cheapish gaming system?

[ninjapilot]

Was looking for a cheapish system, could I use this existing system, and just put a better graphics second hand but more powerful card in it?

Workstation type system. HP XW9400 workstation
2x AMD Opteron Quad Core 2.3Ghz*(2356)*-*64-Bit
16GB DDR2 ECC RAM
500GB SATA2*Hard Drive
Brand New XFX ATI HD5450 1GB GDDR3 Gaming Graphics Card
- (2GB with Hyper-Memory!!!)
On-Board SATA & SAS RAID Controllers
- Using Standard 3.5" SATA or SAS Hard Drives**
Genuine Windows 7 (64-Bit) Operating System
DVD-ROM Optical Drive
Costs £300 + graphics upgrade.
Havnt got time time to build my own. Want it to run Arma 2
Any help would be appreciated.

 

[zakblood]

yes use that and add a better card, whats your budget for a card? as some great value amd ones that will give plenty of power v cost etc

if your thinking if buying above? is that a new system, as if so cost is very good.

give us your max budget for tower only and we can see what we can do, can't think we will get anywhere near that above tbh mind you

 

[snips86x]

Based this on the cost of your old system.

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI A85XA-G65 AMD A85X Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £85.99
1 x AMD A8-5600K Black Edition 3.60GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Quad Core Processor (AD560KWOHJBOX) £83.99
1 x TeamGroup Xtreem LV 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17000C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (TXD38G2133HC11DC01) £49.99
1 x NZXT Source 210 Elite Midi Tower Case - Black £39.98
1 x XFX Pro 450W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £39.95
Total : £314.00 (includes shipping : £11.75).



A85X board would be better as you get better graphics as well as 2133mhz RAM support
CPU can be overclocked being the 'k' model on this board too. CPU has integrated graphics which can run ARMA, BF3 & Crysis on high settings, providing you use 2133/2400 RAM.
RAM was the cheapest 2133 here at the moment
Case was personal preference, If you have one you could re-use, that would save you £40
PSU is made by the best in the market

If you could use the HDD & ODD you already have and upgrade to something like this later on, when money allows:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Plextor M5 Pro 128GB Extreme Series Solid State Drive - (PX-128M5P) £99.95
1 x **B Grade** Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache - OEM £45
1 x Samsung SH-118AB/BEBE SATA 18x DVD-ROM (Black) - OEM £11.99
Total : £167.74 (includes shipping : £9.00).

 

[ninjapilot]

Thanks for the quick reply, well I have seen cards like 8800gtx'S or similar type going for £40 or similar few generations old type graphics. The system itself is an existing system from fleebay, just thought its a quickish system for 300. As I can't build it myself as I don't get the time. Not sure of power supply in that workstation mind you.

 

[snips86x]

Thanks for the quick reply, well I have seen cards like 8800gtx'S or similar type going for £40 or similar few generations old type graphics. The system itself is an existing system from fleebay, just thought its a quickish system for 300. As I can't build it myself as I don't get the time. Not sure of power supply in that workstation mind you.

What would you prefer to do? Buy a new system or just upgrade the one you have?

 

[ninjapilot]

Well using the existing system I haven't bought this yet. Then I can just plug in a better card. But didn't know if this base system would be good enough. I like the system you specced but I just cant build it(no time)that's what problem is, as I used to build my own systems

 

[snips86x]

Well using the existing system I haven't bought this yet. Then I can just plug in a better card. But didn't know if this base system would be good enough. I like the system you specced but I just cant build it(no time)that's what problem is, as I used to build my own systems

To be honest, it would take you the best part of 2 hours, if that, to put it together. I can spec a pre-built, but value for money is nothing, compared to doing it yourself.

If you've not bought the above one yet, think about the one we'd spec'd.

What would your budget be if you could build?

 

[ninjapilot]

400 Max budget but would have to include everything as I have no case or power supply etc etc. And would cost loads more than 400. Hence that's why I thought of a second hand system then just up the graphics. Thanks for your help.

 

[snips86x]

400 Max budget but would have to include everything as I have no case or power supply etc etc. And would cost loads more than 400. Hence that's why I thought of a second hand system then just up the graphics. Thanks for your help.

The problem with the system you've found, it's all old tech. It wouldn't be long before you'd need to upgrade again. Personally, I dont think it would be a good investment, you can buy new tech for the same price, as below.

Hows does this look?

