£400 CPU,Mobo,RAM,GFX Card

Bucket

Bucket

Bucket

Soldato
Joined
20 Sep 2008
Posts
5,787
So, I need to pick up a CPU, Mobo, RAM & GFX Card for about 400.
I have all the other bits and bobs needed everywhere else in the house :)

It will mainly be used for Games, and browsing etc. I want it to be able to run Left 4 Dead rather well also please.
Is this achievable?

I was thinking of the following:

*OVERCLOCKED* Intel Pentium Dual-Core E5200 @ 3.20GHz / Gigabyte GA-EP43-DS3 Intel P43 Motherboard / Kingston HyperX 4GB 8500C5 DDR2 Bundle

XFX GeForce 9600 GSO 1.5GB DDR2 Far Cry 2 Edition HDTV/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail

Will be played on a 20inch Monitor, might upgrade to a 24inch sooner or later.
I am willing to go B grade, AMD, or whatever gets me the best spec for what I require.

Thanks :)
 
Here is my 2 pence:

400upgrade.jpg


Should be significantly faster than the setup you described and comes in under budget. Also, with that CPU and cooler you can do some very nice overclocking.
 
Oops, may I add, I think I also have free delivery.

250 posts, here for more than 3 months?

Looks good, how much do you think that CPU would overclock with the cooler? And would it run L4D well?
 
What kind of power supply do you already have?

The 720 offers great performance for the price and can be paired with either DDR2 or DDR3 (depending on the motherboard) to suit the budget. It performs on par with the more expensive intel dual cores in gaming. Depending on the power supply you've got, you might be able to swap the 4850 for a 4870 or GTX260, since you mentioned you might go up to 24".

ocuk1.jpg
 
I agree with ro55o, definitely check the PSU is up to snuff. I would say for either of these builds a 400W quality PSU is required. Here is a good PSU if you need a new one and would be fine with 4870 or gtx 260 if you decided to go for one instead.

As for left 4 dead, the 4850 would handle it brilliantly at 20in and just as well at 24in (1920x1200), but l4d is not the most taxing new game about. Far Cry 2 will play great on 20in, but a 24in you may need to turn some of the details down (will still look beautiful).

Edit: Siumatfing, as the OP pointed out, that mobo doesn't support DDR3. Either get this RAM with the same board, or get this board with the same RAM.
 
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Ok well that PSU comes into the 450 budget, seems good.
So which would be the best spec?
I'm also not so bothered about most games at the moment, as long as it runs L4D looking nice and runs smooth. It's just to get me started. The other type of games I like playing are things like Sacred 2, which I'd expect to be less requirements than L4D.

I dont mind turning down the graphics a bit, if it means I get smooth FPS.
 
Bucket said:
I'm guessing that Motherboard can use DDR2 or DDR3 RAM?

Ahright ok, well, I can stretch to 450ish including PSU?
Click to expand...

The spec by siumatfung can only support DDR2 ram, not DDR3 that he's shown.

For £450, I'd go with the AM3 720 CPU, but with an AM3 motherboard and DDR3 ram.
 
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
CP-192-IN_60.jpg
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 LGA775 'Wolfdale' 3.00GHz (1333FSB) - Retail £151.79
(£131.99) £151.79
(£131.99)
MB-128-GI_60.jpg
Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3P Intel P45 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £99.99
(£86.95) £99.99
(£86.95)
GX-127-XF_60.jpg
XFX ATI Radeon HD 4850 "XXX Edition" 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail £92.99
(£80.86) £92.99
(£80.86)
CA-031-OC_60.jpg
OCZ ModXStream Pro 600w Silent SLI Ready ATX2 Modular Power Supply £61.99
(£53.90) £61.99
(£53.90)
MY-149-OC_60.jpg
OCZ Gold Edition 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 PC2-8500C5 Dual Channel (OCZ2G10664GK) £33.99
(£29.56) £33.99
(£29.56) Sub Total : £383.26 Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : FREE VAT is being charged at 15% VAT : £58.99 Total : £442.25
 
Just had a look back at some reviews for the XFX 4850 XXX. Truly is a great card. For playing left4dead you will be at 93fps at 1920x1200 (noAA/AF). I'm not sure you need to justify getting the 4870/gtx260, especially on your budget.

BTW, if you want to overclock your CPU, you really should get an aftermarket Cooler such as this.
 
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cmndr_andi said:
Just had a look back at some reviews for the XFX 4850 XXX. Truly is a great card. For playing left4dead you will be at 93fps at 1920x1200 (noAA/AF). I'm not sure you need to justify getting the 4870/gtx260, especially on your budget.

BTW, if you want to overclock your CPU, you really should get an aftermarket Cooler such as this.
Click to expand...

a good cpu at 3.0GHz wouldnt need overclocking for playing games, you wouldnt notice much improvement in speed over 3.0GHz :)
 
My 2 penny worth :)

CP-192-IN_60.jpg
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 LGA775 'Wolfdale' 3.00GHz (1333FSB) - Retail £151.79
(£131.99) £151.79
(£131.99)
MB-128-GI_60.jpg
Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3P Intel P45 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £99.99
(£86.95) £99.99
(£86.95)
GX-127-XF_60.jpg
XFX ATI Radeon HD 4850 "XXX Edition" 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail £92.99
(£80.86) £92.99
(£80.86)
MY-149-OC_60.jpg
OCZ Gold Edition 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 PC2-8500C5 Dual Channel (OCZ2G10664GK) £33.99
(£29.56) £33.99
(£29.56)
HS-017-AR_60.jpg
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775) £19.54
(£16.99) £19.54
(£16.99) Sub Total : £346.35 Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.00 VAT is being charged at 15% VAT : £53.45 Total : £409.80
 
You are right, ofcourse. But that particular chip is a beast and will happily go up to 3.7GHz, a bargain imo for the cost of a £20 cooler and a bit of time. And any CPU bound tasks will benefit from the extra grunt.
 
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