# £300 budget, mobo, ram, cpu, gpu



## SuperDuperMe (Sep 21, 2011)

*£300 budget, Mobo, CPU, Ram and windows 7- PhenomII or Bulldozer?*

Hey all just wondering if this is a good selection of parts and wether everything is compatible






I only have £300 to spend and i cant save up due to being broke as, this money is a birthday present so i need to spend it wisely to maximise it lol.

So there the parts i found

the computer is going to be used for gaming and thats it.

I play things like bfbc2, mw2 etc and would like to play bf3 when it come out too.

If these parts are the best i can get what settings can i expect from bf3 considering the beta requirements have no been released.


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## JackMcHale (Sep 21, 2011)

Couldnt tell you what settings exactly. but its going to be pretty dang high.. nice setup man! this is my order summary i JUST PLACED.

Order Summary  

Order #: 145765098(shipped via UPS Guaranteed 3 Day)  

1 AMD Gift - Deus Ex game coupon 

1 XCLIO A380COLOR Fully Black 1.0 mm SECC / ABS Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case 

1 MSI 870A-G54 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard 

1 SAPPHIRE 100312-3SR Radeon HD 6950 Dirt3 Edition 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Supported

1 CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650 V2 650W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power Supply

1 AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ955FBGMBOX 

1 G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ 

1 Seagate Barracuda ST500DM002 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive 

1 LG CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model GH22NS70 OEM - OEM 

1 Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM 

1 BioShock 2 PC Game 2K Games 

1 ASUS PCE-N10 PCI Express Wireless Adapter 

Subtotal $857.89 
Tax $0.00 
UPS Guaranteed 3 Day  $17.51 
Rush Processing $2.99 
Order Total $878.39 

Your going to love that processor!! lol i just got one to!

But you did good for 300 quid seriously!


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## SuperDuperMe (Sep 21, 2011)

thanks dude, and nice set up youve just ordered.

As for what i actually am going to buy, i have all other stuff like hd's case etc so gonna use all that so i only need cpu, mobo, ram, gpu


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## JackMcHale (Sep 21, 2011)

well thankyou mate (im from suffolk, england. born and raised moved to the states 2 years ago where you from?) lol

but yeah man everything is compatible i dont see any problems with it. i have been hardcore researching for a week now preparing for my buy. ive learnt ALOT in that time lol.

you should have a good setup. the stuff in your shopping cart plus whats in your sig.


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## JackMcHale (Sep 21, 2011)

and buy the way the 2.99 rush processing was so worth it. got an e-mail literally SIX minutes after i hit "confirm order"

the e-mail stated.

"Thankyou for ordering with newegg, your order has been processed, and your card ending in ******** has been charged. we will have your  order shipped out today!"

love it! lol 3 day shipping aswell, probly sooner though because im not far from there warehouse lol


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## SuperDuperMe (Sep 21, 2011)

Im from manchester

But yeah i was just planning on upgrading cpu, mobo and ram but after realising how much my current gpu sucks i decided i needed a new one too 

I wouldnt mind but i only bought the 3870x2 a few week ago fro £70 and its rubbish.

Do you know anything about the mobo i picked?

I really like asus hence the reason i picked it, plus its really cheap but should it last?


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## JackMcHale (Sep 21, 2011)

Its all good it was definately handle your system, And it will accept your processor no problem the only thing i see bad with it is this:

1 x PCIe 2.0 x16 
2 x PCIe 2.0 x1 
3 x PCI 

It only has one PCI-E port that will run at x16 which may make dual-carding a problem, because only one port is "fast"

hopefully someone else on the forum can better clarify that. but other than that you should be fine.

BUT the superclocked 460 your buying shouldnt have any problems playing any modern-game including crysis and battlefield (games you listed, right?)


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## SuperDuperMe (Sep 21, 2011)

I will never buy a dual card config, the problems iv had with my 3870x2 even though not crossfire or sli technically have ensured i wil never buy dual card config.

So only having the 1 pcie slot is cool for me 

i think the board is am3+ as well which i beleive lets me upgrade to bulldozer in the future.

May have google clarify that for me


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## JackMcHale (Sep 21, 2011)

google=your friend. lol
but yeah its am3+ 
and i understand about dual-carding. I dont particularly LIKE to do it thats why i bought my 
1 SAPPHIRE 100312-3SR Radeon HD 6950 Dirt3 Edition 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Supported

6950 dirt edition. 
Will run ANYTHING known to computer gaming lmao BY ITSELF


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## SuperDuperMe (Sep 21, 2011)

lol, i was going to get one but decided that my cpu etc needed more of an overhaul


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## JackMcHale (Sep 21, 2011)

Yeah it took me awhile to get the funds together to build an entire new computer. and i know from experience. you have to get your priorities straight. IMO processor, motherboard and RAM are the most important. Graphics can wait. gotta get that PC moving quickly first.
you can always upgrade again later. though like i said. that 460 is gonna run anything. maybe not on ULTRA settings, but its gonna be good!


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## SuperDuperMe (Sep 21, 2011)

I hope so , then again anything has got to be better than my old school C2D and 3870x2 lol


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## JackMcHale (Sep 21, 2011)

Before i head to sleep. 5am here! lol.
wanna leave you with a nice little quote to make you feel good about your new GPU.

GTX460 vs 3870x2

"Mike Tyson punching a baby." lol

Goodnite mate


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## jonnyp11 (Sep 21, 2011)

well remember that if you have an oem win7 installed it is liscenced to the current motherboard so it won't transfer, also i doubt that motherboard will ever use zambezi, it isn't impossible but it is running a 760g chipset, and you'd also have to flash your bios at some point.


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## SuperDuperMe (Sep 22, 2011)

jonnyp11 said:


> well remember that if you have an oem win7 installed it is liscenced to the current motherboard so it won't transfer, also i doubt that motherboard will ever use zambezi, it isn't impossible but it is running a 760g chipset, and you'd also have to flash your bios at some point.



Hmmm, no matter, i need a quick upgrade and i geuss phenom 2 is the cheapest way for it , i wont upgrade for a while and buy then id hope to nmove onto what ever intel have out as it seems amd have lost the edge in the cpu race.

How is the memory on this build, i know it very cheap but will it do the job?


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## jonnyp11 (Sep 22, 2011)

check if there is any 1600mhz around that price, but wouldn't pay over 5 extra for it, especially with that being a 8 cas latency.


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## StrangleHold (Sep 22, 2011)

The Asus M5A78L LE in his post does/will support the Zambezi.


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## SuperDuperMe (Sep 23, 2011)

StrangleHold said:


> The Asus M5A78L LE in his post does/will support the Zambezi.



Great, looks like im all set then, just need to wait for the funds


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## CrayonMuncher (Sep 23, 2011)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004O69X...de=asn&creative=22206&creativeASIN=B004O69XAY

This is just a quick look but you can get 1600Mhz a bit cheaper and still good quality.


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## SuperDuperMe (Oct 3, 2011)

hey guys, me again 

Any way iv got a bit better of a budget, i no longer need a new gpu so have a few extra quid to work with, i have however decided to get myself on the windows 7 bandwagon.

so here it is. Its basically the same sort of thing with ( i hope anyway) a few better components






So with £300 and windows 7 a necessity, can i do better?


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## jonnyp11 (Oct 4, 2011)

that looks great, and are you saying you have a gfx card or do you plan to use the gpu, cuz the 900 series has no igpu.


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## SuperDuperMe (Oct 4, 2011)

jonnyp11 said:


> that looks great, and are you saying you have a gfx card or do you plan to use the gpu, cuz the 900 series has no igpu.



i have a hd 5830 that i need to get replaced by the shop 

But yeh im sorted for gpu


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## jonnyp11 (Oct 5, 2011)

*facepalm* how did i forget that, i looked at that thread a ton of times, how's that going so far?


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## SuperDuperMe (Oct 9, 2011)

jonnyp11 said:


> *facepalm* how did i forget that, i looked at that thread a ton of times, how's that going so far?



Badly, they still haven't posted my new one back.

Based on the fact theyve just had a person buy the same card and send it back i have a feeling there all defected, hence the relatively low price.

I guess i shall see in the next week what happens, if not im going to have to get a refund.

To add to this my 8800 gts is seriously on its way out and iv missed playing the bf3 beta at decent fps due to the PoS that is the 8800 gts


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## jonnyp11 (Oct 9, 2011)

hey, my geforce 7050 igpu can't even play it since it's dx9 so it doesn't even load it, so at least you can play it.


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## SuperDuperMe (Oct 11, 2011)

Lol, my new gpu will be here tommorow, hopefully it will actually work this time 

Shame i missed the beta though :/

EDIT: Thats what i wanted to ask (anyone not just johnny  ) is there any news on zambezi prices for the UK, iv seen some for the US, but not UK. Im looking only at the hex core, as im guessing it would be worth trying to get that 

If in this case i could pull the trigger on a zambezi cpu, would the cheap zambezi with a cheap motherboard be better than the 955BE with a more expensive board?


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## wolfeking (Oct 11, 2011)

I would say that neither is a good option. A 955 will do fine in games, with a good board. Zambezi will be an improvement over Phenom/Athlon. But it will do you no good with a cheap low quality board. 
Of the two options, 955 and a good board.


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## SuperDuperMe (Oct 11, 2011)

hmm, what would constitute as a cheap board? For the phenom 2 i wa slooking at spending the sam eon the board id spend on the cpu so about £80-100


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## wolfeking (Oct 11, 2011)

example: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186215

its not necessarily price. To me a cheap board is one that is out of date (ie, old chipsets, old sockets, no SATA3, lack of USB3). Basically, just be sure it has modern components, and is from a company that is trusted (Gigabyte, Asus, MSI)


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## SuperDuperMe (Oct 11, 2011)

No, i was never going to pick something like that , basically the cheapest i would go is. 

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus...s-raid-sata-pcie-(x16)-graphics-on-board-micr

or more expensive, http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus...r3-sata-iii-6gb-s-raid-sata-pcie-20-(x16)-atx

Would the former be no good for zambezi? or alternatively is the latter good for phenom

EDIT: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/msi-...r3-sata-iii-6gb-s-sata-raid-pcie-20-(x16)-atx

Or even this for zambezi, i may be able to push it upto this i guess?


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## wolfeking (Oct 11, 2011)

the 970 Asus and the MSI are good boards. They will use either the Phenom or the Zambezi interchangeably. 
The First Asus board is no good. It is based on a 3 generation old chipset. I doubt very seriously if it would be able to run Zambezi to its full potential.


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## SuperDuperMe (Oct 11, 2011)

Ahhh ok, so depending on if zambezi is cheap enough, either the MSI or asus 970 should do the trick.


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## wolfeking (Oct 11, 2011)

yep. They would be excellent choices.


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## SuperDuperMe (Oct 11, 2011)

Ace, i guess i just cross my fingers and hope zambezi is cheap


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## wolfeking (Oct 11, 2011)

they are not cheap. They are cheaper then SB.    IIRC, they are set to start out at 169.


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## SuperDuperMe (Oct 11, 2011)

is that dollars? or GBP?


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## wolfeking (Oct 11, 2011)

Usd.


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## SuperDuperMe (Oct 11, 2011)

Ah right, so i should be looking (if the prices stay in line with a convert) at about £100-£120 i guess for the least expensive.

Is $160 for the 6 core, or the 4 core zambezi?


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## wolfeking (Oct 11, 2011)

the dual module (3-4 cores) is 169 i think. Again, we wont really know till they release.


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## SuperDuperMe (Oct 11, 2011)

I hope its as cheap as im anticipating.

Will the four core be substantially more powerful than a 955BE?


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## jonnyp11 (Oct 11, 2011)

we won't know untill it's out so we can compare clock to clock.


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## wolfeking (Oct 11, 2011)

again, dual module (its counted as 4 cores under the OS, but not quite as powerful as 4 strait cores). We dont know how powerful they will be. there are no official benches to go on yet. I would think that they are going to be very much improved though as AMD has hyped them up a bit.


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## Aastii (Oct 11, 2011)

mike, I haven't read the full thread, however I will advise one thing - DO NOT USE SCAN

I can not stress it enough, they are crooks. Stick to overclockers.co.uk ebuyer or aria, but do not, for your own sake, use Scan. I have unluckily been at the brunt of there fraud and know others who have had near enough identical experiences. So long as they are taking your money they are happy, as soon as you need a single thing from them, expect nothing but hurdles and the blame to be placed on you.

You said you are in Manchester, why not take a trip to Bowlers?


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## SuperDuperMe (Oct 11, 2011)

Travel is hard for me, i may be able to get up there at some point, iv not been for a good few years and i was quite young when i did but is it like the big market sort of thing or am i thinking of something different altogether? (trafford centre up that way?)

And thanks for the heads up on Scan, other than OCUK and aria are there nay other reputable places to buy from?


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## jonnyp11 (Oct 12, 2011)

ebuyer, it was in his post actually.


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## SuperDuperMe (Oct 12, 2011)

jonnyp11 said:


> ebuyer, it was in his post actually.



Do you mean my posts jonny? Iv dont think iv posted anything about ebuyer :/ lol

The screen shots are scan.co.uk

But iv been alooking at ARIA for prices due to what Aastii said anyway 

EDIT: So given the new benchmarks should i get the fx-6100? Or just get the phenom 2 955BE?

I havent been able to find benchmarks that show the same applications for the 955BE and the fx-6100 so im at odds as what to get :/

EDIT 2: Just to put it into perspective what im after iv done 2 different builds, one with phenom and on budget and one slightly over with bulldozer.











EDIT 3: Scrap the gigabyte mobo as i eventually want crossfire support so i will be going for this motherboard, https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Com...3+PCI-Express+ATX+Motherboard?productId=46631

EDIT 4: Ok i promise this is my last edit, but how about going the intel route and cheaping out on mobo?






How would this build stack up to the two above? I know its not crossfire but i guess i can live without


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## Okedokey (Oct 12, 2011)

My recommendation would be to wait for Bulldozer to come out -  oh wait....


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## SuperDuperMe (Oct 12, 2011)

bigfellla said:


> My recommendation would be to wait for Bulldozer to come out -  oh wait....



Lol, im a bit upset with the benchmarks, but is it better than phenom (the lower models not higher such as the fx 6100 vs 955be)

Or would the i5 2500k with cheap mobo be a better option?


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## Okedokey (Oct 12, 2011)

i5 will kill it and use less power.  It also has the advantage of an upgrade path (near future) with Ivy Bridge.  I doubt the AM3+ socket will be around for piledriver


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## SuperDuperMe (Oct 12, 2011)

So how is the mobo i picked up there on the last pic?

Will it do well with the 15 2500k?


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## Okedokey (Oct 12, 2011)

Its fine as long as you have a graphics card.


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## SuperDuperMe (Oct 12, 2011)

yeh iv got a hd 5830 on its way today


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## jonnyp11 (Oct 12, 2011)

although it would still be smarter to look for a cheap z68 or p67 so it is possible to overclock it. and for the ebuyer i was refurring to astii's post. and really i think the 6100 both lost and won to the 9's about equally or it lost more


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## SuperDuperMe (Oct 12, 2011)

hmm, well unfortunately i have to put off thinking about other upgrades for the mean time, i recieved my new gpu today, and it was broke in the same way as the last one i returned.

Im going to get this sorted before i think of upgrading anything.


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## jonnyp11 (Oct 12, 2011)

just want to point out that if you grab a z68 board it lets you use the i5's hd3000 igpu


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## SuperDuperMe (Oct 12, 2011)

I wont have the money for the upgrade for a couple of weeks anyway and after i get this refund im going to put to for a hd 6850 

So unfortunately im putting the upgrade in hiatus for a few week :/


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## Aastii (Oct 13, 2011)

mikeb2817 said:


> Travel is hard for me, i may be able to get up there at some point, iv not been for a good few years and i was quite young when i did but is it like the big market sort of thing or am i thinking of something different altogether? (trafford centre up that way?)
> 
> And thanks for the heads up on Scan, other than OCUK and aria are there nay other reputable places to buy from?



Yea it is right by Trafford Park, it is in Bowlers convention centre. It is a computer fair, on every weekend, the biggest in the country and you will find just about everything there.

OcUK, Aria, Ebuyer. I tend to use Overclockers mainly because I get free shipping with them.

I would also agree with what the others have said about going Sandy Bridge, Bulldozer has made me a sad panda


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## SuperDuperMe (Oct 13, 2011)

Your not the only one.

would i get away with a cheap mobo though?

I mean i will literally be going uber cheap if i got the sandy bridge


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## jonnyp11 (Oct 13, 2011)

a cheap mobo isn't the best idea but it would work. you should at least try for a cheap p67 or z68 so you have the option of overclocking if you get a 2500k


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## SuperDuperMe (Oct 13, 2011)

Had a look before and the only p67 or z68's i could find were 10 pound over the inital mobo i picked, im already £30-40 over budget so its a big no no


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## Aastii (Oct 14, 2011)

I am going back to the start, and going to do something that pains me, and post an Asus mobo 

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-367-IN&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=1671

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-448-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1906

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-050-GS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1516

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-041-HS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1866

comes out at £311


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## SuperDuperMe (Oct 15, 2011)

i alredy have a gpu, in fact i have that exact one  its on its way lol

The £300 is for mobo, cpu, ram and windows 7.


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