Custom Build Gaming PC Specs

WLumby

WLumby

WLumby

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Joined
8 May 2011
Posts
16
Hey guys,
THis is my first post :) I have recently realised that my Dell Dimension 8300 is not very good at playing any new games that come out. Even when I play old games it doesn't work unless I put the game on 'Low' graphical settings. This computer also freezes regulary and has a tiny HD (Max space 110GB). I talked to my dad about getting a new PC and he said it would be cheaper, and I'd get a better PC if we built one. He refered me to this, and other forums. So here I am.
Firstly, my budget is £350.
Uses: Gaming, coursework, web surfing.
Specs: This is up to you guys. What would you recommend? Here is what I think:
HD: 300GB+
Graphics Card: ATI Radeon if possible. Good enough to run games on medium-high graphical setting.
Processor: Dual or Quad, 2.5Ghz+
Memory: Up to you guys!
The other parts are up to what you guys think!
Many thanks,
Will :)
EDIT: I do have a moniter.
 
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That's actually not bad for the budget sk82jack, especially for such a tight budget.

What is your current HDD? Is it sata or an IDE device? We both know you'll game far more than study ;) If it is a sata HDD you will be able to reuse it and also reuse the DVD drive wether that is IDE or sata will be irrelevant as mobos have atleast 1 IDE port these days.

That's saved you nearly £50 already and can be pumped into the gfx budget. You can see how cheap HDDs are, its an easy upgrade. Im sure you could blag one come xmas or for your b'day and have a drive for backups.
 
honosuseri said:
That's actually not bad for the budget sk82jack, especially for such a tight budget.

What is your current HDD? Is it sata or an IDE device? We both know you'll game far more than study ;) If it is a sata HDD you will be able to reuse it and also reuse the DVD drive wether that is IDE or sata will be irrelevant as mobos have atleast 1 IDE port these days.

That's saved you nearly £50 already and can be pumped into the gfx budget. You can see how cheap HDDs are, its an easy upgrade. Im sure you could blag one come xmas or for your b'day and have a drive for backups.
Click to expand...

I don't think the Gigabyte GA-M68MT board has an IDE port actually.

CPU: Support for AM3 processors: AMD Phenom™ II processor/ AMD Athlon™ II processor
- Hyper Transport Bus: 2000 MT/s
- Chipset: NVIDIA® GeForce 7025/nForce 630a chipset
- Memory: 2 x 1.5V DDR3 DIMM sockets supporting up to 8GB of system memory
- Support for DDR3 1333+/1066/800 MHz memory modules
- Onboard Graphics
- Integrated in the Chipset: 1 x D-Sub port
- Audio: Realtek ALC888B codec, 2/4/5.1/7.1-channel
- LAN: Onboard Realtek RTL8211CL (10/100/1000Mbit)
- Expansion Slots: 1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x16, 2 x PCI Express x1 slot, 1 x PCI slot
- Storage Interface Chipset: 4 x SATA 3Gb/s connectors supporting up to 4 SATA 3Gb/s devices
- Support for SATA RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 10, RAID 5, and JBOD
- USB Chipset: Up to 10 USB 2.0/1.1 ports (4 on the back panel, 6 via the USB brackets connected to the internal USB headers)
- Back Panel Connectors: 1 x PS/2 keyboard port, 1 x PS/2 mouse port, 1 x D-Sub port, 1 x serial port, 4 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports, 1 x RJ-45 port, 3 x audio jacks (Line In/Line Out/Microphone)
- BIOS: 2 x 8 Mbit flash, Use of licensed AWARD BIOS, Support for DualBIOS™
- Operating System: Support for Microsoft Windows 7/Vista/XP
- Form Factor: Micro ATX Form Factor; 24.4cm x 20.6cm
Click to expand...

Edit: quoted another spec that wasn't even compatible! Duh :rolleyes: lol
 
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Your basketProduct Name Qty Price Line Total
AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition "125W Edition" 3.20GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £95.99
(£79.99) £95.99
(£79.99)
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5830 Extreme 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **OcUK Exclusive** £85.99
(£71.66) £85.99
(£71.66)
Coolermaster Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black (with 500w Elite Power PSU) £64.99
(£54.16) £64.99
(£54.16)
Asus M4N68T-M LE NForce 630a (Socket AM2+/AM3) DDR3 Motherboard £47.99
(£39.99) £47.99
(£39.99)
OCZ Special OPS 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (OCZ3SOE1600LV4GK) £34.99
(£29.16) £34.99
(£29.16)
Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98
(£13.32) £15.98
(£13.32)
Sub Total : £288.28
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 20.00% VAT : £59.66
Total : £357.94

this is if your HDD is a IDE type.

the Phenom II 955BE is much faster than the 840 which doesnt even have any L3 cache on the CPU die, so is in fact a glorified Athlon.

if you want the build to be 35 cheaper again? then this motherboard also has a IDE - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-013-SP
 
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stulid said:
Then use the ASUS stop your moaning LOL.

