Gaming for 600?

Curious · 30 May 2010 at 17:23

My newphew needs a computer, as he now has none. He only owns a keyboard and a mouse

Is it possible to build a gaming rig including a screen for around 6oo?

I'd love any suggestions for a system, as I usually only follow the information about top gear myself, and that seems not near 600 at all.

Spec is currently at:
Screen:
BenQ G2222hdh ~122 GBP

Ram:
Crucial DDR3 BallistiX 1333MHz 4GB CL7
Kit w/2x 2GB BallistiX modules, CL7-7-7-24, 1.65V ~100 GBP

OS:
Windows 7 premium 64 bit OEM native language ~88

Graphics:
PowerColor Radeon HD 5770 1GB GDDR5 ~122

Motherboard:
MSI 770-C45, Socket-AM3, DDR3 ~51

Case:
Antec Three Hundred Midi Tower ~46

HD:
Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB ~39

Optical:
Sony NEC Optiarc DVD±RW burner AD-7240S ~20

CPU, :
AMD Phenom II X2 550 / 3.1 GHz Processor ~77

To a total at around 665

cmndr_andi · 30 May 2010 at 17:33

Does he have any components he can reuse? (case, PSU, hard disk)

Also, is he eligible for a reduced price version of Windows 7 or does he have an OS he can re-use?

Here is a spec I put together that will work well, but it is a bit over budget.

icysniper · 30 May 2010 at 17:37

i got this as a starter

comes to £605 with free delivery

Curious · 30 May 2010 at 17:40

He needs an OS too. And you have added one, so just fine. Thanks.
As for budget, it is close enough to the 600 mark.
And this will play most games fairly well?

Heh, you guys are quick...
I guess the phenom rig would be faster?

icysniper · 30 May 2010 at 17:42

Curious said:
He needs an OS too. And you have added one, so just fine. Thanks.
As for budget, it is close enough to the 600 mark.
And this will play most games fairly well?

i would go with cmndr_andi's spec, is better than mine all round. It should play games very well

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 30 May 2010 at 17:45

Curious · 30 May 2010 at 17:48

LCD or LED? Is LED a mature enough tech already?
And the athlon II will outperform the Phenom?

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 30 May 2010 at 17:48

The LED refers to the backlight not the panel.

cmndr_andi · 30 May 2010 at 17:49

+1 going for the Xigmatek Asgard case, its a great case for the money and will save £13 compared to the Antec 300 - for this budget every little helps.

The phenom is a faster CPU - but for gaming with a 4850, an Anthlon II will be fine. IMHO you would get a better gaming experience by spending the money on a slightly better screen like the BenQ.

LCD or LED? Is LED a mature enough tech already?
And the athlon II will outperform the Phenom?

The LED is just the backlight - it uses a standard TN LCD panel which is tried and tested to be good for gaming.

As for Athon II vs Phenom II - the Phenom is the faster processor, but for gaming the Athlon should be more than fast enough and allow money to be spent on other more crucial areas.

Curious · 30 May 2010 at 18:03

Ok, thanks. Athlon II it is then. And I guess the 4850 is what to get too.
I sure belive the PSU will be fine enough, as very few systems seems to draw anything near those 1000W that some PSUs perform.

I´ll have a look into how available the bibs and bobs are here, or I might just order it from OcUK. I'll probably get back with a list I hope you guys will be able to verify for me

Thanks a Bunch

Curious · 30 May 2010 at 18:06

Hmm.. when I think about it, I have an Antec 600 PSU lying around, modular even. He can get that one from me.

Judgeneo · 30 May 2010 at 18:35

If your willing to use that PSU, you could save that £40 expense and upgrade (CAT_THE_FIFTH for the other) the processor and graphics card to these? Better performance but whether its the best change for the money

Powercolor ATI Radeon HD 5670 1024MB

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-131-PC&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1673

AMD Phenom II X2 Dual Core 555 3.20GHz Black Edition

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-265-AM&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=1328

Curious · 30 May 2010 at 19:00

Ok... I found these...

