With £500, what could I get

Soldato
Joined
13 Apr 2009
Posts
6,165
Location
UK
Not a massive gamer or anything (got an Xbox for that) but would like to play occasional games such as Flight Sim (2004), Rail Simulator and possibly go old school with CS:S etc, so a mega bang isn't needed but decent performance appreciated.

Can I get a good system for this, bearing in mind I'll need everything (OS, keyboard, mouse, case etc) except speakers and a monitor (for now anyway)? Although I'll need HDMI output as it only has VGA otherwise (a crappy 19" Asda TV/DVD combo).


Coming from the world of Mac after realising I can get more power back for my money and needs.
 
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RJC

RJC

Don
Joined
29 May 2005
Posts
29,002
Location
Kent
My 2 penny worth, left some money spare to choose keyboad and mouse.

MB-210-GI_60.jpg
Gigabyte GA-MA785GT-UD3H AMD 785G (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard £76.99
(£66.95) £76.99
(£66.95)
MY-041-GS_60.jpg
G.Skill Ripjaw 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL) £66.99
(£58.25) £66.99
(£58.25)
SW-124-MS_60.jpg
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium - Retail £65.99
(£57.38) £65.99
(£57.38)
GX-108-PC_60.jpg
PowerColor ATI Radeon HD 4730 PCS 512MB PCI-Express Graphics Card £63.99
(£55.64) £63.99
(£55.64)
CA-037-OC_60.jpg
OCZ ModXStream Pro 500w Silent SLI Ready Modular Power Supply £52.99
(£46.08) £52.99
(£46.08)
CP-251-AM_60.jpg
AMD Athlon II X2 Dual Core 245 2.90GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £50.99
(£44.34) £50.99
(£44.34)
HD-081-SA_60.jpg
Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD502HJ) £41.99
(£36.51) £41.99
(£36.51)
CA-160-CM_60.jpg
Coolermaster Elite 335 Case - Black (No PSU) £32.99
(£28.69) £32.99
(£28.69)
CD-039-OT_60.jpg
Sony Optiarc AD-7241S 24x DVD±RW SATA Lightscribe Optical Drive (Black) - OEM £18.99
(£16.51) £18.99
(£16.51) Sub Total : £410.35 Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £11.25 VAT is being charged at 15% VAT : £63.24 Total : £484.84
 
Soldato
OP
Joined
13 Apr 2009
Posts
6,165
Location
UK
Thanks for the spec, looks top notch! How would Windows 7 fair with the older games? Will they run straight up or will there be any compatibility issues? I've been out of the loop for a few years now so I really need to get back into everything.

Would an extra £50 on top secure me a good mouse and keyboard?

Quick edit: Won't I be waiting over a month for the OS to arrive?
 
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Soldato
Joined
9 Sep 2008
Posts
7,940
Location
Glasgow
Mine for what its worth :p

Product Name Qty Price Line Total
CP-258-AM_60.jpg
AMD Athlon II X4 Quad Core 620 2.60GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £79.99
(£69.56) £79.99
(£69.56)
MB-355-AS_60.jpg
Asus M4A785TD-V Evo AMD 785G (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard £70.99
(£61.73) £70.99
(£61.73)
MY-042-GS_60.jpg
G.Skill Ripjaw 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (F3-12800CL8D-4GBRM) £67.99
(£59.12) £67.99
(£59.12)
SW-124-MS_60.jpg
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium - Retail £65.99
(£57.38) £65.99
(£57.38)
HD-245-WD_60.jpg
Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (WD5001AALS) £44.99
(£39.12) £44.99
(£39.12)
GX-132-XF_60.jpg
XFX ATI Radeon HD 4650 512MB TV-Out/HDTV/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail £44.99
(£39.12) £44.99
(£39.12)
CA-186-CM_60.jpg
Coolermaster eXtreme Power 650W Power Supply £43.99
(£38.25) £43.99
(£38.25)
CA-160-CM_60.jpg
Coolermaster Elite 335 Case - Black (No PSU) £32.99
(£28.69) £32.99
(£28.69)
KB-084-LG_60.jpg
Logitech MX 400 Performance Laser Mouse (931638-0914) £21.99
(£19.12) £21.99
(£19.12)
CD-122-SA_60.jpg
Samsung SH-S223B/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
(£14.77) £16.99
(£14.77)
KB-054-MS_60.jpg
Microsoft Comfort Curve 2000 Keyboard - OEM (FA3-00015) £14.00
(£12.17) £14.00
(£12.17) Sub Total : £439.03 Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : FREE
VAT is being charged at 15% VAT : £67.62 Total : £506.40
 
