Help needed Gaming PC build for 400-450euro.

jamesk014

Hi lads, been planning on building my own PC for a few months now and have the money to do it. i have planned this build a few times with parts from where ever was the cheapest but i always aimed for decent to high quality parts. i was hoping that the people on this forum who would have more knowledge and experience could help in recommending parts or full builds that would reflect the overall price. If you could suggest parts or even where i could get a prebuilt PC and get what i pay for id be happy with any help or info. i seen this layout in a recent post and taught it was the most helpful way to explain my needs. thanks in advance.

1. What is your budget? 400 - 450 Euro

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? Gaming

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? yes i prefer windows 7 over 8

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? possible 500gb external hard drive which i could use out of its shell.

5. Do you need a monitor? yes, im use to using a 18inch laptop so im thinking 20 - 25inch

6. Do you need any of peripherals? mouse and keyboard

7. How can you pay? Any

8. When are you purchasing? within the next 30 days 2 months at most

9. If you need help building it, where are you based? i have done alot of research into building pc and would be happy to undergo the build myself.

10.Extra's : i would if possible like my OS on an SSD and most used applications with a HDD for my main storage. also on board WiFi would be a great plus.

main kind of games i would be playing would be
Mincraft/tekkit , battlefield , nothing else specific whatever i feel like i guess..

i would like something that wont struggle to run minecraft or battlefield (i know two very different games but i don't want a minecraft PC). just something that leaves me some space to play a broad range of games not expecting maxed out settings just as best as can be done.

thanks again for any help or info you guys can give me.

Monotype

I think you're being overly ambitious with that build. A monitor will already cut over €100 from that build and you're asking for an SSD as well?

Here's without windows/keyboard/harddrive/wifi. You should just about squeeze 1080p out of it for BF4.

Item|Price
Total build cost: €490.20 + €11.99 shipping
Intel Pentium G3258 Anniversary Edition Box, 1150|€60.60
BenQ GL2250HM|€99.00
LiteOn iHAS124-04 schwarz SATA|€13.99
ASUS H81-Plus, Sockel 1150, ATX|€59.84
Corsair Builder Serie CX430 V3 Non-Modular 80+ Bronze, 430 Watt|€39.90
Xigmatek Asgard, ATX, ohne Netzteil, schwarz|€32.91
A-DATA SP900 64GB 6Gb s|€46.96
Sapphire Radeon R7 260X, 1GB GDDR5, DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort, lite retail|€100.21
4GB Kingston ValueRAM PC3-12800U CL11|€36.79


If you want to keep the budget lower, realistically, you're going to have to make some sacrifices. You could do it with an AMD APU, but the detail in Battlefield will have to be turned down - namely the resolution will have to go to 720p.

Item|Price
Total build cost: €465.17 + €11.99 shipping
BenQ GL2250HM|€99.00
LiteOn iHAS124-04 schwarz SATA|€13.99
Corsair Builder Serie CX430 V3 Non-Modular 80+ Bronze, 430 Watt|€39.90
Xigmatek Asgard, ATX, ohne Netzteil, schwarz|€32.91
A-DATA SP900 64GB 6Gb s|€46.96
4GB Kingston ValueRAM PC3-12800U CL11|€36.79
AMD A-Series A10-7850K Box mit AMD Radeon R7 Series Graphics (95W), FM2 +|€147.33
MSI A88XM-E35, FM2+, mATX|€48.29


Again, still a bit too high. You could cut out the DVD drive to save a few and maybe a few more by getting a cheaper case and APU, but you're not going to make up the difference that you're asking for.

Further cut down:

Item|Price
Total build cost: €414.59 + €11.99 shipping
BenQ GL2250HM|€99.00
Corsair Builder Serie CX430 V3 Non-Modular 80+ Bronze, 430 Watt|€39.90
A-DATA SP900 64GB 6Gb s|€46.96
4GB Kingston ValueRAM PC3-12800U CL11|€36.79
MSI A88XM-E35, FM2+, mATX|€48.29
AMD A-Series A10-7700K Box mit AMD Radeon R7 Series Graphics (95W), FM2 +|€120.16
Sharkoon VS3-Value Grün, ohne Netzteil|€23.49

jamesk014

Thanks man for all this help after seeing your recommendations I think I will invest that little bit more to get a decent system and go with your first choice. I have one question about the GPU would a 1Gb be sufficient for most games I've noticed recently in researching pc builds that 2Gb is a more common spec for most I have seen? Other than that I just want to say thanks again I'll be posting again about the build if I have any issues. Thanks

TerrorFirmer

It's best to avoid any APU build in this case, they are OK for some games at modest settings, but for games like Battlefield online, they're too weak to get any sort of decent experience.

