A little advice, please :)

ToeJamathon

ToeJamathon

ToeJamathon

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Joined
12 Feb 2011
Posts
54
Hey, I've just signed up to the forums as I'm in search of a little advice about a build I'm thinking of ordering and putting together.

I have a budget of £600 and the sole purpose of this computer will be for gaming. Currently I have absolutely nothing towards this, however, meaning I need to include a monitor, mouse, keyboard etc.. in the build - basically the works.

I don't need or want this computer to be upgradable after I've built it, though, I just want it to be a totally stand-alone machine with all parts complimenting one another, and no single part outshining the rest significantly.

I'm also after as barebones a build as possible - so I'm not including a disc drive and I'll be looking at getting a Micro ATX case - if airflow is suitable. Like I said above, this is only going to be a gaming machine, and as simple as possible: 1 hdd, no disc drive, small form case.

Anyway, if you're still with me, thanks, and here is what I have lined up so far:

Mobo: ASUS M4A78LT-M LE AMD 760G Socket AM3 MATX Motherboard - £42
CPU: AMD Athlon II X3 450 3.2GHz - £58
Graphics: MSI GTX 460 Cyclone OC Edition 1GB GDDR5 - £135
RAM: Corsair 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz XMS3 CL9 - £35
PSU: Corsair 500W CX PSU (2xPCI-E) – £48
HDD: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 7200rpm 32MB Cache - £40
Case: Casecom MA-1199 Shiny Black MATX Tower Case - £18
Case Fans: 2 x 92mm Black Case Fan - £3
Monitor: LG W2361V-PF 23” LCD 1920 x 1080 2ms - £160
Keyboard: Microsoft Wired Keyboard 600 - £10
Mouse: Logitech MX 518 - £20
Network: Tenda Wireless-N300 PCI Adapter - £12

Total = £581

I've done a fair amount of research into each part and I believe they are all going to be at roughly the same level - except perhaps the GFX card and monitor - but I'm happy to spend a bit more on those bits as they will be the most important parts for a decent gaming experience. And as far as I'm aware the GTX 460 is a very good card, but won't be wasted with the CPU, Mobo and RAM I've selected. To get a more expensive monitor and GFX card I'm willing to skimp a little on things like the case, case fans, keyboard - as I think the ones I have chosen will be 'good enough' for the job. Also, as I'm putting very little inside the case, I'm hoping that even this cheap one will afford me enough air flow for the components (along with the two 92mm fans: one front, one back).

My biggest points of contention so far have been the PSU: whether it would power the GTX 460 and its two PCI-E requirements - I *think* it will after a lot of reading - especially as the lack of disc drive and single HDD will make the total built less power hungry; and also the keyboard, believe it or not, I want something that's nice to use, not just a plasticky piece of crap. I'm used to using a MacBook Pro keyboard and I really like how it feels, but I also want something that'll perhaps be a little more rugged for gaming - but it has to have shallow keys, not large-throw ones, which I hate! :D

One last thing, I'm not going to overclock this, I think it'll be powerful enough for my gaming needs at stock values, and I'd prefer to keep it clocked at stock so things don't overheat if the case air flow isn't phenomenal.

Any feedback on the components I've selected, or questions, or pointers would be very much apprecitated - thanks for your time!
 
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Your basketProduct Name Qty Price Line Total
Asus GeForce GTX 460 Direct CU TOP 768MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £124.99
(£104.16) £124.99
(£104.16)
BenQ G2222HDL 21.5" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black £107.99
(£89.99) £107.99
(£89.99)
Coolermaster Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black (with 500w Elite Power PSU) £64.33
(£53.61) £64.33
(£53.61)
AMD Athlon II X3 Tri Core 445 3.10GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £59.99
(£49.99) £59.99
(£49.99)
Asus M4A78LT-M 760G (Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard £49.99
(£41.66) £49.99
(£41.66)
Microsoft SideWinder X4 Gaming Keyboard - Retail (JQD-00006) £34.99
(£29.16) £34.99
(£29.16)
Logitech G500 Gaming Mouse (910-001262) £30.98
(£25.82) £30.98
(£25.82)
OCZ Special OPS 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (OCZ3SOE1600LV4GK) £29.99
(£24.99) £29.99
(£24.99)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (ST3500418AS) £27.98
(£23.32) £27.98
(£23.32)
Logitech S-220 2.1 Speaker System - OEM (980-000022) £20.99
(£17.49) £20.99
(£17.49)
Sub Total : £460.19
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £17.85
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £95.61
Total : £573.65

