Gaming Spec for a low £300 Odd Plse

MyBoxLife · 22 Mar 2011 at 17:38

Gaming Spec for a low £300 Odd Plse, make that £600 Odd

Need two systems, system only; got screens (Dual Dell P190S), keyboards, and mice. Will be used for gaming, the likes of; CSS, L4D2, possibly RIFT (Mostly Online Multiplayer), Microsoft Office, Autodesk, ...

Upgrading S939 systems; 2.4Ghz, 512MB 4670.

Cheers.

mufcmark · 22 Mar 2011 at 17:43

£300 is really low for a gaming pc. I think you would have to stretch it to £400 at least.

Redmint · 22 Mar 2011 at 17:49

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 460 OC 768MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £124.99
(£104.16) £124.99
(£104.16)
AMD Athlon II X3 Tri Core 445 3.10GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £56.99
(£47.49) £56.99
(£47.49)
Corsair Builder Series CX 430W ATX Power Supply (CMPSU-430CXUK) £35.99
(£29.99) £35.99
(£29.99)
ASRock N68C-S UCC GeForce 7025 (Socket AM3/AM2+) DDR2/DDR3 microATX Motherboard £33.98
(£28.32) £33.98
(£28.32)
OCZ Intel Extreme XMP 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 10666C7 1333MHz Low Voltage Dual-Channel Kit (OCZ3X1333LV4GK) £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)
Coolermaster Elite 342 Case - Black £24.98
(£20.82) £24.98
(£20.82)

Sub Total : £279.09
Shipping cost based on delivery to paypal address, with:
FREE SHIPPING (DPD Next Day)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : FREE
VAT is being charged at 20.00%
Total : £334.91

I'm going to assume you can use your old DVD drive and stretch your budget by £35.

MyBoxLife · 22 Mar 2011 at 18:06

mufcmark said:
£300 is really low for a gaming pc. I think you would have to stretch it to £400 at least.

Can't stretch to a £800 spend at the moment.

Redmint said:
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 460 OC 768MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £124.99
(£104.16) £124.99
(£104.16)
AMD Athlon II X3 Tri Core 445 3.10GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £56.99
(£47.49) £56.99
(£47.49)
Corsair Builder Series CX 430W ATX Power Supply (CMPSU-430CXUK) £35.99
(£29.99) £35.99
(£29.99)
ASRock N68C-S UCC GeForce 7025 (Socket AM3/AM2+) DDR2/DDR3 microATX Motherboard £33.98
(£28.32) £33.98
(£28.32)
OCZ Intel Extreme XMP 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 10666C7 1333MHz Low Voltage Dual-Channel Kit (OCZ3X1333LV4GK) £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)
Coolermaster Elite 342 Case - Black £24.98
(£20.82) £24.98
(£20.82)

Sub Total : £279.09
Shipping cost based on delivery to paypal address, with:
FREE SHIPPING (DPD Next Day)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : FREE
VAT is being charged at 20.00%
Total : £334.91

I'm going to assume you can use your old DVD drive and stretch your budget by £35.

Thanks Redmint, yes, forgot to mention already got SATA Opticals, and Corsair HX520W PSU.

Redmint · 22 Mar 2011 at 18:10

MyBoxLife said:
Thanks Redmint, yes, forgot to mention already got SATA Opticals, and Corsair HX520W PSU.

How's this then, slightly nicer case and cheaper as you don't need the PSU:

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 460 OC 768MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £124.99
(£104.16) £124.99
(£104.16)
AMD Athlon II X3 Tri Core 445 3.10GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £56.99
(£47.49) £56.99
(£47.49)
Coolermaster Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black £38.80
(£32.33) £38.80
(£32.33)
ASRock N68C-S UCC GeForce 7025 (Socket AM3/AM2+) DDR2/DDR3 microATX Motherboard £33.98
(£28.32) £33.98
(£28.32)
OCZ Intel Extreme XMP 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 10666C7 1333MHz Low Voltage Dual-Channel Kit (OCZ3X1333LV4GK) £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)

Sub Total : £260.61
Shipping cost based on delivery to paypal address, with:
FREE SHIPPING (DPD Next Day)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : FREE
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £52.12
Total : £312.73

Cookeh · 22 Mar 2011 at 18:38

I'd have upgraded the mobo before the case tbh

Cookeh · 22 Mar 2011 at 18:45

You mentioned a load of source games as the main games played, so thought I'd go down the route of strong CPU (as Source games are very cpu dependant) and decent onboard.

Whilst I was waiting for my new PSU I was playing L4D2, CS:S and TF2 on high settings with onboard and a Phenom II X4 955 - never saw the rates drop beneath 60fps for CS:S/TF2 and was always above 30 for L4D2

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition "125W Edition" 3.20GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £98.39
1 x Asus M4A88T-M AMD 880G (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard £59.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430W ATX Power Supply (CMPSU-430CXUK) £35.99
1 x OCZ Intel Extreme XMP 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 10666C7 1333MHz Low Voltage Dual-Channel Kit (OCZ3X1333LV4GK) £29.99
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Midi Tower Case - Black £29.60
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (ST3500418AS) £27.98
Total : £296.04 (includes shipping : £11.75).

PSU will take all but very high-end cards, so you could easily drop a HD6870 (or similar) in there at a later date.

benhog · 22 Mar 2011 at 20:20

Cookeh said:
(as Source games are very source dependant)

hehe

Cookeh · 22 Mar 2011 at 21:04

benhog said:
hehe

lmao

olivier renault · 23 Mar 2011 at 01:03

[can't beat Redmint]

hmmm maybe I can.

YOUR BASKET
1 x XFX ATI Radeon HD 6850 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE MOH Game £139.99
1 x AMD Athlon II X3 Tri Core 445 3.10GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £56.99
1 x ASRock N68C-S UCC GeForce 7025 (Socket AM3/AM2+) DDR2/DDR3 microATX Motherboard £33.98
1 x OCZ Intel Extreme XMP 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 10666C7 1333MHz Low Voltage Dual-Channel Kit (OCZ3X1333LV4GK) £29.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (ST3500418AS) £27.98
1 x OcUK Tsunami Gaming Case - Black £22.99
Total : £323.93 (includes shipping : £10.00).

unlock that tri-core to phenom II x4

A 6850 is worth the sacrifices imo.

olivier renault · 23 Mar 2011 at 01:30

amazing what you could actually get for £450 (not considering availability and deals).

YOUR BASKET
1 x XFX ATI Radeon HD 6850 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE MOH Game £139.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Bundle - Home Premium 64 Bit £68.40
1 x Option : Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (WD5000AAKX) £29.99
1 x AMD Athlon II X3 Tri Core 445 3.10GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £56.99
1 x ASRock N68C-S UCC GeForce 7025 (Socket AM3/AM2+) DDR2/DDR3 microATX Motherboard £33.98
1 x Coolermaster Elite Power 500W Power Supply £33.98
1 x OCZ Intel Extreme XMP 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 10666C7 1333MHz Low Voltage Dual-Channel Kit (OCZ3X1333LV4GK) £29.99
1 x Thermaltake V3 Black Edition Case - Black £24.98
1 x Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/AM2+/AM3/775/1155/1156/1366) £20.99
1 x Samsung SH-S223C/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £13.99
1 x Akasa AK-455 Thermal Compound £2.39
Total : £470.68 (includes shipping : £12.50).

Not sure the case is at the right price though.

Redmint · 23 Mar 2011 at 01:51

Cookeh said:
You mentioned a load of source games as the main games played, so thought I'd go down the route of strong CPU (as Source games are very cpu dependant) and decent onboard.

He did say "the likes of" and also included Rift, considering the budget for the upgrades I don't think he'll really want to wait however long extra to stick a £100+ card in there later. also he doesn't need the power supply.

Indy500 · 23 Mar 2011 at 02:06

That Radeon HD4670 isn't a bad card for the games mentioned, could hold onto it for a little while longer. Perhaps get a better CPU instead?

MyBoxLife · 23 Mar 2011 at 12:24

Thanks peeps, plenty to consider.

Decided it'll deffo be an AM3 MicroATX build, just got to decide on which parts.

olivier renault · 23 Mar 2011 at 12:46

Having looked further on that nforce chipset, it's running only at 8x PCI-e (which isn't too bad in itself). Looks a bit nasty, I'd upgrade the motherboard.

Indy500 · 23 Mar 2011 at 19:09

olivier renault said:
Having looked further on that nforce chipset, it's running only at 8x PCI-e (which isn't too bad in itself). Looks a bit nasty, I'd upgrade the motherboard.

Is it? I'm using it and it works at 16x..

MyBoxLife · 28 Mar 2011 at 01:31

Major circumstance change, not getting a replacement Laptop anytime soon, so need to build for myself now, boys' will have to hold-on to their S939 for a bit longer, as I'm a more critical case, says I typing this on a Socket A

.

Larger single system budget, but more bits needed; £600 give or take!

Have so far chosen the following:
AMD Phenom II X6 Six Core 1090T Black Edition 3.20GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail [HDT90ZFBGRBOX] £147.98
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5850 Extreme 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **OcUK Exclusive** [11162-15-20G] £107.99
Gigabyte GA-890GPA-UD3H AMD 890GX (Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard £106.99
G.Skill RipJawsX 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (F3-12800CL8D-8GBXM) [F3-12800CL8D-8GBXM] £77.99

Am I on the right path, £440.95 so far, still need to get a case, PSU, and HDD, keyboard, mouse, and possibly gaming headphones, as mine don't have a mic, also, should I shell out for a 3rd party cooler.

Any recommendations on a case, cool and quite, as it'll be in the living room, small and windowed, a bonus.

J-FRO · 28 Mar 2011 at 02:15

AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 965 Black Edition "125W Edition" 3.40GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £110.39
(£91.99) £110.39
(£91.99)
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5850 Extreme 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **OcUK Exclusive** £107.99
(£89.99) £107.99
(£89.99)
Asus M4A88TD-V EVO/USB3 AMD 880G (Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard £91.99
(£76.66) £91.99
(£76.66)
Microsoft Windows 7 Bundle - Home Premium 64 Bit £68.40
(£57.00) £68.40
(£57.00)
Options applied to the above product:
Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (WD5000AAKX) £32.99
(£27.49) £32.99
(£27.49)
OCZ StealthXStream 2 600W Power Supply £50.99
(£42.49) £50.99
(£42.49)
Razer DeathAdder Respawn 3500dpi Xtreme Precision Gaming Mouse - Retail £44.99
(£37.49) £44.99
(£37.49)
Coolermaster Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black £38.80
(£32.33) £38.80
(£32.33)
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £35.99
(£29.99) £35.99
(£29.99)
Saitek Cyborg V5 Illuminated Gaming Keyboard £33.98
(£28.32) £33.98
(£28.32)
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev 2 CPU Cooler (Socket 939 / AM2 / AM3 / 775 / 1155/ 1156 / 1366) £17.99
(£14.99) £17.99
(£14.99)
Sub Total : £528.74
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £11.25
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £108.00
Total : £647.99

CM-Sniper · 28 Mar 2011 at 02:17

If the build is going to be purely for gaming, myself seasonally would drop the cpu down to a quad core and give yourself an extra 40 quid for your GPU.

As for keyboard, MS sidewinder x4 or 6. Headset wise Id go not the TTs

olivier renault · 28 Mar 2011 at 03:39

full 2500K for £612 (ex postage and os)?

does forces compromises.

YOUR BASKET
1 x OcUK Motherboard Bundle - Intel Core i5 2500K & Asus P8P67 Intel P67 Mainboard **B3 Revision** £263.99
1 x Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5850 Extreme 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **OcUK Exclusive** £107.99
1 x Corsair TX 650W ATX SLi Compliant Power Supply (CMPSU-650TXUK) £69.98
1 x Antec 100 One Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case - Black £43.99
1 x Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £39.98
1 x Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £35.99
1 x Logitech MX518 Gaming-Grade Optical Mouse (910-000616) £21.98
1 x Logitech UltraX Premium Keyboard - OEM (920-000189) £14.99
1 x Samsung SH-S223C/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £13.99
Total : £626.39 (includes shipping : £11.25).