Budget gaming build

ZZZAC

ZZZAC

ZZZAC

Associate
Joined
28 Dec 2010
Posts
1,543
Hi everyone, I'm new to the forums so first ill introduce myself.
My name is Zac Smith, I'm 14 years old and I live in the U.K.
I have been interested in computer's since spring 2010
and have gone on to rebuild broken computers I have been kindly given.

I have now decided its about time to build my own high spec gaming computer, but i only have a £350 budget.

Since Christmas I have bought several parts, some being second hand, a few being brand new. I am now just waiting for post to arrive.

The spec so far price

CPU's

* 2x intel XEON E5345 2.33ghz quad core cpu's ^ £55 ^

Motherboard ^ ^

* HP XW6400 Dual XEON lga 771 board ^ ^

ram

* 6GB pc-5300F ram £35


GPU'S
* ATI Radeon HD 4650 £60
* Unknown ATI graphics card Free

Hard drives

* W.D 250gb sata HD Free
* Hitachi 300gb HD Free

PSU

* Icute 850w modular psu £70

Case

* Akasa eclipse A-62 £20

EXTRAS


* 3.5" fan controller £10
* 2x dvd rw free


Simply its a 8 core with 1gb radeon gpu a sound card 6gb ram and it cost me less than £400.
i know 8 cores isnt necessary but the motherboard and cpu's bundle only cost £55 on ebay, and in that case 8 cores was cheeper than 2. and we would all prefer 8 cores to 2 cores XD.
I know there will be comments telling me i picked the wrong cpu's and gpu, But im inexperienced and try to make your criticism's constructive so i can learn how to improve in the future.

I hope everyone thinks ive done well with my budget because i do.

Pictures will be uploaded when ive finished the build
advice welcome.

Thanks for reading, Everyone have a great new year
 
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An interesting build to say the least. My main criticism would be you didn't ask for advice *before* buying stuff. ;) Also I don't trust iCute power supplies, in the future it'd be best to stick to these manufacturers:

Antec
Corsair
Seasonic
BeQuiet
XFX
Coolermaster
Thermaltake
Tagan
 
psu

I chose the Icute psu because it was cheep and i didnt want under 800w. the psu i chose also had the 8 pin motherboard power, it was the cheepest that ticked all the boxes.

I am also sorry if my build logg was in the wrong section, im new to the forums.
 
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seriously, ditch the psu. Go for something of less wattage but better quality. If your icute decided to go pop, it WILL take the other components with it.

Besides, why no less than 800w? those components you specified will struggle to pass 400w, even if you (somehow) overclocked

other than that, i kinda like what you're doing. If you want it to last longer though, i would look for something a tad beefier than the 4670.
 
Can I have a model number for that iCute PSU? I suspect I know something about it, but it only applies if it is the model which is actually featured on the 80plus website.

You're philosophy for power supplies sounds like it is all wrong. Firstly your system will never use anywhere near 800 watts, so making 800W or above a requirement was a flaw. Plenty of power supplies have the 8-pin EPS12V connector. Another box that you need to add to your criteria is high quality, even if the wattage number does not seem to you to be very high, because, as I said, most systems don't use much power, and yours certainly doesn't. Also having a high quality power supply means that everything in your system is much more likely to work without problems.

I'd say you could have done that system on a 550W PSU, and there are plenty of 650w PSUs around, of known, high quality that around the same price of £70. And that's what we all would have suggested to you.
 
I didn't realise it was really that bad?
i ordered it on the 27th and got validated tonight, i think asking now would have been a little late.
oh well, ill see when it arrives broken.
in all seriousness what problems do the icute psu's have?
oh well at-least i didn't push my budget and go for the 1000w icute for £100 that i was eying up


those components i posted will pass 400w, the stock psu for the wx6400 is 575w. anyway its better being overpowered than underpowered.
 
Give the guy credit for building an interesting computer on the cheap. Plus those 8 cores will be handy for video editing and the like. He'll learn a lot, and likely be happier then spending similar money on something entry level (eg i3).
 
JasonM said:
Give the guy credit for building an interesting computer on the cheap. Plus those 8 cores will be handy for video editing and the like. He'll learn a lot, and likely be happier then spending similar money on something entry level (eg i3).
Click to expand...

care to show any game on the market which would use 8 cores of xeon muscle?

OP would have been better off buying a new budget system, also the gfx in the OP's build are below standard, and the mobo prolly offers no option to crossfire or upgrade cpu's
 
JasonM said:
Give the guy credit for building an interesting computer on the cheap. Plus those 8 cores will be handy for video editing and the like. He'll learn a lot, and likely be happier then spending similar money on something entry level (eg i3).
Click to expand...

no point in sugar coating a crap psu
 
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damm.
oh well i do agree i wont use all 8 core's, but itll be good for multi tasking, i also have the full adobe cs5 and have all the programs i need.
any advice on an operating system?, and dont say linux.
i have win xp pro or windows 7 pro. there may be some hardware conflicts, but hopefully not.
 
Seraph said:
icute psu's are cheap or in your case expensive trash, i wouldn't trust one to power a typewriter, let alone several hundred pounds worth of kit :)
Click to expand...

I got it cheep, but your right, all in all the resale value is rocket high, the 2 cpu's would fetch £500 alone.

I know not to buy Icute for next time, but ill see in my own opinion if its cheep trash
 
Seraph said:
care to show any game on the market which would use 8 cores of xeon muscle?

OP would have been better off buying a new budget system, also the gfx in the OP's build are below standard, and the mobo prolly offers no option to crossfire or upgrade cpu's
Click to expand...

What do otyou mean by OP?
anyway, im proud of myself for buying what i bought, exept the psu. lol
evan if i dont use all 8 cores on one game, i was going to buy the value primo barebone's and use a 1.86ghz core 2 duo and 2gb of ram. i think my creation is far more exiting
hopefully some parts will arrive in the post today
 
Looks like an interesting build mate, defintaley got yourself a good deal on the CPU's and motherboard!

Like mentioned above the PSU isn't all that great, although considering it is more than upto thee job, you probably wont be pulling anywhere near that amount of power it will probably be ok. Cheap PSU's show their cheap when you push them!

Also if it were for gaming I would think a slightly better graphics card might do you!

I don't know what other two you will get getting but it might be worth selling all 3 and buying a half decent one!
 
well.

i dont intent playing many very demanding games, and i know i shouuld have saved my money if that's the case. i also want something that's quick and responsive.

Graphics cards are something i need to leant a bit more about, i bought the HD 4650 because it had 1gb of gddr2 memory. it cost me £60 and looked quite nice.

my other at car came from a old broken core 2 duo i was given, i try i found it had a fried motherboard, or possibly the cpu. the dell had 2gb of ram installed, therefore i belive it was mid range spec.

the ati card has a green motherboard, s-video vga and dvi with a big black heatink covering it, it remains untested.

i will test both cards and find the model of the unknown at card when its built, then i will consider upgrades.

first i was thinking of a sli or crossfire system, and have found that the hd 4650 supports crossfire x.
my motherboard has 2x pice express ports for graphics cards.. but the chipset used on the motherboard is not on the list of compatible crossfire x chipsets.
if i find it is compatible i may buy myself another hd 4650 and run it on a crossfire x system, if it isnt i will sell a few parts and save up for a sli or normal crossfire set-up
 
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Psu due to arrive tommorow
heatsink's due to arrive tuesday
ram due to arrive tuesday
case, not sure when it will arrive :(
Im bored, i cant do anything with it until i get more parts
 
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