Gaming PC buying help wanted

[Metalhead_jay]

Right.

So which components would be best and/or most reliable to go 'used' with?

Also, could someone please list the brand names I want to be looking at for each component with my budget of £250-300.
(For example, which brand is top for motherboards, mid range for motherboards etc).

I don't know a lot about which brands are good for which parts so that would be extremely helpful.

Thanks again for all of your help,
Jay.

 

[Darren]

Right.

So which components would be best and/or most reliable to go 'used' with?

Also, could someone please list the brand names I want to be looking at for each component with my budget of £250-300.
(For example, which brand is top for motherboards, mid range for motherboards etc).

I don't know a lot about which brands are good for which parts so that would be extremely helpful.

Thanks again for all of your help,
Jay.

Brand names do not matter much, they tend to only vary in warranty, but standard component warranty is atleast 3 years anyways, the quality is normally the same.

TheLaughingMan spec'd you the best rig, just throw in a budget video card such as the 4830/4850/4870 and you're sorted. You could even remove the 600w OCZ PSU for a slightly cheaper one and put the money towards the Phenom II X3 opposed to the Phenom II X2.

kurosagi01's build is also good too

Edit:


For £250 you'd be hard pressed to build something massively better than your current rig.

You'd need to up your budget to around £300-350 atleast.

I'd recommend that you sell your current rig on eBay for around £150, the money can be diverted to this new build.

My bad, you haven't bought the rig yet.

Yes its worth £250, but you can build a better one than it, not massively better but better non the less for the same price. £100 more will get you something much better.

 

[Darren]

If I were to build the PC myself, would I get a better deal? I tried roughly working it out and got tempted away by upgrades bringing me past the £300 mark If so, what are the best websites to use in the UK?

It is hard for me to advise you without knowing your current specification please fill it out here.

The best websites for components are eBuyer.com and Novatech.co.uk because they offer free delivery on orders over approximately £50.

 

[TheMailMan78]

The only advice I can give you Metalhead_jay is do not go cheap on the PSU. It is the most important part of any build. Also as a noob to building rigs I would stay away from used parts. You don't know what to look for and troubleshooting will be difficult.

 

[Metalhead_jay]

Thanks for the advice

I was really just asking to be sure, I am definitely going to buy all new parts.

Jay.

 

[Metalhead_jay]

Now, I have come to a conclusion from reading the advice given here, and from researching and experimenting myself - I can't build a rig that can play latest and future games smoothly, and that will last for more than a few years, only spending £250 - £300.
(If anyone begs to differ then please do)

So, with no budget, how much would I expect to pay for the rig I am aiming for (the one I describe in the first post) - assuming money was not a problem.

Jay.

 

[Darren]

The rigs TheLaughingMan and kurosagi01 sugguested for around £300 would be enough to play today's games and future games at highest for about a 1-2 years.

An unlimitted budget will not change much, you're looking @ around £500-600 if you want a high end video card e.g. 4890/GTX 275 with a high end processor e.g. Phenom II X4 955. Spending near £1,000 is not wise on a gaming rig, sure the components are better but you loose the good price/performance ratio.

Please fill out your current specification here

 

[Darren]

If you are prepared to spend just just under £550, this is a suitable build which should have you gaming at high settings for a while.


OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 1066MHz/PC2-8500 Gold Memory £38.06
ASUS M3N78-EM GeForce 8300 Socket AM2+ VGA DVI HDMI 8-channel Audio MATX Motherboard £53.63
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition 3.2 GHz Socket AM3 8MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor £146.83
Casecom KB-7720BK Black ATX Midi Tower Case - No PSU £12.99
Arctic Power 700W PSU - With PCI-E, 4x SATA, 20+4, ATX12V, 8pin +12V Connectors - Retail £42.99
Enermax Magma 80mm Fan with Batwing blades £6.49
Enermax Magma 120mm Fan with Batwing blades £9.19
Samsung EcoGreen F2 1TB Hard Drive SATAII 32MB Cache - £56.99
XFX GTX275 XXX Edition 896MB With FarCry 2 DDR3 Dual DVI HDTV Out PhysX and Cuda ready PCI-E Graphics Card With Free Terminator Salvation Game Download While Stocks Last £174.45

Total: £541.62 (free super saver delivery)

If you want you could replace the GTX 275 with the 4850 X2, its slightly faster when it scales properly.
Sapphire HD 4850 X2 1GB GDDR3 £180.20inc vat
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/152203

 

[TheMailMan78]

The rigs TheMailMan78 and kurosagi01 sugguested for around £300 would be enough to play today's games and future games at highest for about a 1-2 years.

An unlimitted budget will not change much, you're looking @ around £500-600 if you want a high end video card e.g. 4890/GTX 275 with a high end processor e.g. Phenom II X4 955. Spending near £1,000 is not wise on a gaming rig, sure the components are better but you loose the good price/performance ratio.

Please fill out your current specification here

I didn't suggest any rig. I just said be careful of used parts and get a good PSU.

