The Best MOBO + CPU + Graphics Card < £300?

[Matt_180]

Hi

This is going to seem like a very tight budget to a lot of people, but unfortunatley its all i have at the moment.

I would like to know the best Motherboard, CPU, and Graphics combination i could get for £300. I've decided to upgrade now on a more limiting budget because i just can't wait till the new year.

The MOBO needs to be compatible with a SATA 250GB drive, and 1GB stick of DDR2 PC4200 memory. I was hoping to get a low spec conroe system but am not sure if this is possible, if not i would probably go for a AMD system as opposed to intel. Also, i've currently got a 400W PSU would this be enough?

This will be used for gaming, i know it won't be the best but considering i'm used to an intel celeron with onboard graphics i'm sure i can do better

Thanks

 

[MeatLoaf]

This is a conroe system and comes in at £316 but is compatible with the bits youve got. Should be pretty good for games as well.

CP-127-IN Intel Core 2 DUO E6400 "LGA775 Allendale" 2.13GHz (1066FSB) - Retail (CP-127-IN)
£139.99 £139.99
MB-003-AK Asrock ConroeXFire-eSATA2 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-003-AK)
£53.99 £53.99
GX-025-BG BFG 3DFuzion GeForce 7600 GT 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-025-BG)
£74.99 £74.99
Subtotal £268.97
VAT £47.07
Total £316.04

I will see what i can do AM2 for but TBH the above option is better

 

[MeatLoaf]

Ok this is the AM2 alternative

MB-147-AS Asus M2N-E (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-147-AS)
£57.99 £57.99
CP-166-AM AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ 2.00GHz (Socket AM2) - Retail (CP-166-AM)
£99.99 £99.99
GX-025-BG BFG 3DFuzion GeForce 7600 GT 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-025-BG)
£74.99 £74.99
Subtotal £232.97
VAT £40.77
Total £273.74

If you swap the gfx card for an OcUK 7900GS it brings it uo to £312.52

But id go for the conroe spec above

 

[Dureth]

CP-126-IN Intel Core 2 DUO E6300 "LGA775 Allendale" 1.86GHz (1066FSB) - Retail (CP-126-IN)
£114.99 £114.99
MB-163-AS Asus P5VD2-MX Micro ATX (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-163-AS)
£37.99 £37.99
GX-044-CO Connect3D ATI Radeon X1800 XT 256MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-044-CO)
£114.99 £114.99
Subtotal £267.97
VAT £46.90
Total £314.87

By going for the cheaper motherboard you can upgrade the graphics from a 7600gt to an x1800xt or an x1900GT. This would give you FAR more gaming performance. You can save £10 by going for the OcUK GeForce 7900 GS 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-042-OK) which would also be a great choice. Not as fast as the x1800 but the best choice if you prefer nvidia.