Which is the best £400-£500 overclocked bundle?

apatia77 · 6 Jan 2011 at 15:12

Hi guys,

I really am thinking of upgrading my computer. I am still running an old C2D 2.4ghz + 8800GT+ 4gb ram.

Don't get me wrong, I am still relatively happy from this old computer but I need to upgrade it because games like Black Ops (this game runs like a snail on it actually) just don't work on it well any more.

Atm I game on 20.1 monitor that's 1680 x 1050 resolution. I have everything else that I need, just need new overclocked bundle + graphic card.

I am looking for something that will allow me to to play any latest games on high settings.

Budget max £600 with a graphic card but would love to spend less if possible, I don't mind old technology, I bought 8800GT for about £150 and it served me well for at least 2 years now I think.

What are my options and what is the best performance for my money?

kristmace · 6 Jan 2011 at 15:21

For the graphics card I'd recommend either a 460 1GB or a HD5850. Both are around £150 and are plenty powerful enough to game at 1680x1050.

£400 can get you a very good overclocked i5 bundle like this one:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-023-OB&groupid=43&catid=339&subcat=1802

Bear in mind that new motherboards (Sandy Bridge) are out this week so you might want to leave it a week and see what Overclockers can offer on the new technology.

95thrifles · 6 Jan 2011 at 15:58

Build it yourself, doesnt take long and OCing is quite simple, though tbh initially you wouldnt need to as this would still eat your old system, plus by getting components individually you get to select exactly what you want/need, for example this mobo would support the addition of a 2nd gfx card in another year or two if you felt the need, where as the ones in the bundles dont

MSI ATI Radeon HD 6850 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £142.97
AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition "125W Edition" 3.20GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £113.99
MSI 890GXM-G65 AMD 890GX (Socket AM3) DDR3 microATX Motherboard £102.12
GeIL 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz VALUE PLUS Dual Channel (GVP34GB1600C9DC) £38.39
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev 2 CPU Cooler (Socket 939 / AM2 / AM3 / 775 / 1155/ 1156 / 1366) £19.39
Total : £416.86

apatia77 · 6 Jan 2011 at 16:17

95thrifles said:
Build it yourself, doesnt take long and OCing is quite simple, though tbh initially you wouldnt need to as this would still eat your old system, plus by getting components individually you get to select exactly what you want/need, for example this mobo would support the addition of a 2nd gfx card in another year or two if you felt the need, where as the ones in the bundles dont

MSI ATI Radeon HD 6850 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £142.97
AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition "125W Edition" 3.20GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £113.99
MSI 890GXM-G65 AMD 890GX (Socket AM3) DDR3 microATX Motherboard £102.12
GeIL 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz VALUE PLUS Dual Channel (GVP34GB1600C9DC) £38.39
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev 2 CPU Cooler (Socket 939 / AM2 / AM3 / 775 / 1155/ 1156 / 1366) £19.39
Total : £416.86

I am very tempted by this, all for just £416

EDIT: which thermal paste do I need with this?