Quote

Irishder

Hi all,
I got a quote of 650 from a local company to build the following PC:

WD Blue Desktop 1TB SATA III 3.5" Hard Drive
Cooler Master Seidon 120V V2 CPU Liquid Cooler Kit
AMD FX-4300 3.5GHz/4.2 GHz Boost Quad Core (Socket AM3+)
Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 AMD Socket AM3+
HyperX FURY Black 8GB (2x 4GB) 1866MHz DDR3 RAM
EVGA White 500W Power Supply 80 Plus
BitFenix Neos case with side window
Palit NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Graphics Card
Kingston SSDNow V300 2.5" 120GB SATA III SSD[/SIZE]

Do you think this is a fair price? Also it will be for my son who is into minecraft (cant play some mods on his laptop) and is also getting into games like need for speed. Is this a good enough spec, is it somewhat future proof?

Thanks

Sonics2k

Most people here would recommend going with an Intel CPU, such as an i3 or even an i5, over an AMD FX series CPU, as they are considerably better. If possible see if you can get them to go with an Intel CPU and board as it will work out better in the long run.

Aside from that, for the price of a build it's not bad, you're obviously paying a bit of a premium for having someone else build it.

Sonics2k

Most people here would recommend going with an Intel CPU, such as an i3 or even an i5, over an AMD FX series CPU, as they are considerably better. If possible see if you can get them to go with an Intel CPU and board as it will work out better in the long run.

Aside from that, for the price of a build it's not bad, you're obviously paying a bit of a premium for having someone else build it.

TerrorFirmer

If its being built by a company, it's not bad value, but two things.

1) Fx-4300 is a weak processor, best go with Intel i3 (4th gen min) or i5 (2nd gen min), both of which are way faster.

2) watercooling is a waste of money in a budget build, can be far better invested elsewhere

I'm sure they can sort you out with an i5 for the same money if they ditch the water-cooling.

Irishder

Thanks for the replies. To be honest the more i'm reading the more I am thinking about going down the self build route. What would you recommend for the following:


1. What is your budget? €650

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? Gaming. 9 year old son getting into PC gaming. Loves minecraft and starting getting into other games like need for speed etc.

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? No idea basic Dell monitor but would upgrade in the future

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? No

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? Yes

8. How can you pay? Debit Card / Paypal

9. When are you purchasing? no real panic but within the next month

Irishder

Thanks for the replies. To be honest the more i'm reading the more I am thinking about going down the self build route. What would you recommend for the following:


1. What is your budget? €650

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? Gaming. 9 year old son getting into PC gaming. Loves minecraft and starting getting into other games like need for speed etc.

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? No idea basic Dell monitor but would upgrade in the future

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? No

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? Yes

8. How can you pay? Debit Card / Paypal

9. When are you purchasing? no real panic but within the next month

Digital Solitude

€650

1tb HDD €50
8gb RAM €40
Case €40
i5 4460 €170
H81M board €50
400w PSU €50
R9 380 €220
€620 total, should off set delivery and Windows

Drop to an i3 4160 to shave €50 for peripherals if necessary

Irishder

Digital Solitude wrote: »

€650

1tb HDD €50
8gb RAM €40
Case €40
i5 4460 €170
H81M board €50
400w PSU €50
R9 380 €220
€620 total, should off set delivery and Windows

Drop to an i3 4160 to shave €50 for peripherals if necessary

Thanks where is the best place to buy these?

Digital Solitude

Mind factory is pretty good, get the case from amazon

SterlingArcher

Irishder wrote: »

Thanks where is the best place to buy these?

Someone posted a better spec rig in selling personal gear this week. Maybe have a look.

Irishder

This one is actually close to me.

http://www.adverts.ie/desktops/gaming-pc/9769475

Any thoughts?

Irishder

This one is actually close to me.

http://www.adverts.ie/desktops/gaming-pc/9769475

Any thoughts?

Digital Solitude

It's at the very lowest end of what will game today, and won't play too many new games. Id avoid given its age, CPU is too old

*edit Underestimated the i7, see Terrors reply below

TerrorFirmer

Irishder wrote: »

This one is actually close to me.

http://www.adverts.ie/desktops/gaming-pc/9769475

Any thoughts?

It's OK but old, 1st i7 generation from 2009. However at 4.2Ghz it would still be able for the latest games just fine with a good card. That's a lot, lot faster than it's 'stock' speed, so you will have to keep it overclocked.

The 560Ti included will get you by, about the same speed as a GTX750. 6GB ram is fine for now.

Make an offer and see what happens, if you get it sub 300 you're doing pretty well. Add a 200 euro R9 380 and you're golden.

SterlingArcher

Irishder wrote: »

This one is actually close to me.

http://www.adverts.ie/desktops/gaming-pc/9769475

Any thoughts?

Yeah my own personal ones. I wouldn't. Seller doesn't even look reliable never mind the equipment.
Put up where you would be willing to go to or any more you come across.

Irishder

SterlingArcher wrote: »

Yeah my own personal ones. I wouldn't. Seller doesn't even look reliable never mind the equipment.
Put up where you would be willing to go to or any more you come across.

Im in Waterford so anywhere around the south east. Carlow also, i have a sister in law there. Budget is flexible anywhere up to 700.

Thanks

SterlingArcher

http://touch.adverts.ie/desktops/high-end-gaming-pc/9511720#page-top

That's not a bad one and seller seems decent . GPU is not amazing. Still. You could build a new one for 700 and outdo it.

RoyalMarine

700 would build a very nice morden pc. taking digital's post earlier, you could add a solid state drive to it and it would be great.

Irishder

How does this look?

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/vgm6YJ

Are there cheaper places to buy rather then those quoted above?

Am i better off getting 1 stick of 8GB ram rather then 2 x 4GB

Thanks

Irishder

How does this look?

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/vgm6YJ

Are there cheaper places to buy rather then those quoted above?

Am i better off getting 1 stick of 8GB ram rather then 2 x 4GB

Thanks

Digital Solitude

Looks good to me. Mind factory is normally cheapest

Irishder

Any Thoughts on this?

http://www.adverts.ie/desktops/custom-build-gaming-pc-i5-4750-watercooled-msi-gtx960/9972634

TerrorFirmer

Great value assuming it comes with 8GB ram, decent hard drive/power supply etc, but the general setup seems good.

Strange motives though. 'Selling to move to AMD instead of Intel'.....the CPU in that machine is way faster than AMD's top of the line processor.

Irishder

Looks like I got it for 535, is that too good to be true?

TerrorFirmer

Fantastic deal assuming it all works OK!