 

[TheLaughingMan]

So which components would be best and/or most reliable to go 'used' with?

Used parts I would say a used case, GPU, RAM, and Processor should all be fine. Most people upgrade those when they are still in great condition. On websites, these parts usually get returned because of compatibility issues and the part is perfectly fine.

Power supplies degrade over time so get that New. Same for the mobo. Used HDD I would avoid as well, but you may find some great deals on TPU.

 

[TheMailMan78]

Used parts I would say a used case, GPU, RAM, and Processor should all be fine. Most people upgrade those when they are still in great condition. On websites, these parts usually get returned because of compatibility issues and the part is perfectly fine.

Power supplies degrade over time so get that New. Same for the mobo. Used HDD I would avoid as well, but you may find some great deals on TPU.

No, no, no and no. Nothing used is ok to buy other than a case. ANYTHING that can be overclocked or requires power to work is not safe to buy used unless you know the person or you know what you are doing.

 

[TheLaughingMan]

If you get something from a store used, the only thing you really lose is a warranty (usually still has a 30 return policy), so I don't see the big deal. When I said used I meant from someone you know, TPU (everyone here seems to be honest) or from a reputable store.

 

[Metalhead_jay]

Ok I have extended my budget to £300 - £399 and hopefully this will get me what I want.

How is this rig for £370? ($610)

(I don't need a DVD drive because I have a relatively new external one that cost £40, so I can deal with using that rather than get rid to have an internal one)



http://www.ebuyer.com/product/127584

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/168453

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/161103

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/146049

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/159073

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/132563

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/168972

Is there anything that could be improved at no extra cost/anything that should be switched for something else?

Will there be any compatibility issues with any of the components?

Is this worth the price?

And finally will this do the job I have been asking for, and last for a good few years without major updates?

Thanks for everyones help
Jay.

 

[TheLaughingMan]

I think you are good to go. It is worth the money and will be more than enough for what you wanted.

 

[snyderrich]

Sorry to use someone elses post, but I too am doing a build and need some thoughts...I have $500 to spend and here's what I've chosen so far........................PSU: Antec EA650......RAM: Kingston 2x2Gb 1066MHz.......CPU:AMD Phenom 2X3 tricore(heard it had good overclocking results)I believe its a black edition 770?......Mobo: ECS Black GF8200A......Video Card: HIS Radeon 4850 1Gb 256Mb Q cooler included(also heard of this card being overclocked with success.........Well fella's what do you think and can I improve this with the same budget? Oh btw...Price total from Newegg.com like $450... Thanx in advance.

 

[Darren]

Ok I have extended my budget to £300 - £399 and hopefully this will get me what I want.

How is this rig for £370? ($610)

(I don't need a DVD drive because I have a relatively new external one that cost £40, so I can deal with using that rather than get rid to have an internal one)

[url]http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/1903/ebuyer1.jpg[/URL]

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/127584

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/168453

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/161103

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/146049

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/159073

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/132563

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/168972

Is there anything that could be improved at no extra cost/anything that should be switched for something else?

Will there be any compatibility issues with any of the components?

Is this worth the price?

And finally will this do the job I have been asking for, and last for a good few years without major updates?

Thanks for everyones help
Jay.

If your budget is truely £399, replace the Phenom II X2 with the X3 720 BE and it should still be under budget, there is only £20 between the X2 and X3. The X3 720 BE has just dropped by £30 in a the last 1 day, its silly not to buy it now

Phenom II X3 £91.73 inc vat
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/159071

Secondly, there is no point getting PC6400 (800 MHz), a mere £4 more gets you PC8500 (1066MHz)
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/149202

Do those two implementations and you should still be within budget.

And finally will this do the job I have been asking for, and last for a good few years without major updates?

If you do those adjustmants that I mentioned above the rig will last about 1-1.5 years as a gaming rig, you would most probably need to upgrade the 4850 mid to late 2010 with another midrange video card to get another 1-1.5 years out of it gaming wise. The Phenom II X3 should be enough to sustain the entire 3 years, afterwards you'd be looking to drop in a X4 or a future X6.

 

[Dreadnought33]

Sorry to use someone elses post, but I too am doing a build and need some thoughts...I have $500 to spend and here's what I've chosen so far........................PSU: Antec EA650......RAM: Kingston 2x2Gb 1066MHz.......CPU:AMD Phenom 2X3 tricore(heard it had good overclocking results)I believe its a black edition 770?......Mobo: ECS Black GF8200A......Video Card: HIS Radeon 4850 1Gb 256Mb Q cooler included(also heard of this card being overclocked with success.........Well fella's what do you think and can I improve this with the same budget? Oh btw...Price total from Newegg.com like $450... Thanx in advance.

I would suggest you open a new post so things don't get messy answering questions to two people

 

[kurosagi01]

don't forget to include a DVD drive or take one from your old comp if it can read todays disc,this is all you need to play your games: