Building a Budget Gaming Rig - First Timer Needs Advice

Eat_My_Brains

Eat_My_Brains

Eat_My_Brains

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7 Jan 2010
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17
Hi guys, first post here!

Been looking into buying a desktop (or more specifically building one) for a while now. I am very experienced in servicing/repairing laptops (as well as taking them apart and upgrading them) and have upgraded a couple of desktops with GFX cards in the past.

Anyways, more to the point. I am looking to build the best gaming machine that I can for 550 ish quid. I have read the sticky at the top of this subforum and have used that to influence the build and I have read the sticky on assembling a desktop so hopefully I should be able to manage building easy enough.

Main use for the PC will be gaming (CSS, GT 4, Battlefield Series, COD ETC), music, Photoshop, Webbrowsing and watching videos.

So far I have chosen the following components for the built:

myspec1.jpg


Is this the right components? Are they compatible and are they good choices for the budget? I have gone for AMD over intel as they seem to give the most bang for buck in the low end and gaming sectors.

In terms of GFX cards I am a little confused. The 4980 ATI costs around the same as the 5770. Is this because the 5770 is lower powered but DX 11 while the 4980 is DX 10 but higher powered? Also what's the difference in between all the motherboards? I understand that I need an AM3 one but aside from some having crossfire and better intergrated GPU's (which I dont need as im buying my own) is there really any difference?

Anyways I really appreciate any advice/ideas as theres so many options to chose from! :D

Many thanks,

EMB

EDIT: May as well also ask, whats a decent cheap small monitor that wont break the budget? Doesnt need to be huge as I dont have much real estate left on my desk. Been trying to find a decent 17 inch widescreen one but there dont seem to be any. Which of the budget 19 inch ones on this site is a safe bet? I dont know much about monitors.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=17&catid=276
 
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Only thing id change is to drop to a 4870 and spend the change on a higher rated power supply, which will future proof you for later upgrades in the gfx dept.....

The difference between a 4890 and 4870 would not be noticed on the low resolutions you seem to be going to play at.
 
I would possible swap the HDD for the 640GB Black version. A £12 more gets you an extra 140GB.

If you could get a 21.5" on to your desk, I would get the Viewsonic VX2260wm. A good budget screen if you take time to set it up.

For £600 you could possibly go for a i5 setup.
 
Generally, pretty nice spec. Should fun games well, though there are a couple things I would suggest changing:

1) Get a CPU cooler for the 955. The OEM version just comes with the CPU with no retail AMD heatsink. I would suggest this Cooler as a decent one, with some overclocking potential.

2) The hard disk is a green edition - so it is quiet, cool and power efficent - but rather slow. Not something you want for a primary hard disk. For similar money I would suggest getting this fast HDD.

3) As for PSU, there are not many reviews for the Akasa PSU. I'm not saying it is bad, but you will have greater piece of mind with this Corsair.

4) As for a small, cheap monitor - this 20in Widescreen viewsonic just came out. Or you could get the 22in version for £15 more.

But personally, I would drop the spec of the machine to afford an even nicer monitor. A system with a X2 and a 4870 would still eat through modern games and allow you to get a much nicer monitor. As it is the thing you will be looking at all day, I think It is worth spending money on.
 
Currently, I'd make sure I got a crossfire capable motherboard, a 550W+ power supply, and a 5770.

As for screens, if you bump up to a 20 inch, you seem to get more for your money than a 19 (higher resolution, larger) for about the same price.

For instance, this Samsung.

For what it's worth, here's my effort:
Untitled.jpg


It's a bit over budget I'm afraid, but that's because you need a CPU cooler with the OEM version.

The motherboard and power supply will support crossfire, so you can get a second 5770 at a later date, and get the equivalent of a 5850/5870.

I particularly like NZXT cases - they are great quality for little money. Not only that, but this one can support a load of extra fans, including around the graphics cards.

I picked the OCZ memory 'cause I prefer it. No reason.

The Spinpoint F3 will be better than the Caviar Green you selected.

Optical drives, now I come to look at it better - you picked a better one, for only £1 more.

I have managed to get an OCZ 600W modular power supply in there though - which will be better than the Akasa and give extra headroom - particularly if running crossfire, and if you've overclocked everything.
 
^bit over his budget but true.
Get a Xfire mobo cause they usualy come with an extra 2 memory slots and a 6channel audio. for an extra 20 bucks can't go wrong.

And ya, get a corsair PSU. atm the 650w one is the best and best for value.
and as for all quad cores, I would suggest a custom Heat sink aswell like they all said.
 
Marvin's build is a good one if you can stretch your budget slightly - upgrade potential is an important consideration.
 
Ok, ill go for the build that marvin suggested. My dad has told me that he can buy it through his business and claim back VAT off the govt as it counts as office supplies apparently. :eek:

One last thing im not sure about is GFX cards, I been comparing the 4890 and the 5770 and it seems that the 5770 has half the band width of the 4890 (128 BIT VS 256 BIT). If I intend to only buy one card for 1-2 years then would the 4890 not be a better choice? Im not hellbent on being on the bleeding edge of technology and I think id rather have the raw performance in the games that I know that I am gonna be playing, besides I cant see direct x 9/10 support being dropped within the next year (I may be wrong tho).

