Spec Me £800 Gaming

Scottie2004 · 29 Mar 2006 at 00:24

Hi,

Need a full system (monitor / keyb / speakers included) for approx £800. Want the best value for money, not so much concerned with the latest hardware so much as getting the best value machine for this budget. Games wise going to be playing Quake 4 / Battlefield 2. Probably not going to be overclocking but the potential to do so would be good.

Also, would prefer a decent quiet case (was thinking Sonata II or P150) and 19" monitor. Lot to ask for but pretty sure someone can pull an awesome spec together somehow based on previous posts.

Thanks.

ACESHIGH · 29 Mar 2006 at 01:27

Neovo F-419 19" LCD Monitor - Black/Grey (MO-016-NV)
£182.07
AMD Opteron UP 146 San Diego 2.0GHz 1MB Cache (Socket 939) - Retail (CP-142-AM)
£152.69
Gigabyte K8NMF-9 nForce4 Micro ATX (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-041-GI)
£49.29
OcUK Value 1GB (2x512MB) PC3200 184pin DDR Memory Dual Channel Kit (MY-004-OK)
£49.94
PowerColor ATI Radeon X1800 GTO 256MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-061-PC)
£170.32
Philips SPD2400BM 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM (CD-006-PH)
£25.79*
Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 NCQ 160GB ST3160812AS SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-050-SE)
£53.99
Antec Sonata II Piano Black Quiet Case - 450W Smart Power PSU (CA-040-AN)
£70.44
Creative SBS380 2.1 Speakers - Retail (SP-064-CL)
£22.27
Logitech Internet Pro Keyboard (Black) - OEM (KB-011-LG)
£10.52
Logitech Ultra-X Optical Mouse - OEM (KB-055-LG)
£14.04

TOTAL = £801.36 incl VAT.

Scottie2004 · 29 Mar 2006 at 09:36

That looks like a really decent spec.

Couple of questions; Will I see a big difference in using the dual core opteron over say something like a 3700+ A64? Am I better with a better quality 17" TFT over a lesser 19"?

Scottie2004 · 29 Mar 2006 at 13:14

Is the opteron actually a dual core cpu?

mp260767 · 29 Mar 2006 at 13:45

that opty sec'd is single core not dual.

that monitor is decentish enough for gaming tbh form what ive read.

nero120 · 29 Mar 2006 at 13:47

Why would you want to put a micro atx board in a tower case?

oweneades · 29 Mar 2006 at 13:58

ACESHIGH said:
Neovo F-419 19" LCD Monitor - Black/Grey (MO-016-NV)
£182.07
AMD Opteron UP 146 San Diego 2.0GHz 1MB Cache (Socket 939) - Retail (CP-142-AM)
£152.69
Gigabyte K8NMF-9 nForce4 Micro ATX (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-041-GI)
£49.29
OcUK Value 1GB (2x512MB) PC3200 184pin DDR Memory Dual Channel Kit (MY-004-OK)
£49.94
PowerColor ATI Radeon X1800 GTO 256MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-061-PC)
£170.32
Philips SPD2400BM 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM (CD-006-PH)
£25.79*
Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 NCQ 160GB ST3160812AS SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-050-SE)
£53.99
Antec Sonata II Piano Black Quiet Case - 450W Smart Power PSU (CA-040-AN)
£70.44
Creative SBS380 2.1 Speakers - Retail (SP-064-CL)
£22.27
Logitech Internet Pro Keyboard (Black) - OEM (KB-011-LG)
£10.52
Logitech Ultra-X Optical Mouse - OEM (KB-055-LG)
£14.04

TOTAL = £801.36 incl VAT.

Excellent spec for the money however I would swap out the X1800GTO and stick in a 7600GT. Its cheaper and just as quick.

trojan698 · 29 Mar 2006 at 14:06

If you go for that spec, you must overclock that opty.

loltim · 29 Mar 2006 at 14:13

trojan698 said:
If you go for that spec, you must overclock that opty.

But then hes got the wrong board for any overclocking, i'd suggest a 3700 san diego (if its cheaper, they were when I last looked) and a 7600GT as said above.

trojan698 · 29 Mar 2006 at 14:25

heres one..

