Budget upgrade gaming PC

Chrisss · 20 Aug 2006 at 08:54

Hi, I'm looking to upgrade my PC as my old AMD Duron 1300 has just blown. I'm looking to spend around 230-250 pounds on CPU/Motherboard/RAM/PSU. The PC will be used mainly for gaming/photoshop/web surfing/MSN and at a later date I plan on getting a dual TV tuner card for watching/recording TV. I'll be running Windows MCE 2005 on it.

I don't want a GFX card now because I want to wait until all the PCI-E DX10 cards.

This provides me with a problem because I have to get a motherboard with onboard graphics.

Another problem is, I don't know whether to go for dual core or not. If I got a dual core processor then I think it'd have to be the 3800+ as that's all I can afford at the moment.

Anyway so if anyone and recommend a good motherboard/CPU combo that best suits my needs, along with some budget RAM (1GB?) and a good PSU for 230-250 quid then that's be great, cheers

johnno · 20 Aug 2006 at 09:11

if u can push your budget towards 300 then i would at conroe.

Chrisss · 20 Aug 2006 at 09:15

Nah I can't go any higher than 250 unfortunately.

johnno · 20 Aug 2006 at 09:31

add me on msn and i can advise you on what to get

Trigger · 20 Aug 2006 at 09:38

MB-004-AK Asrock Conroe945G-DVI (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-004-AK)
£44.95 £44.95
CP-135-IN Intel Core 2 DUO E6300 "LGA775 Allendale" 1.86GHz (1066FSB) - OEM (CP-135-IN)
£107.95 £107.95
HS-020-AR Arctic Cooling Alpine 64 CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940) (HS-020-AR)
£5.95 £5.95
MY-030-GL GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC5300 667MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX21GB5300DC) (MY-030-GL)
£49.95 £49.95
CA-012-AK Akasa Ultra Quiet 400W Paxpower Active PFC ATX2.0 PSU - Black Nickel (CA-012-AK)
£33.95 £33.95
Subtotal £242.75
VAT £42.49
Total £285.24

That's what sort of price you'd be looking at for Conroe but if you need to be closer to your budget then maybe look at this:

CA-012-AK Akasa Ultra Quiet 400W Paxpower Active PFC ATX2.0 PSU - Black Nickel (CA-012-AK)
£33.95 £33.95
CP-166-AM AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ 2.00GHz (Socket AM2) - Retail (CP-166-AM)
£89.95 £89.95
MB-145-AS Asus M2NPV-VM Micro ATX (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-145-AS)
£49.95 £49.95
MY-004-OK OcUK Value 1GB (2x512MB) PC3200 184pin DDR Memory Dual Channel Kit (MY-004-OK)
£55.95 £55.95
Subtotal £229.80
VAT £40.22
Total £270.02

Or even on budget:

CA-012-AK Akasa Ultra Quiet 400W Paxpower Active PFC ATX2.0 PSU - Black Nickel (CA-012-AK)
£33.95 £33.95
MY-004-OK OcUK Value 1GB (2x512MB) PC3200 184pin DDR Memory Dual Channel Kit (MY-004-OK)
£55.95 £55.95
CP-150-AM AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego (Socket 939) - OEM (CP-150-AM)
£54.95 £54.95
MB-119-AS Asus A8N-VM CSM Micro ATX (Socket 939) PCI Express Motherboard (MB-119-AS)
£46.95 £46.95
HS-000-AC Arctic Cooling Silencer 64 Ultra TC CPU Cooler (Socket 754) (HS-000-AC)
£4.95 £4.95
Subtotal £196.75
VAT £34.44
Total £231.19

Note: I know the cooler says S754 but IIRC, it works on S939 as well

Trigger · 20 Aug 2006 at 09:40

johnno said:
add me on msn and i can advise you on what to get

What purpose would that serve apart from making your contact list look bigger?

There's nothing wrong with discussing it over the forums- that's what they are designed for and you will get a more varied opinion this way

Chrisss · 20 Aug 2006 at 09:51

johnno said:
add me on msn and i can advise you on what to get

K added.

Chrisss · 20 Aug 2006 at 09:51

Thanks for those bundles Trigger.

Is it generally worth going dual core if I can afford it?

Trigger · 20 Aug 2006 at 09:56

Chrisss said:
Thanks for those bundles Trigger.

Is it generally worth going dual core if I can afford it?

