best gaming build for £350 and not a penny more
- Thread starter famas
- Start date
If it's a friend then don't give them an APU for gaming.
While APU's are great for general usage / very light gaming and would be great in a netbook/laptop for occasional gaming you'll seriously limit what they can play even at medium details.
The A10 graphics are approx 60% of a HD6670 and there's no point going crossfire with the APU as it doesn't really boost the graphics performance of the discrete card.
I have a HD6670 in a office PC with a 3.0Ghz Q6600 used for occasion lan gaming when friends are round and we need another machine. The performance is fine games like L4D but for many others it just isn't there unless you crank the details right down.
A discrete GPU is in budget and will offer well over double the performance ... it has to be the best gaming build!
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I hear what your saying, I'm just not sure he needs any thing more than APU graphics?
He's of a slightly older generation and only an occasional gamer, I cant seem him wanting to buy any new titles, he just likes to have a blast now and then on L4D2, TF2, sniper elite, etc.
My thread title is probably a bit misleading, it should have said something along the lines of "spec me a budget general purpose pc that can play moderate games"
If a CPU with integrated graphics can play most of the current games he will be happy, even if he does have to reduce the settings I really don't think he's going to care much just as long as it runs.
having said all that, whats this spec like
YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte F2A85XM-D3H AMD A85X Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 micro ATX Motherboard £61.99
1 x MSI HD 6670 2048MB GDDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Card £55.99
1 x AMD Athlon X4 740 3.20GHz (Socket FM2) Trinity Quad Core Processor (AD740XWOHJBOX) £53.99
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 500GB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA050) HDD £39.95
1 x OCZ CoreXtreme 500w '80 Plus' Power Supply £35.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED34GM1600HC11DC01) £29.99
1 x Xigmatek Helios XTK231 Mini Tower Case - Black £25.99
Total : £316.49 (includes shipping : £10.50).
He's of a slightly older generation and only an occasional gamer, I cant seem him wanting to buy any new titles, he just likes to have a blast now and then on L4D2, TF2, sniper elite, etc.
My thread title is probably a bit misleading, it should have said something along the lines of "spec me a budget general purpose pc that can play moderate games"
If a CPU with integrated graphics can play most of the current games he will be happy, even if he does have to reduce the settings I really don't think he's going to care much just as long as it runs.
having said all that, whats this spec like
YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte F2A85XM-D3H AMD A85X Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 micro ATX Motherboard £61.99
1 x MSI HD 6670 2048MB GDDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Card £55.99
1 x AMD Athlon X4 740 3.20GHz (Socket FM2) Trinity Quad Core Processor (AD740XWOHJBOX) £53.99
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 500GB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA050) HDD £39.95
1 x OCZ CoreXtreme 500w '80 Plus' Power Supply £35.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED34GM1600HC11DC01) £29.99
1 x Xigmatek Helios XTK231 Mini Tower Case - Black £25.99
Total : £316.49 (includes shipping : £10.50).
Swap the HD6670 for at least the HD7770 Ghz edition @ £80 ... difference £24 for close to double the performance.
Even if he's a real casual gamer it's a small percentage of the PC price for a big step in performance. That particular HD6670 is a really poor card as
2GB of RAM on a HD6670 is pointless and it's also DDR3 which is real slow, might as well have an APU. Needs to be DDR5 ideally as the HD7770.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-184-MS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1699
Free game to offset some of the extra cost
Otherwise looks fine, CPU is on the motherboard approved list.
I can see why an APU may seem ideal, from personal experience I've built down to a very tight budget and then had people disappointed even though I'd been really clear on what to expect. APU's are fine but I like to go for the best overall balance of performance for the price and in this case, there is no advantage to the APU unless fitting in a super slim media enclosure where a discreet GPU could not be fitted.
I guess one question is what resolution does in need to drive. A lot of APU benchmarks are at 720p
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Even if he's a real casual gamer it's a small percentage of the PC price for a big step in performance. That particular HD6670 is a really poor card as
2GB of RAM on a HD6670 is pointless and it's also DDR3 which is real slow, might as well have an APU. Needs to be DDR5 ideally as the HD7770.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-184-MS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1699
Free game to offset some of the extra cost
Otherwise looks fine, CPU is on the motherboard approved list.
I can see why an APU may seem ideal, from personal experience I've built down to a very tight budget and then had people disappointed even though I'd been really clear on what to expect. APU's are fine but I like to go for the best overall balance of performance for the price and in this case, there is no advantage to the APU unless fitting in a super slim media enclosure where a discreet GPU could not be fitted.
I guess one question is what resolution does in need to drive. A lot of APU benchmarks are at 720p
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The A10 can keep up with a 6670 when mildly overclocked. It's the recommended card to use in dual graphics because it's so close to it.
The APUs are designed for console type gaming. They're great at 720p, and can run lots of games at medium to max settings at that resolution. If you want games at medium at 1080p then it's still absolutely fine with LFD2 and other Source games, for more demanding ones they're not good enough and aren't intended for that.
The APUs are designed for console type gaming. They're great at 720p, and can run lots of games at medium to max settings at that resolution. If you want games at medium at 1080p then it's still absolutely fine with LFD2 and other Source games, for more demanding ones they're not good enough and aren't intended for that.
ah that's a good point, I've not considered that. Guessing he'll be running it on his 50" HD TV. I don't think he has a monitor.
as things stand.
Is there a better cpu for similar money?
YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7770 GHz Edition 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE GAMES £79.99
1 x Gigabyte F2A85XM-D3H AMD A85X Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 micro ATX Motherboard £61.99
1 x AMD Athlon X4 740 3.20GHz (Socket FM2) Trinity Quad Core Processor (AD740XWOHJBOX) £53.99
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 500GB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA050) HDD £39.95
1 x OCZ CoreXtreme 500w '80 Plus' Power Supply £35.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED34GM1600HC11DC01) £29.99
1 x Xigmatek Helios XTK231 Mini Tower Case - Black £25.99
Total : £340.49 (includes shipping : £10.50).
as things stand.
Is there a better cpu for similar money?
YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7770 GHz Edition 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE GAMES £79.99
1 x Gigabyte F2A85XM-D3H AMD A85X Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 micro ATX Motherboard £61.99
1 x AMD Athlon X4 740 3.20GHz (Socket FM2) Trinity Quad Core Processor (AD740XWOHJBOX) £53.99
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 500GB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA050) HDD £39.95
1 x OCZ CoreXtreme 500w '80 Plus' Power Supply £35.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED34GM1600HC11DC01) £29.99
1 x Xigmatek Helios XTK231 Mini Tower Case - Black £25.99
Total : £340.49 (includes shipping : £10.50).
@ op, for the budget, have you considered getting 2nd hand for some of the items (eg, ram, processor, gpu)
you're likely to get far far more mileage for your pound
and if you didnt tell anyone, they'd be none the wiser.
edit: you have access to the member's market too!
you're likely to get far far more mileage for your pound
and if you didnt tell anyone, they'd be none the wiser.
edit: you have access to the member's market too!
if there is a potential for OC then well worth the slightly more expensive CPU, otherwise if no overclocking the 740 will surfice
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