BMAPC Another new PC thread

[Cadelin]

My old computer is ~5 years old now. It still works so I have decided to give it to my Gran (after carefully reverting it back to factory settings of course...). I am therefore looking to get a new computer, budget is £700 and I want a monitor as well as the box. I am keeping my mouse, keyboard, headset etc. While I have upgraded computers several times, I haven't actually built my own from scratch before.

I am not interested in Overclocking. I just want it to work, in fact I would be happy to just buy a complete system if it wasn't that much more expensive than building it myself. I also qualify for academic discounts which often make the price difference between what I can buy and what I can build smaller if its available.

I have read the recent threads by wolfeeh:
https://forums.freddyshouse.com/threads/budget-gaming-pc-build-buy-options-£800-tops.248595/
and mooSe_:
https://forums.freddyshouse.com/threads/upgrading-my-pc.249479/

My Build is
Coolermaster Elite 330 Case with 500W PSU:
http://www.ebuyer.com/220863-cooler...rmaster-extreme-power-500w-psu-rc-330-kkpl-gp
£57.34

Intel Core i5 3450 3.1GHz:
http://www.ebuyer.com/349022-intel-...mb-cache-retail-boxed-processor-bx80637i53450
£142.68

Motherboard:
http://www.ebuyer.com/386271-gigaby...7-1-channel-audio-atx-motherboard-ga-z77-ds3h
£67.53

8GB RAM:
http://www.ebuyer.com/172949-kingston-8gb-ddr3-1333mhz-i5-memory-kvr1333d3n9k2-8g
£29.99

256GB SSD Hard Drive:
http://www.ebuyer.com/267107-crucial-256gb-m4-ssd-ct256m4ssd2
£117.99

Windows 8:
http://www.ebuyer.com/407517-microsoft-windows-8-64-bit-dvd-oem-wn7-00403
£71.99

Cheap Wireless Card:
http://www.ebuyer.com/276538-tenda-w311p-wireless-n150-pci-adapter-w311p
£5.49

Gigabyte GTX 650 Graphics Card:
http://www.ebuyer.com/396969-gigaby...al-dvi-hdmi-pci-e-graphics-card-gv-n650oc-1gi
£88.22

DVD RW drive:
http://www.ebuyer.com/410561-liteon-ihas120-20x-dvd-rw-dual-r-ram-sata-drive-ihas120-04
£12.00

23" Samsung Monitor:
http://www.ebuyer.com/390208-samsung-s23b300h-23-led-lcd-hdmi-monitor-ls23b300hs-en
£109.99

Total: £703.22

I went for windows 8 as I assume that while it might not be as good as win 7 at this precise moment in time, 6 months from now it will be pretty standard. I went for a 256GB SSD drive because it was about the same price as getting a cheap SSD and a normal disk. I don't store much on my computer, I have about 100GB used on both my current laptop and desktop. I have no idea about what graphics card would be good, I picked that just because it fitted into the budget, comments greatly received. I made a slightly arbitrary choice for the monitor as well.

I also don't really know what wireless network card to get, at the moment I have a netgear usb stick that works quite well. I figure a card would offer better performance but I have no idea if this is something that is worth spending a bit more on to get the best performance possible. At the moment its not possible to get a wire to my desktop from the router.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[BloodOmen]

Personally i'd splash a little more out and buy a better case/better PSU.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-301-CM&groupid=2362&catid=29&subcat= - for example is on offer this week for £60 and is a solid case.

 

[Mabs]

just a thought, youre not interested in OCing, fine,.. but would it be worth future proofing yourself ? i havent checked any of the stuff you linked but things to bear in mind - can it be OCed if you want ? can the board take a better chip if u get more money later or is it the end of a line ?

 

[MYstIC G]

I'd look hard at Windows 8 purchase method tbh. The upgrade is twenty something quid and can be clean installed if you find the right guides online. I clean installed onto my new SSD. Worth a look especially if you're keeping your old windows CD if you Nan is getting your old box.