Will go for a crossfire motherboard, esp seeing as its only about a fiver more. The PSU is only 10 pounds more which is worth it if it ensures reliability and expandability. Didn't realise that ECO HDD = slow, ill deffo go for the Spinpoint!
 
The motherboard I suggested is a crossfire motherboard, and uses the best AMD chipset (790).

About the 5770 vs 4890 thing. I've got a 4890 now, and it does rip through most games. But, it is power hungry in comparison with the 5770, is noisy and heats the rest of the case up (it is overclocked). The 5770 is almost as good with most games, and if you get a second in the future (which will be a drop in upgrade) it will be able to play most DX11 games with all the special DX11 stuff enabled - which no 4890 will. DX10 won't be dropped that soon - so the 4890 will still work, but future proofing is what you want. With two 5770s you essentially have a 5870 - ok you only have one for now, but it is pretty close to the 4890. The only games that the 4890 doesn't get 60+FPS on with the highest settings are Crysis (and related Crysis games) and GTA IV (that I've played so far). Also, the cost saving of the 5770 over the 4890 allows you to have a better system - like the better HDD and better PSU.

If you are getting it - VAT, then you'd probably want to get the Phenom II 965 BE, and possibly a better cooler.
 
Just read through this review. Whilst there's no doubt the 4890 is the faster card, the frame rates you're getting are so high there's no difference. 80 FPS vs 75 FPS makes no difference whatsoever. Look at the 1920x1080 or 1920x1200 results for proof there. There's more chance that with GPUs like these you're CPU locked on FPS above a 4890.

In the end though it's down to you - you never know, you may be able to stretch the extra £100 for a 5850...

Either the 5770 or 4890 will be good, but the resale value of the 4890 in a years time might make the 5770 the better bet. Not only that, if you wanted to expand the system in a years time, then it might be quite difficult to get a 4890.
 
the 4890 is more powerful than the 5770.
But if you get the 5770 (which is more energy efficient GFX card out of the two) in 6months or 1 yr you can get another and go xfire.
Then you'll have plenty of GPU power.
But if you have a 4890, in a yr time it'll be outdated and you'll have to buy a new GFX card, and if your under a budget again, i doubt tht the budget GFX card will provide the same amount of GPU power as the dual 5770's
 
This is the problem when buying computers, you keep on spending a little bit more and it all adds up. :D

Am I making the right choice going with AMD. I understand intel is meant to be better at the higher end and at things like video encoding but surely a quad 3ghz AMD is enough for my needs. Is it worth looking into i3/i5 or is that gonne end up pricing me out of my own leage?
 
I forgot what I was originally going to ask when I was writing that post.

When looking on the page for 5770's there are some that cost a little but more than others. Whats the difference between them? Are some pre overclocked or is there a difference in the cooling/fans that they come with? There is no difference in between the actual card they use, right? http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=701&catid=56&subid=1515
 
The ones with the 'egg-shaped' coolers have no difference between them as they are all reference designs - basically the colour of the face plate is different. If the card is a 'Vapor-X' card, or something like that, then it may be changed from the reference design to allow for higher standard clocks over the stock card.

As far as the benches and reviews go, the only Intel dual core (i3/i5) that will beat the Phenom II 955 would be the higher end i5 dual cores. Which cost a hell of a lot more, and don't win in everything. The exception would be the i5-750, but I don't think you'd be able to do a build with one.

Let me try though, bear with me...
 
Best I can come up with that proves a worthwhile i5 set up over the AM3:

Replace the CPU and Motherboard with these (No VAT) VAT:

Intel Core i5 750 2.66Ghz (Lynnfield) (Socket LGA1156) - OEM (£121.73) £143.03

Gigabyte GA-P55-UD4 Intel P55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 Motherboard (£118.29) £138.99 (this allows for CF with x8 per lane).

At which point this blows your budget out of the water (non VAT price) totals £566.23 + 10.50 for shipping, including VAT and shipping it comes to £677.69.

It would be a little better than the AM3 setup, but you need to bear in mind that the AM3 socket will support 6-cores and future upgrades, whereas the LGA1156 will not.
 
yes i like the idea, its a good speced PC, I mean i like intel personally, but its what floats ya boat.
 
Alright guys, thank you so much for all the advice; really appreciate it. Ill stick to AMD and go with the parts suggested by Marvin, ill be doing the build in a fortnights time hopefully so ill let you huys know how I get on then! (hopefully nothing new comes out in the mean time and hopefully the prices stay the same :D).
 
Marvin said:
Best I can come up with that proves a worthwhile i5 set up over the AM3:

Replace the CPU and Motherboard with these (No VAT) VAT:

Intel Core i5 750 2.66Ghz (Lynnfield) (Socket LGA1156) - OEM (£121.73) £143.03

Gigabyte GA-P55-UD4 Intel P55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 Motherboard (£118.29) £138.99 (this allows for CF with x8 per lane).
Click to expand...

I was just wondering if there's a big advantage of going for the GA-P55-UD4 over, say, the GA-P55-UD3 (£107.99) or even the GA-P55-US3L (£80.99)? (I'm thinking of a budget i5 system, myself :) )
 
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