Ideally for BF4 you'd want more than 4GB ram, it's entirely doable but it tends to spike.

1GB vram is fine for the moment at 1080p downwards.

Your budget to include an SSD and monitor is pretty tough to tick all the boxes but the first build posted is about as good as you could expect. It's missing a hard drive but if you can take out the one in the external you're grand.

You could also build the core of the PC new and look at buying some other items 2nd hand. You should be able to pick up a decent monitor for 50-60 euro on adverts for example, and that extra 50 would allow you to up the SSD to a 250GB model, which is enough for your OS and a good few games (I have a 250GB SSD and then just a 2tb external).

jamesk014

hi again, after seeing the recomendations i have changed a few things and was hoping i could have someone review them. i would just feel better having someone with more knowledge take a look before i commit.

all items are from aria.co.uk

1. Intel Pentium K Anniversary G3258 Socket LGA1150 Processor - 35.95

2. 430W Corsair Builder Series 430CX 80PLUS Bronze Power Supply - 29.29

3. Asus H81M-PLUS Intel Socket 1150 micro-ATX Motherboard - 33.99

4. 8GB Arianet (1x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz DIMM Memory - 41.99

5. Sapphire Radeon R9 270X Dual-X Boost OC AMD Graphics Card 2GB Graphics Card - 112.99

6. Corsair Carbide Series SPEC-03 RED LED Mid Tower Gaming Case - 37.99

7. BenQ DL2215 22" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black - 64.99

8. SanDisk Pulse 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive - SDSSDP-128G-G25 - 38.33

9. Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit DVD - OEM [GFC-02733] - 57.99

prices are in pounds. an if there is anywhere i can save money you can see and advise please do so. thanks

shamelessidiot

If you're buying Windows you're going to need a USB/SATA to actually load the disc. Have a look at the /r/softwareswap subreddit on reddit, I picked up three Win7 Ultimate keys for just €22. That is if you know how to install Windows from a USB (there are loads of tuts on the internet).

Are you really certain about an SSD? For gaming sure it will give you faster load times, but SSDs are still "luxury" items if you will, and just having a 128GB SSD as your only storage is a bad decision IMO. After a few games, apps and the like it'll be full very quickly. It'll be a pain in the ar*e to keep needing to delete and then reinstall just when you need it. For that price you could get a capable 7200rpm 1TB HDD.

Also, it might be best to get a 9 series (H97, Z97) motherboard just to avoid unnecessary complications with the CPU, you can pick one up for the sort of price your currently chosen one is.

Monotype

shamelessidiot wrote: »

Are you really certain about an SSD? For gaming sure it will give you faster load times, but SSDs are still "luxury" items if you will, and just having a 128GB SSD as your only storage is a bad decision IMO. After a few games, apps and the like it'll be full very quickly. It'll be a pain in the ar*e to keep needing to delete and then reinstall just when you need it. For that price you could get a capable 7200rpm 1TB HDD.

He mentioned earlier he has a spare HDD.


That build is looking better. I had a 270X originally in the cart but it had to go to keep cost lower.
I suppose if I was to switch something, maybe go for 2x4GB stick of RAM unless it's vastly more.

jamesk014

shamelessidiot wrote: »

Also, it might be best to get a 9 series (H97, Z97) motherboard just to avoid unnecessary complications with the CPU, you can pick one up for the sort of price your currently chosen one is.

Thanks for opinion firstly I mentioned earlyier that I had a 500 gb hard drive which I will use for storage the ssd would be for OS and most used game or games. But thank you for the input secondly why is it that you recommend a different motherboard ? What kind of complications could their be between my choosen cpu and motherboard?

jamesk014

Monotype wrote: »

I suppose if I was to switch something, maybe go for 2x4GB stick of RAM unless it's vastly more.

Thanks for the help. I think it would be possible to get the 2x4gb of RAM for a few Euro more but can I ask will switching from a single 8gb to 2 x 4gb really make that much of a difference?

Monotype

Not really a big difference. It just means that you can run them in dual channel. It has very little impact on games. Things like transcoding and compression can see a little improvement.