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD A10-5700 3.40GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Quad Core Processor (AD5700OKHJBOX) £95.99
1 x MSI A85XA-G65 AMD A85X Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £85.99
1 x TeamGroup Xtreem LV 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17000C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (TXD38G2133HC11DC01) £49.99
1 x **B Grade** Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache - OEM £45
1 x NZXT Source 210 Elite Midi Tower Case - Black £39.98
1 x XFX Pro 450W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £39.95
1 x Samsung SH-118AB/BEBE SATA 18x DVD-ROM (Black) - OEM £11.99
Total : £382.99 (includes shipping : £11.75).



Under budget, has all you need to play games and you'd be able to build on it later on. Add an SSD's more HDD's and even a graphics card, for hybrid xFire, if you feel you need more power for graphics.

If you're not sure on building yourself, ring OcUK and see how much they would charge for them to build it. You could also use the developer version of win 7/8 for a few months untill you can buy one, unless you have an OS knocking around already.

 

[Incrauze]

Changed the PSU to the Corsair Modular which was in stock and added a CPU cooler to overclock the CPU,

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD A10-5800K Black Edition 3.80GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Quad Core Processor (AD580KWOHJBOX) £99.95
1 x Gigabyte F2A85X-D3H AMD A85X Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £64.99
1 x **B Grade** Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache - OEM £45.00
1 x Adata XPG Xtreme v1.0 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C10 2133MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AX3U2133XC4G10-2X) £44.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020058-UK) £39.98
1 x **B Grade** BitFenix Shinobi USB3.0 Gaming Windowed Case - Black £39.95
1 x Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure Edition CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £29.99
1 x Samsung SH-118AB/BEBE SATA 18x DVD-ROM (Black) - OEM £11.99
Total : £390.94 (includes shipping : £11.75).

 

[snips86x]

Changed the PSU to the Corsair Modular which was in stock and added a CPU cooler to overclock the CPU,

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD A10-5800K Black Edition 3.80GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Quad Core Processor (AD580KWOHJBOX) £99.95
1 x Gigabyte F2A85X-D3H AMD A85X Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £64.99
1 x **B Grade** Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache - OEM £45.00
1 x Adata XPG Xtreme v1.0 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C10 2133MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AX3U2133XC4G10-2X) £44.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020058-UK) £39.98
1 x **B Grade** BitFenix Shinobi USB3.0 Gaming Windowed Case - Black £39.95
1 x Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure Edition CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £29.99
1 x Samsung SH-118AB/BEBE SATA 18x DVD-ROM (Black) - OEM £11.99
Total : £390.94 (includes shipping : £11.75).

No need for the A10k as the chances of overclocking are minimal, the motherboard only accept 1866RAM and 2133 would be preferable if playing games.

Corsair PSU's are notoriously problematic, XFX would be better and if not overclocking, the additional cooler is not needed. Stock coolers are not bad on these.

 

[Incrauze]

No need for the A10k as the chances of overclocking are minimal, the motherboard only accept 1866RAM and 2133 would be preferable if playing games.

You can overclock the RAM to 2133MHz using the Gigabyte motherboard

 

[ninjapilot]

Looking at your speck. Its a good point your making, and looking at the bigger picture maybe i should just go the system you a have mentioned what graphics are on board that you specced?

 

[Incrauze]

Looking at your speck. Its a good point your making, and looking at the bigger picture maybe i should just go the system you a have mentioned what graphics are on board that you specced?

Which build spec?

 

[ninjapilot]

The one that snips suggested maybe.

 

[ninjapilot]

Thats what i like about overclockers, is the help that you get from members.

 

[Incrauze]

The A10 5700 has HD 7660D onboard graphics, since the A10 5800K is only few pounds more, I would get the A10 5800K instead of the A10 5700

 

[ninjapilot]

Andt hat would be ok for games like arma 2?

 

[Incrauze]

Andt hat would be ok for games like arma 2?

Yes, it will run Arma 2 fine

 

[snips86x]

The A10 5700 has HD 7660D onboard graphics, since the A10 5800K is only few pounds more, I would get the A10 5800K instead of the A10 5700

Would you be overclocking?

The reason I ask, is the TDP on the A10-5800k is 100w where as the A10-5700 is only 65w. If you are not overclocking, there would be no need for the additional power consumption or heat in the case for nothing.

The graphics on both are the same and equally capable.