Cheapest possible gaming PC

SheepBeast

SheepBeast

SheepBeast

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For a mate. He just needs the base unit, as he's already got a monitor and peripherals. He needs windows too but he can get that free from uni so it doesn't need to be included in the spec here.

He's not a serious 1337 gamer but he does want something which will do the job. He's currently using a 4-year old mac laptop which is as you can imagine pretty horrific. The games he plays at the moment are Civ 4&5, StarCraft 2 and League of Legends, but ideally if he buys a computer it should do for at least a few years on low-mid settings.

By "cheapest possible" I really mean "cheapest that will do the job". No point skimping on it and then finding it's not really up to the task.

The monitor he'll be using is 1680x1050. He doesn't care too much about running things at max. Medium settings at a good frame rate would be fine.

Thanks in advance guys. I've already got a spec for him which I came up with, but I'm interested to see what you people would recommend. I haven't properly kept up with tech since bulldozer came out so I'm a little out the loop.
 
 
 
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-2100 3.10GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £94.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) £57.98
1 x Sapphire HD 6570 Ultimate Edition 1024MB GDDR3 PCI-Express SILENT Graphics Card £53.99
1 x XFX Pro 450W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £38.99
1 x MSI H61M-P31-G3 Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £35.99
1 x OcUK Tsunami Gaming Case - Black £19.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/4GX) £19.99
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
Total : £352.51 (includes shipping : £10.50).



According to the system requirements for the games mention, the graphics on the i3 should be enough. So you could discard the Gpu.
 
Idleman said:
A budget would be nice.
Click to expand...

He doesn't have one.

Cheers for the specs guys. Lemin's build is very similar to what I came up with, so I'll think I'll have a play around with it but probably recommend my mate something along the lines of that. The i3 2100 and 6850 combo seems to be a good compromise between price and performance.
 
SheepBeast said:
He doesn't have one.

Cheers for the specs guys. Lemin's build is very similar to what I came up with, so I'll think I'll have a play around with it but probably recommend my mate something along the lines of that. The i3 2100 and 6850 combo seems to be a good compromise between price and performance.
Click to expand...

Yeah Lemin's build is very good. For price/performance an i3 + 6850 are amazing!
If he did want to spend a bit more, 8GB of RAM isn't expensive. Or a Z68 motherboard, so an i5 or similar could be added later :)
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x EVGA GeForce GTX 460 Superclocked *** 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (01G-P3-1363-KR) £119.99
1 x Intel Core i3-2120 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £97.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) £57.98
1 x Gigabyte H61MA-D3V Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £47.99
1 x OCZ ZS Series 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £46.98
1 x BitFenix Outlaw Gaming Case - Black £36.98
1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BLS2CP4G3D1609DS1S00CEU) £33.59
1 x LG GH22NS70 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £18.98
Total : £460.49 (includes shipping : FREE).



That's not using the cheapest parts but is a good budget gaming setup. I prefer the 460 SC over the 6850. The 460 is preoverclocked to nigh on 6870 performance and also adds cuda support for some software. The PSU is a "safe minimum" to run higher model GPUs if he wanted to upgrade later, even if it is 2nd hand kit on the MM ;)

It may seem overkill but that would run Starcraft 3 and any expansions it has well or total war shogun2. Diablo 3 is out soon he might enjoy that as well. Be nice to have a half decent gaming GPU in there in my opinion. I have a 460 clocked @900 in my htpc. It will run BF3 on high-ultra settings and it works well on my 3DTV. The 6850 is a cheaper option, i prefer nvidia drivers (ive used amd), i wouldnt go any lower than the 6850. These two cards are the default gaming budget GPUs in all honesty
 
Last edited:
honosuseri said:
YOUR BASKET
1 x EVGA GeForce GTX 460 Superclocked *** 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (01G-P3-1363-KR) £119.99
1 x Intel Core i3-2120 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £97.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) £57.98
1 x Gigabyte H61MA-D3V Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £47.99
1 x OCZ ZS Series 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £46.98
1 x BitFenix Outlaw Gaming Case - Black £36.98
1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BLS2CP4G3D1609DS1S00CEU) £33.59
1 x LG GH22NS70 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £18.98
Total : £460.49 (includes shipping : FREE).



That's not using the cheapest parts but is a good budget gaming setup. I prefer the 460 SC over the 6850. The 460 is preoverclocked to nigh on 6870 performance and also adds cuda support for some software. The PSU is a "safe minimum" to run higher model GPUs if he wanted to upgrade later, even if it is 2nd hand kit on the MM ;)

It may seem overkill but that would run Starcraft 3 and any expansions it has well or total war shogun2. Diablo 3 is out soon he might enjoy that as well. Be nice to have a half decent gaming GPU in there in my opinion. I have a 460 clocked @900 in my htpc. It will run BF3 on high-ultra settings and it works well on my 3DTV. The 6850 is a cheaper option, i prefer nvidia drivers (ive used amd), i wouldnt go any lower than the 6850. These two cards are the default gaming budget GPUs in all honesty
Click to expand...

Yeah, thanks for the spec. I'll talk to him and see what he says. Also high five for the Tool lyrics in your sig :D. Lateralus is an amazing song.
 
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