£500-£550 gaming pc

Silverdust3011 · 27 Jun 2011 at 13:59

Thanks for all the help, still looking at the builds and trying to figure out what to do. I'll probs go with Intel and might get the 460 graphics card and hope it lasts the next couple of years till I can upgrade.

If it changes anything I'll prob be getting quite a bit of money in November and Christmas

Thanks again though

Pickman · 27 Jun 2011 at 14:06

Silverdust3011 said:
Thanks for all the help, still looking at the builds and trying to figure out what to do. I'll probs go with Intel and might get the 460 graphics card and hope it lasts the next couple of years till I can upgrade.

If it changes anything I'll prob be getting quite a bit of money in November and Christmas

Thanks again though

Well, it depends on how desperate you are. If you can possibly hold out until November then being able to spend around £600-650 would genuinly make quite a difference in performance and longevity.

DJ_Martin · 27 Jun 2011 at 14:07

I'm assuming you want to start gaming now but I'll just throw this out there:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor £161.99
1 x Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £139.99
1 x BeQuiet Pure Power L7 530W '80 Plus' Power Supply £44.99
1 x Samsung SpinPoint F1 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103UJ) £34.99
1 x Cooler Master Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black £33.98
1 x Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £30.98
1 x Samsung SH-S222AB/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £476.52 (includes shipping : £10.50).

Better mobo but without GPU, includes onboard graphics so that a better GPU could be added later down the line. Probably not what you're looking for but I can't really encourage buying a 460 at the moment.

Silverdust3011 · 27 Jun 2011 at 14:23

Thanks for all the help guys

Your both right, I'd be better holding out for the money or trying to work around it somehow, would rather my PC lasted longer with fewer upgrades than getting a cheaper graphics card and having to pay more in the long run

The £600 seems manageable and the only thing I was wondering is if I could swap the Cooler Master Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black for the Cooler Master Elite 335 case (purely based on looks

)

olivier renault · 27 Jun 2011 at 14:24

That's an option if you see money coming in later to get a £200 GPU when BF3 comes out. You wont be able to do much gaming in the meanwhile though, but £500 will buy you a very nice Sandy build without GPU (even a XFX 650W and a £40 case thrown in). Then you'll have a very solid rig with overclocking potential and xfire support.

I don't see the hate for the 460 OC. I use to game on a HD 5850 (pretty much the same performance) no problem. I fact, I hardly see any difference with a 560ti (5850 going to brother before anyone asks).

It's a good investment for £100, and you can still sell it later for decent money to budget for a £200-£300 upgrade (GTX570, HD6950, HD6970).

Silverdust3011 · 27 Jun 2011 at 14:30

The 560ti will last longer I suppose though, which will save me money in the long run

DJ_Martin · 27 Jun 2011 at 14:43

Well as I said it's just my opinion which comes from other peoples opinions. If Olivier has actual experience with the 460 then I suppose he is the right person to talk to.
I suppose the question I should have asked earlier is what res will you be playing at?

@Olivier - I realise that with current games the 460/5850 can keep up but there is definite difference between the two seen here you could argue that the 5850 still does most games at manageable-good frame rates but you have to think about the fact that games will only get more difficult to run as time goes on and the 560Ti will be good enough for longer.
This however is worth looking at. If down the line you think you would have a spare £80~ (assuming price drops) then CF 5850s do easily beat a single 560Ti although a new power supply would have to be purchased then unless a better one is bought now. Also then with the 560Ti you still have the option of SLI whereas once you have CF 5850s the next upgrade should probably be totally new card/cards.

I think you have to look at what kind of money you will be able to spend on your computer over the next few years to decide whether getting the best you can get right now performance wise or upgrade wise is better for you.

