Spec a Gaming PC

Nitrojan · 19 Jan 2008 at 21:49

Ok guys,

Basically I'm in need of a new PC. I've decided that building one is the way forward due to you actually being able to hand select the parts, and not having to pay extautionate prices for labour costs.

Ok well, I'd like to see what you come up with.

I have about £1,300 to buy hardware for a gaming PC. At the moment I have absolutely nothing so I'd need EVERYTHING including a monitor, keyboard and mouse, as I'm currently on a laptop.

Ok, about the processor, I don't mind what processor you use as I'm still debating whether to go quad core/dual core and AMD/Intel.

I think I'm going to go Dual Core with AMD. However if I'm wrong to think this please tell me! Basically my view is - It's not often I build a computer, so when I do I like to build the best... something I wont have to upgrade (Main components) for a while. Obviously I'm happy to upgrade things like GFX cards, RAM etc etc. You get my jist..

So yeah! Fire away

Budget: £1,300

Need: FULL PC Hardware incl keyboard, mouse + monitor (Flat Screen - Preferabbly 22" or 24")

Many thanks guys!

- Adam

caithomas44 · 19 Jan 2008 at 21:58

Nitrojan said:
Ok, about the processor, I don't mind what processor you use as I'm still debating whether to go quad core/dual core and AMD/Intel.

I think I'm going to go Dual Core with AMD. However if I'm wrong to think this please tell me!

yes you are wrong to think AMD, AMD at the moment are rubbish,

for 1300 i would say wait a month and get a new nvida 9000 series card.

otherwise you are looking at a quad core, x38 mobo, 4gb pc8500 (or 4gb ddr3 though the cost doesnt justify the £200 price difderence), artice cooler and a corsair 620watt psu

a nice 24" screen for under 200 atm on ocuk and then a razer keyboard and mouse

oh yeh and vista ultimate oem

i am sure someone will do a screenshot of something along those lines minus a graphics card

Chimerical · 19 Jan 2008 at 22:20

mattyrigby00 · 19 Jan 2008 at 22:26

can probably be improved by a lot:
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Creative Inspire T6100 5.1 Speakers - OEM Creative Inspire T6100 5.1 Speakers - OEM £29.99
(£35.24) £29.99
(£35.24)
G.Skill 4GB DDR2 PK PC2-6400C4 (2x2GB) CAS4 Dual Channel Kit (F2-6400CL4D-4GBPK) G.Skill 4GB DDR2 PK PC2-6400C4 (2x2GB) CAS4 Dual Channel Kit (F2-6400CL4D-4GBPK) £64.99
(£76.36) £64.99
(£76.36)
Samsung SH-S203NBEBN 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer Lightscribe ReWriter (Black) - OEM Samsung SH-S203NBEBN 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer Lightscribe ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
(£19.96) £16.99
(£19.96)
Asus P5E Intel X38 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard Asus P5E Intel X38 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £126.99
(£149.21) £126.99
(£149.21)
Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy Efficient SLACR 95W Edition" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - OEM Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy Efficient SLACR 95W Edition" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - OEM £139.99
(£164.49) £139.99
(£164.49)
Antec P182 Super Midi Tower Case - No PSU (Gun Metal Black) Antec P182 Super Midi Tower Case - No PSU (Gun Metal Black) £74.99
(£88.11) £74.99
(£88.11)
Yate Loon D12SH-12 120mm Case Fan - 4 Pin Yate Loon D12SH-12 120mm Case Fan - 4 Pin £4.99
(£5.86) £4.99
(£5.86)
Point of View GeForce 8800 GT 512MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail Point of View GeForce 8800 GT 512MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £144.99
(£170.36) £144.99
(£170.36)
Samsung SpinPoint T 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD501LJ) Samsung SpinPoint T 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD501LJ) £56.99
(£66.96) £56.99
(£66.96)
Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/LGA775) Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/LGA775) £34.99
(£41.11) £34.99
(£41.11)
Corsair HX 520W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-520HXUK) Corsair HX 520W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-520HXUK) £59.99
(£70.49) £59.99
(£70.49)
Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 3200 Laser - Retail Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 3200 Laser - Retail £46.99
(£55.21) £46.99
(£55.21)
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit Edition DVD - OEM - 1Pk (66I-00788) Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit Edition DVD - OEM - 1Pk (66I-00788) £59.99
(£70.49) £59.99
(£70.49)
OcUK Value L2442W 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Glossy Black OcUK Value L2442W 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Glossy Black £229.99
(£270.24) £229.99
(£270.24)
Sub Total : £1,092.86
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £24.21
VAT is being charged at 17.5% VAT : £195.49
Total : £1,312.56

caithomas44 · 19 Jan 2008 at 23:15

i would not reccommend a gt for any of those screens, get a gtx or wait for the new cards

Nitrojan · 20 Jan 2008 at 00:07

Nice one.. I've heard that quad core isn't too good at the moment.. Obviously because not all things can run on them.. And if they do it'd be using only 1 core. Well.. not for gaming anyway.

