Spec me for 300

supersize · 29 May 2010 at 18:04

Alright guys,
on a bit of a tight budget but i'm sure it is possible to make something that's going to play cs and others well plus easy for video and photo editing...
any help would be much appreciated.
Many thanks
Alex

PermaBanned · 29 May 2010 at 18:18

Athlon II X2 215/Sempron 140 - £35/£25
MSI GF615M-P33/Asus M4N68T-M/Asus M4N68T - £40
2GB DDR3 - £40
Antec Earthwatts Green 380W - £35
Xclio Propeller/Coolermaster Elite 330 - £25
SATA 22x DVD Writer - £15
Samsung F3 500GB - £35
Gigabyte GH-PDU22-SC / Coolermaster TX3 - £15
GT 240/ATI 4670 - £65

Should be about on target. If you need an OS use Linux, Counter Strike runs great in Wine.

ricky · 29 May 2010 at 18:19

Do you require everything?Case,OS,keyboard,mouse,monitor etc?

PraxxtorCruel · 29 May 2010 at 18:34

I dunno is it really worth it? You'll probably have to upgrade most parts quite soon after you build it.

PermaBanned · 29 May 2010 at 19:09

Bearing in mind my build was not taking into account delivery and i had been rounding the prices. You'd struggle to do it with a monitor/keyboard/mouse/speakers as well but it should be possible, with a few used parts given the recommended specs for CS:S:

1.2 GHz Processor, 256MB RAM, DirectX 7 level graphics card, Windows 2000/XP, Mouse, Keyboard, Internet Connection

infernox · 1 Jun 2010 at 11:35

i would try to stretch that budget a bit higher because youll have to upgrade it soon after youve bought it because youd want to play a newer game

supersize · 3 Jun 2010 at 12:01

Sorry for not specifying correctly it is just the pc needed, i already have monitor, keyboard so will not need those. Thanks

BuToNz · 3 Jun 2010 at 13:06

Superewza said:
1.2 GHz Processor, 256MB RAM, DirectX 7 level graphics card, Windows 2000/XP, Mouse, Keyboard, Internet Connection

Those requirements are out of date for sure, I'd say easily double those now with all the engine changes/Gun game servers.

danewesley · 3 Jun 2010 at 13:13

youd have to do the build second hand mostly with a budget like that.

i recently bought:
E6600
4gb ddr2
2 x bfg 8800gts
msi p6n
coolermaster 335
bequiet purepower 530w
4 x 120mm case fans
4 way fan splitter
xilence cpu cooler.

Total = £320

using an old hdd and dvd rom for now too

PermaBanned · 3 Jun 2010 at 13:43

If you want it all in one place...

But shop around and you could get a few better deals on things. Not sure if the motherboard supports core unlocking...

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 3 Jun 2010 at 14:08

The MSI GF615M-P33 does not support core unlocking and cannot run the HT at full speed.

This is what I would get from the same retailer:

ASROCK M3A770DE
OCZ 400W Stealth XStream PSU
Casecom 6788 Black Mid Tower Case with Full Black Interior/Exterior
Sony AD-5240S 24x DVD±RW & DL SATA
Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 16MB Cache
Crucial 2GB DDR3 1333MHz/PC3-10600
AMD Sempron 140 2.7GHz
Sapphire HD 4670 Ultimate Edition 512MB GDDR3

The total will be under £300. If you could get the Athlon II X2 240 it would mean the build will be above budget but it would be worth it IMHO.

PermaBanned · 3 Jun 2010 at 14:17

CAT-THE-FIFTH said:
The MSI GF615M-P33 does not support core unlocking and cannot run the HT at full speed.

2000MHz HT... would you really notice a difference? As for core unlocking there have been varied reports as to if it includes nVidia's unlock feature.

Mak3R · 3 Jun 2010 at 15:02

If you get a Sempron I feel for ya buddy

PermaBanned · 3 Jun 2010 at 15:09

Mak3R said:
If you get a Sempron I feel for ya buddy

The 140 is very capable anyway, it's just a Regor core with one disabled. They have a quite high unlock rate too.

Mak3R · 3 Jun 2010 at 15:13

Well maybe they have changed since the ones I used back in school, they were awfully slow

PermaBanned · 3 Jun 2010 at 15:15

Well for the price it offers nearly double the performance of a Celeron 430.

Mak3R · 3 Jun 2010 at 15:16

haha fair point, Celerons are far worse

Ordokai · 3 Jun 2010 at 15:20

Mate, honestly you'll be -much- better off saving a bit more to get something worthwhile. At this price range you're going to suffer unpleasant compromises.

- Ordokai

PermaBanned · 3 Jun 2010 at 15:23

Ordokai said:
Mate, honestly you'll be -much- better off saving a bit more to get something worthwhile. At this price range you're going to suffer unpleasant compromises.

- Ordokai

I agree, it's doable for £300 but for say £400 the difference is phenomenal.

That would blow any £300 build away.

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 3 Jun 2010 at 18:55

The Casecom 6788 and NZXT Gamma are almost exactly the same cases internally it seems:

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/wp-content/uploads/NZXT-Gamma.jpg

http://img63.imageshack.us/img63/908/dscf0131l.jpg

The same goes for the cheaper Casecom 6988 and Casecom 6189 cases too. It seems that Casecom are probably making some of the NZXT cases or sourcing them from the same company.

The Samsung F3 500GB is worth the extra few quid over a WD Blue.