much as 30-40% in games with overclocks on all 3. Don't expect to run newer titles at 1080p on anything other than low settings though although less graphically demanding games could be run on medium to high.

If you want to overclock the cpu and igp you should grab one of these cpu coolers. It will help reduce the noise of the pc as well. Overclocking the ram would have a big impact on gaming performance. That ram should go to 2133mhz with some tuning of the timings and voltage. There's plenty of guides online anyway.

Prices have gone up on HWVS on most items so you might be a little over budget now.

Morf

Is that cooler FM2 compatible?

It doesn't mention that it is.

BloodBath

Am3+, Fm1 and Fm2 all use the same mounting mechanisms and holes so I've read .

Morf

BloodBath wrote: »

Am3+, Fm1 and Fm2 all use the same mounting mechanisms and holes so I've read .

Ah right. I went looking for FM2 compatible coolers and there are very few.

Trilla90

BloodBath wrote: »

The €499 Dell is similar in performance. The cpu and dedicated gpu on the dell are pretty much even in performance with the cpu and igp on the custom amd system.

The other components would be of a lower quality though. Case, power supply, ram ect in the Dell are usually very generic cheap parts. It doesn't include a monitor either.

With the custom build you're also getting a faster 1tb drive vs 500gb and 8gb of ram vs 4gb.

The cpu, igp and ram can be overclocked on the amd system to give significant performance gains as well. As much as 30-40% in games with overclocks on all 3. Don't expect to run newer titles at 1080p on anything other than low settings though although less graphically demanding games could be run on medium to high.

If you want to overclock the cpu and igp you should grab one of these cpu coolers. It will help reduce the noise of the pc as well. Overclocking the ram would have a big impact on gaming performance. That ram should go to 2133mhz with some tuning of the timings and voltage. There's plenty of guides online anyway.

Prices have gone up on HWVS on most items so you might be a little over budget now.

I'll probably order something like the system above in the next week but i've never overclocked before can you link me to a good beginners guide? too many guides too choose from

BloodBath

There's no need to dive straight into it anyway. Take your time and try and find guides specific to that processor.

Just make sure you have safe voltages as this is the only area that you can do damage.

Something like this should help although it doesn't cover ram or igp overclocking. There's lots of video guides on youtube as well.

http://www.ocinside.de/go_e.html?http://www.ocinside.de/html/workshop/amd_fm2_overclock.html

Trilla90

thanks, was almost set to order then i wondered if i could get a better/bigger monitor elsewhere for less than hardwareversand, any recommendations or is the benQ 21" as good as i'll get for the money? limit would be €130. I'd still order the parts from there just making sure i couldn't get better deal on monitor elsewhere

BloodBath

Well the BenQ is a good monitor for the money but newer panels are IPS which offers better color reproduction and viewing angles.

This would be a better 23" for €140 with free delivery.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/LG-IPS234V-PN-AEK-inch-Screen-Monitor/dp/B008F7GW2K/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1380299865&sr=8-3&keywords=24%22+ips

or this 21.5" for €125 with free delivery

http://www.amazon.co.uk/LG-22EA53VQ-21-5-inch-Monitor/dp/B00BWOJ35G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1380299984&sr=8-1&keywords=22%22+ips

Trilla90

that pcfritz.de site for the windows 7 seems to have some sort of bank method of payment can't see how to pay through credit card, never payed that way before, am i missing something obvious?

BloodBath

Somebody posted something about PCFritz being done by Microsoft for selling illegal copies of windows so I'm not sure about going for that anymore. The link is still up though.

Most german companies deal through bank transfers rather than credit/debit cards. You can still use your online banking to do the bank transfer.

Trilla90

BloodBath wrote: »

Somebody posted something about PCFritz being done by Microsoft for selling illegal copies of windows so I'm not sure about going for that anymore. The link is still up though.

