Budget gaming build help.

[Gdog96]

Hi guys, I am building my friend a PC with a budget of £380-£400 max. The build will be a gaming PC that he wants to play most games on (obviously not highest settings or resolution), but he wants to PLAY most games.

I need some help thinking of components though.

So far I have thought of this:
CPU: AMD A10 5800K
GPU: AMD 7750/7770.....use this in hybrid crossfire with the APU?
RAM: 4 gigs of some corsiar stuff 1333MHZ

The rest doesnt really matter in terms of gaming performance. Do you think this will be ok for what he wants? Is there anything I should do differently?

Is it right that APUs work better if they have higher frequency ram? If so is it worth buying some 1866 mhz? Or will the performance upgrade not really be noticeable?

Thanks

 

[ShaZZa]

well you've got some of the parts, but with that budget limit you're already maxed out.
Are the other parts already purchased?
You still need -
Motherboard
Case
Hard drive/s
OS
Monitor
keyboard + mouse
Speakers

 

[Gdog96]

I haven't purchased anything yet. I have an idea of what other parts I'm going to buy, they are just generic things of which I found the cheapest, I just listed the parts that effect gaming performance to see if they would run games well.

 

[doctorrg]

CPU: AMD A10 5800K

Then again, the A10-6800K (shouldn't be too far off now, or?) would be even better for gaming, slight increase in CPU performance and apparently quite the boost in GPU performance, 20+% to the 5800K (if you can trust the preliminary reviews). I mean, if you care about the onboard GPU.

GPU: AMD 7750/7770.....use this in hybrid crossfire with the APU?

You can't crossfire the GPU with that card, only with the 6670, and the GPU crossfired with the 6670 isn't that much better than the GPU by itself, not worth it to crossfire. Just using the 7750/7770 would be heaps better than to crossfire the GPU. Then again, if it's a budget build... maybe, just maybe, the GPU by itself wouldn't be all too bad? You can always buy the card later, if you don't like the bad framerates.

RAM: 4 gigs of some corsiar stuff 1333MHZ

Is it right that APUs work better if they have higher frequency ram? If so is it worth buying some 1866 mhz? Or will the performance upgrade not really be noticeable?

You've heard right. Getting faster RAM makes a noticable difference in GPU performance. If you've got a dedicated graphics card with its own memory, that's a different story.

If I did a budget build, I'd likely skip the dedicated graphics for now. I'd get a decent motherboard with lots of overclocking features, the fastest onboard GPU (I'd wait for the A10-6800K), nice fast RAM, all the other components I'd still need, and then I'd overclock as much as stability allows, particularly the GPU. Then I'd enjoy my new build, while I'd start saving up for a decent graphics card.

Edit: That said, I'm sure someone will soon say that the graphics card is the single most important part of a gaming system.

 

[RX-7_FD3S]

If you include the monitor 400£ is not that much. Here's a config without monitor :

Case : NZXT Source Elite 210 Noir
Alim : LDLC BG-400
MB : MSI B75A-G43
CPU : Intel Core i3-3220
CPU Cooler : Include with the i3
Ram : G.Skill RipJaws X 2x2 Go DDR3-1600 CL9
GPU : MSI Radeon HD 7770 1 Go
HD : Seagate 7200.14 1 To
DVD drive : Samsung SH-224BB Noir

You should be able to get this for around 400 £ and that's the minimum I can see for a gaming pc. You could check 2nd hands part for stuff like the graphic card and the monitor to make it a bit cheaper.

 

[djinline]

It's better to get 1866MHz RAM for gaming, here's an example. I also suggest to go straight to an A85X chipset motherboard with the A10-5800K.

AMD lists Radeon HD 6670 as the best GPU for Hybrid CrossFireX on FM2 APUs, but I think adding a discrete GPU to the shopping list will break the budget and it would be wiser to use the 7660D for a while and buy a much better GPU later on.

But anyway, your friend can get an APU-based gaming computer for under £400, no probs there.

 

[Gdog96]

Problem is my friend can't save up for a GPU later on, he wants the whole system now and the GPU has to come under the £400 budget. He also needs it this month, so I can't wait for the A10 6800K..

Thanks for the replies by the way.

Seeing as I can't do hybrid crossfire with the GPUs I suggested, do you think it is worth buying an AMD FX 6300 instead of the 5800K? This would allow me to save a bit of money on the motherboard and spend it on the GPU, although not much money would be saved here. The 6300 and the 5800K are basically the same price. And how would the 6300 compare to the i3 that RX7 suggested in terms of gaming?

 

[DQuaN]

This plus this plus this plus this plus this plus this = £400.90 👍

 

[Joel]

My biggest advice would be regardless of budget, do not buy a cheap PSU. Saving $10 bucks on a PSU could mean everything getting fried


You can buy inexpensive PSU's, but not cheap ones. There's a big difference.

 

[12thgear]

My biggest advice would be regardless of budget, do not buy a cheap PSU. Saving $10 bucks on a PSU could mean everything getting fried


You can buy inexpensive PSU's, but not cheap ones. There's a big difference.

Agree 100% It is a critical component in the system. A good PSU will its rated power cleanly, stably, and efficiently. A bad one? Well:

"Hey, if you want me to take a dump in a box and mark it guaranteed, I will."

A new low.

 

[Gdog96]

I plan to get an Antec PSU, they are reputable right? Also, thanks for the help DQuaN, seeing as I can't do hrybrid crossfire, would I get any benefit from using an APU compared to an FX 6300? They are basically the same price where I am..

 

[12thgear]

Antec is a pretty reputable company and their products tend to review well. I've had good luck with their Earthwatts PSUs. Keep in mind, just as important is who actually manufactures the power supply. It's why I lately have been buying Seasonic branded PSUs, as they're also one of the top tier OEMs.

Tom's published an exhaustive overview of the major players in the PSU game.

If you're curious, this page shows who makes Antec's various PSUs. You can see they use five different OEMs. It also may explain why the Earthwatts 380 I've used in low power builds has gotten raves, and maybe why some other models sometimes have higher failure rates.

And JonnyGURU has entertaining and informative PSU reviews, complete with teardowns, so you can see how the PSUs are built and often discover the OEM.

 

[Gdog96]

Thanks for the links, I will take a look.

 

[djinline]

I suggest this, it's based on the Seasonic S12-II so it's a good PSU. 105°C Japanese capacitors, 80+ Bronze, 5 years of warranty etc. 👍

 

[Jump_Ace]

This plus this plus this plus this plus this plus this = £400.90 👍

Awesome links, nice work 👍


Jerome