Reddit reviews Corsair CX430 Builder Series 430 Watt ATX PS/2 Power Supply Unit

If you're willing to build your own and don't have an operating system, I'd go for the following build (this will involve a bit of effort getting parts)

>http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/CB-CAi3-665HG-Cube-Caiman-Micro-ATX-Desktop_1660041.html#DetailTop

Take the parts out of the case and PSU combo, sell the case and PSU on ebay (you could probably get £10-15 for them as new it appears to be £30+ for the both)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/B009RMP14M/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&condition=new

for £30

>http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/B00IRTXPBM/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&condition=new

for £140

>http://www.ebuyer.com/510413-cooler-master-n-series-n200-usb-3-0-micro-atx-case-nse-200-kkn1

for £30

This means you end up with the following build for around £430 (less whatever you get for the case/psu combo on ebay, so maybe £410-420 total)

>Intel Core i3-4150 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor

>MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard

>4gb generic Kingston DDR3-1600 RAM (it's unclear what type this would be unfortunately)

>500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (again, generic)

>SAPPHIRE AMD R9 280 Graphics Card (3GB, DDR5)

>Corsair Builder Series CX 430 Watt ATX/EPS 80 PLUS Bronze Power Supply Unit

>Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case

>Windows 8.1 64-bit

At a cost of £430

Then less whatever money you get from selling the PSU+Case from the prebuilt,sopossibly £410-£420 in the end. Only issue is you won't be able to use any front facing USB3.0 ports. If you don't need a copy of windows you could get away with something else but I'm not sure what.

This would be much faster than the one you linked - however, I'd get second opinions on it as it first. That said, this is what I'd be doing with that budget and if I needed a copy of windows too.

EDIT: Comparison of parts:

AMD FX 4100 vs the i3-4150 (bear in mind intel tends to be much stronger in single threaded applications so gaming performance may well be higher)

Benchmarks, not entirely accurate in real world applications but gives a rough idea

The r9 280 is in another league to the 6670 in the one you linked - about 4x faster at a guess at least. Here's some benchmarks as an example, they're not entirely accurate but gives you a good idea of the difference

You'd lose out on having the 16gb of ram (although you could upgrade it) and have a smaller HDD but I expect the cx430 is a better power supply than in the one you linked too.

As mentioned, PCPartPicker.com will help you find the best prices and help us make recommendations.

Just from reading the links though:

• That CPU cooler is the incorrect socket type. It uses push pins for Intel sockets. The 750k and all other AMD CPUs that have the word "BOX" in their model number will come with a CPU cooler that would offer similar performance to the one you picked out.
  
  
• A 750W power supply is major overkill for a build like this. One issue with the one you have picked out is that it is likely not a real 750 watt unit and probably shouldn't be trusted at that price. This CX430 would be more appropriate and trustworthy. It can support midrange/mainstream video cards like the one you picked and higher.
  
  
• It would be nice to get a better video card. The 2gb 650 TI Boost would offer a decent bump for not too much more. There are other cards to consider now like the R7 260x; this card is pretty similar to the 650 TI boost in terms of performance but costs the same as the regular 650 TI.
  
  Actually, In this review the benchmarks include the R7 260x (~£103), 2gb 7850(~£110) regular 650 TI(~£108), and the the 650 TI boost(~£115). The 660 isn't shown there but it's one to consider around £130. Every other card I mentioned though beats the 650 TI (non-boost). All the cards I mentioned only require a single 6-pin PCIe power connector which would be covered by the CX430 PSU.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-Builder-Series-Bronze-Supply/dp/B009RMP14M/ref=sr_1_7?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1375319880&sr=1-7&keywords=500w is 35

You could drop to the middle option of a video card of the 7770 http://www.amazon.co.uk/MSI-R7770-DDR5-PCI-E-Graphics/dp/B0083XNWLK/ref=sr_1_3?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1375319855&sr=1-3&keywords=7770 which can be had for 80, meaning you would be only 15 over, otherwise you could stick with the 7790 and be 35 over.

If you're on a budget I'd suggest going for an AMD based build. Which would be cheaper. Way cheaper.

FX-4130

Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P, I have an older version of this

That would cost you around 100 euros less (I think, I am in England so I don't know for sure)

Then you can get a cheaper case because on a budget build a case should not cost more than 1/10th of the total price. Same company, half the price

From there you can buy another 4 gigabytes of RAM and maybe a better graphic card, but you do not game much so it's not important. You should also buy a aftermarket fan such as this as they are much more quiet than the stock AMD fan.

