New i5 build for £400

spitefulmunchki

Standard Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2009
Messages
18
Reaction score
0
Points
5
Age
39
Hi, i was hoping for help to get a list of the best compatible components to build a new desktop for my bro with a budget of £400. I got a list of everything i needed for my own build last year and couldnt have done it without this place. I used scan last time, are they still good to use?

He and his wife use the computer only for media and office apps, no gaming. I dont need any software but I'll need all hardware except a monitor, keyboard and mouse.
Ive read and seen that hard drives have shot up in price so something like 500gb or slightly less will do for now. and if possible it should be made 'future proof'

Thanks in advance
 
Last edited:
Even a basic 500GB hard disk drive is pretty expensive. Could checkout the classifieds and try to pick one up there for a bit cheaper. Priced up from ebuyer. Seen a few threads appearing on here regarding Scans customer services, in particular difficulty with returns. A bit over budget but includes a small SSD to be used as a boot drive for Windows (assuming that not much storage is needed).

Kingston 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600MHz HyperX Blu Memory Kit CL9 1.65V 272176 £32.00

Gigabyte GA-Z68AP-D3 Z68 Socket 1155 8 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard 276562 £82.05

Intel Core i5 2500K 3.3GHz Socket 1155 6MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor 251596 £170.98

Bitfenix Merc Alpha Case 289021 £32.38

Corsair 430W V2 CX Series PSU 271798 £34.80

OCZ 60GB Agility 3 SSD 268239 £74.99

Cart total inc vat: £427.20 inc free delivery

The i5-2500K is overclockable with the Z68 motherboard just throw in a cheapish cooler. If your not interested in overclocking then get an i3-2100/2120 dual core. Would still be pretty quick for general home pc. The Z68 motherboards should be compatible with Intel's next generation CPU's, Ivy Bridge, after a BIOS update. If you can spare just a bit more I'd get a Crucial M4 64GB drive over the OCZ Agility for the better reliability. Got one myself earlier this year and it's not missed a beat.
 
that is great help cheers, i have went for everything you have suggested. will i need to get a graphics card if it is only to be used for videos/photos or will the onboard graphics run smoothly enough? also is there a wireless adaptor you can put directly onto the motherboard or is the only option to use a pci slot? which would you recommend?
 
The onboard will be perfectly fine for videos/photos. If however, your going to playing a lot of 1080p Blu Ray rips then consider a cheap passive 5450/6450 as it improve video playback at 23.976fps but in all honesty you could probably do without it.

You could get a USB wireless adapter or go for a PCI or PCI-E one. Not sure on which to recommend though? Have a read of reviews and make sure it's compatible with the version of Windows you'll be installing on the system.
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom