Gaming PC Equipment Query

Skerne · 31 May 2011 at 16:22

Hi all,

I'm trying to help a friend build a PC for his needs, but i'm getting a little confused with all the new video card models, etc, so wanted to ask for a little advice.

He would like to have a PC that can do a bit of gaming, from StarCraft II to some of the latest games, with a budget of £600, with literally everything to buy (except the monitor, keyboard and mouse). Probably not interested at this time in SLI or Crossfire but the opportunity to do so may arise in the future. Intel or AMD, ATI or nVidia, makes no difference.. apparently.

I was wondering that someone a bit more up-to-speed on new parts, etc, could lend me a hand and help me pick a few pieces? Building it isn't an issue, just so out of touch with all the new stuff these days.

Thank you for your time.

DJ_Martin · 31 May 2011 at 16:29

This was suggested to me in my Gaming PC thread. It was a little over budget for me but might be a good starting point for you to look at?

Eric's collar said:
I think it would be better to get a i5 2500k. You should shop around as these prices aren't the best atm as they 2500k was 149.99 last week.

EDIT: Personally though, I would prefer to get a GTX 560. It's an extra £25 but apparently it gets an extra 20 fps out of BFBC2 at 1080p (60fps vs 80fps) I can't check AnandTech right now because it's down but that is what I have read

honosuseri · 31 May 2011 at 16:38

At £600 you can see you can get an i5 setup which does make sense over AMDs offerings. Only problem i foresee is that you may need an OS which will take a chunk out of the budget at £60, which is dropping you nearer to the £500 mark.

If you don't need an OS a build like that is ideal, a well rounded rig, reasonably futureproof and some decent gaming grunt to it. If you do need the OS look at DJmartins £500 budget gaming thread and see what we suggested and discussed on the AMD front

*edit* just seen your edit martin

I was actually just thinking that if he needed the OS he could drop to your AMD spec and the £40 extra he has over you be put into the GPU budget for a 560, Your learning quick lol

Skerne · 1 Jun 2011 at 02:00

Thank you both very much for your assistance.

OS isn't needed, he bought Windows 7 before he realised his Pentium 4 (!) was getting a little useless!

Will definitely keep the 560 in mind.

If I shop around, I could maybe fit in an aftermarket cooler. Would anyone be able to point me in the direction of a good aftermarket cooler that won't break the bank just to make sure the CPU goes that extra mile over stock?

Thank you.

DJ_Martin · 1 Jun 2011 at 02:05

When you say not break the bank, what is your budget?

This seems to have pretty good rep. Don't have enough experience to recommend anything else though

Or This for a little less.

honosuseri · 1 Jun 2011 at 12:53

That is the only problem with erics spec that DJ posted. That is the OEM CPU and has no cooler. If you buy the retail CPU you will get a stock cooler.

If you check the Overclockers prebuilt overclocked bundles for the i5 2500k they use the corsair A50, which is allowing them to get to 4.4 Ghz opposed to the 3.3Ghz stock speed.

In my opinion you may as well go with the retail cpu it's only £6 more i believe, the A50 has to be around £30-40. I would rather use that money in the GPU budget to go from the 5850 to the 560. You can add an aftermarket cooler much later when the machine "needs" to be OC'd. Even at stock it will have enough grunt for gaming, the GPU really is going to make the most difference to the quality of the games.

olivier renault · 1 Jun 2011 at 13:30

DJmartin said:
This was suggested to me in my Gaming PC thread. It was a little over budget for me but might be a good starting point for you to look at?

EDIT: Personally though, I would prefer to get a GTX 560. It's an extra £25 but apparently it gets an extra 20 fps out of BFBC2 at 1080p (60fps vs 80fps) I can't check AnandTech right now because it's down but that is what I have read

Be careful, don't mix up the 560 and the 560ti. The 560 is about 10% slower. Oh and BTW, I play BF2 with the 5850 and get no framerate issues. 20fps sounds like a lot though, but the most important is not max FPS, but minimum FPS and average.

DJ_Martin · 1 Jun 2011 at 13:41

olivier renault said:
Be careful, don't mix up the 560 and the 560ti. The 560 is about 10% slower. Oh and BTW, I play BF2 with the 5850 and get no framerate issues. 20fps sounds like a lot though, but the most important is not max FPS, but minimum FPS and average.

I wasn't getting them mixed up. It just wasn't a version of the 560 sold at OcUK it was a Gigabyte OC version. I don't want to break the rules so I don't know how much more information I can give.