The £400 challenge...

[Tigjaw]

I know you all get bored of the 'spec me a..' threads so I thought I'd sparkle the title up a bit.

My friend has £400, he needs everything (including monitor), except keyboard and mouse. We're happy to go for marketplace (used) items to keep the budget.
We could easily build a C2D system in that budget but we were worried about upgradability in the future. For this reason I was wondering if it would be possible to squeeze one of the entry level Sandybridges (wishful thinking) in the budget?

It's primarily for gaming but it's not going to be expected to play the best games on max settings.
Extra notes:
Graphics - something like a 5770 or equivalent
CPU - Mayble a Wolfdale/Conroe or a sneaky Sandybridge if possible?
Cooling - OC'ing may be a possibility but nothing intense
HDD - I'm hoping to find him a used 150gb v-raptor for ~£45.
OS - Window 7 64bit
RAM - 4GB

UPDATE: We may not need a DVD drive.

I look forward to your expert advice.
Please note though, if you offer to sell something of your own, I need to make sure first that I can find the compatible components with the remaining budget.

Thanks in advance,
Regards,
Tig

 

[Deehjay]

I'll start it off


YOUR BASKET
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.98
1 x Intel Pentium G850 2.90GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £67.99
1 x BenQ G925HDA 18.5" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black £65.99
1 x Asus ATI Radeon HD 6670 1024MB GDDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Card £59.99
1 x MSI H61M-P23 Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard **B3 REVISION** £47.99
1 x Cooler Master GX 450W '80 Plus' Power Supply £26.99
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Midi Tower Case - Black £24.98
1 x Kingston HyperX Blu 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9AD3B1K2/4G) £17.99
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98
Total : £435.72 (includes shipping : £23.20).


£400 give or take £3 as you have free shipping.

Or tell him top chip in an extra 60 quid odd and he can get a Z68 board and an i3-2100

 

[jamesfreddie]

About the best I can do for the money.

YOUR BASKET
1 x OcUK GeForce GTX 460 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £95.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.98
1 x BenQ G925HDA 18.5" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black £65.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500W V2 '80 Plus' Power Supply (CMPSU-500CXUKV2) £52.99
1 x MSI H61M-P23 Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard **B3 REVISION** £47.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Blu 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1333C9D3B1K2/8G) £34.99
1 x Intel Celeron G530 2.40GHz Socket LGA 1155 Processor - Retail £31.99
1 x OcUK Flamingo FM-12A Midi Tower Case - Black/Red £21.98
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-5280S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.98
Total : £470.30 (includes shipping : £17.85).



Or LLano

With Dual Graphics

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD Llano A6-3670K 2.70GHz (Socket FM1) APU Processor (AD3670WNGXBOX) £89.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.98
1 x BenQ G925HDA 18.5" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black £65.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500W V2 '80 Plus' Power Supply (CMPSU-500CXUKV2) £52.99
1 x Asus F1A55-M LX AMD A55 (Socket FM1) DDR3 Motherboard £49.99
1 x Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 6570 HM 1024MB GDDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Card (11191-01-20G) £47.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Blu 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1333C9D3B1K2/8G) £34.99
1 x OcUK Flamingo FM-12A Midi Tower Case - Black/Red £21.98
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-5280S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.98
Total : £482.30 (includes shipping : £17.85).

 

[95thrifles]

No one want to include a HDD in their spec?

£439 best I could do (though you could lower the gfx card, but any sort of sgnificant saving is a massive downgrade), incl a HDD, use CMDOUBLE at checkout for £20 off, and with free shipping its £439


YOUR BASKET
1 x OcUK GeForce GTX 460 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £95.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.98
1 x BenQ G925HDA 18.5" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black £65.99
1 x **B Grade** Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM £51.22
1 x MSI H61M-P23 Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard **B3 REVISION** £47.99
1 x Intel Celeron G530 2.40GHz Socket LGA 1155 Processor - Retail £31.99
1 x Cooler Master GX 450W '80 Plus' Power Supply £26.99
1 x Cooler Master Elite 342 Case - Black £24.98
1 x Kingston HyperX Blu 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9AD3B1K2/4G) £17.99
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98
Total : £486.94 (includes shipping : £23.20).

 

[jamesfreddie]

He said he was going to get a S/H WD Raptor.

