£550 Budget Gaming Spec

DizzyEgg

DizzyEgg

DizzyEgg

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Joined
12 May 2005
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618
Location
Stoke, UK
Hi again all,

Yet again I been asked to build a machine but im struggling with the budget I been give.

My friend wants his PC for the internet and gaming, but as the budget is only £550, the gaming side is hard to produce.

He says he doesn't mind having a CRT monitor but would liek the same mouse as me. He was gonna get a PC from Tesco or something but obviously this spec will be more gaming based.

Here what I have:

Intel Pentium 4 805 Dual Core "LGA775 Smithfield" 2.66GHz (533FSB) - Retail (CP-116-IN) £72.84
Asus P5VD2-MX Micro ATX (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-163-AS) £44.64
GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC5300 667MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX21GB5300DC) (MY-030-GL) £82.24
BFG 3DFuzion GeForce 7600 GT 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-025-BG) £93.99
Western Digital Caviar RE 160GB 1600YS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD-111-WD) £46.99
Pioneer DVR-111BK 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter - (Black) OEM (CD-041-PO) £24.62
Asus TM-581 Series Mini Tower (Black) - 300W PSU (CA-012-AS) £39.19
Hyundai ImageQuest Q770S 17'' Perfectly Flat CRT Monitor - Black/Silver (MO-006-HY) £78.71
Logitech MX518 Gaming-Grade Optical Mouse - Retail (KB-060-LG) £39.94
Logitech Deluxe Keyboard (Black) - OEM (KB-088-LG) £7.04
Logitech S100 10W RMS Speakers Black - OEM (SP-023-LG) £6.45

Total £536.65 (inc VAT)

I have not really been keeping up to date with the latest desktop hardware, as I have recently brought a laptop and been reading a lot about mobile GPUs, etc.

Would you say this is the best bang for buck with the budget I have, I have also tried to leave a lot of room for upgrades (ie PCI-Express, Conroe Support)

Thanks

Matt

Edit: Oh will the PSU supplied with the case run this machine? Cheers
 
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Thanks for the advice, the problem is I am building this system to be upgradable, he said he maybe able to spend a little more on it in 6-12 months, so with that motherboard/cpu he can always upgrade to conroe or something, which I think is a good upgrade path.

Do you think this is the right thing to do?

Oh and will the power supply run the system?

Thanks
 
The spec looks good for the budget...

However, I would really advise you to buy an Intel Core 2 Duo CPU.

It's miles better that the 805 and you will never look back ;)
 
Yea the problem is I really cant for the budget, he cant afford anything else. And the option of upgrading is always there.

But I wondering why Noble-Kebab said I shouldn't get he graphics card?

What about the PSU (included with the case) will it handle the rest of the spec?
 
The PSU is not exactly supa dupa - But it should be fine, as Asus is not a 'budget' brand,

However, if he plans to overclock in the future, then you may well need something better.
 
Can some actually help me out here?

Noble-Kebab, thanks for the effort but you really arn't helping.

Thanks Virdi, he does not plan to overclock his system, and I don't think he ever will want too. So lets hope it will power this system.

If the 7600GT aint up to scratch then what should i replace it with?
 
personally i think you got a good setup there but try to convince him to go for the core2 allendale, the money will be well spend and that card is really good and will be wasted on the 805

i think the 7600GT is a good budget card, it certainly has had its fair share of good reviews

edit: the 805 is a very budget CPU and will drag this system down, he will be utterly dissapointed with the performance of it, whereas the allendale will make him a very happy chappy! :D
 
The 805's reputably overclock well, but that seems irrelevant to this discussion.

The extra £50 or so to get an Allendale really would be worth the money. On the face of it, an AM2 or even an s939 system would be better NOW, but I like your upgradability thinking. PCI-e, DDR2, and Core2duo compatible - what more can be said? Personally I think I'd go down the same road, but with a stretch to the Allendale if possible.

The 7600GT is a very good 'budget' card and I think it will do this system proud until such a time when it can be upgraded :)

However, I'm sceptical that the PSU would be sufficient. I think a little extra money is needed there tbh, unfortunately. Try a Hiper PSU for value. Perhaps a revision to the case to reflect this (i.e. choose a cheaper case with no PSU).

Just my thoughts - hope it helps :)
 
Thanks foir clearing that up for me, now that he is going to need to buy a PSU as well, there is no chance he can get that upgrade to the conroe.

Will that ASUS Micro-ATX case hold a full size PSU?

Or would this 380w PSU handle it?

Antec NSK4400 Mini Tower Case - 380W SmartPower PSU (CA-052-AN)
 
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GX-042-OK OcUK GeForce 7900 GS 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-042-OK)
£99.99 £99.99
CA-052-AN Antec NSK4400 Mini Tower Case - 380W SmartPower PSU (CA-052-AN)
£43.99 £43.99
HD-024-SA Samsung SpinPoint P HD160JJ 160GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-024-SA)
£33.95 £33.95
MY-030-GL GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC5300 667MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX21GB5300DC) (MY-030-GL)
£69.99 £69.99
SP-023-LG Logitech S100 10W RMS Speakers Black - OEM (SP-023-LG)
£5.49 £5.49
CD-059-LO Liteon DRW-6S160P-05C 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM (CD-059-LO)
£18.25 £18.25
KB-060-LG Logitech MX518 Gaming-Grade Optical Mouse - Retail (KB-060-LG)
£29.99 £29.99
CP-126-IN Intel Core 2 DUO E6300 "LGA775 Allendale" 1.86GHz (1066FSB) - Retail (CP-126-IN)
£114.99 £114.99
MB-064-GI Gigabyte GA_945PL_S3 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-064-GI)
£57.99 £57.99
KB-088-LG Logitech Deluxe Keyboard (Black) - OEM (KB-088-LG)
£5.99 £5.99
Subtotal £480.62
VAT £84.11
Total £564.73

Plus a monitor, you can pick up CRTs really cheaply now second hand, new they cost more as they aren't really made any more.
 
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