Building to a budget - My first build

[Mount&Games]

Hi, looking to put together a budget gaming pc that can be upgraded over time - a project.
Needs to be able to run Mass Effect 3 on high to max settings, as well as ME1&2 with the new HD mods, which unfortunately require texmod. Im not an fps junkie, im much more interested in solid picture and sound. Ive been squeezing absolute max settings on ME1 and 2 out of a Dell laptop for goodness sake, so im obviously not concerned about having buttery smooth framerate! Still, both games have always ran nicely on here so i dont expect i need bleeding edge kit to play the trilogy in all it's glory.
My budget for getting started is about £650, plus £150 for the monitor. Mouse and keyboard are all operational, no need to buy new anytime soon. Seeing as this laptop came without a win7 cd im assuming im going to need to buy it new, which is a disappointment.
Case - Antec 300 (£45)
Case Fans - 2 Sharkoon Silent Eagles (£17)
Motherboard - Gigabyte XKT-1155 (£80)
CPU - Intel i3 2120 (£100)
CPU cooler - Corsair A50
RAM - 8gb Corsair 1333 (or 1600 if its still on sale when i buy) (£35)
GPU - Radeon HD 6870 (£120)
HDD - Seagate 1TB (£90)
DVD Drive - LG DVD writer (£20)
Wireless - Linksys WMP 600N (£40)
Power - Antec EarthWatts 650W (£75)
OS - Win7 (£70)

Total of exact costs = £701.
This is a little outside my budget, although since it includes free shipping and all VAT paid, its not too bad. I should be able to squeeze to it.

In the next couple years i plan to upgrade cpu to i5 2400 (hopefully prices go down when next generation of cpus are released), possibly upgrade the GPU to a Radeon HD 6950 or nvidia's GTX 560 Ti, or whatever else fits my price range in a year or two's time. Ill hopefully add in a sound card at some point. With any luck the RAM, motherboard and power should be future proof... are they? And would i be able to transfer it to a different case in the more distant future?

So is that rig compatible? will it fit the bill for what i would like from a pc? Did i forget anything?

Final question - £150 to spend on a monitor, roughly 20", im in a small college dorm, but not bothered if it takes up most desk space. Needs to be adjustable and look good from 2-3 metres away, as ill probably set it up so i can relax on the far side of the room. What would be a recommended purchase? If it comes in under £120 thats a bonus as im going over on the pc.

Cheers all. Ill stop talking now

 

[manu2b]

I'd "shave" on some components and get a 2500k.
Get a £10 wireless card, it will do the job.
Get only one fan for the side.

It's already £40 saved.

You could maybe get a decent second hand graphic card for £80/£90 like this one:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VTX-AMD-6...raphics_Video_TV_Cards_TW&hash=item3f132beadc

And you're good to grab a 2500k!

 

[Mount&Games]

Okay cheers mate sounds like a plan, reckon im justified going for 650W or would a lower wattage do? assuming upgrades of course. And would i see a real difference between an i5 2500K and a 2400? I dont plan on overclocking but, you're the experts. You tell me

 

[manu2b]

The thing is that you can bring it to4.5 GHz with your cooler in... 3 mins!
Which means that your CPU will last longer before needing an upgrade.

If you don't plan on doing xfire/sli, a 550w is good enough. However, better going for a 750w (2500k overclocked sucks around 120w, and a high end graphic card between 200 and 300w, you add 50w max for hdd, fans, MoBo...).

 

[Mount&Games]

Okay brilliant. I can see the price quickly going up with the changes you suggest... but i understand, this is a big moment in some ways, with luck this system will last as an ongoing project for a loong time. The 2500K sounds good if i dont have to pay anyone to do it... will i be able to get help on the forums? And i agree id rather get a future proof psu. I think ill have to hold back on this until summer or thereabouts... which is a huge bummer really. Ill have a look into finances, there's still several ways i could feasibly stretch the budget, but cant go above £800 now. I may have to exert ultimate self control and wait on the funds to get this rig... even once my preordered me3 is sat on the shelf tempting me! but this laptop cant do it justice, and id rather shell out for a decent rig.