MO-015-OK OcUK Gamer 198YP 19" LCD Monitor - Black/Silver (MO-015-OK)
£144.95 £144.95
CP-121-AM AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego 90nm (Socket 939) - Retail (ADA3700BNBOX) (CP-121-AM)
£126.95 £126.95
MB-088-AS Asus A8N-E nForce4 Ultra (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-088-AS)
£59.95 £59.95
FG-000-AR Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940) (FG-000-AR)
£12.95 £12.95
MY-046-GL GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC3200 Value Dual Channel Kit CAS3 (GE2GB3200BDC) (MY-046-GL)
£89.95 £89.95
CD-030-NE NEC ND4570 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM (CD-030-NE)
£24.95 £24.95
GX-044-HT HIS Excalibur ATI Radeon X800 GTO ICEQII TURBO 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (RX800GTO-256ICEQT) (GX-044-HT)
£94.95 £94.95
CA-040-AN Antec Sonata II Piano Black Quiet Case - 450W Smart Power PSU (CA-040-AN)
£59.95 £59.95
HD-023-SA Samsung SpinPoint P HD080HJ 80GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-023-SA)
£30.95 £30.95
KB-049-LG Logitech Value Keyboard Beige - OEM (KB-049-LG)
£4.95 £4.95
KB-005-RA Razer DiamondBack Magma 1600dpi Gaming Mouse - Retail (KB-005-RA)
£24.95 £24.95
SP-064-CL Creative SBS380 2.1 Speakers - Retail (SP-064-CL)
£18.95 £18.95
Subtotal £694.40
VAT £121.52
Total £815.92

The HIS X800 GTO has the R480 core, flashable to X850XT PE, and clocks very well.

/edit - alternatively, you could spend an extra £23 on the motherboard and have one of the best boards around.
DFI LanParty UT NF4 Ultra-D (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-014-DF) Price: £79.95 (£93.94 Including VAT at 17.5%)

Scottie2004 · 30 Mar 2006 at 11:29

trojan698 said:
heres one..

MO-015-OK OcUK Gamer 198YP 19" LCD Monitor - Black/Silver (MO-015-OK)
£144.95 £144.95
CP-121-AM AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego 90nm (Socket 939) - Retail (ADA3700BNBOX) (CP-121-AM)
£126.95 £126.95
MB-088-AS Asus A8N-E nForce4 Ultra (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-088-AS)
£59.95 £59.95
FG-000-AR Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940) (FG-000-AR)
£12.95 £12.95
MY-046-GL GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC3200 Value Dual Channel Kit CAS3 (GE2GB3200BDC) (MY-046-GL)
£89.95 £89.95
CD-030-NE NEC ND4570 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM (CD-030-NE)
£24.95 £24.95
GX-044-HT HIS Excalibur ATI Radeon X800 GTO ICEQII TURBO 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (RX800GTO-256ICEQT) (GX-044-HT)
£94.95 £94.95
CA-040-AN Antec Sonata II Piano Black Quiet Case - 450W Smart Power PSU (CA-040-AN)
£59.95 £59.95
HD-023-SA Samsung SpinPoint P HD080HJ 80GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-023-SA)
£30.95 £30.95
KB-049-LG Logitech Value Keyboard Beige - OEM (KB-049-LG)
£4.95 £4.95
KB-005-RA Razer DiamondBack Magma 1600dpi Gaming Mouse - Retail (KB-005-RA)
£24.95 £24.95
SP-064-CL Creative SBS380 2.1 Speakers - Retail (SP-064-CL)
£18.95 £18.95
Subtotal £694.40
VAT £121.52
Total £815.92

The HIS X800 GTO has the R480 core, flashable to X850XT PE, and clocks very well.

/edit - alternatively, you could spend an extra £23 on the motherboard and have one of the best boards around.
DFI LanParty UT NF4 Ultra-D (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-014-DF) Price: £79.95 (£93.94 Including VAT at 17.5%)

Is there not quite a performance difference between even the X850XT PE and the 7600GT/X1800? Is there more of a benefit to drop the CPU a little and maybe monitor to 17" to keep the better gcard in budget? I'm just conscious at this point that getting an inadequate monitor is one of the hardest things to justify upgrading and also one of those components that will stay with your system for a good deal of time.

trojan698 · 30 Mar 2006 at 13:08

The monitor has an 8ms response time, so should be fine for gaming. The x850xt pe overclocked is on par with a 7800gt, which is of course, better than the 7600gt.