Mid range games PC for under £650?

JustinK · 7 Jan 2007 at 12:04

Hi all,

Please help! Any suggestions / improvements???

I'm looking for a mid range games PC, & hoping to overclock this to maybe 2.4GHz

£88 Gigabyte GA_965P_S3
£119 Intel Core 2 Duo E6300
£152 GSkill Dual Channel LA PC2-5300 2GB RAM
£132 HIS ATI Radeon X1950 Pro ICEQ 3 TURBO SILENT Heatpipe 256MB
£30 Antec SLK3000B case
£47 Enermax Liberty 400W Modular PSU ATX 2.2
£40 Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 10 160GB 6V160E0 SATA-II 8MB Cache
£20 NEC AD-5170A-0B 18xDVD±RW/RAM DL Black

This will be about £650 inc. shipping

I'm not sure if I need so much memory at the moment, but will need it for Vista! I've been advised not to buy 2x512 sticks & add 2 more later, buying 2 x 1GB now will be faster. Would you agree?

TIA, Justin

syke · 7 Jan 2007 at 12:06

2x1GB would be better. You could get an Artic Cooling Case with a 500W PSU for about £50-60 i think. Also maybe get a Seagate or Samsung HDD.

JustinK · 7 Jan 2007 at 12:18

Thx, I'll take a look at the case =)

syke · 7 Jan 2007 at 12:26

JustinK said:
Thx, I'll take a look at the case =)

It may not be quite your style, but it comes with a 500W PSU & is quiet.

JustinK · 7 Jan 2007 at 12:30

Please may you send me a URL? Can't find one!

syke · 7 Jan 2007 at 12:34

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-002-AR

OR

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-003-AR

Although, doesnt really save you much.

One of them was on This Week Only but its not now

syke · 7 Jan 2007 at 12:38

Intel Core 2 DUO E6300 "LGA775 Allendale" 1.86GHz (1066FSB) - Retail
Gigabyte GA_965P_S3 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
Arctic Cooling T1 Pro Case
NEC AD5170 18x18 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM
Sapphire ATI Radeon X1950 Pro ULTIMATE SILENT 256MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail
Samsung SpinPoint P HD160JJ 160GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM
OcUK 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400 800MHz DDR2 Dual Channel Kit

Total : £645.52inc.

Raikiri · 7 Jan 2007 at 12:39

What he said.

Andeh · 7 Jan 2007 at 12:51

I was wondering what kind of overclocke are we looking at using ocUK memory? will the CPU even overclock with that memory? if so, roughly whats the highest you can push the CPU with that specific memory?

syke · 7 Jan 2007 at 12:55

Andeh said:
I was wondering what kind of overclocke are we looking at using ocUK memory? will the CPU even overclock with that memory? if so, roughly whats the highest you can push the CPU with that specific memory?

Im not sure about that, as personally i havent run C2D Overclocked (as i down have a desktop with C2D..only a laptop) So this may have to left to someone who knows more about the clocking side of things

JustinK · 7 Jan 2007 at 12:56

the reason why I liked the memory, is because I've seen a retailer sell a similar setup - mobo, memory & CPU. They are overclocking this beyond 2.56GHz

Really appreciate your help with this!

syke · 7 Jan 2007 at 12:58

You cannot link to competitors.

Tuniq Tower is the best cooler.

semi-pro waster · 7 Jan 2007 at 12:59

From what I understand (which isn't much about Ram), that is guaranteed as a minimum to run at 5-5-5-12 at 800mhz although it may of course go higher with different timings but that should be enough for 2.8ghz but may go higher, based on the 7x multiplier of the 6300 (e.g. 7x400mhz as the actual speed that the Ram operates at).

Andeh · 7 Jan 2007 at 13:05

could you keep a stable 2.8ghz with stock cooling?

Raikiri · 7 Jan 2007 at 13:37

Yes, might get a bit noisy though. I suggest a freezer 7 pro, cheap and effective.

semi-pro waster · 7 Jan 2007 at 13:40

Andeh said:
could you keep a stable 2.8ghz with stock cooling?

I'm not totally sure about that, you could certainly try but I think an aftermarket cooler might be advisable. Either way keep an eye on the temperatures.

Also if you are thinking about ignoring the advice over the OcUK Ram then you should be aware that GSkill Ram and Gigabyte motherboards don't always play nicely together. You don't have to go for OcUK Ram, just be careful what you do pick as some versions of GSkill don't work with the Gigabyte and it is a known problem.

Also please edit your post above to remove the links to the competitors.

JustinK · 7 Jan 2007 at 13:46

Thanks v much for the advice =)

You've recommended a slightly different graphics card...

Sapphire ATI Radeon X1950 Pro ULTIMATE SILENT 256MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail

Over the:
HIS ATI Radeon X1950 Pro ICEQ 3 TURBO SILENT Heatpipe 256MB

I've read that the HIS has better cooling - so might be better for the rig if I'm overclocking...

Is there a reason why you've recommended the Sapphire over the HIS?

semi-pro waster · 7 Jan 2007 at 13:49

The Sapphire is cheaper on OcUK, that is about the only benefit I can see with it but the HIS has a better cooler and comes mildly pre-overclocked so the choice is yours.

Thanks for removing the links also.

>:|sh4d0w|:< · 7 Jan 2007 at 14:22

Ditch the NEC, they have been on a steady decline since the 3500 series. Check the Optical Storage forum for some of my recommendations.

JustinK · 7 Jan 2007 at 14:33

cool, thx, will take a look.

Would you recommend me buying an aftermarket CPU fan if I'm gonna be overclocking the E6300?

e.g. £23 Zalman CNPS7700B-Cu

This is nice & quiet, PC will be in my bedroom