Soldato
Joined
7 Jul 2009
Posts
16,234
Location
Newcastle/Aberdeen
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Asus GeForce GTS 250 512MB GDDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Card Asus GeForce GTS 250 512MB GDDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Card £80.99
(£70.43) £80.99
(£70.43)
AMD Phenom II X2 Dual Core 550 3.10GHz Black Edition (Socket AM3) - Retail AMD Phenom II X2 Dual Core 550 3.10GHz Black Edition (Socket AM3) - Retail £77.99
(£67.82) £77.99
(£67.82)
Asus M4A785TD-V Evo AMD 785G (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard Asus M4A785TD-V Evo AMD 785G (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard £70.99
(£61.73) £70.99
(£61.73)
G.Skill Ripjaw 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (F3-12800CL8D-4GBRM) G.Skill Ripjaw 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (F3-12800CL8D-4GBRM) £67.99
(£59.12) £67.99
(£59.12)
Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD502HJ) Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD502HJ) £41.99
(£36.51) £41.99
(£36.51)
PC Power & Cooling Silencer 420W Power Supply PC Power & Cooling Silencer 420W Power Supply £39.99
(£34.77) £39.99
(£34.77)
NZXT BETA Classic Series Case - Black (No PSU) NZXT BETA Classic Series Case - Black (No PSU) £39.99
(£34.77) £39.99
(£34.77)
Samsung SH-S223B/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM Samsung SH-S223B/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
(£14.77) £16.99
(£14.77)
Coolermaster Hyper TX3 CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM3/775/1156) Coolermaster Hyper TX3 CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM3/775/1156) £13.98
(£12.16) £13.98
(£12.16)
Logitech RX1000 Optical Laser Mouse (931710-0600) Logitech RX1000 Optical Laser Mouse (931710-0600) £10.98
(£9.55) £10.98
(£9.55)
Logitech Classic Keyboard 200 (968019-0120) Logitech Classic Keyboard 200 (968019-0120) £9.99
(£8.69) £9.99
(£8.69)
Sub Total : £410.32
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 15% VAT : £63.42
Total : £486.24

And for the operating system... Linux. Graphics card could be changed to something like a 4850/4870.
 
Associate
Joined
17 Jun 2005
Posts
219
I no you say its not massively for games but i assure you as soon as you get going you will want to play the latest releases(Empire Total War etc). Which require decent GFX hardware. I think the ATI 4870 would be a good choice at a good price if you can skimp on something else and stretch to it.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=KB-006-OK&groupid=702&catid=23&subcat=2


Theres another 5er towards the GFX card :p. I personally own this keyboard and id say its sufficient.
 
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Soldato
OP
Joined
13 Apr 2009
Posts
6,165
Location
UK
I no you say its not massively for games but i assure you as soon as you get going you will want to play the latest releases(Empire Total War etc). Which require decent GFX hardware. I think the ATI 4870 would be a good choice at a good price if you can skimp on something else and stretch to it.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=KB-006-OK&groupid=702&catid=23&subcat=2


Theres another 5er towards the GFX card :p. I personally own this keyboard and id say its sufficient.


I promise I'll not get going ;) I've got my Xbox for games, and as I mentioned I'll only be using older games to play with. There's scope in the future for upgrading, but first up would be a monitor as this 19" LCD from Asda will NOT cut it haha (the plug and play can't even recognise it as a widescreen monitor, only 4:3). Then a Blu-Ray player, then a soundcard......wow, I've not even bought my first Windows machine and I'm already planning upgrades above the current spec! :eek: :p
 
Soldato
OP
Joined
13 Apr 2009
Posts
6,165
Location
UK
I would agree with going for a 48x0 - especially as soon the 5800s will be in and there will be a glut in second hand, hopefully. The difference especially in modern games will be pronounced.

Do you have a recommended model? Seems the 4850 model wouldn't push the budget too much, is there much difference between Asus/Sapphire/PowerColor etc?
 
Soldato
OP
Joined
13 Apr 2009
Posts
6,165
Location
UK
Would I need a quad core or could I drop to perhaps a 3.0Ghz Dual Core Athlon II X2? I'm only playing light-ish games, but would it help in the 'longevity' of the system.
 
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