even included speakers.

do you have a optical drive then?
 
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Yes I have an external optical drive that I'll be using for installing Windows 7 and then never needing again (probably), that's why I didn't bother to include one; I figured it'd be better on the power consumption too.

I have a hi-fi that I intend to plug into for the speakers, saving buying the extra component and desk space at the same time.

Can you tell me why you've chosen some of those parts over the ones I had selected please? Because you've changed almost all of what I had!

Mainly I'm interested in your GFX card choice, as I had a 1GB GTX 460 in my build, and also the monitor; because from my researching I think the LG came out a fair bit better than the BenQ, and comes in a little larger too - I could be wrong of course - but like I said, I'd happily spend a bit more on the monitor and GFX card if it was warranted.

But of course, many thanks for your input! :D

edit: Also you have the X3 445 CPU down instead of the X3 450 which I had, and the 450 is a 3.2 instead of a 3.1, so I though I might as well go for the minor speed increase as it was only £3 more on the website I was looking at.
 
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So without speakers.

Your basketProduct Name Qty Price Line Total
Asus GeForce GTX 460 Direct CU TOP 768MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £124.99
(£104.16) £124.99
(£104.16)
BenQ G2222HDL 21.5" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black £107.99
(£89.99) £107.99
(£89.99)
AMD Athlon II X4 Quad Core 640 3.00GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £74.39
(£61.99) £74.39
(£61.99)
Coolermaster Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black (with 500w Elite Power PSU) £64.33
(£53.61) £64.33
(£53.61)
Asus M4A78LT-M 760G (Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard £49.99
(£41.66) £49.99
(£41.66)
Microsoft SideWinder X4 Gaming Keyboard - Retail (JQD-00006) £34.99
(£29.16) £34.99
(£29.16)
Logitech G500 Gaming Mouse (910-001262) £30.98
(£25.82) £30.98
(£25.82)
OCZ Special OPS 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (OCZ3SOE1600LV4GK) £29.99
(£24.99) £29.99
(£24.99)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (ST3500418AS) £27.98
(£23.32) £27.98
(£23.32)
Logitech S-220 2.1 Speaker System - OEM (980-000022) £20.99
(£17.49) £20.99
(£17.49)
Sub Total : £472.19
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £17.85
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £98.01
Total : £588.05

can now get a Quad core cpu in the price. I had the tri-core 445 as thats the only one OCUK has.

this shows the GTX460 1GB vs 768MB - http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/180?vs=156

the screen size is less irrelevant if the resolution is the same for both monitor.
 
Okay fair point, I see that the 768MB GTX is a good swap - but what about the monitor? I'm losing a couple of screen inches, is the one you've selected better, or just cheaper?

I like the addition of the quad core, but is it necessary for a PC that is strictly a gaming machine?

My only other gripe with the components you've shown me is the case - I know it comes with a PSU, which is a good way to economise - but it is also much larger than the Micro ATX one I had down. That's quite an important thing for this build, as I'm short on space and NEED as small a case as possible really (as long as the air flow is sufficient of course).
 
stulid said:
the case isnt that big, its only a mid-tower.

Its just that it has better airflow, better quality build, bigger inside(will take a ati 5970)
Click to expand...