RiseAgainst · 27 Jun 2011 at 15:29

Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 6790 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (11194-00-20G) £114.98
(£95.82) £114.98
(£95.82)
Asus M4A88TD-V EVO/USB3 AMD 880G (Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard £91.99
£91.99

AMD Athlon II X4 Quad Core 645 3.10GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £89.99
£89.99

Corsair Enthusiast Series TX 650W V2 High Performance '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CMPSU-650TXV2UK) £80.99
(£67.49) £80.99
(£67.49)
Antec 600 Six Hundred V2 Ultimate Gaming Case - Black £74.99
£74.99
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £40.99
£40.99

Akasa AK-CCX-4002HP Venom CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366/AM2/AM3) £38.99
£38.99

OCZ Gold 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Low-Voltage Dual Channel Kit (OCZ3G1333LV4GK) £27.98
£27.98

Akasa AK-183-L2B Amber Ultra Quiet 120mm Fan - 3 pin £11.22
£22.44

Sub Total : £486.12+ vat
Total : £598.34

top range of your budget i know but its another option

I prefer amd personally so that is what i have spec'd

Pickman · 27 Jun 2011 at 15:38

RiseAgainst said:
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 6790 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (11194-00-20G) £114.98
(£95.82) £114.98
(£95.82)
Asus M4A88TD-V EVO/USB3 AMD 880G (Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard £91.99
£91.99

AMD Athlon II X4 Quad Core 645 3.10GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £89.99
£89.99

Corsair Enthusiast Series TX 650W V2 High Performance '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CMPSU-650TXV2UK) £80.99
(£67.49) £80.99
(£67.49)
Antec 600 Six Hundred V2 Ultimate Gaming Case - Black £74.99
£74.99
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £40.99
£40.99

Akasa AK-CCX-4002HP Venom CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366/AM2/AM3) £38.99
£38.99

OCZ Gold 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Low-Voltage Dual Channel Kit (OCZ3G1333LV4GK) £27.98
£27.98

Akasa AK-183-L2B Amber Ultra Quiet 120mm Fan - 3 pin £11.22
£22.44

Sub Total : £486.12+ vat
Total : £598.34

top range of your budget i know but its another option
I prefer amd personally so that is what i have spec'd

The PSU is overkill, the CPU is massivly inferior to the i5 2500k, too much money is put into luxery items like the case and cooling and the not enough money has been put into the GPU. If £600 is the new limit then DJmartin's spec @ #19 (getting rid of the optical) is easily the best build here and will make a sweet rig.

Silverdust3011 · 27 Jun 2011 at 15:41

Hi, going to be playing 1366x768 (best for the monitor I'm playing on)

So your suggesting that I would buy a Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5850 Extreme 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card right now, use it for a while and then once the time comes buy another one and use both at same time?

Pickman · 27 Jun 2011 at 15:53

Silverdust3011 said:
Hi, going to be playing 1366x768 (best for the monitor I'm playing on)

So your suggesting that I would buy a Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5850 Extreme 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card right now, use it for a while and then once the time comes buy another one and use both at same time?

Unfortunately if you want to Crossfire you will need a better PSU and a slightly better motherboard. which will be an extra £50 or so.

olivier renault · 27 Jun 2011 at 16:38

Silverdust3011 said:
Hi, going to be playing 1366x768 (best for the monitor I'm playing on)

So your suggesting that I would buy a Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5850 Extreme 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card right now, use it for a while and then once the time comes buy another one and use both at same time?

That's what I'd do. I'd get a 2500K and a GTX 460 in the view of selling and replacing the GPU later, rather than a 955 and a 560. I think you'll get more mileage and value for money that way. Some may disagree. I'm not having much faith on Bulldozer either, which would be an upgrade path if you considered a 955, but it would have to include some sort of escape route with a full fat AM3+, and being 100% sure Bulldozer will deliver at least competitively with 2500K.

Or better, save £100 extra in the piggy bank, and get a full upgrade with no messing around.

A GTX 460 / 5850 will play everything for a couple of years especially at that resolution, but not maxed (at elast for the AAA PC titles). All games now are focusing on the console market, so they do allow for quite a lot of scaling (BF3, Rage, Crysis 2, ect...). Remember that a 460 / 5850 are not that far away from a 6870, so it's not like they are completely crap.

RiseAgainst · 27 Jun 2011 at 17:37

Pickman said:
The PSU is overkill, the CPU is massivly inferior to the i5 2500k, too much money is put into luxery items like the case and cooling and the not enough money has been put into the GPU. If £600 is the new limit then DJmartin's spec @ #19 (getting rid of the optical) is easily the best build here and will make a sweet rig.

That psu would allow him to overclock and add other parts in the sure knowledge that the psu wasn't going to cause problems.
I just spec'd that as an alternative, it doesnt hurt him to have another option and if he wanted he could get a cheaper case or whatever and put the money towards a better cpu.