Gaming rig on a console budget

fst_si · 11 Feb 2013 at 16:10

As the title says im looking looking to get back into PC gaming, something I have havent done since the original Unreal Tournament. I have a very basic PC right now which needs replacing so thought I would make the most of this opportunity.

Am I realistic in building a rig for £300-£350 that will show up my PS3 seeing as I love my FPS and a few RPG's?

In an ideal world I would like build that could handle higher end hardware as I would like to upgade as funds allow

I already have a basic 21" screen, mouse and key board

LukieBoy007 · 11 Feb 2013 at 16:21

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD A10-5800K Black Edition 3.80GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Quad Core Processor (AD580KWOHJBOX) £95.99
1 x Gigabyte F2A85X-D3H AMD A85X Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £64.99
1 x GeIL EVO Leggera 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17000C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (GEL38GB2133C11DC) £41.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430W V2 '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020046-UK) £34.98
1 x **B Grade** Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM £30
1 x BitFenix Merc Beta Gaming Case - Black £29.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £329.03 (includes shipping : £11.75).

Do you need an OS?

fst_si · 11 Feb 2013 at 16:26

LukieBoy007 said:
YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD A10-5800K Black Edition 3.80GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Quad Core Processor (AD580KWOHJBOX) £95.99
1 x Gigabyte F2A85X-D3H AMD A85X Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £64.99
1 x GeIL EVO Leggera 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17000C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (GEL38GB2133C11DC) £41.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430W V2 '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020046-UK) £34.98
1 x **B Grade** Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM £30
1 x BitFenix Merc Beta Gaming Case - Black £29.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £329.03 (includes shipping : £11.75).

Do you need an OS?

Sorry forgot about that, yes I will need an OS

LukieBoy007 · 11 Feb 2013 at 16:43

With an OS it is quite hard to get a decent build in. An A10 with a A85X chipset motherboard would be ideal, and even without it goes over budget. The A8 still performs quite well at 720p, you can see a review here.
Is your monitor 720p or 1080p?
YOUR BASKET
1 x Microsoft Windows 8 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00403) £79.99
1 x AMD A8-5600K Black Edition 3.60GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Quad Core Processor (AD560KWOHJBOX) £79.99
1 x ASRock FM2A75M-DGS AMD A75 Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £52.99
1 x GeIL EVO Leggera 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17000C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (GEL38GB2133C11DC) £41.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430W V2 '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020046-UK) £34.98
1 x **B Grade** Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM £30
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
1 x **B Grade** OcUK Imp MicroATX Tower Cas (CA-063-OP) £15
Total : £364.54 (includes shipping : £10.50).

Something Else · 11 Feb 2013 at 16:55

i would strongly suggest buying second hand parts to get within your budget

fst_si · 11 Feb 2013 at 17:08

Somthing Else said:
i would strongly suggest buying second hand parts to get within your budget

Yeh i think I might have been a little ambitious with the budget. I would be happy with £400 at the top end to start with.

Oh and yes its 1080p

LukieBoy007 · 11 Feb 2013 at 17:24

You'd probably be able to play games like BF3 on mainly medium (some low) settings at 1080p.

Idleman · 11 Feb 2013 at 17:41

Would suggest saving a bit more and get a system with a decent Gpu and something with a bit more upgrade potential.

fst_si · 11 Feb 2013 at 18:07

Idleman said:
Would suggest saving a bit more and get a system with a decent Gpu and something with a bit more upgrade potential.

what sort of range would that be? am due a nice bonus from work in April so could always wait

Idleman · 11 Feb 2013 at 18:39

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x MSI HD 7850 OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Cards £149.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £89.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020059-UK) £52.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 200R Compact ATX Case - Black £49.99
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 500GB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA050) HDD £43.99
1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BLS2CP4G3D1609DS1S00CEU) £35.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £712.51 (includes shipping : £10.50).

Something like this, although prices will vary from now till Easter. You could drop the i5 for the i3 3220 with the Z77 mobo and upgrade at a later date to the i5. Shopping around could also save money. If you had a PC then it would just be a case of upgrading certain components but it is always a lot more expensive when starting out with nothing.

LukieBoy007 · 11 Feb 2013 at 18:47

Idleman's build is pretty much spot on with what you can get for around that price with an OS.