Some help please?

InvaderGIR

InvaderGIR

InvaderGIR

Soldato
Joined
14 Jul 2005
Posts
17,616
Location
Bristol
Having played some BC2, my PC is very, very poor at gaming. Makes loads of noise and has issues with BC2 at low settings at 1440x900.

My current specs are..


  • AMD Athlon 4600+ AM2
    Corsair XMS2 6400 4-4-4-12 (DDR2)
    2GB ATI (dunno brand) X1950XT
    Asus M2N32 SLI Deluxe
    Sound Blaster Audigy Platinum Pro
    Enermax Modu 82+ 625W PSU
    6xHDDs
    1x External DVD

We'll ignore the number of HDDs as they aren't a major issue or need (I can get away with less, I just happen to have more :p).

What would people suggest for something like £200-£300 that should be quiet and handle modern games well? Basically, CPU, Mobo, RAM, Graphics.

This is mostly just to get an idea as to what to research. Currently I don't know the slightest thing about tech...4 years ago I was up on it when I bought this system, now though, well I've just had no need for it. I'm getting really annoyed with the noise and fact it struggles on all games (even CSS at low settings) and absolutely cannot handle 1080p video content, that isn't a massive issue as 720p fits my screen well, but it'd be nice as in the future I plan on sticking the PC into a TV as a media and gaming box or something.
 
Getting a decent AM3 based system with your budget is going to be hard. For gaming an Athlon II X4 is going to be slower than a Phenom II X4 as the latter has L3 cache.

BFBC2 also runs better on quad core processors than dual cores. Hence you should be looking to get a quad core processor.

However if you go for a DDR2 based system you will be able to get a faster system as you can re-use your existing RAM.

This is what I would look at:

Phenom II X4 955BE ~ £136

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-244-AM&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=1328

Gigabyte GA-MA770-UD3 ~ £66

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-180-GI&tool=3

HIS ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB GDDR5 ~ £89

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-100-HT

The total comes to around £291 excluding delivery.

Your existing RAM has low latencies so it should be fine with a Phenom II processor.
 
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Doesn't have to be AMD/ATI. I'm open to all suggestions...quite liking Intel. But as you say, getting much on this budget is hard. :(

I think the main issue I have is I look at CPUs and graphics cards and the sort I want are £150 a piece, that leaves me with nothing for the rest of the system. :p
 
AMD is basically your best 'bang for buck' at the budget end of the spectrum atm. CAT's suggestion looks pretty decent, I'd maybe consider thinking about selling some of your old stuff to extend your budget a bit? That way you could maybe stretch to an ATI HD 5770.

edit: Also if you don't mind going 2nd hand then keeping an eye on the MM might be a good idea.
 
Damn. Was hoping to escape AMD. :p

Yeah. I'd certainly look at selling the unused bits currently and they'd be able to add to the budget a bit, but probably only about £50 for mobo, cpu and graphics. :p

Just trying to gauge up if it's possible/worth while upgrading this system at the moment..so far, for £300 doesn't seem massively worth while as I'd like the system to last ~4 years again. :(

All help and input is certainly appreciated though guys. :) Keep it coming. :p :)
 
Unless you don't mind playing games on silly low resolutions, you're unlikely to get a system that'll last 4 years on a low budget. ;)
 
I've been playing games on a silly low settings but ok resolution (1440x900) for quite some time...I'm used to it. :p

I doubt I'll be playing many games other than BC2 and other BF series games....most of my gaming is done on the Xbox. :)

Looks like I need to up my budget/find a cracking deal somewhere. Darn. :p
 
Pfft, 1440x900 isn't silly low, one of my friends used to play games on 640x480 when he couldn't afford to upgrade his rig. :D
 
Nooo. I meant that is an ok res. But with graphical settings at as low as possible.

I was having fun earlier on BC2...kept getting artifacts and menu backgrounds were rainbow coloured! :eek: :(
 
D'oh silly me, I fail at reading today.

That doesn't sound good on BC2, although I've heard about enough problems with that game...
 
Well I spoke to some people else where too and have pushed the budget a bit and gone for this little lot...

  • Intel Core i5 750 2.66GHz Socket LGA1156 8MB L3 Cache Retail Boxed Processor
    Gigabyte GA-P55-US3L P55 Socket 1156 8 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard
    ASUS HD 5770 Cu Core 1GB GDDR5 DVI VGA HDMI Out PCI-E Graphics Card
    OCZ 4GB PC3-12800 DDR3 Gold (2x2GB)

...for £444 including delivery. :cool: :D
 
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