Just because honosuseri came up with a better idea than you:p
Click to expand...

Nooo never! :mad:

110GB is a pretty small drive to work with though and seeing as the price difference between a 300GB and 500GB is £1-2 how about this:



Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5850 Extreme 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **OcUK Exclusive** £107.99

AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 840 "95W Edition" 3.20GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £77.99

Coolermaster Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black (with 500w Elite Power PSU) £64.99

OCZ Special OPS 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (OCZ3SOE1600LV4GK) £34.99

MSI GF615M-P33 GeForce 6150SE (Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard £32.99

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST3500413AS) £30.98

Total : £362.53 (includes shipping : £10.50).

 
I meant to say MOST mobos have atleast one IDE port. You are right though, I just checked and that particualr mobo doesn't. Although it won't be hard to find a budget mobo that does.

I just noted that gaming was in bold. I think you did a great job spec'ing to the budget. The gfx card is a one off purchase though. I have seen 6850 (u can OC these to close to 6870 spec) radeons going for £130ish and better still xfx radeon 5870s for £150.

I didnt mean to "knock" your spec like i said i think you did a great job. With a bit of tweaking on the choice of mobo he would be happier with a better gfx card. A HDD can be added later. The 6850 tops the 5830 but of course it is slightly more expensive but I think it's worth the investment.

*edit* I agree the 955 would be better (that L3 makes all the difference) but it is more expensive, it's a tight budget. Another option would be the 555BE and trying a core unlock. I have essentially a 955 from doing this on my HTPC. For gaming the GPU really is going to make the most difference, that was the point I wanted to hammer home
 
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It's all good in the hood. You just need to let this HDD thing go lol Oh and the difference in performance between DDR2 and 3 isn't exactly stellar. Maybe he could skimp a few quid salvaging the RAM too.

If i'm honest i'm not keen on these mATX mobos, I understand they serve a purpose but i think they hamper you more than help in the build. They usually only have 2 RAM slots. Few PCI slots and by the time u whack in the gfx card you lose one of the PCI slots anyway. I'm all for reusing parts, I still use an "old" audigy 2 PCI sound card and a Digital tv card (PCI), yes I have HD onboard audio but i still prefer the sound reproduction from that card. Had i used an mATX mobo I couldnt have reused these parts.

Christ I make myself sound like such a skin flint sometimes lol

p.s it's nice for stulid to have my back....im usually singing his praises lol

*EDIT* I just noticed that OC do the HIS 6850 for £143.99 with 3 games included. Far Cry 2, CODMW2 and shogun 2.
 
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Lol! But looking at the Dell™ Dimension™ 8300 Series Service Manual, the system only comes with DDR 333/400, so at the price of DDR3 compared to DDR2 there's only one winner lol

I know what you mean about the mATX mobos though, I only included to keep as close to budget as possible.

So it depends on whether the HDD and optical drive are IDE or SATA as it says under system board connections (in the service manual) that it has 2 IDE connections and 2 SATA connections ('Serial ATA drive:two 7-pin connectors'), so could be either.
 
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Credit to you for checking. Let the original poster get back to us with what he has to "play with"

I had a quick look. Between us I think we've done well. Providing he can reuse the HDD and DVD and up the budget to £400

He can have the 955BE stulid and I recommend (this can easily be made into the 965)
Use your RAM and Case suggestion and use the mATX mobo stulid found. Then for the gfx use the 6850 (again can be OC to close to 6870 spec i'd imagine). With the delivery that comes to £399, if he used the forum more they would have waived the £10 delivery.

Now i know this is slightly over budget but seeing as the card comes with 3 games (ok 2 who cares about far cry 2) it's still an excellent budget gaming rig. The budget was for the rig if we were to deduct the cost of COD and Shogun2 to buy new, i imagine it works out on budget.

I look forward to hearing what he goes with
 
sk82jack said:
What do you actually need? Just the box?

