Got £500ish to spend......

[Clarky1990]

What would be the best build for gaming? I'm after a new computer which I want to primarily use for gaming but I don't quite know which root I should take any help appreciated. Thanks

 

[Gazza123]

Do you need an OS?

 

[Clarky1990]

Do you need an OS?

Nope no OS got Win7 64 all ready, I just need the hardware.

Also not to fussed between Intel or AMD

Currently deciding between these 2

£544

CPU: Intel Core i5 2500K
Motherboard: Asus P8H67-M
Memory: 4.0GB Corsair DDR3 1600mhz XMS3 CL9 (2x 2GB)
Hard Drive: 500GB S-ATAII 3.0Gb/s
Optical Drive: 22x DVD±RW DL S-ATA
Graphics card: ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB
Case: Piano Black ATX
PSU: 650W Corsair TX Ultra-Quiet

or pretty much the same build but AMD

£533

CPU: AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition
Motherboard: Asus M4A87TD USB3
Memory: 4.0GB Corsair DDR3 1600mhz XMS3 CL9 (2x 2GB)
Hard Drive: 500GB S-ATAII 3.0Gb/s
Optical Drive: 22x DVD±RW DL S-ATA Lightscribe
Graphics card: ATI Radeon HD 5830 1GB
Sound card: Onboard 7.1 Audio
Case: Piano Black ATX
PSU: 650W Corsair TX Ultra-Quiet

Can I get much better than this for price? Which would last longest overall (tech wise)?

 

[Lobovski]

Also do you need a monitor, keyboard and mouse?

 

[Clarky1990]

Also do you need a monitor, keyboard and mouse?

Also no lol

 

[Clarky1990]

Also how much cooling would be needed? Would stock be ok if I dont OC? or would I be better off with cooling and OC?

 

[Reaper 392]

the piano black ATX case already comes with a power supply. ive no idea how good it is, but you might be able to find it cheaper elsewhere without a power supply if you plan on getting your own.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-073-AN&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=160


either that or im being dim and missing something

*edit*

if you are not planning on overclocking, i assume that the standard fans will be enough.
the power supply has an exhaust fan, the CPU will almost certainly come with its own standard fan, and the graphics card will come with one if it needs one, and the case comes with another exhaust fan

 

[Clarky1990]

the piano black ATX case already comes with a power supply. ive no idea how good it is, but you might be able to find it cheaper elsewhere without a power supply if you plan on getting your own.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-073-AN&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=160


either that or im being dim and missing something

ahh sorry those prices are from a different place, just the best I have been able to find thus far. Not going to say where as Im sure that its advertising?.

 

[Reaper 392]

ah right. posting up the original prices would probably help for each item if you can, especially the case.

at your budget i would personally go with intel. however, i have literally no clue about the intel motherboards, as i went with AMD myself, being a student with no money

here is the best you can get from OcUK for the little bits. not really sure about anything else just yet:
- Seagate Barracuda 500GB HDD: £27.98
- OCZ Platinum 4GB (2x2GB) RAM £34.99
- samsung 22x DVD±RW re-writer £11.99
- case + PSU: antec sonata III piano + 500W PSU £109.26
no idea how good this PSU is, and the PSU is not somewhere you want to save money
nice looking case btw

how does this compare with the other site?

 

[killianzz]

Also how much cooling would be needed? Would stock be ok if I dont OC? or would I be better off with cooling and OC?

You selected the 2500k and it sounds like you want your system to last for a while. The 2500k has an unlocked multiplier, and is very easy to overclock. I would say buy a cheap cooler like an arctic cooling freezer 7 pro which costs about £15-20, and make use of the cpus excellent overclocking potential. 4.5ghz would be on the cards quite easily, and make your system run a lot faster. I believe this would be the best value upgrade for the system you specced bar none. If you don't fancy overclocking, save some money and don't buy the 'k' version.

 

[VoG]

Also how much cooling would be needed? Would stock be ok if I dont OC? or would I be better off with cooling and OC?

just bare in mind that if you go the 2500K route, you have to have a P67 board if you want to overclock & not a H67 board as the H67 chipset does not support the K series chips unlocked multi.

 

[Clarky1990]

ah right. posting up the original prices would probably help for each item if you can, especially the case.

at your budget i would personally go with intel. however, i have literally no clue about the intel motherboards, as i went with AMD myself, being a student with no money

here is the best you can get from OcUK for the little bits. not really sure about anything else just yet:
- Seagate Barracuda 500GB HDD: £27.98
- OCZ Platinum 4GB (2x2GB) RAM £34.99
- samsung 22x DVD±RW re-writer £11.99
- case + PSU: antec sonata III piano + 500W PSU £109.26
no idea how good this PSU is, and the PSU is not somewhere you want to save money
nice looking case btw

how does this compare with the other site?

The other site are custom builders so no single prices unfortunatly

 

[Reaper 392]

oh right, are you looking to have the computer built for you, or are you happy to put it together yourself?

 

[Clarky1990]

oh right, are you looking to have the computer built for you, or are you happy to put it together yourself?

Either which ever is cheapest, I am a student after all lol. Its just that I found a place that would build either of the 2 specs above for the those prices. If I can get equivalent or better for around 500ish then that would be the root I would take

 

[Clarky1990]

You selected the 2500k and it sounds like you want your system to last for a while. The 2500k has an unlocked multiplier, and is very easy to overclock. I would say buy a cheap cooler like an arctic cooling freezer 7 pro which costs about £15-20, and make use of the cpus excellent overclocking potential. 4.5ghz would be on the cards quite easily, and make your system run a lot faster. I believe this would be the best value upgrade for the system you specced bar none. If you don't fancy overclocking, save some money and don't buy the 'k' version.

just bare in mind that if you go the 2500K route, you have to have a P67 board if you want to overclock & not a H67 board as the H67 chipset does not support the K series chips unlocked multi.

OC may be on the cards but how well would the AMD perform if I was to OC? Would the i5 walk all over it? Also how about the 6 core v 4 core?

 

[Cliste]

OC may be on the cards but how well would the AMD perform if I was to OC? Would the i5 walk all over it? Also how about the 6 core v 4 core?

I'm not too well up on this but from what I've read, the i5 will jizz all over the AMD processor. Since you'll be using it for gaming, the 6 cores would be overkill considering that games today are just barely introducing 4 cores into gaming.

I'm in the same boat as you, student, **** all cash and need a computer for the Summer for gaming .

I was spec'd this earlier last month.

Asus GeForce GTX 460 Direct CU TOP 768MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £119.99
(£99.99) £119.99
(£99.99)
AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 840 "95W Edition" 3.20GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £81.98
(£68.32) £81.98
(£68.32)
Coolermaster Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black (with 500w Elite Power PSU) £64.33
(£53.61) £64.33
(£53.61)
Asus M4A78LT-M 760G (Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard £44.99
(£37.49) £44.99
(£37.49)
OCZ Special OPS 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (OCZ3SOE1600LV4GK) £31.19
(£25.99) £31.19
(£25.99)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (ST3500418AS) £28.99
(£24.16) £28.99
(£24.16)
Samsung SH-S223C/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £11.99
(£9.99) £11.99
(£9.99)
Sub Total : £319.55
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.50
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £66.01
Total : £396.06

Prices will have changed by now though.

With that price you could probably get a better graphics card but there will be people who will recommend the Sandy Bridge option for something a lot more powerful and more-so future proof.

What resolution monitor do you have?

I'm sure some people will find some inconsistencies with my post, please tell me as I'm not too well up on these things.

Cheers.

 

[Clarky1990]

What resolution monitor do you have?

1920 x 1280

So, I think I will go i5 because of future proofing and I like the sound of the OC ability.

I'll have a browse and put together a few prices and post back later, if anybody thinks they can build a good i5 2500k rig for £500ish please post.

*edit*

£575

CPU: Intel Core i5 2500K
Motherboard: Asus P8P67 LE
Memory: 4.0GB Corsair DDR3 1600mhz XMS3 CL9 (2x 2GB)
Hard Drives: 500GB S-ATAII 3.0Gb/s
Optical Drive: 22x DVD±RW DL S-ATA
Graphics card: ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB
PSU: 650W Corsair TX Ultra-Quiet

Would rather pay less as Im probably going to need to pay more for cooling (if I decide to buy) to OC but how does this rate overall for you guys?

 

[Cliste]

Don't forget your case.

A lot of people recommend the Coolermaster Elite 430 with 500W PSU.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/newreply.php?do=newreply&noquote=1&p=18617982

So that case comes with a PSU. I'd reckon it'll fit everything into it.

I asked about your monitor resolution because you don't want to be getting a very good graphics card and not being able to use it to its near full potential. Your monitors resolution is obviously good enough though.

 

[VoG]

got it down to £518.

 

[Clarky1990]

Found this so far

Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £185.99
HIS ATI Radeon HD 5830 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £119.99
Asus P8P67 LE Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) £111.98
Corsair XMS3 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Triple Channel (CMX6GX3M3A1600C9) £53.99
OCZ StealthXStream 2 600W Power Supply £47.99
Antec 100 One Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case - Black £43.99
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (ST3500418AS) £27.98

Sub Total : £493.26
Shipping : £10.50
VAT : £100.75

Total : £604.51

Would like this setup but £600

got it down to £518.

Don't forget your case.

Ahh thanks, my previous "quotes" were including a case, I think I may go with this though as the Antec 100 One Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case is only £50