Computer build for £500 max please.

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25 Jan 2009
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Hello again guys, I had to cancel a previous build due to unforeseen circumstances, and would like to thank anyone who offered advice. I still need a new computer though, as the current one is on its last legs; but I'm going to have to cut costs by at least £400, as the previous one was edging towards £900.

I'm a little confused as to which route I should take. One the one hand I'm thinking of just building a bog standard pc that will be capable of running Microsoft office, and enable me to surf and watch a few films on my 24" monitor. If I needed to game I would just buy a cheap second hand console to plug into my monitor.

The other part of me wants to build a cheap computer, up to a max of £500, that I can use for all of the above. I would aim to play a few games on it i.e. Fallout 3, Dawn of War 2, medieval Total War 2 and GTA IV (as that will do me just fine). I don't mind reducing the resolution etc. on those games, although if it is possible to play them on 1920x1200, then that would be great.

So, all this rambling means I need help in speccing a 'cheap gaming computer' (max £500, but the cheaper, the better), so that I can see how viable the cheap computer would be to play the above games. I already have the case, peripherals etc., if that's any help. If for the price, the components can be reasonably quiet, then that would be a great extra. Many thanks for any advice.
 
Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard £98.99
(£86.08) £98.99
(£86.08)
AMD Phenom II X2 Dual Core 550 3.10GHz Black Edition (Socket AM3) - Retail AMD Phenom II X2 Dual Core 550 3.10GHz Black Edition (Socket AM3) - Retail £79.99
(£69.56) £79.99
(£69.56)
Powercolor ATI Radeon HD 4850 PCS 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail Powercolor ATI Radeon HD 4850 PCS 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail £68.99
(£59.99) £68.99
(£59.99)
OCZ Platinum 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C7 1333MHz Dual Channel (OCZ3P13334GK) OCZ Platinum 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C7 1333MHz Dual Channel (OCZ3P13334GK) £46.99
(£40.86) £46.99
(£40.86)
Seasonic Silverpower 400W Power Supply Seasonic Silverpower 400W Power Supply £45.99
(£39.99) £45.99
(£39.99)
Samsung SpinPoint F1 320GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD322HJ) Samsung SpinPoint F1 320GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD322HJ) £34.99
(£30.43) £34.99
(£30.43)
Sub Total : £326.91
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 15% VAT : £50.54
Total : £387.45

That would be the cheap version.
----------------

The expensive version will go 47 outta your budget : ).

Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition 3.2GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition 3.2GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £149.99
(£130.43) £149.99
(£130.43)
XFX ATI Radeon HD 4890 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card XFX ATI Radeon HD 4890 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £149.99
(£130.43) £149.99
(£130.43)
Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard £98.99
(£86.08) £98.99
(£86.08)
Corsair VX 450W ATX Power Supply (CMPSU-450VXUK) Corsair VX 450W ATX Power Supply (CMPSU-450VXUK) £54.99
(£47.82) £54.99
(£47.82)
OCZ Platinum 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C7 1333MHz Dual Channel (OCZ3P13334GK) OCZ Platinum 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C7 1333MHz Dual Channel (OCZ3P13334GK) £46.99
(£40.86) £46.99
(£40.86)
Samsung SpinPoint F1 320GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD322HJ) Samsung SpinPoint F1 320GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD322HJ) £34.99
(£30.43) £34.99
(£30.43)
Sub Total : £466.05
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 15% VAT : £71.41
Total : £547.46

well, 37 with free shipping.

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The cheaper rig might have some problems at 1920x1200 if you put too high details on.
However, it will still do fine with lower details or bit lower ress - which for it's price is just amazing (also if you get lucky you might an unlock on 2 extra cores and get 940BE outta it for half its price).

The second one is bit more costly but will eat anything you throw at it.
 
Last edited:
PhoenixUK, you forgot the DVD drives.

Anyways, this is what I'd get for £350:

Powercolor ATI Radeon HD 4850 PCS 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail Powercolor ATI Radeon HD 4850 PCS 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail £68.99
(£59.99) £68.99
(£59.99)
Asus M4A78 AMD 770 (Socket AM3/AM2+) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard Asus M4A78 AMD 770 (Socket AM3/AM2+) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £59.98
(£52.16) £59.98
(£52.16)
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 7850+ Black Edition 2.80GHz (Socket AM2+) - Retail AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 7850+ Black Edition 2.80GHz (Socket AM2+) - Retail £45.99
(£39.99) £45.99
(£39.99)
Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (WD5001AALS) Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (WD5001AALS) £44.99
(£39.12) £44.99
(£39.12)
Corsair CX 400W ATX Power Supply (CMPSU-400CXUK) Corsair CX 400W ATX Power Supply (CMPSU-400CXUK) £40.99
(£35.64) £40.99
(£35.64)
Coolermaster Elite 334 Midi Case- Black (No PSU) Coolermaster Elite 334 Midi Case- Black (No PSU) £30.99
(£26.95) £30.99
(£26.95)
OcUK 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-6400C5 800MHz DDR2 Dual Channel OcUK 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-6400C5 800MHz DDR2 Dual Channel £29.99
(£26.08) £29.99
(£26.08)
Pioneer DVR-217FBK 22x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer LabelFlash ReWriter (Black) - OEM Pioneer DVR-217FBK 22x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer LabelFlash ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
(£15.64) £17.99
(£15.64)
Sub Total : £295.57
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 15% VAT : £46.02
Total : £352.84
 
One quick question, is the gap between the AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 7850+ Black Edition 2.80GHz and the AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition 3.2GHz that great?
 
Oops, I meant is there a big gap, in terms of performance, between the AMD Phenom II X2 Dual Core 550 3.10GHz Black Edition and the AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 7850+ Black Edition 2.80GHz?

I think the psu might be the one area I go for a little bit more than I need anyway. That way, I can make sure I have enough juice and give myself a little bit of future proofing.
 
Oops, I meant is there a big gap, in terms of performance, between the AMD Phenom II X2 Dual Core 550 3.10GHz Black Edition and the AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 7850+ Black Edition 2.80GHz?

I think the psu might be the one area I go for a little bit more than I need anyway. That way, I can make sure I have enough juice and give myself a little bit of future proofing.

Dual core 550 is about same speed as an E8400 nearly plus near a tri core 720 so it's a nice cpu also you get more future proof pc being AM3 socket.
 
Yeah, there is a relatively large speed difference between those two CPUs, however, as far as gaming is concerned the fps difference won't be huge, the 7850+ is just slightly more value for money IMO.
 
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