Adequate gaming system build for less than £500

bp2011 · 24 Nov 2011 at 02:21

hey,

any one who can offer advice as to the suitability of my proposed build. And possibly any improvements (ideally ones that cut cost without hindering overall performance) or highlight any issues with the proposed system.

I have selected the following components:

AMD Phenom II X6 Six Core 1090T Black Edition 3.20GHz

"Primo 510a" AMD 880G DDR3 Ready Barebones (Socket AM3)

Samsung SpinPoint F4 320GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD322GJ)

Asus ATI Radeon HD 6770 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card

Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/4GX)

LiteOn IHAS124-19 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM (Version B - with new Firmware)

total cost £450 (excluding delivery)

Basically, so long as the PC can happilly play skyrim and BF3 i'll be content.

thanks
Ben

fowler002 · 24 Nov 2011 at 02:37

do you have any old sata hard disks you can reuse?
are you planning on running this system using magic/hamster on a wheel/etc? if not it's missing a psu.

the 6770 can't run a fever let alone skyrim.

Buchanan0204 · 24 Nov 2011 at 04:35

AMD

(Intel I'm afraid)
Mechanical disk

(unless you need to store loads of games)
6770

(need a much better card to play those games)

blazed · 24 Nov 2011 at 05:22

Talk about underestimating!

My old AMD Phenom II x3 2.8ghz and HD 4870 got detected as Ultra settings for Skyrim and I play it fine at 1680x1050, its not smooth as silk but runs fine and playable, otherwise I would lower my quality settings. Not sure about BF3 though, not tried it.

decto · 24 Nov 2011 at 07:38

An AMD Quad Phenom BE would be cheaper and more than sufficient for games.

Spend the difference on a HD6850 or 6870

For gaming almost any quad core is fine, the bang is from the Graphics card so don't skimp on it.

AD

Buchanan0204 · 24 Nov 2011 at 08:02

I would go for an i3 1155 over a quad core phenom. Many reasons why.

Si105 · 24 Nov 2011 at 08:34

Lol 6770 will easily play Skyrim.

But you should aim to get a better card 6850/6870 for your money.

bhavv · 24 Nov 2011 at 08:47

AMD CPUs are terrible at Skyrim, an I3 will run it better with higher minimum framerates.

For highest settings without falling under 30 fps, you will want an Intel CPU, and either a 6850 or a GTX 460.

If you want less, DONT WASTE MONEY ON A 6770, GET A 6790 FOR £5 MORE.

bhavv · 24 Nov 2011 at 08:50

blazed said:
Talk about underestimating!

My old AMD Phenom II x3 2.8ghz and HD 4870 got detected as Ultra settings for Skyrim and I play it fine at 1680x1050, its not smooth as silk but runs fine and playable, otherwise I would lower my quality settings. Not sure about BF3 though, not tried it.

Ifits not smooth as silk, then it isnt fine. Stop advising other people to buy something that will be a lagfest in most modern games.

A hint for the OP - keep an eye on the members market for sale section until I have my new CPU.

Buchanan0204 · 24 Nov 2011 at 14:10

bhavv said:
Ifits not smooth as silk, then it isnt fine. Stop advising other people to buy something that will be a lagfest in most modern games.

A hint for the OP - keep an eye on the members market for sale section until I have my new CPU.

AND... Members post count

Don't believe anyone under 1000 haha!

bp2011 · 24 Nov 2011 at 14:28

fowler002 said:
do you have any old sata hard disks you can reuse?
are you planning on running this system using magic/hamster on a wheel/etc? if not it's missing a psu.

the 6770 can't run a fever let alone skyrim.

Lol, the primo is a barebone and come with a 500w psu. Don't have any old hdd as my other pc got nicked. I heard the 6770 is fine for skyrim, but I guess I could opt for a 6850 instead for minor extra cost.

Will the 500w ocuk value psu be good enough tho?

fowler002 · 24 Nov 2011 at 14:31

bp2011 said:
Lol, the primo is a barebone and come with a 500w psu. Don't have any old hdd as my other pc got nicked. I heard the 6770 is fine for skyrim, but I guess I could opt for a 6850 instead for minor extra cost.

Will the 500w ocuk value psu be good enough tho?

have a fire extinguisher handy

you want antec, corsair, seasonic etc, even ocz zs will be ok. unless going 580 or xfire/sli 550w will be enough.

blazed · 24 Nov 2011 at 15:56

bhavv said:
Ifits not smooth as silk, then it isnt fine. Stop advising other people to buy something that will be a lagfest in most modern games.

A hint for the OP - keep an eye on the members market for sale section until I have my new CPU.

Learn to read I didn't advise anyone to buy anything.

Agnostic · 24 Nov 2011 at 16:30

Buchanan0204 said:
AMD (Intel I'm afraid)
Mechanical disk (unless you need to store loads of games)
6770 (need a much better card to play those games)

What's wrong with AMD then? I'd rather people actually justify this than put a sad face next to it. It's not like they blow up all the time.

blazed · 24 Nov 2011 at 16:34

If you can stretch (like some people are assuming) on the GPU, Asus GeForce GTX 560Ti DirectCU II 1024MB @ £149.99 BLACK FRIDAY is a great deal and cheapest around.

If your a 2GB VRAM fan then the Radeon HIS 6950 Iceqx tubro for £199.99 (Black friday)

But I am guessing these are a little far from your reach.

Buchanan0204 · 25 Nov 2011 at 02:02

Agnostic said:
What's wrong with AMD then? I'd rather people actually justify this than put a sad face next to it. It's not like they blow up all the time.

There's nothing "wrong" with AMD. However Intel offer a far better alternative at the moment. If you want to know why. Do your own research. It wont take too long. Especially if you take a little look at bulldozer reviews.

decto · 25 Nov 2011 at 10:29

Well an I3 is only dual core. It's all a balance, many games prefer a quad but some like Skyrim only really use a couple of cores so are more sensitive to the overall CPU speed so the same CPU cost will get a higher clocked dual core.

I was looking at the AMD X6, I think it was the 1055T on this week only. Seems a good CPU for the price and will OC nicely. Trouble is a a decent overclock the Power usage is far higher than for a similar performance to intel so then you need a bigger and more expensive PSU.

At the value end I still think a Phenom quad with a cheap mobo is decent buy in bang per buck. As with most things PC ... you can always spend more.

AD

Buchanan0204 · 25 Nov 2011 at 12:46

decto said:
Well an I3 is only dual core. It's all a balance, many games prefer a quad but some like Skyrim only really use a couple of cores so are more sensitive to the overall CPU speed so the same CPU cost will get a higher clocked dual core.

I was looking at the AMD X6, I think it was the 1055T on this week only. Seems a good CPU for the price and will OC nicely. Trouble is a a decent overclock the Power usage is far higher than for a similar performance to intel so then you need a bigger and more expensive PSU.

At the value end I still think a Phenom quad with a cheap mobo is decent buy in bang per buck. As with most things PC ... you can always spend more.

AD

Hmm...

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083/...core-i7-2600k-i5-2500k-core-i3-2100-tested/20

That doesn't seem to agree with you. It clearly shows the i3 to be far superior. Most games being released also wont utilise 4 cores.

Not to mention the i3 socket system can be upgraded to the 2500K or 2600K for a major boost. AMD is a well and trully dead socket, for the next year or two anyway.

Power usage is another reason.

AMD just isn't an option.