The power supply you have is also more expensive than you'll need. You can get something like this which will be enough for your needs. look at this website to see how many watts you need. As long as you get a PSU from a good company which is at least bronze certified you will not have problems.

You'll also need a DVD drive to install Windows and extra SATA cables because you may not get enough in the box.

EDIT: The case is wrong size. Unless you choose to get a micro ATX motherboard such as this

Around that price just stick to a Corsair Builder Series.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-Builder-Series-Bronze-Supply/dp/B009RMP14M/

I'd strongly advise getting a better power supply. It's probably the most important component in a system and also the most overlooked.

The CX 430 is 7 quid more for +80 watts and an 80 PLUS Bronze efficiency rating.

Component | Quantity | Price
---|---|----
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00I9XOSLW/ref=ox_sc_act_title_5?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A2OO5Y1QFZ9J90| 1 | 25.85
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0054U7HIO/ref=ox_sc_act_title_7?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A17AS5ETPMZ9A1 | 1 | 48.95
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B009O40UJO/ref=ox_sc_act_title_8?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1AUCPBF2P18HS | 1 | 53.02
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004CRSM4I/ref=ox_sc_act_title_6?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1AUCPBF2P18HS| 1 | 80.23
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0088PUEPK/ref=ox_sc_act_title_4?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE | 1 | 39.99
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00IGQ4UX8/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE | 1 | 104.98
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B009RMP14M/ref=ox_sc_act_title_9?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE | 1 | 29.99
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00CC6YN6M/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE| 1 | 12.34
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00H09BB16/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE| 1 | 69.99
Total | 9 | 465.34

All prices in Pounds. Sorry I had to do it like this, I don't know why the link didn't work properly.

Edit: don't worry, use this: http://i.imgur.com/K4vMRzh.png

What do you guys think about this for a PSU?

CPU

Motherboard

HDD

2 x Memory

GPU

Case

Power Supply

Windows 8

80mm case fan

120mm case fan

DVD Drive

Total : £618

Here's a slightly overbudget build. I don't know very many good places to buy computer parts in the UK, so I just found everything on UK amazon.

Most integrated GPUs can do 2 monitors now. They have for quite a while, actually. I'm running dual screens on a laptop from 2009 with an Intel GPU. You'd likely need a discrete card for 3 though, if only because motherboard manufacturers rarely provide ports for every single output.

However, the AMD FX series doesn't have an integrated GPU, and only the lower-end 700 series motherboards have integrated graphics. I'd be careful about verifying that those can run 2 independent monitors though. The disadvantage is that they don't have beefy enough voltage regulators to run the 8-core parts, but I see you've picked a 6-core so that shouldn't be a problem. Intel is also an option. Their integrated graphics have good driver support in Linux.

The 840 Pro is not worth the extra 50 quid. The only significant advantage is the encryption, and modern non-gimped CPUs have AES-NI to do that in hardware anyway.

You could probably leave out the optical drive.

Very slightly cheaper power supply.

How does this PSU look for what I need? Tonne of good reviews and it's corsair? http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-Builder-Bronze-Power-Supply/dp/B009RMP14M/ref=sr_1_2?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1450023830&sr=1-2&keywords=400w+psu

Legit when people buy these https://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-CP-9020015-UK-Builder-Bronze-Supply/dp/B009RMP14M/ref=sr_1_5?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1492457715&sr=1-5&keywords=power%2Bsupply&th=1 Power supplies and slap dual 1080Tis in their rigs, and praise their build as if it fell from the heavens, i die inside knowing it won't last for more then a year or 2 .......

Well, seems to be about 10-20 times the sound of my cpu cooler & case fans combined. I have to put the TV up to drown it out. Also it's not a smooth sound, like a buzzing, straining sound.

The comments on Amazon seem to say the PSU is near silent.

The cheapest reasonable power supply is the CX430. It's the cheapest entry level PSU. It has a high efficiency, is built with reasonable components and has been reviewed highly. And it comes with 2 years warrenty with corsair customer service.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-Builder-Series-Bronze-Supply/dp/B009RMP14M/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1411754425&sr=8-2&

Would do well for that kind of build, it doesn't give you much upgrading headroom however.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B009RMP14M/ref=pe_385721_37986871_TE_item 430w psu and what do you mean yb different versions of the display driver? and yeah im pretty sure my chipset and bios are up to date