Well considering that your main uses are gaming and photoshopping (sp?) then I would almost certainly say yes

EDIT: By dual core though, I mean Conroe- for gaming, you would more than likley get better performance out of the single core 3700+ than the dual core X2 3800+ but if you can afford it then Conroe it

iraiguana · 20 Aug 2006 at 10:05

can i just say that the 2nd rig suggested would also require ddr2 ram not the ddr. just incase u go with this.

hp7909 · 20 Aug 2006 at 10:07

Trigger said:
{snip}OcUK Value 1GB (2x512MB) PC3200 184pin DDR Memory Dual Channel Kit{snip}

That won't work with the AM2 setup. Needs to be DDR2.

How about this...

GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC5300 667MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX21GB5300DC) (MY-030-GL) £49.95
AMD Athlon 64 3500+ 2.2GHz (Socket AM2) - Retail (CP-164-AM) £54.95
Asus M2NPV-VM Micro ATX (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-145-AS) £49.95
Seasonic S12 430W Silent ATX2.0 Power Supply (CA-000-SS) £39.95
Subtotal £194.80
VAT £34.09
Total £228.89

Go Dual-Core when ready, i.e. min. 2GB RAM & a good GFX

Chrisss · 20 Aug 2006 at 10:09

What does 'conroe it' mean?

Chrisss · 20 Aug 2006 at 10:11

It's possible to get the following deal for 231 pounds incl. VAT, is this a good deal?

Asus m2v-Tvm (PCI-E 16x, on board graphics)
MD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ 2.00GHz
1GB unbranded DDR2 TC4200 RAM
Good quality 500W PSU

easyrider · 20 Aug 2006 at 10:20

Triggers system is the one to go for.Its exactly waht I was gonna spec you.

MB-004-AK Asrock Conroe945G-DVI (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-004-AK)
£44.95 £44.95
CP-135-IN Intel Core 2 DUO E6300 "LGA775 Allendale" 1.86GHz (1066FSB) - OEM (CP-135-IN)
£107.95 £107.95
Arctic Cooling Alpine 7 CPU Cooler (Socket 775)
MY-030-GL GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC5300 667MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX21GB5300DC) (MY-030-GL)
£49.95 £49.95
CA-012-AK Akasa Ultra Quiet 400W Paxpower Active PFC ATX2.0 PSU - Black Nickel (CA-012-AK)
£33.95 £33.95
Subtotal £242.75
VAT £42.49
Total £285.24

Better than all the other systems in this thread.And nothing can touch for performance at this price.
There is just no point getting an x2 3800 when you can get a conroe based system at this price.

Chrisss · 20 Aug 2006 at 10:21

Yeah but I can't afford to go anywhere near 280 pounds.

What about the setup I posted above, is that any good?

easyrider · 20 Aug 2006 at 10:26

Chrisss said:
Yeah but I can't afford to go anywhere near 280 pounds.

What about the setup I posted above, is that any good?

You state your budget is 230-250

Its 30 quid more for SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much more performance.

I would not spend 235 on it.

I would suggest saving a bit longer and getting a system tht is the latest tech but not the latest tech prices.

You may regret it in the long run.

Do you know actually how good these core duo 2's are?

Chrisss · 20 Aug 2006 at 10:27

Nope lol, and 285-231 = 54 quid more.

Are there any benchmarks about which show off the performance increase?

easyrider · 20 Aug 2006 at 10:32

Chrisss said:
Nope lol, and 285-231 = 54 quid more.

I'm looking to spend around 230-250 pounds

Are there any benchmarks about which show off the performance increase?

Your budget is 230-250 so its 30 quid more!

Look here http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2795&p=14

for conroe 6300 beating x 2 5000 in battlefield 2 and x 2 3800 in encoding and in everything else lol

Chrisss · 20 Aug 2006 at 10:52

Is it really worth the extra 50 quid + delivery for that setup instead of this one:

Asus m2v-Tvm (PCI-E 16x, on board graphics)
MD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ 2.00GHz
1GB unbranded DDR2 TC4200 RAM
Good quality 500W PSU

easyrider · 20 Aug 2006 at 10:58

Chrisss said:
Is it really worth the extra 50 quid + delivery for that setup instead of this one:

Asus m2v-Tvm (PCI-E 16x, on board graphics)
MD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ 2.00GHz
1GB unbranded DDR2 TC4200 RAM
Good quality 500W PSU

Yes,

Did you read the benchies?
Have you been listening to a word I have said!

lol