In a disturbing twist, ive found that radeon cards react very badly with texmod, a program i use fairly often to replace textures in games, for example the previously mentioned HD mass effect mods, and many others for other games. I know its petty, but i game on pc for mods, as well as the performance. So what graphics card should i be looking at, budget and requirements taken into account? can i get a decent nvidia card in my budget, or will i have to save until summer/autumn? what kind of card should i be looking at with the cpu uve recommended to get the results id like? Should i look at older high end models?

In fairness, by summer ill have 8 weeks with a HDTV and bugger all to do. The joys of being a student. And if i buy then i can probably skip on the monitor and use that cash for a better rig, and save for a monitor through the summer.

 

[Theocnoob]

If you build after April check back as the suggested parts on the Intel side will be different due to a new CPU line release

 

[Mount&Games]

Any idea what changes are being made in the new intel cpu line? will it make sense to take advantage of (presumably) lower prices on the sandy bridge cpus or are the new one's going to be worth it? I read somewhere that the 2012 line will be more efficient.... all well and good but college can pay for my internet, thanks very much. Im a terrible human being. The plan is still an ASAP purchase and build, some good offers on amazon uk at the moment. But i do think manu2b's suggestion of an i5 2500k is too tempting to pass up... just need an expert opinion on how much i can cut back on my first gpu.

Aha - What about a Geforce 9800GT? old, but eminently affordable. If i prioritise that as an upgrade in 2013 or late 2012, while putting the saving into an i5 2500k... does that sound like a good idea??

 

[manu2b]

So, two things to come Q2:
- From Intel, IvyBridge processors (April), which, in few word are die shrinked sandybridges. They should launch within the actual SB price range, be something like performing 5/10% better and have a lower power consumption (TDP) of 77w instead of 95w.
- From nVidia: next gen card (Kepler), likely during Q2. The only numbers we've heard about them are rumours.

As it seems that you are not in a hurry and that your budget is not that "expandable", I'd say it's worth the wait until April as next gen CPU's/GPU's will sell at the current CPU/GPU prices in the same performance segment and current ones will see their prices drop.

 

[Mount&Games]

Okay that seems like a grand idea, i can happily hold out til april if it means getting a better and/or cheaper rig. My budget should be a bit more expandable in a few months time so in fact by april/may there's a chance i could put in another £100, and therefore either by a brand new cpu or gpu, or a higher model in the current lines.

My question remains - for £90, or just over £100 for a gtx version, is the geforce 9800 a worthy graphics card in the modern day?

 

[Mjolnir]

No. Get a better card. I believe in knufires words..

If you're going to buy in parts, buy the CPU, mobo and gpu last.

A HD6870 thrashs' a 9800.. and is £20 more in this instance..

 

[manu2b]

No. Get a better card. I believe in knufires words..

If you're going to buy in parts, buy the CPU, mobo and gpu last.

A HD6870 thrashs' a 9800.. and is £20 more in this instance..

Agreed.

 

[Mount&Games]

Okay fair enough, you reckon i should start buying up parts now or buy in one batch?

The 1600MHZ 8gb ram from corsair is currently as cheap on amazon uk as the 1333 ram, should i snap that up while the offer lasts? or is the difference too minor?

Any nvidia cards in the same price range as the 6870? or is that really my best/only option at that level? what would i be looking at for about £30 more (around £140/150)?

EDIT: Antec EarthWatts 750W for £100? worth it, or better to wait and hope i can get it cheaper elsewhere? or any better models i could get for similar prices or cheaper?

 

[Mjolnir]

Buy in one batch. Just wait until you buy your entire system.. I see little reason to buy in parts unless you know you can't save money in bulk like that.

Remember prices and tech changes constantly.. In April; your entire build could not only cost less; but perform better. We just don't know. I would say hold your money for now completely if you are happy to wait.