I WAS going to get AMD 6400+ and overclock it as, at that it could outdo most low quad cores anyway..

I'm not sure now that Intel and AMD have come so close! It's tight..

Also, in response to mattyrigby00's post.. could you possible screenshot the shopping cart lol? Makes it a lot easier to read

Thanks,

Adam

jak731 · 20 Jan 2008 at 00:18

Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Corsair HX 520W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-520HXUK) £59.99
(£70.49) £59.99
(£70.49)
Abit IP35 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £72.99
(£85.76) £72.99
(£85.76)
Intel Core 2 Duo E2200 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.20GHz (800FSB) - Retail £50.99
(£59.91) £50.99
(£59.91)
Western Digital Caviar SE16 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (WD5000AAKS) £54.99
(£64.61) £54.99
(£64.61)
OcUK Value L2442W 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Glossy Black £229.99
(£270.24) £229.99
(£270.24)
OcUK GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - OEM £204.99
(£240.86) £204.99
(£240.86)
OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-6400C5 Dual Channel Vista Gold Series DDR2 (OCZ2G8004GK) £54.99
(£64.61) £54.99
(£64.61)
Pioneer DVR-212DBK 18x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
(£21.14) £17.99
(£21.14)
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit Edition DVD - OEM - 1Pk (66I-00788) £59.99
(£70.49) £59.99
(£70.49)
Sub Total : £806.91
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £12.95
VAT is being charged at 17.5% VAT : £143.48
Total : £963.34

you will need

a case, as i think its up to you what you want to see your pc in.

a keyboard and mouse, your preference can be different to mine, so i leave that to you.

speakers, im not sure how you like yoru sound quality and how much you are willing to spend in the area

maybe a soundcard, if you think on-board sound will not be good enough.

maybe a 3rd party cooler to help reduce noise and/or temps if you are OCing

Nitrojan · 20 Jan 2008 at 00:22

Nice specs, but I'd prefer a few more Ghz ;D

Was also thinking of maybe an ASUS Mobo? What you reckon?

Ive heard different opinions about ASUS, so I'm not sure.

EDIT: And an Antec Nine Hundred case ;DD

jak731 · 20 Jan 2008 at 00:26

if you are willing to OC, then the e2200 is a great CPU, it will easily do 3GHz+ without breaking a sweat.

i have a personal preference to abit mainly due to the microguru software that makes OCing so much easier, but asus MBs are just as good however i dont know if their MB software is as i havent used an asus MB before.

Nitrojan · 20 Jan 2008 at 00:28

Yeah, I'll look into that!

If I went ASUS, it'd have to be the Asus P5N-T Deluxe nForce 780i!

James J · 20 Jan 2008 at 03:02

Nitrojan said:
Yeah, I'll look into that!

If I went ASUS, it'd have to be the Asus P5N-T Deluxe nForce 780i!

get the abit IP35 pro if you want to overclock an E2200 cpu as uguru will help out loads on it. Plus theres a lot of people hitting 3.5ghz on air with them which is a lovely overclock tbh.

Also recommend Artic Freezer Pro 7 CPU cooler if your planning on overclocking or even a tunic tower 120 which is more expensive but slightly better on temps

Cupra · 20 Jan 2008 at 03:03

wait 1 week and go 3870x2 buying now is supid

C64 · 20 Jan 2008 at 07:27

Or get 4x 1gb crucial ballistix not sure about vista overclocking and the whole ram situations going on at the moment and whether 4x1 is better than these 2 gb sticks.

TheRedZealot · 20 Jan 2008 at 13:25

I'd go with C64's spec but with the OcUK IP35PRO and home premium 64-bit instead

Sinny · 20 Jan 2008 at 13:53

You can add some cheap speakers to here or replace one of the graphics cards for a better sound system.

C64 · 20 Jan 2008 at 18:08

OcUK IP35PRO what FSB do these boards hit ? just that you will need a board that can do 500+fsb 24/7 to get the most from these new wolfdales.

Nitrojan · 20 Jan 2008 at 18:18

Hey, looking good! I'm still unsure about C2D or C2Q ;P

What are your views?

I suppose it comes down to Gaming or Future Proofing.. Meh I dunno..

Sinny · 20 Jan 2008 at 18:18

C64 said:
OcUK IP35PRO what FSB do these boards hit ? just that you will need a board that can do 500+fsb 24/7 to get the most from these new wolfdales.

Why go wolfdale when you can get a Quad, surely that is more future proof?

shaffaaf27 · 20 Jan 2008 at 18:49

Nitrojan · 20 Jan 2008 at 19:54

Yeah, you see I dont know.. Quad is more futureproof but then It'd take about a year before todays games are optimised so that they are multi threaded.

I'm just wondering what you guys think.. Is it best to go futureproof with a quad or go with C2D?

If you chose the quad option, then it boils down to AMD or Intel?

Hmm

EDIT:

Ok I've ordered my case earlier this evening.. Here it is.. You cannot deny that it's not sexy

Now, just need your ideas on the rest..

** Spec a Gaming PC**

Spec a Gaming PC