Games Machine [another one]

Yanayaya · 21 Apr 2009 at 14:23

Hello everyone, I have just joined so thought I would not only say "hi" but also get your feedback and expertise on what I am looking to build.

I am wanting to build a games machine but dont want to go overboard however, here is what I have so far.

Asus P5Q Pro Motherboard
Duel Core P4 CPU (2.4) FSB of 800mhz, L2 Cache (1mb)

To go further I want a decent amount of storage and speed from said storage. Is it fair to say that a sata drive with perhaps a 16mb Cache is a good place to be for that.

I was also looking for recommendations for RAM and a video card if you dont mind.

Kindest Regards

Yan

reflux · 21 Apr 2009 at 14:25

Is the CPU a Pentium E2200? Intel never made a dual core P4

icey_haj · 21 Apr 2009 at 14:36

Hi there,

What is your budget? Also what resolution will you be gaming at?

Yanayaya · 21 Apr 2009 at 15:04

reflux said:
Is the CPU a Pentium E2200? Intel never made a dual core P4

It certainly is matey.

Sorry I did not include that.

Yanayaya · 21 Apr 2009 at 15:08

icey_haj said:
Hi there,

What is your budget? Also what resolution will you be gaming at?

Well ideally I do not mind spending upto £100 - £120 on a graphics card.
The rest really depends on what is the best avenue for me to go down. I would have to see what will give good results at a modest cost.

Egon · 21 Apr 2009 at 15:09

Definitely need to know resolution and budget first. When you say "thats what you have so far".... do you mean that literally is "everything" you have so far. You have those 2 components in your possession and you need to buy everything else?

Audigex · 21 Apr 2009 at 15:09

What resolution do you play at, and what games?

Also, do you go for the maximum resolution possible, or decent resolution with playable frame rate on a budget?

The problem with gaming builds is that they can range from £400 if you want counter strike, up to the thousands of pounds (£1500 being basically a top-whack gaming PC)

icey_haj · 21 Apr 2009 at 15:11

Exactly, you need to be more specific with your budget. Give an overall rough amount you're willing to spend.

Yanayaya · 21 Apr 2009 at 15:15

Resolution of choice is 1280x1024

Games that I like are more along the lines of Warhammer Age of Reckoning, Crysis, Farcry and FEAR 2 etc.

When I say "thats why i have so far" that is exactly it. I have my old rig which runs ATA HDD's rather than SATA, so hence I need to HDD and RAM caus ethe old board is an ABIT NF7 and the RAM is not DDR2.

I am not hard core enough to spend thousands, its a modest budget. I just want tog et things right rather than just throw something together that wont work correctly.

Budget overall not including the Mobo and CPU is £400

icey_haj · 21 Apr 2009 at 15:16

*Facepalm*

I think I'll leave you guys to sort him out a spec.

95thrifles · 21 Apr 2009 at 15:20

Theyre right that we need more info realy, but Ive done a pretty budget spec for you to see what you think, if you dont already have the CPU then go for the 5200 over the 2200, its only £3 more, also if you plan to OC you'll want to add in an aftermarket cooler, other than that this should be a goood starting point for you

Edit: Just seen your budget is £400 excluding mobo and cpu so I presume you already have them, in which case take them out of this build and thats £280 for components that will go well with your mobo and cpu

Yanayaya · 21 Apr 2009 at 15:22

95thrifles said:
Theyre right that we need more info realy, but Ive done a pretty budget spec for you to see what you think, if you dont already have the CPU then go for the 5200 over the 2200, its only £3 more, also if you plan to OC you'll want to add in an aftermarket cooler, other than that this should be a goood starting point for you

Thank you for taking the time to produce that. My apologies for not being specific enough. However looking voer that I can tell you additionally that I have a case already, anda 650watt PSU and I already have the Mobo and CPU. So the £400 would be for everything above and beyond that

I hope this is helping.

Sorry its been a bloody long day and now the rain is on

Audigex · 21 Apr 2009 at 15:26

Can't much argue with that. Maybe get an antec 300, it's a nicer case overall.

Double up on the HDD so that you can split your data from your operating system and go for a Corsair 500W modular for about £60

Total cost: £350.

I'd be strongly tempted to recommend dropping your E2200 and motherboard and just buying 95thrifles build outright though, your CPU will be a bottleneck in this system and the E5200 should serve you nicely.

Yanayaya · 21 Apr 2009 at 15:43

The case I have at the moment in an Antec nine Hundred gaming case.
The CPU will be upgraded later down the line anyways so it should not be too much of a problem.

Egon · 21 Apr 2009 at 17:14

Monitor, keyboard, mouse, OS?

If they're not needed and you don't need a PSU or case then use that money to up the HDD to the 500gb version and go for the 1gb 4870 rather than the 4850.

Kennysevenfold · 21 Apr 2009 at 17:20

Product Name Qty Price Line Total

Asus ATI Radeon HD 4890 1024MB GDDR5 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail £203.99
(£177.38) £203.99
(£177.38)

Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (WD6401AALS) £62.09
(£53.99) £62.09
(£53.99)

Noctua NH-U12P CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/LGA775) £48.29
(£41.99) £48.29
(£41.99)

OCZ Gold Edition 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 PC2-8500C5 Dual Channel (OCZ2G10664GK) £33.99
(£29.56) £33.99
(£29.56)

LG GH22NS40 22x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM £18.99
(£16.51) £18.99
(£16.51) Sub Total : £319.43 Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £9.50 VAT is being charged at 15% VAT : £49.34 Total : £378.27