£500-£600 Gaming Build

NiallFH

Hi guys, Im putting together a PC build for a friend I game with, a group of us have started to play BFBC2 and his computer cant handle it so he wants to buy a new one. He is fairly casual so around £550 is an ideal price.

Would also hope for it to run the new Battlefield, I imagine what I have put together wont do it on max but low to medium I hope.

Anyway, id like to get some opinions, is this build worth the money and are there any parts I should sub out?

Budget Range: (£500-£600)

Build:

CPU:
Intel i3-2100
http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=41220&agid=1617&pcconfAddUri=pcconfigurator.jsp%3FpcConfigurator.cpu.cpu.0%3D41220%3A1001&pcconfBackUri=pcconfselect.jsp?pcConfigurator.catid=0&pcConfigurator.maid=0&search.sKey=

Mobo:
MSI H67MA-E35 (B3), Intel H67, mATX, DDR3
http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=44937&agid=1603&pcconfAddUri=pcconfigurator.jsp%3FpcConfigurator.mainboard.mainboard.0%3D44937%3A2001&pcconfBackUri=pcconfselect.jsp?pcConfigurator.catid=1&pcConfigurator.maid=0&search.sKey=

Graphics Card:
Powercolor HD6870 1024MB Dual-DVI/HD1M2I5
http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=39510&agid=1004&pcconfAddUri=pcconfigurator.jsp%3FpcConfigurator.vga.vga.0%3D39510%3A3007&pcconfBackUri=pcconfselect.jsp?pcConfigurator.catid=6&pcConfigurator.maid=0&search.sKey=

Case:
Revoltec Sixty 1 schwarz, ATX, ohne Netzteil
http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=24811&agid=631&pcconfAddUri=pcconfigurator.jsp%3FpcConfigurator.pccasewopa.pccasewopa.0%3D24811%3A3004&pcconfBackUri=pcconfselect.jsp?pcConfigurator.catid=43&pcConfigurator.maid=0&search.sKey=&rp=1

PSU:
Corsair GS Series, 700 Watt
http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=48787&agid=1629&pcconfAddUri=pcconfigurator.jsp%3FpcConfigurator.pwradaptor.pwradaptor.0%3D48787%3A3005&pcconfBackUri=pcconfselect.jsp?pcConfigurator.catid=44&pcConfigurator.maid=0&search.sKey=

HDD:
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1000GB, SATA II (HD103SJ)
http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=28152&agid=689&pcconfAddUri=pcconfigurator.jsp%3FpcConfigurator.satahdd1.satahdd1.0%3D28152%3A4008&pcconfBackUri=pcconfselect.jsp?pcConfigurator.catid=41&pcConfigurator.maid=0&search.sKey=

DVD Drive:
ASUS DRW-24B3ST Bulk SATA schwarz
http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=42993&agid=699&pcconfAddUri=pcconfigurator.jsp%3FpcConfigurator.satadvdwriter.satadvdwriter.0%3D42993%3A4011&pcconfBackUri=pcconfselect.jsp?pcConfigurator.catid=54&pcConfigurator.maid=0&search.reset=1&search.sKey=

RAM:
8GB-Kit Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 MHz CL9
http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=40701&agid=1193&pcconfAddUri=pcconfigurator.jsp%3FpcConfigurator.ram.ram.0%3D40701%3A3002&pcconfBackUri=pcconfselect.jsp?pcConfigurator.catid=3&pcConfigurator.maid=0&search.sKey=&rp=1

Any help/tips are much appreciated, thanks in advance.

Monotype

Is that pounds sterling or just that you didn't have a € symbol?

NiallFH

Its Sterling, the friend lives in Scotland ^^

NiallFH

£550 is around €630 I would say.

Sorry if this double posts it doesnt let me edit

Monotype

That's a decent enough budget to use. You could fit the 2500K in for that much. I think that you should get something more than a dual core for games now anyway.


Item|Price
Total build cost: €618.65 + €30 shipping
LiteOn iHAS122-18 schwarz SATA|€16.94
Powercolor HD6870 1024MB Dual-DVI/HD1M2I5|€155.68
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 550W|€52.00
Revoltec Sixty 1 schwarz, ATX, ohne Netzteil|€35.69
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1000GB, SATA II (HD103SJ)|€49.34
Intel Core i5-2500K Box, LGA1155|€187.64
ASRock P67 Pro3 (B3), Sockel 1155, ATX|€86.69
8GB-Kit G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9|€34.67


PSU was a bit much, even for a few upgrades. I switched the RAM for a cheaper one as you won't see much difference, but you could get something like this if you fancy something more elaborate.
http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=44319
Maybe a slight board upgrade too to a Z68 board?
http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=46922

NiallFH

I forgot to mention, windows 7 has to be bought within that budget which is about £70-£80, blows the i5 plan out the window. (Giving his current PC to family)

Thanks for the reply though, ill pass it to him and see if he wants to push that bit extra for a better comp.

Monotype

OK, you could get a 2400 and a H61 or H67 board so to save some money.
The 2500K is well worth the money given that you can overclock so easily. This would give the system a very long life with maybe a few graphics upgrades to keep it in line. A 2400 still gives a lot of power and from a gaming point of view, it's plenty as many games rely more heavily on the graphics card.

If the friend is a student/goes to school/has kids going to school, he should check to see if there are any available discounts on windows. For example, www.software4students.ie has Win 7 Pro for €45, but given that the system isn't for yourself, you probably wouldn't be legally supposed to use a license that you bought from there.

NiallFH

Ok man, thanks, im going to get speaking to him shortly and will discuss what he wants to do, appreciate your input

He's graduated and all so cant get it, Ill see if he has any family members cos I know I got my win 7 for free cos im in the EEECS school within Queens uni