Most german companies deal through bank transfers rather than credit/debit cards. You can still use your online banking to do the bank transfer.

sounds a bit dodgy, anywhere else to get it cheap?

and if i order the CPU cooler (so i can overclock it down the road) and ask them to assemble the PC will they put that cooler on or the stock AMD one?

BloodBath

They usually won't install large coolers but that one is still relatively small/light so they might. I don't know to be honest.

You could download the W7 trial and activate it with a key from Amazon for €39.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Microsoft-Windows-Home-Premium-License/dp/B00ADKZHEG/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1380483615&sr=8-4&keywords=windows+7

Trilla90

BloodBath wrote: »

Well the BenQ is a good monitor for the money but newer panels are IPS which offers better color reproduction and viewing angles.

This would be a better 23" for €140 with free delivery.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/LG-IPS234V-PN-AEK-inch-Screen-Monitor/dp/B008F7GW2K/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1380299865&sr=8-3&keywords=24%22+ips

or this 21.5" for €125 with free delivery

http://www.amazon.co.uk/LG-22EA53VQ-21-5-inch-Monitor/dp/B00BWOJ35G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1380299984&sr=8-1&keywords=22%22+ips

i went ahead and ordered the 23" monitor above, a bit more than i was originally going to pay but i may be able to save some money on the PC using this thread

Trilla90

this is the build at the moment (i've included savings from this thread)

Item|Price
AMD A8-5600K Accelerated Processor mit AMD Radeon HD 7560D Grafik Box|€74,73
WD Caviar Blue 1TB 6Gb's|€52,42
LogiLink Gaming & Grafikdesign Mauspad XXL|€2.99
LiteOn iHAS124-04 schwarz SATA|€15,35
TP-Link TL-WN781N, 150Mbps, PCIe x1|€9.53
MSI FM2-A55M-E33, Sockel FM2, mATX|€40,21
8GB-Kit G-Skill RipJaws PC3-12800U CL9|€68,27
Thermaltake Munich 430W|€35,10
LogiLink USB Gaming Laser Maus, 2400dpi|€6.32
Cooler Master N200 mit Sichtfenster|€35,15
Alpenföhn Sella - 92mm, AMD/Intel|€16,86
LG IPS234V-PN. 23 inch LED Monitor|€146
Shipping|€18.99
Assembly|€20.99
Total|€540

BloodBath

You're not really going to be able to improve the gaming performance for €50. The next step up would be going for an fx6300 processor with a dedicated graphics card. You would have to upgrade the case and power supply then as well.

If you were going to spend more on that system I'd upgrade the board and case and grab the cpu cooler I mentioned to overclock. Maybe a better power supply so you can add a stronger graphics card down the line if you wanted.

You could go for a second hand pc on adverts.ie

Something like this would have stronger game performance but a weaker cpu (which could be upgraded when needed) and without the extras but the price is good.

http://www.adverts.ie/desktops/budget-gaming-pc/3711981

-Edit- I see you have already upgraded the case and psu and got the cpu cooler. If you wanted to spend another €50 there I'd grab a 60gb ssd for windows and your programs. Or you could upgrade the board to this if you want usb3 and sata600.

Trilla90

BloodBath wrote: »

You're not really going to be able to improve the gaming performance for €50. The next step up would be going for an fx6300 processor with a dedicated graphics card. You would have to upgrade the case and power supply then as well.

If you were going to spend more on that system I'd upgrade the board and case and grab the cpu cooler I mentioned to overclock. Maybe a better power supply so you can add a stronger graphics card down the line if you wanted.

