Gaming rig

remeteer · 20 Jul 2009 at 17:52

hi all,

I'm looking at buying a new gaming machine after mine died, however i don't really have a clue when it comes to parts so would like some input from the experts.

I'm looking at spending around 500-600 do you think this would get me a decent set up? I have a 22" samsung hd monitor if that makes a difference to the type of graphics card i could have.

Also im looking at buying at the start of next month i dont if the prices change that much.

cheers, Dan

NathanT · 20 Jul 2009 at 18:25

Use Windows7 as your OS.

Gone for a DDR3 flavor for a little bit of flexibility if you want to upgrade. Can support another 4870 in the future if you want to play at higher res.

(I know some of the bits are out of stock but that does not matter for you if your looking at buying in a few weeks time)

This is also one of the best boards for the possible unlocking of the 550's *sleeping* cores

RJC · 20 Jul 2009 at 19:10

My 2 penny:

AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition 3.2GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £149.99
(£130.43) £149.99
(£130.43)

Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard £105.00
(£91.30) £105.00
(£91.30)

HIS ATI Radeon HD 4870 1024MB GDDR5 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - OEM (H487F1GP) £103.99
(£90.43) £103.99
(£90.43)

Corsair TX 650W ATX SLi Compliant Power Supply (CMPSU-650TXUK) £76.99
(£66.95) £76.99
(£66.95)

Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (WD6401AALS) £53.99
(£46.95) £53.99
(£46.95)

OCZ Platinum AM3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C7 1333MHz Dual Channel (OCZ3P1333LVAM4GK) £47.99
(£41.73) £47.99
(£41.73)

Coolermaster Elite 334 Midi Case- Black (No PSU) £30.99
(£26.95) £30.99
(£26.95)

Sony Optiarc AD-7240S 24x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM £18.99
(£16.51) £18.99
(£16.51) Sub Total : £511.25 Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £11.75 VAT is being charged at 15% VAT : £78.45 Total : £601.45

Or

XFX ATI Radeon HD 4890 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £142.99
(£124.34) £142.99
(£124.34)

Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard £105.00
(£91.30) £105.00
(£91.30)

AMD Phenom II X3 Tri Core 720 Black Edition 2.8GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £94.99
(£82.60) £94.99
(£82.60)

Corsair TX 650W ATX SLi Compliant Power Supply (CMPSU-650TXUK) £76.99
(£66.95) £76.99
(£66.95)

Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (WD6401AALS) £53.99
(£46.95) £53.99
(£46.95)

OCZ Platinum AM3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C7 1333MHz Dual Channel (OCZ3P1333LVAM4GK) £47.99
(£41.73) £47.99
(£41.73)

Antec 300 Three Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case - Black (No PSU) £44.99
(£39.12) £44.99
(£39.12)

Sony Optiarc AD-7240S 24x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM £18.99
(£16.51) £18.99
(£16.51)

Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro PWM CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2) £17.24
(£14.99) £17.24
(£14.99) Sub Total : £524.49 Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £12.50 VAT is being charged at 15% VAT : £80.55 Total : £617.54

remeteer · 20 Jul 2009 at 19:36

thanks for the input guys.

just a quick question which may sound daft but if i connect my comp to the monitor via the hdmi slot does it improve the quality or is it more for dvd's and things.

NathanT · 20 Jul 2009 at 19:51

I'll quote, because I'm lazy

"First, to clear away one element that can be confusing: DVI and HDMI are exactly the same as one another, image-quality-wise. The principal differences are that HDMI carries audio as well as video, and uses a different type of connector, but both use the same encoding scheme, and that's why a DVI source can be connected to an HDMI monitor, or vice versa, with a DVI/HDMI cable, with no intervening converter box."

Source : http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/34579/122868.htm

remeteer · 21 Jul 2009 at 15:46

i noticed that all those systems don't have sound cards, is it worth the extra money to have one or is on board sound just as good?

siumatfung · 21 Jul 2009 at 18:16

remeteer said:
i noticed that all those systems don't have sound cards, is it worth the extra money to have one or is on board sound just as good?

depends are you an audiophile?

if not then its fine all motherboards have onboard sound, if so then think of it as a future upgrade but remember you will also need a good set of headphones or speakers when u buy a soundcard to get the best out of it

remeteer · 22 Jul 2009 at 09:54

ah thanks for the info i think on board will do for me as my speakers are not the best in the world and would rather spend the money on other components

Ghostnade · 22 Jul 2009 at 15:27

Are you going to be using your old gaming case or would you like a new one?

Ghostnade · 22 Jul 2009 at 15:45

(All prices include VAT)

XFX GeForce GTX 275 XXX Edition 896MB GDDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Card (Includes Terminator Salvation PC Game) - £169.99

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 LGA775 'Wolfdale' 3.00GHz (1333FSB) - Retail - £126.99

Gigabyte GA-X48-DS5 Intel X48 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard - £99.99

Corsair TX 650W ATX SLi Compliant Power Supply (CMPSU-650TXUK) - £72.99

Kingston HyperX 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 8500C5 1066MHz Dual Channel (KHX8500D2K2/4G) - £37.98

Samsung SpinPoint F1 320GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD322HJ) - £34.99

LG GH22NS50 22x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM - £18.99

Includes VAT @ 15%, shipping = Total : £573.44

the graphics card has the same amount of cores (240) as the GTX28x's and with a bit of overclocking, you will be able to do with a bit of spare change

V.Good PSU and could use it in another build some time in the near future (if you wish)

Good CPU, 45nm running at 3.0ghz (most programs recommend this speed), so you can run this CPU at stock (run cooler, longer lifespan), without any struggle really.

Memory was a good deal, good timings, well known brand.....

remeteer · 22 Jul 2009 at 15:55

I'd want to get a new case as I've no idea if the new parts would fit in my old case. thanks for another suggestion, im considering one of RJC's but not sure which which would be better suited to 1680x1050 and say playing Empire total war

Lemin · 22 Jul 2009 at 17:43

Great deal on This Week Only Offer

Antec 902 Nine Hundred Two Ultimate Gaming Case - Black (No PSU)
was £94.99 inc VAT
£82.98 inc VAT

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-110-AN

RJC · 22 Jul 2009 at 17:43

Go for the second option, better case & gpu, cpu only has one less core so performance loss will be minimal, unless you have software which will utilise 4 cores.

remeteer · 23 Jul 2009 at 09:46

i think im gonna order tomorrow after a change of mind however some of the parts u listed are not in stock, i dont suppose you could offer some alternatives?

i think it was the dvd drive and the case which they didnt have in stock

cheers