£500 Gaming PC

[Shep_Cobain]

My friend's pc has blown up and he has been given £500 by his girlfriend to buy a computer. He can probs go over his budget by £20...

He wants warrenty with is PC again incase it blows up so we cant really build him one.

He needs a monitor etc.

He plays games a lot but playing them on highest settings isnt an issue but he would like something future proof....

Ive been checking out Dell and they seem reallllly good.

Can anyone help my mate out.... he needs to find one by this weekend.

Games he plays are BF2142... BF2, HL2, CS 1.6, CS:S, DOD:S, wants to be able to play Bioshock and Crysis on low... if possible maybe even medium.

He plays WOW.... and Guild Wars etc.

thanks guys.

 

[BillytheImpaler]

This is as good as I can do. The parts are all warrantied individually.

You've got a snowball's chance in Hell that this is going to play Crysis at medium settings.

 

[mp260767]

cant see you being able to get a much better spec than Billy's for the money

 

[triggerthat]

cant see you being able to get a much better spec than Billy's for the money

Best bet is to go second hand

 

[Minstadave]

Spend another £15 on the HDD and get:

Western Digital Caviar SE16 250GB 2500KS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM

3 times the space for only 50% more money, faster too.

 

[triggerthat]

I was going to say this but its just out of your budget:

Product Name Qty Price Line Total
OcUK Value AH191DPB 19" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black/Silver £94.99
(£111.61) £94.99
(£111.61)
Samsung SpinPoint P SP2504C 250GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM £34.99
(£41.11) £34.99
(£41.11)
Corsair 2GB DDR2 Value Select PC4200 Dual Channel Kit (2x1GB) (VS2GBKIT533D2) £45.99
(£54.04) £45.99
(£54.04)
Abit IB9 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £54.99
(£64.61) £54.99
(£64.61)
Intel Core 2 Duo E2140 "LGA775 Conroe" 1.60GHz (800FSB) - Retail £41.99
(£49.34) £41.99
(£49.34)
Antec NSK6500 Super Midi Tower Case - 430W PSU £59.99
(£70.49) £59.99
(£70.49)
OcUK GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £149.99
(£176.24) £149.99
(£176.24)
Sub Total : £482.93
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £12.95
VAT is being charged at 17.5% VAT : £86.78
Total : £582.66

 

[steeze]

I don't think you'll be able to beat Billy's spec, but if 80GB is not enough you can go for the EVGA 650i Ultra mobo, and get 160GB HDD.

 

[Richdog]

Best bet is to go second hand

Damn right... I can build an AMD X2 or Core2 with with a more than respectable 512MB X1800XT off of MM for around £250.

 

[mp260767]

Best bet is to go second hand

well yeah, but being as he only as 66 posts he cant check out the members market here.

 

[gumbald]

To what extent has the original PC "blown up"? Can nothing be salvaged?

 

[Neal]

He wants warrenty with is PC again incase it blows up so we cant really build him one.

thanks guys.

well your screwed, you wont get a decent pc for that really pre built. all the tat in toys r us, etc... are just that fancy tat in a nice case... i hate pre built computers... dell, gateway, HP....

 

[gumbald]

Individual parts have warranties. And we don't know how the original blew up

 

[triggerthat]

well yeah, but being as he only as 66 posts he cant check out the members market here.

eBay.

 

[Richdog]

eBay.

...is a terrible place for used components now, the days of real bargains are almost over.

 

[Shep_Cobain]

well yeah, thankyou. you all seem so helpful. His original PC blew up.... the damage isnt to bad but needs new PSU and mobo.

To be honest though... hes had it years and it still has a 1.6Ghz Athlon XP in it.... I dont think anything wants to be salvaged.



Im guessing we build one.... i spoke to him last night saying hes better letting me build on for him and hes in agreement.

8800GTS sounds nice....

 

[Richdog]

Tip: if you build a PC for a friend get something very clear with him BEFORE you start... and this is very important. Let him know that by letting you build the PC for him ihe is accepting responsibility for anything going wrong... things DO sometimes go wrong with builds and parts can be faulty from the start. Ensure that he is fully aware that you are doing it ias a big favour, and are not to be blamed if anything goes breasts up, unless you do something REALLY stupid that essentially constitutes neglect.

 

[Edinho]

...is a terrible place for used components now, the days of real bargains are almost over.

A good place for selling but lousy for buying unless you're after some rare stuff.

 

[BillytheImpaler]

Tip: if you build a PC for a friend get something very clear with him BEFORE you start... and this is very important. Let him know that by letting you build the PC for him ihe is accepting responsibility for anything going wrong... things DO sometimes go wrong with builds and parts can be faulty from the start. Ensure that he is fully aware that you are doing it ias a big favour, and are not to be blamed if anything goes breasts up, unless you do something REALLY stupid that essentially constitutes neglect.

I agree completely. I enjoy building machines and I frequently do so for friends for fun but I am always sure to make it 100% clear that I am doing what I do as a favor. I am not responsible for the machine while it is in my possession nor do I warrant my work. I act in good faith and I expect them to act likewise.