Screen:
BenQ G2222hdh ~122 GBP

Ram, not sure of these...
Crucial DDR3 1333MHz 4GB KIT, CL9,Kit w/two matched DDR3 2GB, 240pin at ~100 GBP

OS:
Windows 7 premium retail ~161

Graphics:
MSI Radeon HD 5670 1GB GDDR5 ~89

Motherboard:
MSI 770-C45, Socket-AM3, DDR3 ~51

Case:
Antec Three Hundred Midi Tower ~46

HD:
Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB ~39

Optical:
Sony NEC Optiarc DVD±RW burner AD-7240S ~20

CPU, I could not find the BE:
AMD Phenom II X2 550 / 3.1 GHz Processor ~77

To a total at about ~703GBP

Looking at conversion this is within budget.

Any comments? And what about those ram? Seems cheap.. suspiciously so...

Zarf · 30 May 2010 at 19:07

have a look at the second hand market, I recently picked up a PhenomII X4 3Ghz system with 4870 and 4GB with a quality PSU and nice case for £400 delivered. The seller threw in a Razor Lachesis, gaming keyboard and a usb headset too.

The exchange rate has not been kind if your building new, but second hand stuff is more attractive than ever, people were building Core2Quads and PhenomII's for next to nothing 18 months ago and lots of systems are on the market now that people are upgrading to i5/i7. I'm glad i got my RAM when it was still £10/GB

cmndr_andi · 30 May 2010 at 19:11

£100 for 1333MHz 4GB DDR3 RAM? Not a bad price, you can get 1600MHz for that price on OCUK and 1333MHz for £88.

Does you nephew need the Professional version of Windows 7? For almost all games Home Premium is more than enough. You can get the full retail version of this for £93 and the OEM 64 bit version for £83.

I would not suggest going for the 5670 @ £89 - it performs worse in games than the 4850 which costs £20 less.

Everything else looks good.

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 30 May 2010 at 19:15

The HD5670 is barely faster than a 9800GT!! The HD4850 is a faster card.

The X2 550BE should be cheaper than £77 if you look around.

The OP also needs to look for a suitable PSU too.

Ryan-3 · 30 May 2010 at 19:27

I'd try pickin up some second hand parts to keep the budget down, but make sure they're good stuff. Or you can even pick up a system or bundle for a good price. Mind watch the descriptions though

Curious · 30 May 2010 at 19:28

I looked crosseyes at that ram. Read it as 2x4. Hehe.
Well Problem with ram was that I could not find the patriot stuff, they have brands of Crucial, Corsair, Kingston, Transcend Information Inc. and OCZ.

Would this do?:
Kingston ValueR. DDR3 1333MHz 4GB, CL9 ~95GBP do?
Cheapest 4 GB kit I can find.

Next one up is a :
Crucial DDR3 BallistiX 1333MHz 4GB CL7
Kit w/2x 2GB BallistiX modules, CL7-7-7-24, 1.65V at ~100

As for the Graphics card I can get:
ATI Radeon HD 5870
ATI Radeon HD 5750
ATI Radeon HD 5450
ATI Radeon HD 5670
ATI Radeon HD 5770
ATI Radeon HD 5850
ATI Radeon HD 5570
ATI Radeon HD 4350
ATI Radeon HD 5830
ATI Radeon HD 5970
ATI Radeon HD 4670
ATI Radeon HD 4650
ATI Radeon HD 5550
ATI Radeon HD 4550

It is a cut and paste job from their list, so not in a very good order....

The OS is the premium version, but Retail, not OEM.

I dug out the PSU. It is a Tagan530-U15

PermaBanned · 30 May 2010 at 19:30

This is pretty stupid though, £600 used to be more than enough for a gaming rig that could play along with the more expensive specs quite easily. Now we're forced to use budget and second hand parts just to keep it in budget? I mean, even with a monitor it's silly.

Hang on... *thinks about treating it as a £400 build and putting the Monitor and OS on after that* i'll get back to you on that.

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 30 May 2010 at 19:30

The HD4670 and HD5670 are reasonable cards but you should be going for at least an HD5750 512MB.

TBH, an HD4850 has similar performance to an HD5750 but lacks DX11 and has higher power consumption. However an HD5750 is not worth £30 to £40 more than an HD4850 IMHO.

The funny thing is that the HD5770 1GB launched at around £110 and the HD5750 512MB was under £100. Due to the weaker pound and lack of competition from Nvidia the prices have increased.