€650 rig for work and play

CD8ED

What is your budget? €650ish

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? Mainly gaming, the Witcher, War Thunder, Hero's and Generals, BF4, etc...and will also be running SQL, Visual Studio and maybe Android Studio for some development.

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? Yes

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? No, I'm upgrading from a laptop that I want to keep on the go

5. Do you need a monitor? No thanks

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? Keyboard and Mouse

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? I'd like to avoid it

8. How can you pay? Any

9. When are you purchasing? ASAP

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? Dublin, I'm a noob, but I'd like to tackle it myself. Have back up if I fail badly :pac:


I'd like to go Intel and possibly get a GTX960 if the budget allows, but really as long as it runs games at 1080 and 60ish fps I'd be more than happy. If an SSD pushes me over budget I can omit it and add it at a later date.

Thanks in advance, I appreciate your time

Digital Solitude

i5 4460 €180
H81M board 50
1tb HDD 50
500w PSU 60
case 50
8gb RAM 50
Second hand R9 290 €200
Total 650

Can drop GPU down if wanted to add SDD. 290 is leagues ahead of a 960

TerrorFirmer

€200 for a R9 290 is ambitious, most of the ones selling in the low 200's range are reference models, which I wouldn't take if they were €100. You have no idea how loud they are, it's intolerable. Turn on a hairdryer and leave it beside your PC if you want to emulate the experience. If you're buying everything else new, a GTX960 is a good bet, or else you could look at the GTX950 which isn't too far behind performance wise with the decent models.

Digital Solitude

I got a Gigabyte 290 for €200 but it was a bargain, maybe €230-240 would be better suited for budget. It's worth it though

CD8ED

Thanks for the recommendation Digital. Terror, I appreciate the input, can ye recommend where to buy from? I know that hardwareeversand place is insolvent.

Also my head is melted with all the different models of GPUs and cases. I've no idea what model I should be getting, only that some come overclocked (I think). Should I avoid these?

Many thanks to both of ye!

Digital Solitude

MSI, Gigabyte, Sapphire, EVGA are all fine GPUs, stay away from Reference Cards, Powercolour and VTX3D anyways.

Look at BitFenix cases

Gumbi

Powercolor are fine AFAIK. The do on of the best 390 models out there.

Gehad_JoyRider

You could always picka amd 7950 ive got one and im getting 60fps in gta v with High to very high settings its a fine card with great drivers.

CD8ED

Thanks for all the suggestions. Can anyone see anyone see a problem with the following build?:

CPU: i5 4690 €220
Mobo: H81M board €48
GPU: GTX 970 €320 (I know.....I can't bring myself not to get it)
RAM: 8GB Corsair €48
PSU: 500w Corsair VS €36
HDD: 1TB Seagate €46
Total: €718 from mindfactory

Haven't included a case or keyboard, so yeah, the budget is looking a bit sad right now

Just want to make sure I'll be using each component to its max potential.

Also, if I order this do I have a working computer? Like I said I've no idea (I know I need a case, monitor and keyboard)

Finally, do I need that thermal paste stuff?

Thanks again for all the help

Ant695

CD8ED wrote: »

Thanks for all the suggestions. Can anyone see anyone see a problem with the following build?:

CPU: i5 4690 €220
Mobo: H81M board €48
GPU: GTX 970 €320 (I know.....I can't bring myself not to get it)
RAM: 8GB Corsair €48
PSU: 500w Corsair VS €36
HDD: 1TB Seagate €46
Total: €718 from mindfactory

Haven't included a case or keyboard, so yeah, the budget is looking a bit sad right now

Just want to make sure I'll be using each component to its max potential.

Also, if I order this do I have a working computer? Like I said I've no idea (I know I need a case, monitor and keyboard)

Finally, do I need that thermal paste stuff?

Thanks again for all the help

Apart from an operating system to install yes you would have a working pc. You could assemble those parts on motherboard box and connect to a monitor/tv and you would have a pc.

Thermal paste should be preapplied on the cpu so you should need any.

Xenoronin

Can't see any issue. Don't need thermal paste, the heatsink comes with it pre-applied. Only need that for aftermarket heatsinks, or if you are picky about the pre-applied stuff.

CD8ED

Thanks everyone, all your help is very much appreciated! :cool:

MRTULES

Just a few thoughts;
I don't think (always open to correction) the 45 euro extra for that CPU over the 4460 is money well spent. Could be some savings there.
I would try not to skimp on the PSU either and while corsair is highly recommend as a manufacturer, that vs series is the budget line. Maybe an extra 10 or 15 might be well spent here. While you may change GPUs, CPUs, mobos and ram, you may well keep a PSU for your next build?
Lastly, with a budget already surpassing the 700 mark, I would consider not having an ssd as criminal. Depending on your storage requirements, I would nearly swap the 1Tb HDD for a 120 gig ssd and add a HDD later.
I know 2 out of 3 of my suggestions are looking to increase your speand and you haven't even got a case yet not to mention operating system or keyboard/mouse. But I'm not sure it is a budget build if your sticking that GPU in. You will have a pretty savage machine.
On a side note, maybe someone else could chime in on, is there any case here for a Xeon over an i5 considering some of the other uses than gaming?

CD8ED

Thanks Mrtules, some very good advice there. I'm going to have a proper look at this in the morning. I was in the sticks at the weekend so no internet worth talking about.

And fair point about the ssd, I can use the laptop until I get a HDD. I'll upgrade the PSU too from the one I had planned.

Thanks for the info, more research required in the morning!

CD8ED

Anyone know why this case is so cheap? Seems like it should cost ~$100

http://www.adverts.ie/7091917

Is it a knock off or am I missing something here?

Ant695

CD8ED wrote: »

Anyone know why this case is so cheap? Seems like it should cost ~$100

http://www.adverts.ie/7091917

Is it a knock off or am I missing something here?

I can't see any reason that he would be selling at that price as he seems to be selling more than one as well unless he got a really good deal on a job lot of them from a store closing or something along those lines. 5 of them at €20 just about covers what one would cost so he must have paid alot less to sell at that price and make a profit.

CD8ED

Ant695 wrote: »

I can't see any reason that he would be selling at that price as he seems to be selling more than one as well unless he got a really good deal on a job lot of them from a store closing or something along those lines. 5 of them at €20 just about covers what one would cost so he must have paid alot less to sell at that price and make a profit.

Yeah that's what I was thinking. Anyway I'm gonna throw €20 at it, either a great bargain or the price of a few pints. I'll post back here and let people know what I think. Cheers Ant

Ant695

CD8ED wrote: »

Yeah that's what I was thinking. Anyway I'm gonna throw €20 at it, either a great bargain or the price of a few pints. I'll post back here and let people know what I think. Cheers Ant

Yeah sure if it turns out it's all above board then it's a bargain and if not it's not that big a risk.

CD8ED

Well after alotta research I took the plunge. I'll keep this thread updated. Thanks everyone for your help.