€500 Gaming Build

Frisbee

Playing around with the idea of building my own gaming rig at the moment. Will need to have a small case, the smaller the better really as I haven't a huge amount of space to fit it into my room, case doesn't have to be too stylish really, just something that keeps everything together and won't get too hot. Ideally less than 13" tall and 15" deep. Would rather go with an intel over an AMD also, i5 should do the job as don't think I'll be able to stretch to an i7 on my budget.

I already have the primary drive, a 250GB 2.5" Samsung SSD. will need a secondary SATA drive, around 1TB if possible.

1. What is your budget? €500

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? [Gaming/Video editing/3D Modelling/HTPC/Internet] (If gaming include which games) Gaming, RTS like Total War etc. and FPS (CS:S, L4D2 etc) Something that'll be able to handle the likes of Rome 2 & Bioshock Infinite without any issues.

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? No.

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? No.

5. Do you need a monitor? No

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? [1920x1080/1440x900/etc.] [Yes/No] Full HD 1920x1080. No plans to upgrade anytime soon.

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? [Keyboard/Mouse/Wireless Card/Card Reader/Speakers/etc.] Wireless card

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? Yes

8. How can you pay? [Bank Transfer/Credit Card/Laser] Any

9. When are you purchasing? [In x days] Within the next month.

If anyone has some time to throw together something for me in this price range and with those specs it would be much appreciated.

Frisbee

Ok had a go at this myself....

Aerocool Qx-200 - €58.41
ASRock Z87M Pro4, Sockel 1150, mATX - €80.84
XILENCE Redwing Active Series, 580W, Rev. 3 - €37.09
Intel Core i5-4670 Tray,3,4 GHZ, 6MB Cache, LGA 1150, VGA - €182.33
8GB-Kit Crucial Ballistix Sport Series DDR3-1600, CL9 - €65.23
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 750 Ti OC Windforce 2x, 2GB GDDR5, 2x DVI, 2x HDMI - €128.42

Comes to a total of €609.55. I'm sure there is plenty there that is incompatible also

I already have the primary drive which is a 250GB SSD. I am going to need a wireless card also, better buying a dedicated card or would an on-board one be ok?

Also, I need to shave this down to at least €550 if not lower realistically.

I am not set on any of these components so if anyone can suggest more cost effective options that would be great. Case is the kind of form factor I want though as it will fit into the space I have for it.

TerrorFirmer

I wouldn't be a big fan of that case, but that's preference.

I'd be a fan of this or another one, or this...or this.

This would be an OK psu for that build.

The GTX750 SC is 13 euro cheaper than that one and is almost identical performance to the 750Ti, if you check reviews, it's the fastest overclocked model of the GTX750.

The 1GB regular GTX750 would save you almost 30E and isn't too far behind the Ti, the 1GB doesn't hurt at 1080P either according to reviews.

If it was me, I'd alter that build to have a more powerful GPU and cheaper CPU - a cheaper i5 or even i3 with a R9 270X will beat the 4670 + 750Ti easily and cost the same or less.

You can also easily save 20-30 euro on that board, unless there's something you specifically are looking for.

Frisbee

Cheers for the reply.

Just on the cases, they are all Mini-ITX cases, would I then have to change the board? I couldn't see an option in the mobo section for MITX boards, or will MATX boards fit fine?

Will drop to a cheaper i5 and put in the R9 270X in that case.

Also, I see none of these cases have an additional fan of any kind aside form on the PSU. I assume due to the size and relatively low spec it doesn't require any extra fans?

TerrorFirmer

This is an example of something I would personally go for with E500, it's under that including delivery. ITX cases are brilliant for space saving, I've one and I love it. Add another 50 for a 1TB drive. Personally, I have a 250GB SSD, which is enough for whatever games I'm playing currently, and I have a 2TB external I picked up at a later date where I store all my movies/tv/etc.

TerrorFirmer

Or else, here's another option including the 1TB drive. Have a look around further, there is always changes to be made, some stuff is always out of stock when you go to order which can be annoying, I had to choose stuff that was in stock.

Frisbee

That's awesome, thanks.

All I'll need to add in then is the SSD I already have and I'm flying!

TerrorFirmer

It comes with a 120mm exhaust fan, which will be enough. You have to sacrifice airflow a little when it comes to ITX setups but nothing that's a problem. The good thing about most ITX cases is that they are set up so that the GPU draws air from the meshed side panel, and it's easy to install a self contained water-cooler for the CPU down the line if you want.

Frisbee

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

It comes with a 120mm exhaust fan, which will be enough. You have to sacrifice airflow a little when it comes to ITX setups but nothing that's a problem. The good thing about most ITX cases is that they are set up so that the GPU draws air from the meshed side panel, and it's easy to install a self contained water-cooler for the CPU down the line if you want.

Yeah just spotted that after I posted, cheers!

Now, last question (I swear) I am going to go with this case as you recommended.

On the specs it says:

Expansion Slots - 2
Expansion Bays - 3 (total) / 3 (free) x internal - 3.5" ¦ 2 (total) / 2 (free) x internal - 2.5"

So in this case are 'Expansion Slots' your PCI slots for your GPU / Wireless Card etc? And if I wanted to add a DVD/RW at a later date would that take up on of these slots?

And 'Expansion Bays' are how many drives it can take? So either 3x 3.5" or 2x 2.5"?

yawhat!

Item|Price
AMD FX-6300 Prozessor, Boxed, Sockel AM3+|€88.67
8GB-Kit Crucial Ballistix Sport Series DDR3-1600, CL9|€65.23
Corsair CX Series Modular CX500M, 500W|€57.23
BitFenix Merc Alpha|€33.83
Gigabyte Radeon R9 280 OC WindForce 3X, 3GB GDDR5, 1x DVI, HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort|€198.90
ASRock 970 Pro3 R2.0, AM3+, ATX|€58.79
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€521.64

I'd go with the above. Games are starting to use more cores and there is nothing in gaming these days between AMD and Intel. A 1 TB hard drive could be added later and a cooler to overclock.