PC Build Guide (European Edition) – November 2012

After many requests on Twitter, we decided it would be good to have an EU build guide out there for all our KBMOD brethren across the pond. A few trusted chaps from the European branch, mainly one Ross Geddes (of podcast fame), have come up with the guides you see below. Please provide feedback for these guides if you live in Europe or the UK so we can make them better in the future!

Welcome to the KBMOD EU edition build guide! The budgets are slightly different for UK and EU variants, but these have been thought out and decided by pound- and euro-using chaps alike. I must admit, while putting these together, the hate for Margaret Thatcher ran strong for the UK builds compared to what you guys in the US and even other parts of Europe can get for similar amounts of money. Nevertheless, we have provided some solid guides for you.

The Euro variants are staying strong to KBMOD fashion, as my European informant tells me €800, €1300, and €1800 builds are fairly affordable for many of you Euro chaps.

In the £500, £1000, and €800 builds, we’re going to be using AMD video cards, mainly because of the insane offer that AMD has running now, giving you up to three £30/€45 titles for free with your video card. If you really aren’t keen on AMD or you aren’t interested in any of the titles in the offer, feel free to swap in similar Nvidia cards.

You may have also noticed that as the budgets go up, so does the heatsink. I know you’re used to seeing mostly the Hyper 212+ from the American builds, but with larger budgets, a better cooler seems like a terrific extra. However, if you’re slightly short on cash or you just don’t want the bigger heatsink, stick to the Hyper 212+. It’s all up to you.

United Kingdom

The Starter (£500)

Part list permalink: http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/p/nRW7

CPU: Intel Core i3-2100 (£84.60 @ CCL Computers)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77-DS3H ATX LGA1155 (£70.52 @ Scan.co.uk)

Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3-1600 (£31.39 @ Scan.co.uk)

Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5″ 7200RPM (£57.99 @ Ebuyer)

Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card (£173.98 @ Scan.co.uk)

Case: Antec Three Hundred Two ATX Mid Tower Case (£50.40 @ Amazon UK)

Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80 PLUS ATX12V (£44.08 @ Ebuyer)

Optical Drive: Samsung SH-222BB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£11.96 @ Scan.co.uk)

Total: £524.92

The Sweet Spot (£700)

Part list permalink: http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/p/nS1l

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K (£169.37 @ Amazon UK)

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO (£26.65 @ Scan.co.uk)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-D3H ATX LGA1155 (£95.97 @ Amazon UK)

Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3-1600 (£31.39 @ Scan.co.uk)

Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5″ 7200RPM (£57.99 @ Ebuyer)

Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 660 2GB (£166.39 @ Scan.co.uk)

Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 Plus (£64.69 @ Scan.co.uk)

Power Supply: Corsair Professional 650W (£89.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)

Optical Drive: Samsung SH-222BB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£11.96 @ Scan.co.uk)

Total: £714.40

The Enthusiast (£1000)

Part list permalink: http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/p/nSas

CPU: Intel Core i5-3770K (£237.00 @ Amazon UK)

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 (£56.57 @ Scan.co.uk)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-D3H ATX LGA1155 (£95.97 @ Amazon UK)

Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3-1600 (£31.39 @ Scan.co.uk)

Hard Drive: Crucial M4 128GB SSD (£77.20 @ Amazon UK)

Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5″ 7200RPM (£57.99 @ Ebuyer)

Video Card: Asus Radeon HD 7950 3GB (£251.75 @ Scan.co.uk)

Case: Cooler NZXT Phantom ATX Full Tower (£89.99 @ Scan.co.uk)

Power Supply: Corsair 650W ATX12V / EPS12V (£89.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)

Optical Drive: Samsung SH-222BB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£11.96 @ Scan.co.uk)

Total: £1013.23

European Union

Outside of Germany, you EU guys will have to bear with us. PCPartPicker’s European vendor selection is currently pretty scarce, but hopefully prices across the EU will be somewhat comparable to the German prices we found on Amazon Deutschland.

The Starter (€800)

Part List Permalink: http://pcpartpicker.com/de/p/o4FW

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K (€214.85 @ Amazon.de)

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus (€41.98 @ Amazon.de)

Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 (€124.89 @ Amazon.de)

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3-1600 (€39.44 @ Amazon.de)

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5″ 7200RPM (€72.89 @ Amazon.de)

Video Card: Asus Radeon HD 7850 2GB (€204.95 @ Amazon.de)

Case: Cooler Master Elite 430 (€46.49 @ Amazon.de)

Power Supply: XFX 550W ATX12V / EPS12V (€62.74 @ Amazon.de)

Optical Drive: Sony AD-7280S-0B DVD/CD Writer (€22.74 @ Amazon.de)

Total: €830.97





The Enthusiast (€1300)

Part List Permalink: http://pcpartpicker.com/de/p/o4I9

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K (€305.95 @ Amazon.de)

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 (€75.67 @ Amazon.de)

Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 (€124.89 @ Amazon.de)

Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3-1600 (€40.16 @ Amazon.de)

Hard Drive: Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5″ SSD (€98.84 @ Amazon.de)

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5″ 7200RPM (€72.89 @ Amazon.de)

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB (€313.89 @ Amazon.de)

Case: Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced ATX (€118.89 @ Amazon.de)

Power Supply: XFX 650W 80 PLUS (€78.49 @ Amazon.de)

Optical Drive: Sony AD-7280S-0B DVD/CD Writer (€22.74 @ Amazon.de)

Total: €1252.41

The Professional (€1800)

Part List Permalink: http://pcpartpicker.com/de/p/o4MT

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K (€305.95 @ Amazon.de)

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 (€75.67 @ Amazon.de)

Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 (€124.89 @ Amazon.de)

Memory: Corsair XMS 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3-1600 (€106.85 @ Amazon.de)

Hard Drive: Samsung 830 Series 128GB 2.5″ SSD (€92.98 @ Amazon.de)

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5″ 7200RPM (€72.89 @ Amazon.de)

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 670 2GB – 2-Way SLI (€399.89 @ Amazon.de)

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 670 2GB – 2-Way SLI (€399.89 @ Amazon.de)

Case: Cooler Master HAF XM (Black) (€108.31 @ Amazon.de)

Power Supply: Thermaltake Toughpower XT 775W (€104.98 @ Amazon.de)

Optical Drive: Sony AD-7280S-0B DVD/CD Writer (€22.74 @ Amazon.de)

Total: €1815.04