£600 gaming PC?

munz · 16 Feb 2011 at 14:08

I have 600 pound to spend on a new gaming pc, this will be my first self build.
i need copy of windows 7 aswell, i have this monitor currently 17inch Proview MA-782KC LCD Monitor will that be ok? or will i need a new monitor?
I'm looking to buy in 2-3 weeks time.
My last computer i bought was like 6-7 years ago so not really sure what i should be looking for. I'm wanting to play Starcraft 2 and some fps games.

Redmint · 16 Feb 2011 at 14:14

If you can stretch your budget slightly you could get this:

Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM £173.99
(£144.99) £173.99
(£144.99)
Gainward GeForce GTX 460 GS 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £131.99
(£109.99) £131.99
(£109.99)
MSI P67A-C45 Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) £84.98
(£70.82) £84.98
(£70.82)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-00599) £81.98
(£68.32) £81.98
(£68.32)
Coolermaster Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black (with 500w Elite Power PSU) £64.33
(£53.61) £64.33
(£53.61)
OCZ Special OPS 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (OCZ3SOE1600LV4GK) £31.19
(£25.99) £31.19
(£25.99)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (ST3500418AS) £28.99
(£24.16) £28.99
(£24.16)
Cooler Master Hyper TX3 CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM3/775/1155/1156) £12.49
(£10.41) £12.49
(£10.41)
Samsung SH-S223C/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £11.99
(£9.99) £11.99
(£9.99)

Sub Total : £518.28
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.50
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £105.76
Total : £634.54

Then upgrade your monitor later when you have some more cash to spend.

stulid · 16 Feb 2011 at 14:16

heres everything including a new 22" monitor.

shadow_boxer · 16 Feb 2011 at 14:26

Good spec there from Stulid. I would definitely recommend upgrading your monitor. No point buying a new system for £500-600 and using an old 17" monitor.

Also worth shopping around, some good deals around for example on the

"Coolermaster Elite 430 All Black Case With Elite 500W PSU"

Redmint · 16 Feb 2011 at 14:29

True, although somewhat depends how much longer it would take to save up again for a monitor, in my case I'd rather have a faster PC and wait another 1-2 months to upgrade my screen (but then some people are able to save up faster than others.)

stulid · 16 Feb 2011 at 14:30

shadow_boxer said:
. No point buying a new system for £500-600 and using an old 17" monitor.

must be like looking at my mobile phone all day...."shudders".

Redmint · 16 Feb 2011 at 14:32

Your phone has a 17" screen?

must be tricky fitting it in your pocket.

(sorry couldn't resist)

stulid · 16 Feb 2011 at 14:36

Redmint said:
Your phone has a 17" screen? must be tricky fitting it in your pocket. (sorry couldn't resist)

yeah it is big and impressive.

6644kp · 16 Feb 2011 at 14:51

Redmint said:
If you can stretch your budget slightly you could get this:

Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM £173.99
(£144.99) £173.99
(£144.99)
Gainward GeForce GTX 460 GS 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £131.99
(£109.99) £131.99
(£109.99)
MSI P67A-C45 Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) £84.98
(£70.82) £84.98
(£70.82)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-00599) £81.98
(£68.32) £81.98
(£68.32)
Coolermaster Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black (with 500w Elite Power PSU) £64.33
(£53.61) £64.33
(£53.61)
OCZ Special OPS 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (OCZ3SOE1600LV4GK) £31.19
(£25.99) £31.19
(£25.99)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (ST3500418AS) £28.99
(£24.16) £28.99
(£24.16)
Cooler Master Hyper TX3 CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM3/775/1155/1156) £12.49
(£10.41) £12.49
(£10.41)
Samsung SH-S223C/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £11.99
(£9.99) £11.99
(£9.99)

Sub Total : £518.28
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.50
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £105.76
Total : £634.54

Then upgrade your monitor later when you have some more cash to spend.

I prefer this build it is superior to stulid's. You can get a new monitor later on.

stulid · 16 Feb 2011 at 14:53

6644kp said:
You can get a new monitor later on.

And you know this how? are you his bank manager?

6644kp · 16 Feb 2011 at 15:05

stulid said:
And you know this how? are you his bank manager?

Its better to get a more powerful machine now and then get a monitor later on since he already has one.

I'd rather use the £100-£150 of the monitor to get a better CPU or GPU.

stulid · 16 Feb 2011 at 15:09

6644kp said:
Its better to get a more powerful machine now and then get a monitor later on since he already has one.

I'd rather use the £100-£150 of the monitor to get a better CPU or GPU.

so how do you know he can afford more? is the original question.

King Damager · 16 Feb 2011 at 17:31

stulid said:
yeah it is big and impressive.

Makes up for something else ;p

No, in all honesty, the build Stulid suggested if you need a new monitor (icky 17") is good

kd

munz · 16 Feb 2011 at 22:40

wow thanks for the replies,

i think im gonna stick with my current monitor for couple months and spend full £600 on the other stuff, atleast that way i can get up and running and add on a new monitor down the line.

Is intel the way to go then? or can i get something better going amd with 600quid?

Also do i need to upgrade ram to 6gb or 8gb? a lot of high end PC i've seen around seem to have more than 4gb (i went down to my local pc world hehe),what does the extra GB really do and how much of an impact does it have on playing a game like Starcraft 2? the guys at pc world did'nt really answer my questions

cheers!

jakejacob0 · 16 Feb 2011 at 22:41

stulid said:
heres everything including a new 22" monitor.

take this one

stulid · 16 Feb 2011 at 22:42

Redmints build is the best for £600 if you really want to keep the small screen.

For a gaming pc, 4GB is enough.

you will see Intel socket 1366 i7 systems using 6GB as they use a triple channel memory system so 3 X 2GB stick, or 12GB using 3 x 4GB etc.

8GB is good for video editing systems etc.

jakejacob0 · 16 Feb 2011 at 22:42

games only usually use a maximum of 4GB the extr would only see real benefits when doing video encoding and photoshop etc

Josh P · 16 Feb 2011 at 22:43

Intel has the edge at the moment, but purely for playing games Intel/AMD is a fairly moot point - there isn't a lot in it. 4GB of RAM is plenty.

munz · 19 Feb 2011 at 15:47

After thinking for while, i have these questions...

1) If i went with the AMD set up, took off monitor and upgraded GPU to ati 6950 or Gtx 560 would this be a good idea?
I would come in very close to my budget of £600. And my thinking is the gpu is more important than the cpu? is it?

2) Also i have been reading about the cooler that comes with the AMD phenom, it has some issues with temperature, what would be a good cpu cooler if i had to replace then one i get with the AMD.

3) And since i will be getting 430 elite case, would 2x scythe 120mm fans be enough, one intake at bottom of case and one exhaust at back for keeping everything nice and cool.

All help is appreciated,

thank you!

Pighardia · 19 Feb 2011 at 15:52

munz said:
3) And since i will be getting 430 elite case, would 2x scythe 120mm fans be enough, one intake at bottom of case and one exhaust at back for keeping everything nice and cool.

I have that case, it has pretty good airflow. i would say that you would need at least one more fan in addition to the one at the front which comes with the case. Probably as an exhaust at the back.
I have 3 fans in all, front intake and back and top exhaust.