Assuming you have a monitor, peripherals and an OS you could get something like this:



Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5830 Extreme 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **OcUK Exclusive** £85.99

AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 840 "95W Edition" 3.20GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £77.99

Coolermaster Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black (with 500w Elite Power PSU) £64.99

Gigabyte GA-M68MT-S2 (AM3) Motherboard - Retail £39.98

OCZ Special OPS 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (OCZ3SOE1600LV4GK) £34.99

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST3500413AS) £30.98

Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98

Total : £363.52 (includes shipping : £10.50).
Click to expand...

I like that setup :) It's not to far above my budget, and I can get the GFX Card (Most expensive part ;) ) for my b'day, (which is at the end of June, btw). I will look online and see if I can get the parts cheaper, and I will look at other people's opinions, then I will compile a checklist of parts ever the nxt few weeks :) I'll also talk to my dad, and see what he thinks, (he's already built his £1000 super-machine!).

Oh, I'm not reusing my HD because it's filled up with **** and I don't want it hooked up to my new PC as a backup...And I do have a moniter that I can use, so all I need to add to the list is the Operating system- Windows 7 I think! :)

Many Thanks,
Will

EDIT:Yes, I think I can up the budget to £400 :)
 
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You were making perfect sense till you completely discounted using the old HDD. If it's full of **** it wont be when u format it for the new install of windows 7 (64 bit u want). Ceraintly doesnt hurt to have a backup drive but it's your call fella

Don't sell yourself short, let your dad read the thread. He may see the logic stulid and I were working with and he may up your budget as it is a better rig for such a small increase in budget.

Not taking anything away from sk82jack, like i said he did well to spec to budget. Good luck with the build....happy gaming (dad read that as studying lol)
 
honosuseri said:
You were making perfect sense till you completely discounted using the old HDD. If it's full of **** it wont be when u format it for the new install of windows 7 (64 bit u want). Ceraintly doesnt hurt to have a backup drive but it's your call fella
Click to expand...

Thanks for telling me, I completely forgot about formatting my old HD:rolleyes:
I've just started working on a spreadsheet to cover the new parts and costs :)

Will
 
stulid said:
Your basketProduct Name Qty Price Line Total
AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition "125W Edition" 3.20GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £95.99
(£79.99) £95.99
(£79.99)
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5830 Extreme 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **OcUK Exclusive** £85.99
(£71.66) £85.99
(£71.66)
Coolermaster Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black (with 500w Elite Power PSU) £64.99
(£54.16) £64.99
(£54.16)
Asus M4N68T-M LE NForce 630a (Socket AM2+/AM3) DDR3 Motherboard £47.99
(£39.99) £47.99
(£39.99)
OCZ Special OPS 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (OCZ3SOE1600LV4GK) £34.99
(£29.16) £34.99
(£29.16)
Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98
(£13.32) £15.98
(£13.32)
Sub Total : £288.28
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 20.00% VAT : £59.66
Total : £357.94

this is if your HDD is a IDE type.

the Phenom II 955BE is much faster than the 840 which doesnt even have any L3 cache on the CPU die, so is in fact a glorified Athlon.

if you want the build to be 35 cheaper again? then this motherboard also has a IDE - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-013-SP
Click to expand...

Decided to use this one instead :) Not that much more in terms of price, and I'll get a better PC once It's done :) Thanks to everyone who has helped me so far :) Have just finished a spreadsheet on prices of parts etc. Now I just need to save my money, and get on with building :)

If anyone else has any ideas or opinions, please tell me and I can take them into consideration :)

Many thanks,
Will
EDIT: Decided to add this HDD to the list: OcUK Value 500GB IDE ATA-100 8MB Cache Hard Drive - (OEM) :)
 
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It's all good, very sensible planning it out in a spreadsheet. You really want the best GPU you can get if you can work that 955BE in as well that would make for a great all round system.

Try your best to reuse that HDD and DVD. Like I said they are pretty cheap, will make for a good xmas prezzies. By then the machine could probably do with a cleanup. So fit the new HDD you got and install windows to it then copy what u want back over from the old drive and use it as a backup.

Let's hope your dad is a kind and generous guy :P
 
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5830 £85.99
AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 "125W Edition" 3.20Ghz (Socket AM3 £95.99
CoolerMaster Elite 430 Windowed Case £64.99
Asus M4N68T-M LE NForce 630a (Socket AM2+/AM3) DDR3 Motherboard £47.99
OCZ Special OPS 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit £34.99
OcUK Value 500GB IDE ATA-100 8MB Cache Hard Drive - (OEM) £44.99
Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) £15.98
Windows 7 Home Premium - 1 PC £60.00

This is the setup I am thinking of using. Anyone have and comments on it? What do you guys think?:D

Many thanks,
Will
 
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