New build help

Kells...

1. What is your budget? [€500-600]

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? Mostly gaming,skyrim,BF4,LoL.

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? No

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? Cooler Master GX Series PSU, 80Plus Bronze - 650 Watt

5. Do you need a monitor? Yes possibly two,but one for sure

5a. If yes, what size do you need. 20-22', not really bothered

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

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

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? Yes

8. How can you pay? [Bank Transfer/Credit Card/Paypal

9. When are you purchasing? in the next week hopefully

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? North Dublin

Kells...

Might get this monitor,any opinions?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-067-AS&groupid=17&catid=949

TerrorFirmer

Just an idea.

I'm not particularly well up on monitors so you can research that independently but at a quick glance, I'd go with something along these lines if it helps you narrow down what you'd like for your 600.

Just realised I included a PSU accidentally so you could put that 35 euro saved towards an SSD for the OS - well worth it, you can get a 32gb one for that money easily.

Idunno442

If your going to overclock, I think the Pentium g3258 overclocked gives similar performance to core i3, and that MSI board should support g3258 overclocking. The Pentium is about €55 after geizhals.de.

Overclocking on the stock cooler with the H81 board may not be the most pleasant noise wise but should work well enough. tomshardware tested overclocking the g3258 on that board/stock cooler and got ~35% performance boost. Also, anandtecch have a forum thread about non-z overclocking boards, on of the posters links to an overclocking bios for the msi board if that was needed (sorry can't post links). Should work fine out of the box though.

You could try a Hyper 212 EVO cooler for the CPU if you wanted to reduce noise/heat. Spending the savings on a cooler might defeat the purpose of saving money with the Pentium though. On the other hand, you would always have the cooler in future if you chose to upgrade.

8GB G.Skill RipJaws-X PC3-12800U CL9 is ~€73 after geizhals. its a single module, but I don't think dual channel makes any appreciable difference when gaming. Advantages of this RAM stick would be CL9 instead of CL11 (for all the difference that will make when gaming, probably none) and as it is a single module it would be easier/cheaper to upgrade in the future to 16GB of RAM (H81M board has 2 DIMM slots). Don't think the change of RAM will make any real difference one way or the other tbh. Alternatively 8GB-Kit Crucial Ballistix Sport Series DDR3-1600, CL9 should cost ~€66 after geizhals.

Really just throwing out some alternative ideas that might be something to think about. The suggested cpu/ram would work out well gaming in the budget.

Don't know anything about monitors so have no input into monitor choice.

Idunno442

Also, from what I gather AMD is launching a new R9 285 tomorrow. I don't know how long it'll be before that's actually in the shops, but the RRP is ~$30 less than the 280 with what seems like very slightly reduced performance. Also it's also meant to use about 10W less power, meaning likely slightly less heat + electricity savings (very small I know but nonetheless something). If what I have read is correct it is based on a new GPU architecture which could have benefits also, and if nothing else the launch of the 285 might see a change in prices for the 280.

Depending on how long it takes for the new card to be on sale, this may not be an option but it could be something to consider.

Edit: R9 285 is 60W less power than R9 280, not 10W. bit of a better difference for what its worth