You could go for a second hand pc on adverts.ie

Something like this would have stronger game performance but a weaker cpu (which could be upgraded when needed) and without the extras but the price is good.

http://www.adverts.ie/desktops/budget-gaming-pc/3711981

-Edit- I see you have already upgraded the case and psu and got the cpu cooler. If you wanted to spend another €50 there I'd grab a 60gb ssd for windows and your programs.

yeah sorry this upgrading stuff is getting addictive :eek: one minute i think i'm happy with the build then i think maybe i could improve this or that, suppose i could always upgrade it further down the line. If i wanted it capable of being upgraded futher down the road what should i be doing. I might actually keep that CPU for now but maybe in a year i might wanna upgrade would that motherboard be good enough?

on second thought i think what i had will be good enough for the time being. I think i'd rather just go ahead with the new one rather than second hand (even if its not as powerful/good for games) All i'm really looking for now is to make it future proof so it can possibly be upgraded in time and maybe slightly better CPU/graphics if thats doable

BloodBath

You're in luck. HWVS do deals on assembly for €5 every now and again and it's active now. Here's an upgraded build minus the monitor that would be a lot better for just under €600 inc monitor.

This should run most games at medium to high settings.

Item|Price
AMD FX-6300 Prozessor, Boxed, Sockel AM3+|€98.77
ASRock 970 Pro3 R2.0, AM3+, ATX|€60.95
Cooler Master N300, ATX-Midi-Tower, schwarz, ohne Netzteil|€34.70
8GB-Kit G.Skill RipJaws PC3-10667U CL9|€69.99
PowerColor Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition PCS+, 1GB GDDR5, DVI, HDMI, 2x Mini DisplayPort|€88.19
LogiLink Gaming & Grafikdesign Mauspad XXL|€2.99
TP-Link TL-WN781N, 150Mbps, PCIe x1|€9.48
LiteOn iHAS124-04 schwarz SATA|€16.21
Thermaltake Munich 430W|€37.09
Sharkoon Squad Laser Mouse|€11.99
Rechner - Zusammenbau|€5.00
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€454.35

-Edit-
Bollox I just realised there's no HDD in there. Maybe with the discount you could squeeze one in.

Trilla90

BloodBath wrote: »

You're in luck. HWVS do deals on assembly for €5 every now and again and it's active now. Here's an upgraded build minus the monitor that would be a lot better for just under €600 inc monitor.

This should run most games at medium to high settings.

Item|Price
AMD FX-6300 Prozessor, Boxed, Sockel AM3+|€98.77
ASRock 970 Pro3 R2.0, AM3+, ATX|€60.95
Cooler Master N300, ATX-Midi-Tower, schwarz, ohne Netzteil|€34.70
8GB-Kit G.Skill RipJaws PC3-10667U CL9|€69.99
PowerColor Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition PCS+, 1GB GDDR5, DVI, HDMI, 2x Mini DisplayPort|€88.19
LogiLink Gaming & Grafikdesign Mauspad XXL|€2.99
TP-Link TL-WN781N, 150Mbps, PCIe x1|€9.48
LiteOn iHAS124-04 schwarz SATA|€16.21
Thermaltake Munich 430W|€37.09
Sharkoon Squad Laser Mouse|€11.99
Rechner - Zusammenbau|€5.00
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€454.35

-Edit-
Bollox I just realised there's no HDD in there. Maybe with the discount you could squeeze one in.

don't worry should fit it in, looks good overall does that include a CPU cooler? and is that case better than the one i had?

BloodBath

The cpu comes with a cooler so yes. The case is around the same, just a bit bigger because the board is a bigger atx board.

The other board board and case were matx but there's no good matx boards for those processors so had to go with atx.

Trilla90

BloodBath wrote: »

The cpu comes with a cooler so yes. The case is around the same, just a bit bigger because the board is a bigger atx board.

The other board board and case were matx but there's no good matx boards for those processors so had to go with atx.

could i overclock still if needed and if so would i need a bigger cooler?

BloodBath

You could but you will be reasonably limited by the board and cooler. You could grab the cooler from the other build if you wanted. I'd expect an oc in the 4.2 - 4.5ghz region with it.

Trilla90

all set to order, pity they dont do credit card payments have to do bank transfer, you'd think they'd at least offer the option

BloodBath

It's a German thing. Doing bank transfers with online banking isn't much different anyway.