Okay. But I do need it to be a Micro ATX, not Mid-tower sized, the lower form really will make all the difference - and I won't be upgrading any of the components, so as long as it takes the GTX 460 then it's fine. Does the case I selected originally really not work with the components?

Can you comment on the monitor choice please? If the one you've gone for will be better then of course I'd choose that and save £50 to be spent elsewhere, but if it's purely a money saver then I'd rather go with a better monitor and make it work with the £600 budget.
 
MeatLoaf said:
The case id a pretty mice case and the included PSU is just fine for the spec listed. Airflow is pretty good. It only comes with the front 120mm fan so you may need to get a 120mm for the rear.
Click to expand...

Righto, well I'll put that case as a secondary option if I can't make this build work in a Micro ATX case - which is massively preferable to me - will a smaller, Micro ATX case, really impact on the performance? Because it's not tiny-tiny, but just a bit shorter and thinner; and because I only want one HDD and no CD drive I thought it would be fine?
 
ToeJamathon said:
Okay. But I do need it to be a Micro ATX, not Mid-tower sized, the lower form really will make all the difference - and I won't be upgrading any of the components, so as long as it takes the GTX 460 then it's fine. Does the case I selected originally really not work with the components?

Can you comment on the monitor choice please? If the one you've gone for will be better then of course I'd choose that and save £50 to be spent elsewhere, but if it's purely a money saver then I'd rather go with a better monitor and make it work with the £600 budget.
Click to expand...

your case choice will work fine, its just the thickness of materials used and will be a bit like tin, do you want something that "bends"

the monitor choice of the BenQ is good, the screen size is nothing, the resolution is the same, you wont actually gain any more screen space with it, items on the desktop will just be bigger.
 
stulid said:
the monitor choice of the BenQ is good, the screen size is nothing, the resolution is the same, you wont actually gain any more screen space with it, items on the desktop will just be bigger.
Click to expand...

+1

Not only bigger, but more pixelated :p
 
stulid said:
your case choice will work fine, its just the thickness of materials used and will be a bit like tin, do you want something that "bends"

the monitor choice of the BenQ is good, the screen size is nothing, the resolution is the same, you wont actually gain any more screen space with it, items will just be bigger.
Click to expand...

Yes, I understand that the resolutions are the same, the reason I went for the LG wasn't because it was a 23 incher, but because it had received some really decent reviews about the image quality - and image quality is definitely an important aspect of the screen to me, the fact that it was a little bigger is just a bonus, well, I thought so at least!

I imagine an £18 case is going to be a little flimsy indeed! But it'll be sitting still and not tampered with, so shouldn't be an issue (hopefully).

Okay, so going back to my original components, if you don't mind.. Is there anything I selected that stands out as incompatible with something else? That was really my main reason for posting originally, I just wanted a bit of feedback from some more informed people as to whether it would all work in harmony or not?
 
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Nothing is wrong with your original spec.

its just that it can be argued that the last spec by me is the better pc, quad core cpu will last longer when games/apps get ever more multi-threaded.

the keyboard and mouse (especially the keyboard) is better.
 
Yeah, will all work perfectly fine.

CX range of power supplies (excluding the 430W) don't have brilliant reviews.

this is cheaper, and much better whilst still maintaining the 2x PCI-E connectors.
 
stulid said:
Nothing is wrong with your original spec.

its just that it can be argued that the last spec by me is the better pc, quad core cpu will last longer when games/apps get ever more multi-threaded.

the keyboard and mouse (especially the keyboard) is better.
Click to expand...

+1 to this tbh, but my above post is very relevant if you decide to stick with original.
 
Cookeh said:
Yeah, will all work perfectly fine.

CX range of power supplies (excluding the 430W) don't have brilliant reviews.

this is cheaper, and much better whilst still maintaining the 2x PCI-E connectors.
Click to expand...

Oh excellent, is that a better PSU choice then? I did see that one, but went with the Corsair because I was more familiar with the brand - but I'd happily switch to that one if it's considered to be better, though?
 
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