Upcoming new build - help needed

[metallithrax]

Hi guys,

So I will be getting a new PC probably within the next 3-4 months and will be building it myself, unless there is a pre-built one that suits.  I will use it for general stuff i.e. web browsing, youtube, but also some gaming - nothing to extreme, mainly older games like Far Cry, Trackmania, Half Life, the Thief series, GTA, Medal of Honour, that sort of stuff and possibly some newer if I like them.  I am looking to spend in the region of £550-£650.  I want this system to last me a good few years - my last PC lasted me about 6 years before it died. 

 

The problem is that I don't really know the best way to go with regard to Intel/AMD & Nvidia/AMD Radeon.  I have priced things up on pcpartpicker and got this sort of configuration:    

AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor          £134.99

Corsair H60 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler          £59.98

ASRock 990FX Extreme3 ATX AM3+/AM3 Motherboard      £81.95

Kingston Beast 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory    £38.55

Sandisk SSD PLUS 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive    £59.98

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960 2GB Video Card     £144.98

Cooler Master K280 ATX Mid Tower Case    £31.92 

EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply    £49.02   

Total:    £601.37    

 

 

I have also priced up using Intel processors, but as I said, don't know the best route to take.

 

All help is appreciated.

[Mindovermaster Moderator]

If you aren't overclocking, you don't need that H60. Get a Hyper 212 Evo.

 

I would rather use a different company of RAM,  like G.Skill, Corsair, Crucial.

 

I would also you'd rather get a Corsair or Samsung SSD.

 

But, that's me.

[metallithrax]

If you aren't overclocking, you don't need that H60. Get a Hyper 212 Evo.

 

I would rather use a different company of RAM,  like G.Skill, Corsair, Crucial.

 

I would also you'd rather get a Corsair or Samsung SSD.

 

But, that's me.

Thanks, changing a couple of things got me down to £570 - although money isn't the problem, I just want to get the best bang for the buck(as it were) without going silly, and being able to do the stuff I want to do. 

[seeprime]

Your system looks well thought out an should perform well. Make sure you have plenty of air flow and use a battery backup to maximize usable life span. If you're using Windows 10, use a retail or System Builder license with product key on the sticker. If you build it you are the OEM and can call to activate the key on a new motherboard.  Unless you already have one on hand, don't upgrade from WIndows 7 or 8.1 on your build as you'll lose the Windows 10 activation should you replace the motherboard in a few years and would have to pay for another license at that time.

We've used Sandisk SSD's including the SSD Plus. The biggest difference in SSD performance is that you'll see the Sandisk SSD Plus get an average of about 350 MB/sec data transfer using HD Tune, to a Samsung 850 Pro, which gives 420+ MB/sec in the smaller sizes. Larger SSD's will give better results. These are with AHCI set in the BIOS. If you use SATA or IDE setting, instead of AHCI, you'll lose about half of the SSD performance. 

Edit: wording

Edited September 6, 2015 by seeprime

[metallithrax]

Didn't end up getting a new desktop as the extra hours at work stopped at the end of November.  But, I was given an Alienware M14xR1 by someone at work.  It was his brothers, but didn't work - was in a boot loop, hard drive dead.  Borrowed a SSD from work and swapped them and now it works fine.

 

Not the desktop I want, but is a lot better than what I had:

 

i5-2430M CPU @ 2.40GHz

4GB RAM

NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M/635M