 

[Mount&Games]

Okay will do. Ill come back to this thread at some point in late march or april, and see what my budget is then, if you folks will be alright to point out whats changed by then. In the meantime ill just save as much cash as i can and try to find a buyer for this laptop, fairly certain i have one though. Cheers all.

 

[manu2b]

Speak again soon then!

 

[Mount&Games]

Okay despite what i said before, this looks like an absolute steal. Ill do the maths for you, for all the pieces im buying (NOT mouse, keyboard, monitor, possibly not headphones, and if i buy the 750W version of the psu they use (they chose 650W)), its £633.28 at the moment. Thats a gtx 560ti and a i5 2500K, and a (cheap) sound card, thats a big improvement on what i was looking at buying. Still, am i right in thinking id probably need to invest another £50 or so in cooling for this system? the case theyve chosen has only one built in fan and theyre using stock cpu cooling.
I can either try to scrape together the money in the next few weeks and buy this while prices remain the same (this build should be updated again every couple weeks so i can hopefully make sure im buying as cheap parts as possible at the time i buy).
Alternatively, im more than open to any further recommendations you guys have, considering that if i hold out to mid march im reckoning on a budget of at least £750, maybe even up to £900-950 if im very careful and lucky. Or is it really worth waiting a few months for the new releases from intel and nvidia? Im still happy to wait... but of course if this IS a good deal id love to get a decent pc sooner rather than later. But ill leave it to you guys to decide whats the best move at this point. Next week or in a fortnight i may have a budget approaching £650, just enough to buy this rig. In mid march i may be able to stretch to between £700 and £800, and by mid april id like to think it may be approaching £950-1000, but more likely around £800-850 as unexpected costs will come up in life.... but its not guaranteed, and on my low budget saving cash is easier said than done. Still, ive cut back to minimum spending and reckon i can make these targets if im careful.
It ultimately depends on how much i can make selling my laptop and old desktop... Although i wonder if any of the pieces (all bought in 2007) would still be usable. Id like to think the dvd drive is but im pretty sure it wasnt working very well by the end, didnt read alot of disks properly that this laptop has no problem with. 360Gb of HD isnt really enough anymore... and the 8600GT, 2.1/2.3 (cant remember exactly) GHz cpu, and 2Gb RAM are all more or less useless now. If i can make over £40 for the system it'll be a big bonus to my budget, and reckoning on flogging this laptop for over £300, its still pretty new. Got family who want it, and while i feel bad charging, they wont really be paying me they'll be paying to replace it im an awful human being. Still, ill deal with finances, you guys can be the experts on tech!

 

[manu2b]

Sound card is far from compulsory. You add 2 fans for the case and a Cooler MAster Hyper 212 EVO, and you're good to go.

Nice rig!

 

[Mount&Games]

cheers, will do. i suppose £20s worth of sound card is no different to integrated. Sharkoon Silent Eagle's are supposed to be good value case fans, £14 for two, sound okay?

EDIT Since this uses the 2500K would i be able to get it to 4.5 GHz like you said before? how would i do that? Still, stock i5 isnt a bad cpu at all.

 

[Mjolnir]

With the hyper EVO you'll hit 4.5 no sweat. There's a guide on the forums about overclocking sandy bridge. It's short and basic but covers what you need to know. I'd link it for you but I'm on my phone which requires a lot of effort. Lol.

What motherboard is with that package though? Make sure it's a p67 or z68 board.. pref z68 gen 3 to give you an upgrade path later.

 

[Mount&Games]

Yep
"Motherboard
Gigabyte Z68AP-D3
£77.99/$109.99
Good value for a Z68 board, and fully featured for everything bar dual graphics."
sound alright? fairly future proof?

EDIT Ive just remembered the one feature i need that this rig doesnt have, wifi. Would a PCI card or usb adapter be better? This is campus wide wifi, so not close to the router, but the wifi built into my laptop picks it up easily. Any specific adapters to recommend?