£600 gaming rig spec please :)

jubei · 12 Jan 2011 at 17:33

Hi guys,

Friend of mine is looking to buy a new rig to play games on, he already has a monitor, keyboard and mouse. Needs everything else and as powerful (futureproof) as possible for the budget. There is some leeway on the budget but if we could try to stick near it that would be great.

Main use as i say is games so the graphics card needs to be powerful enough to run current games at high settings.

Thanks all

stulid · 12 Jan 2011 at 17:34

Do you need an operating system?

Your basketProduct Name Qty Price Line Total
Intel Core i5-2400 3.10GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £144.98
(£120.82) £144.98
(£120.82)
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 460 OC 768MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £119.99
(£99.99) £119.99
(£99.99)
Gigabyte P67A-UD3 Intel P67 Chipset (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) £99.98
(£83.32) £99.98
(£83.32)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-00599) £83.99
(£69.99) £83.99
(£69.99)
Coolermaster Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black (with 500w Elite Power PSU) £64.33
(£53.61) £64.33
(£53.61)
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £41.99
(£34.99) £41.99
(£34.99)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (ST3500418AS) £27.98
(£23.32) £27.98
(£23.32)
Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £12.49
(£10.41) £12.49
(£10.41)
Sub Total : £496.45
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 : £101.39
Total : £608.34

Without win7

Your basketProduct Name Qty Price Line Total
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor with FREE Lost Planet 2 PC Game - Retail £188.99
(£157.49) £188.99
(£157.49)
HIS ATI Radeon HD 6870 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE CODMW2 Game £173.99
(£144.99) £173.99
(£144.99)
Gigabyte P67A-UD3 Intel P67 Chipset (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) £99.98
(£83.32) £99.98
(£83.32)
Coolermaster Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black (with 500w Elite Power PSU) £64.33
(£53.61) £64.33
(£53.61)
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £41.99
(£34.99) £41.99
(£34.99)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (ST3500418AS) £27.98
(£23.32) £27.98
(£23.32)
Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £12.49
(£10.41) £12.49
(£10.41)
Sub Total : £508.13
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 : £103.73
Total : £622.36

Cookeh · 12 Jan 2011 at 17:37

stulid said:
Do you need an operating system?
SNIP

I saw that ninja edit.

Also, if OS is needed, could always go down AMD route - lets face it, Phenom II X4 chips will not struggle for a very long time - would also let you get a much better graphics card.

jubei · 12 Jan 2011 at 17:39

Ah sorry i should have specified. He has win7 home prem

Cookeh · 12 Jan 2011 at 17:43

Something like this: Much better graphics card, and a CPU that won't struggle for a very long time.

HIS ATI Radeon HD 6870 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE CODMW2 Game £173.99
(£144.99) £173.99

AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition "125W Edition" 3.20GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £112.79
(£93.99) £112.79

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-00599) £83.99
(£69.99) £83.99

MSI 870A-G54 AMD 870 (Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard £79.64
(£66.37) £79.64

Coolermaster Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black (with 500w Elite Power PSU) £64.33
(£53.61) £64.33

GeIL 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz VALUE PLUS Dual Channel (GVP34GB1600C9DC) £41.99
(£34.99) £41.99

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (ST3500418AS) £27.98
(£23.32) £27.98

OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £11.99
(£9.99) £11.99

Sub Total : £497.25
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.00
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £101.45
Total : £608.70

With the free shipping I assume you've got access to, that brings it under budget

Cookeh · 12 Jan 2011 at 17:45

If he has an OS, he's better off going with Stulids SandyBridge Spec

stulid · 12 Jan 2011 at 17:46

or, going with the cheaper AMD option,

Your basketProduct Name Qty Price Line Total
OcUK ATI Radeon 6950 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £234.98
(£195.82) £234.98
(£195.82)
AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition "125W Edition" 3.20GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £112.79
(£93.99) £112.79
(£93.99)
Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H AMD 880G (Socket AM3) microATX DDR3 Motherboard £71.47
(£59.56) £71.47
(£59.56)
BeQuiet Pure Power L7 530W Power Supply £49.01
(£40.84) £49.01
(£40.84)
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £41.99
(£34.99) £41.99
(£34.99)
Silverstone SST-PS03B Precision Midi Tower Case - Black £40.84
(£34.03) £40.84
(£34.03)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (ST3500418AS) £27.98
(£23.32) £27.98
(£23.32)
Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £12.49
(£10.41) £12.49
(£10.41)
Sub Total : £492.96
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £11.25
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £100.84
Total : £605.05

shadow_boxer · 12 Jan 2011 at 17:47

Yeah another one who would go with the i5 2500k build. Very nice spec!