 

[RJC]

Had a go below, motherboard offers some extra options like USB 3 & sata 3

Edit: Similar to 95thrifles, could look at the board below:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-042-IN

 

[thingemajib]

Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 32-Bit - OEM (GFC-02021) £79.98
(£66.65) £79.98
(£66.65)
BenQ G925HDA 18.5" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black £65.99
(£54.99) £65.99
(£54.99)
**B Grade** Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM £51.22
(£42.68) £51.22
(£42.68)
**B Grade** Gigabyte H61M-D2 Intel H61 Chipset (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard **B (MB-332-GI) £49.98
(£41.65) £49.98
(£41.65)
Intel Celeron G530 2.40GHz Socket LGA 1155 Processor - Retail £31.99
(£26.66) £31.99
(£26.66)
Cooler Master GX 450W '80 Plus' Power Supply £26.99
(£22.49) £26.99
(£22.49)
**B Grade** Cooler Master Elite 342 Case - Black £24.98
(£20.82) £24.98
(£20.82)
Kingston HyperX Blu 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9AD3B1K2/4G) £17.99
(£14.99) £17.99
(£14.99)
OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98
(£13.32) £15.98
(£13.32)
Sub Total : £304.25
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £19.10
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £64.67
Total : £388.02


theres a 5830 going in the MM for 50 quid, so should be about £420 +shipping

on a side note, how does everyone do these fancy posts in here with all the links and pics and whatnot? Im guessing they dont do them manually...

edit: if you go with a bgrade mobo, then it might be wise to ring and ask to se if they come with cables or not, bit hit and miss (you'll need sata cables if it comes bare)

 

[95thrifles]

Use google chrome as browser, and google overclockers basket

 

[RJC]

edit: if you go with a bgrade mobo, then it might be wise to ring and ask to se if they come with cables or not, bit hit and miss (you'll need sata cables if it comes bare)

These don't mention B grade on the info like some of the other have, so could be end of line models.

But there could always be the case though of not being supplied.

 

[Jurax]

on a side note, how does everyone do these fancy posts in here with all the links and pics and whatnot? Im guessing they dont do them manually...

Here you go.

 

[Tigjaw]

Some fantastic suggestions guys, many thanks. I'm sorry for the delay. I'll run these suggestions by my mate tomorrow and hopefully he'll bite the bullet.

Thanks for the code 95thrifles, how long is it valid for?

Also thingemajib mentioned a HD 5830 going for £50...how does that compare to the other graphics cards mentioned so far? (GTX 460, HD 6570, HD 6670). Like I said, he'd be happy with something similar to my 5770.

Also I noticed the Benq monitor suggested by everyone doesn't seem to be HD, or at least doesn't seem to have a HD port.

I can't believe you all managed to fit in a sandybridge. I think the SB and Mobo will be the first components ordered, to get the ball rolling.

 

[Idleman]

Do you have access to the members market?

 

[95thrifles]

Some fantastic suggestions guys, many thanks. I'm sorry for the delay. I'll run these suggestions by my mate tomorrow and hopefully he'll bite the bullet.

Thanks for the code 95thrifles, how long is it valid for?

Indefinitely I think

Also thingemajib mentioned a HD 5830 going for £50...how does that compare to the other graphics cards mentioned so far? (GTX 460, HD 6570, HD 6670). Like I said, he'd be happy with something similar to my 5770.

460>5830>5770>>6670>6570 - These last two arent what I would term gaming cards

Also I noticed the Benq monitor suggested by everyone doesn't seem to be HD, or at least doesn't seem to have a HD port.

No, thats cos it is a smaller monitor with lower res, for HD image and therefore HD input requirement youd need to look at 22"+ which uses up too much of a very limited budget

I can't believe you all managed to fit in a sandybridge. I think the SB and Mobo will be the first components ordered, to get the ball rolling.

 

[Tigjaw]

Do you have access to the members market?

Indeed I do. I'm always scouring the members market but when it comes to sandybridge I'm a bit out of the loop, I spent several hours trying to spec' my mate a sandybridge computer but I had no idea what to look for. But now thanks to some suggestions here I have somewhere to start and we could save some money on the market.

Thanks again 95thrifles for the explanation. I think I'll check out the members market for the 5830 or a 5770.

Also, if my friend doesn't mind using his old DVD drive we could save an extra ~£20 to spend on the monitor. We only wanted to replace the drive because it's an IDE and looking a bit shattered.

 

[95thrifles]

You prob will need to replace, most modern mobo's dont have IDE connectors anymore

 

[RJC]

You can purchase IDE TO SATA Converters for around £6, I have not used these and unsure on performance.

 

[Tigjaw]

You prob will need to replace, most modern mobo's dont have IDE connectors anymore

I keep forgetting, my mobos are old now

I'll keep an eye on the market, hopefully I can save some change and convince my friend he needs to cough up a few extra squids for the monitor. Once he's committed he'll have no choice will he! Trouble is, I can't just 'snap up' items on the market without my mate's consent. We've missed out on a graphics card and PSU already.