Trying to help my friend build a budget gaming PC

[Paradime]

Hello, one of my friends, who before used to only have laptops, decided to get a desktop PC. As we are students (and therefore obviously not swimming in money) he asked me to help build a budget gaming PC. Here are the parts we picked together. However, I feel like we lack in knowledge about hardware, to really get the best for the money. So I ask, to help us get the best value for the money by suggesting what parts to pick/change that You feel would be a more logical choice.

As my friend is not based in UK, I cannot give a specific budget, but it's around somewhere we already picked (£500-£550). The UK prices are approximately the closest to what he can get.

Thank You very much in advance for any responds!


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4430 3.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£131.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock H87 Pro4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£64.85 @ Dabs)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£62.13 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£42.98 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 660 2GB Video Card (£158.99 @ Ebuyer)
Case: Cooler Master K280 ATX Mid Tower Case (£31.98 @ Ebuyer)
Other: PSU Cooler Master ATX GX 650W 80Plus single 12V rail (£64.00)
Total: £556.92

 

[frozentundra123456]

Hello, one of my friends, who before used to only have laptops, decided to get a desktop PC. As we are students (and therefore obviously not swimming in money) he asked me to help build a budget gaming PC. Here are the parts we picked together. However, I feel like we lack in knowledge about hardware, to really get the best for the money. So I ask, to help us get the best value for the money by suggesting what parts to pick/change that You feel would be a more logical choice.

As my friend is not based in UK, I cannot give a specific budget, but it's around somewhere we already picked (£500-£550). The UK prices are approximately the closest to what he can get.

Thank You very much in advance for any responds!


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4430 3.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£131.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock H87 Pro4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£64.85 @ Dabs)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£62.13 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£42.98 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 660 2GB Video Card (£158.99 @ Ebuyer)
Case: Cooler Master K280 ATX Mid Tower Case (£31.98 @ Ebuyer)
Other: PSU Cooler Master ATX GX 650W 80Plus single 12V rail (£64.00)
Total: £556.92

Only thing I might suggest is if you can find a better deal on the video card. I havent checked recently, but prices have been exceptionally good on AMD cards. Possibly something like HD7870 with similar performance could be found for cheaper, or for the same price maybe a 7950 which is faster.

 

[mfenn]

You're obviously not going to get a super high-end PSU on your budget, but I think that you can do better than a CM GX. This Antec HCG 520W is a Seasonic built PSU for £56.

As for the GPU, I agree with frozentundra that you can do a little better. AMD is clearing out the 7950, so you can get one for £162

 

[Paradime]

Thanks for the replies.

Unfortunately, AMD 7950 still costs around £240 in his country (while the GTX660 is around £130 - £140), so it's way too expensive for the current budget. What would You think be an AMD equivalent of GTX660, HD7870 maybe?

You're obviously not going to get a super high-end PSU on your budget, but I think that you can do better than a CM GX. This Antec HCG 520W is a Seasonic built PSU for £56.

I was looking for the cheapest single rail PSU, with enough wattage. I'll look into a better one, like that Antec, thanks.

 

[Little n00b]

Video Card:[/B] Asus GeForce GTX 660 2GB Video Card (£158.99 @ Ebuyer)

Yeah.. Just buy a GTX Titan, Radeon R9 290X UBER Overclock or a GTX 780ti.

Your GPU probably will be laggy on Low Settings in Minecraft.




Another thread crap. Stop with the ridiculous posts.

This is not that sort of forum where you get to come in and post whatever pops into your brain at that moment. Speak to the topic or don't post at all.


esquared
Anandtech Forum Director

 

[Paradime]

Yeah.. Just buy a GTX Titan, Radeon R9 290X UBER Overclock or a GTX 780ti.

Your GPU probably will be laggy on Low Settings in Minecraft.

Do You think 660 is an overkill for this build? This particular Asus GeForce GTX660 is for around £130 - £140 (keep in mind that some of the prices are different than in UK). While AMD HD7870 is around £160 - £170, I see no other similar alternative.
The AMD HD7850 is around £120 - £130 (which is similar to GTX660 in price), but I'd think the GTX660 would still have higher money/performance ratio.

What would You recommend?

 

[RayTheKing]

Do You think 660 is an overkill for this build? This particular Asus GeForce GTX660 is for around £130 - £140 (keep in mind that some of the prices are different than in UK). While AMD HD7870 is around £160 - £170, I see no other similar alternative.
The AMD HD7850 is around £120 - £130 (which is similar to GTX660 in price), but I'd think the GTX660 would still have higher money/performance ratio.

What would You recommend?

He's trollling. Just ignore him.

A GTX 660 is a great choice. Too bad the HD 7950 prices over there are as bad as they are here.


BTW: ASUS cards are great for overclocking. Even though it looks like you aren't interested in OCing, a H87 board does have some GPU overclocking capabilities. All you really have to do is drag a few sliders around, and you'll get a decent boost in games.

 

[Torn Mind]

He's trollling. Just ignore him.

A GTX 660 is a great choice. Too bad the HD 7950 prices over there are as bad as they are here.


BTW: ASUS cards are great for overclocking. Even though it looks like you aren't interested in OCing, a H87 board does have some GPU overclocking capabilities. All you really have to do is drag a few sliders around, and you'll get a decent boost in games.

I always thought that GPU overclocking was done through software within the OS(Windows) and hence can be done on any board that accepts them.

 

[RayTheKing]

I always thought that GPU overclocking was done through software within the OS(Windows) and hence can be done on any board that accepts them.

Welp, you're completely correct! And here I thought that a B81 board would implode into a black hole if someone tried to slide up a few MHz.

 

[mfenn]

Thanks for the replies.

Unfortunately, AMD 7950 still costs around £240 in his country (while the GTX660 is around £130 - £140), so it's way too expensive for the current budget. What would You think be an AMD equivalent of GTX660, HD7870 maybe?

I was looking for the cheapest single rail PSU, with enough wattage. I'll look into a better one, like that Antec, thanks.

If we can't see a price list, we can't really give advice beyond, "that looks OK I guess?". Can you get (or link) me the lowest price of each of these GPUs:

GTX 650 Ti
GTX 660
GTX 660 Ti
GTX 760
7850 2GB
7870 2GB
7950 3GB
R9 270X