Spec me Please- £500 Gaming Setup.

[Cretin]

Hi guys! First post here but I'm a long time lurker and I know you all know your stuff pretty well.

Looking to spend about 500 on a new system, The only things I do have are monitor and OS. will be playing games in full 1920x1080. Pretty tight budget but im hoping for a nice step up from my E4500 and 8800GTS

I'm pretty wary of fitting a cpu and cooler myself, Is it difficult nowadays? I've done some old ones before and I remember being **** scared of crushing the cpu/doing damage etc. I've fitted most if not all other parts before. Maybe a pre assembled bundle would be good for me?

As far as preference goes, I'm quite pro intel but if AMD suits my tight budget better then so be it. I was also quite hoping for a 1gb GTX460, just from looking around but again if you know better please say so!


Cheers Guys!

Cretin

 

[Jony27]

what is your current mobo, maybe you can stick a second hand q6600 in it..
also have a look at this thread http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18205188 you and op have a similar budget and needs as far aas i can tell

 

[95thrifles]

Your basketProduct Name Qty Price Line Total
OcUK Value GeForce GTX 460 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with HAWX2 PC-Game £144.98
(£123.39) £144.98
(£123.39)
AMD Athlon II X4 Quad Core 630 2.80GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £75.19
(£63.99) £75.19
(£63.99)
Biostar TA890GXB-HD AMD 890GX (Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard £69.99
(£59.57) £69.99
(£59.57)
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £65.99
(£56.16) £65.99
(£56.16)
Corsair CX 500W ATX Power Supply (CMPSU-500CXUK) £49.98
(£42.54) £49.98
(£42.54)
Silverstone SST-PS03B Precision Midi Tower Case - Black £42.99
(£36.59) £42.99
(£36.59)
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus (Socket AM2/AM2+/AM3/775/1156/1366) £19.99
(£17.01) £19.99
(£17.01)
LG GH22LS50 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter Lightscribe Drive - Retail £14.99
(£12.76) £14.99
(£12.76)
Sub Total : £412.01
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £12.50
VAT is being charged at 17.50% VAT : £74.29
Total : £498.80

 

[stulid]

^
do you mind if I slightly amend that spec with this case+psu combo - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-225-CM&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=29 - £30 saved.

 

[Cretin]

My motherboard is an NF66- I don't know much about it but i think dropping a quad core in there is out the question! Besides that, I'll be selling the system to a friend of mine.

Thanks for the input guys- I dont know a great deal but I'm a little concerned, my current PSU is 750w, and the suggested ones are 500w, Won't I need more power?

Also, any advice on installing the CPU and cooler myself, if I have to? Is it particularly risky when I'm not experienced? I am heavy handed, but obviously I'll be as careful as I can If i have to do it!

anyway really appreciate the help- thanks!

 

[stulid]

there a build guide at the top of this forum - http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18046396

and we can always answer any questions whilst your building it.

a 500w psu is plenty for this spec. but whats the make and model of your current 750w psu? if its a good reliable psu then it can be re-used.

 

[RJC]

Yep, 500w will be fine for the system.

 

[Cretin]

Like I say I'll be selling the old system, Plus the old PSU isnt a paticularly well known brand, so I wouldn't risk my new components on it! Thanks for the advice guys. So is the general consensus that an AMD CPU would be better for the budget? could I not stretch an i3?

 

[stulid]

ok, sensible thing to do, we always preach on these forums about having a good PSU.

 

[95thrifles]

^
do you mind if I slightly amend that spec

Yes I do mind, how dare you ammend your own specs? lol

 

[Cretin]

So would an I3 not be better than a AMD Athlon II X4 Quad Core, or is it just too expensive?

 

[Jony27]

you decide....http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/105?vs=118

 

[Cretin]

Double post sorry. Thanks for the link!

 

[Jony27]

is £500 your "absolute" maximum?
maybe you could sell your old stuff to add some funds to the budget

 

[Cretin]

I've already factored in selling my old setup

£500 is the most I want to spend, really. But if I can get a big enough performance difference thats justifiable by a low price increase then im definately willing to consider it!

Thanks!

 

[95thrifles]

Well if youre willing to go a bit over (not sure what you count as a little?), you could upgrade to a phenom
E.g.
Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 970 Black Edition "140W Edition" 3.50GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £149.99
(£127.65) £149.99
(£127.65)
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 460 OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with HAWX2 PC-Game £144.98
(£123.39) £144.98
(£123.39)
Gigabyte GA-880GMA-UD2H AMD 880G (Socket AM3) DDR3 microATX Motherboard £74.99
(£63.82) £74.99
(£63.82)
Coolermaster Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black (with 500w Elite Power PSU) £62.99
(£53.61) £62.99
(£53.61)
Patriot Viper 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C7 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (PVS34G1600LLK) £58.74
(£49.99) £58.74
(£49.99)
Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD502HJ) £33.98
(£28.92) £33.98
(£28.92)
OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £12.91
(£10.99) £12.91
(£10.99)
Sub Total : £458.37
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.50
VAT is being charged at 17.50% VAT : £82.05
Total : £550.92

or even i5

Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 460 OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with HAWX2 PC-Game £144.98
(£123.39) £144.98
(£123.39)
Intel Core i5 760 2.80GHz (Lynnfield) (Socket LGA1156) - Retail £140.99
(£119.99) £140.99
(£119.99)
Gigabyte GA-P55-USB3 Intel P55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 Motherboard £92.99
(£79.14) £92.99
(£79.14)
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £65.99
(£56.16) £65.99
(£56.16)
Coolermaster Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black (with 500w Elite Power PSU) £62.99
(£53.61) £62.99
(£53.61)
Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD502HJ) £33.98
(£28.92) £33.98
(£28.92)
OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £12.91
(£10.99) £12.91
(£10.99)
Sub Total : £472.20
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.50
VAT is being charged at 17.50% VAT : £84.47
Total : £567.17

 

[stulid]

if you buy this i5 spec, then you can add a second 6850 card for killer crossfire performance gains.

Your basketProduct Name Qty Price Line Total
MSI ATI Radeon HD 6850 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £149.99
(£127.65) £149.99
(£127.65)
Intel Core i5 760 2.80GHz (Lynnfield) (Socket LGA1156) - Retail £140.99
(£119.99) £140.99
(£119.99)
MSI P55-GD65 Intel P55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 Motherboard £99.99
(£85.10) £99.99
(£85.10)
Coolermaster Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black (with 500w Elite Power PSU) £62.99
(£53.61) £62.99
(£53.61)
Patriot Viper 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C7 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (PVS34G1600LLK) £58.74
(£49.99) £58.74
(£49.99)
Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD502HJ) £33.98
(£28.92) £33.98
(£28.92)
LG GH22LS50 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter Lightscribe Drive - Retail £14.99
(£12.76) £14.99
(£12.76)
Sub Total : £478.02
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.50
VAT is being charged at 17.50% VAT : £85.49
Total : £574.01

check out the 6850 CF figures from this page onwards - http://www.anandtech.com/show/3987/...renewing-competition-in-the-midrange-market/8

 

[95thrifles]

was thinking bout that myself when I did above spec but decided to go with single card set up (460 = 6850 but marginally cheaper) however if OP was going to go this route theyd also have to shell out more on a better psu, either now or later down line whichever but that 500W aint gonna cut it

 

[stulid]

yes it will!!!

378w under load

 

[95thrifles]

assuming no clocking and perfect outputs, hmm