£800 budget for gaming machine

biggsyed · 1 Nov 2011 at 19:06

Ok so i have a 4 year old 32bit system with a Ati 5850 1gb GPU and a 1TB sata drive and a half decent case and monitor I can rob.

I want to build a machine capable of running skyrim, BF3, COD etc well and my first question was whether or not to keep the 5850, crossfire it or get a new gpu? (couldnt find a 5850 on Overclockers).

A new operating system is also required.

I was thinking the I5 2500k, 8gb ram, GPU????, is a SSD recommended? really cant stretch over the budget. If anyone fancies speccing me something it'd be much appreciated

Doomedspeed · 1 Nov 2011 at 19:22

You're along the right lines.

i5 2500k
Z68 motherboard
8gb 1600mhz RAM
6950 2GB GPU
600W PSU

SSD's are not really needed but if you can afford one you might aswell put one in and use it as boot drive. A 60GB SATAIII one would surfice.

shadow_boxer · 1 Nov 2011 at 19:29

Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £167.99
(£139.99) £167.99
(£139.99)
Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive £153.98
(£128.32) £153.98
(£128.32)
MSI Z68A-GD55-G3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard MSI Z68A-GD55-G3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £124.99
(£104.16) £124.99
(£104.16)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.99
(£66.66) £79.99
(£66.66)
XFX Pro 750W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply XFX Pro 750W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £79.98
(£66.65) £79.98
(£66.65)
Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £42.98
(£35.82) £42.98
(£35.82)
Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £25.99
(£21.66) £25.99
(£21.66)
LG GH24NS70 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM LG GH24NS70 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £18.98
(£15.82) £18.98
(£15.82)
Sub Total : £579.08
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.00
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £117.82
Total : £706.90

If you sell your current 5850 you will almost be able to get a 2GB 6950 in budget or add in another 5850 in Crossfire perhaps. Can you reuse your current PSU or optical drive at all?

MSI Z68A-GD55 review

biggsyed · 1 Nov 2011 at 19:41

Cheers for the help guys, just a few points...

The 5850 is 2 years old, would it be worth much?

The PSU is a 550w budget jobbie from PC world, its about 3 years old. Not sure if it needs upgrading or not tbh...

I need a new optical drive as the drive opening mechanism is bust

Would a 6950 2GB GPU be a big enough upgrade to justify replacing the 5850?

shadow_boxer · 1 Nov 2011 at 20:27

Yes to a new PSU, sounds like it can cope fine with your current 5850 but since your buying a new systems I would upgrade it to a better high quality unit. 5850s are generally going for around £70-80 so a 2GB 6950 will essentially be only costing you around £150. As to whether its worth it or not, depends on the resolution your gaming and whether you'd be happy with high settings or you must have ultra with AA etc.

AMD Radeon HD 5850 vs AMD Radeon HD 6950

biggsyed · 1 Nov 2011 at 20:37

Hmm, well thinking about maybe leaving the gpu until I really need it, the main upgrade for me here is a 4 year old E6700 cpu to a I5 2500k and moving up to 64 bit.

Then maybe try and crossfire the 5850 for a cheaper upgrade at a later date

Crezzlin · 1 Nov 2011 at 20:40

2 5850's are better than 1 6950.. unless going eyefinity, i had 2 5850's before, still shock me how fast they are in a pair

biggsyed · 1 Nov 2011 at 20:43

to crossfire, must they be identical cards, ie 2 x sapphire or 2x asus?? or just any other 5850?

shadow_boxer · 1 Nov 2011 at 20:46

It can be any 5850. It's still a decent graphics card IMO.

biggsyed · 1 Nov 2011 at 20:48

Yeah i've always been impressed with mine, just wondered if there was anything within budget that was far superior tbh, so any old 5850 and I'm ready to crossfire, anyone recommend a place to buy one? overclockers dont appear to stock them, or I'm being blind...

Crezzlin · 1 Nov 2011 at 20:58

They did stock them until a few months ago i think.. What model is it you have now.. from mem i had the xfx cards and they didnt have voltage controls... if you have the ref card then i would get a 2nd ref card.

biggsyed · 1 Nov 2011 at 21:01

its a sapphire radeon hd 5850, seen a new one on ebay for £139 delivered, seems ok

biggsyed · 1 Nov 2011 at 21:09

Decided a new case would be a good idea as I dont think my current one can fit the cpu fan, here is the final build

Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £167.99
(£139.99) £167.99
(£139.99)
MSI Z68A-GD55-G3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £124.99
(£104.16) £124.99
(£104.16)
Crucial RealSSD M4 64GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive £83.99
(£69.99) £83.99
(£69.99)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.99
(£66.66) £79.99
(£66.66)
XFX Pro 750W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £79.98
(£66.65) £79.98
(£66.65)
Antec 100 One Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case - Black £46.99
(£39.16) £46.99
(£39.16)
Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £42.98
(£35.82) £42.98
(£35.82)
Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £25.99
(£21.66) £25.99
(£21.66)
LG GH24NS70 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM

Sub Total : £559.91
Shipping : £12.50
Vat : £114.48
Total : £686.89

with a second 5850 crossfired with my old one for £140 this comes in at just over £820.00

Think this is a decent machine for the cash?

Crezzlin · 1 Nov 2011 at 21:10

biggsyed said:
its a sapphire radeon hd 5850, seen a new one on bay for £139 delivered, seems ok

£139.. i wouldnt pay that should get one for £100 or less.. don't put flee bey on here may get an arse kicking lol

Crezzlin · 1 Nov 2011 at 21:12

looks gd to me..

Crezzlin · 1 Nov 2011 at 21:17

Find a cheaper 5850 and get this cooler.. the cooler you picked is like a cheap cooler i have in a htpc looks like the same click on to motherboard attachment.. not a fan plus loos cheap..

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-072-AK

shadow_boxer · 1 Nov 2011 at 21:35

Crezzlin said:
Find a cheaper 5850 and get this cooler.. the cooler you picked is like a cheap cooler i have in a htpc looks like the same click on to motherboard attachment.. not a fan plus loos cheap..

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=hs-072-ak

agree with finding a cheaper 5850 but the cooler is very good for the price. it performs well above it's very modest price and isn't a clip mounted one.

Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler Review

See how it compares to other CPU coolers here.

fowler002 · 1 Nov 2011 at 23:33

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-009-LA&tool=5 little more expensive then the xfx and 50w less but gold rated so should save you some money in your electricity bill, also should be enough for for 5850 xfire(also xfire of the newer amd/ati cards as they're ment to be less power 'hungry').

the new graphics cards(amd/ati 7xxx series and nvidia 6xx series) is out q1 next year(so 2-5months) so if you can do with the 5850 for a bit longer maybe worth saving up the money for when they're released.