Cookeh · 12 Jan 2011 at 17:50

stulid said:
or, going with the cheaper AMD option,

Your basketProduct Name Qty Price Line Total
OcUK ATI Radeon 6950 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £234.98
(£195.82) £234.98
(£195.82)
AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition "125W Edition" 3.20GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £112.79
(£93.99) £112.79
(£93.99)
Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H AMD 880G (Socket AM3) microATX DDR3 Motherboard £71.47
(£59.56) £71.47
(£59.56)
BeQuiet Pure Power L7 530W Power Supply £49.01
(£40.84) £49.01
(£40.84)
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £41.99
(£34.99) £41.99
(£34.99)
Silverstone SST-PS03B Precision Midi Tower Case - Black £40.84
(£34.03) £40.84
(£34.03)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (ST3500418AS) £27.98
(£23.32) £27.98
(£23.32)
Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £12.49
(£10.41) £12.49
(£10.41)
Sub Total : £492.96
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £11.25
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £100.84
Total : £605.05

Why not stick with the 340 Case and PSU bundle? The £20 saved could get you a better mobo and a cooler letting you o/c the CPU to give even more performance.

stulid · 12 Jan 2011 at 17:52

Because the bequiet is a better psu, has two pci-e connectors so the cabling is a lot neater than using a molex adaptor.

Cookeh · 12 Jan 2011 at 17:54

stulid said:
Because the bequiet is a better psu, has two pci-e connectors so the cabling is a lot neater than using a molex adaptor.

True. But is that worth lost performance and a budget mobo?

stulid · 12 Jan 2011 at 17:54

Another.

Your basketProduct Name Qty Price Line Total
HIS ATI Radeon HD 6850 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE CODMW2 Game £139.99
(£116.66) £279.98
(£233.32)
AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition "125W Edition" 3.20GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £112.79
(£93.99) £112.79
(£93.99)
Coolermaster Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black (with 500w Elite Power PSU) £64.33
(£53.61) £64.33
(£53.61)
Foxconn A7DA-S 3.0 AMD 790GX (Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard £61.26
(£51.05) £61.26
(£51.05)
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £41.99
(£34.99) £41.99
(£34.99)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (ST3500418AS) £27.98
(£23.32) £27.98
(£23.32)
Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £12.49
(£10.41) £12.49
(£10.41)
Sub Total : £500.69
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 : £102.24
Total : £613.43

two 6850 in crossfire.

Cookeh · 12 Jan 2011 at 17:58

stulid said:
Another.
two 6850 in crossfire.

See? Much better

Although, PII X4 isn't ideal for multiple gpus!

I would still go down SandyBridge route for this budget.

jubei · 12 Jan 2011 at 19:30

That second spec without windows looks great and we thinking of driving ocuk tomorrow to buy this stuff but the psu is worrying. Is that 500watt going to be enough to run all of that kit? Also are they prone to blowing up?

stulid · 12 Jan 2011 at 19:41

It will be ok, never heard of any reports of them blowing up, it only has one PCI-E connector, a GTX460 needs two, so you would need the molex to PCI-E adapter supplied with the card.

infernox · 12 Jan 2011 at 19:42

That psu will not strugle with that kit. the new i5's are low power consumption aswell as the 6850.

Enjoy .

Cookeh · 12 Jan 2011 at 19:53

jubei said:
That second spec without windows looks great and we thinking of driving ocuk tomorrow to buy this stuff but the psu is worrying. Is that 500watt going to be enough to run all of that kit? Also are they prone to blowing up?

500W will be enough, no not prone to blowing up at all.

Which system are you thinking of getting? SB is the best out of the above.

EDIT: This one

Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor with FREE Lost Planet 2 PC Game - Retail £188.99
(£157.49) £188.99

HIS ATI Radeon HD 6870 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE CODMW2 Game £173.99
(£144.99) £173.99

Foxconn P67A-S Intel P67 (Socket 1155) (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) £99.98
(£83.32) £99.98

Coolermaster Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black (with 500w Elite Power PSU) £64.33
(£53.61) £64.33

Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £41.99
(£34.99) £41.99

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (ST3500418AS) £27.98
(£23.32) £27.98

Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £12.49
(£10.41) £12.49

Sub Total : £508.13
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 : £103.73
Total : £622.36

Reason I changed the motherboard was because it will let you get 8x8x Crossfire at a later date, instead of the 16x4x the UD3 will give you - basically you'll get a bit more performance.