Budget gaming system help
hi,
i need some help with my pc upgrade ... at the moment my system is pretty outdated and i cnt run most of the new games (crysis, bioshock etc). As i am only 15 years old, my budget, as you can imagine is pretty low. So far i have chosen these new parts to buy
Motherboard: Foxconn A690GM2MA-8EKRS2H
Memory: Corsair 1gb DDR2 PC2-5400 XMS2
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 x2 4000+ 2.1ghz
Graphics card: Not yet decided
Ill keep my old hard drive, DVD drive and things like that.
Can anyone recommend the best graphics card that costs around £50 or below. I'd like to be able to play games like crysis, bioshock, COD 4 and oblivion at low to medium quality (it would be nice to play some games at high quality, but i doubt many sub £50 graphics cards will be able to).
oh and does any know if the motherboard i've chosen is any good?
thanks
btw im new to the forums so im sorry if this sort of thread has already been posted.
Re: Budget gaming system help
First of all i'd start by making sure you have 2 sticks of memory, if you are not going to overclock you can go for crucial/corsair or kingston value, 2 x 1gb for about 30-40 quid these days max
Video card for Crysis? You would struggle for 50 quid, works with my 7900gs on medium. Something like an 8600 off ebay? or a 7800/ x1900 would do it, just within your budget if youre lucky
What PSU do you currently have?
Re: Budget gaming system help
well i av a crappy 350 watt (im not even sure of the manufacturer) but im gonna buy a 450w or 500w, i reckon that would be enough.
if i save a little more money i'd be able to get a 7900gs or a 7800 although i don't know many website that sell them anymore apart from ebay.
Re: Budget gaming system help
Quote:
Can anyone recommend the best graphics card that costs around £50 or below. I'd like to be able to play games like crysis, bioshock, COD 4 and oblivion at low to medium quality
For only £50???
The ONLY way you will get a card to do that is if you are lucky enough to pick up something half decent second hand.
Re: Budget gaming system help
well i doubt that a £50 card will play crysis, bioshock or COD 4 at a medium setting but i was hopin to play oblivion and far cry at medium since my ati 9600 pro can play oblivion at low settings
Re: Budget gaming system help
You might be able to play games crysis with this 7600GT for under £50 in Scan's Today Only.
Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK
Also have you looked at an Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L + E2140 ?
Re: Budget gaming system help
you got a budget for each part or overall budget would help people select suitable components.
Re: Budget gaming system help
Hard to know what to surgest without knowing mroe of your budjet, but just checked some prices on scan.co.uk, and you can get (approximate prices):
Core 2 Duo E4500 - £75
IP35 Motherboard - £60
2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-5400 - £25
512MB 8800GT - £180
Decent PSU - £60
For about £400. I you don't have that much you can chose a lower spec video card. I'd recommend sticking with 2gb RAM though, cause it's really cheap at the moment.
Re: Budget gaming system help
You can drop the cpu down to a E2140 which will overclock nicely in that board.
PSU down to £45 for te corsair 450vx
which saves £45ish overall on that.
Get the 256mb GT when they surface for £115 - £125.
Another £50 - £60.
So you could do it for around £300
Judging by what you have picked you are trying to do it for around £125 - £150 without the PSU.
Re: Budget gaming system help
I'd be willing to sell my 7900gs but i only just bought it an uprated cooler last week! idles below 35 c :D loads at 38 lol, best part is it is silent
Re: Budget gaming system help
well for the motherboard, CPU, memory and graphics card im guessin iv got a budget of around £160 for now, which isnt a lot. i mite be able to go a little higher. i dnt need reli high specs. i just want a system with a dual core cpu and a good enough graphics card tht will play the latest games at atleast low settings. i can upgrade the graphics card later.. i just want my system up and runnin quickly.
ive been wondering if the 7600gt or the x1650pro gddr3 or the 8500gt were any good.
Re: Budget gaming system help
8500GT is not very good.. I wouldn't bother with it for games.
7600GT is probably your best best if you want a new card..or look for something used on ebay.
7900GS 7800GT etc..
Certainly try and get 2gb of RAM as that will help no end in modern games.
Re: Budget gaming system help
if you can afford it then 3850 is pretty damn good for £100
but if not then 7900 stuff is cheapo
Re: Budget gaming system help
hmm well i mite decide to save up a bit more. which one is better? 8600gt or 7900gs?
i hear that the 8600gt isn't as good as it looks.
Re: Budget gaming system help
It isn't as good as the 7900gs unfortunatly but it is DX10 so you need to make your decision based on which is more important.
Re: Budget gaming system help
You might could get Patriot RAM instead of Corsair. Myself and my friend who co-operates GuildCom with me both use Patriot Extreme, and its pretty good stuff. And its quite a bit cheaper (I purchased a 4x1 GB kit off of NewEgg for about $140 American; if they offer it on Scan or such, I'd seriously consider it (in your case, look for a cheaper 2GB kit). In my opinion, its just as good as all but the real high-end Coursair or Ballistix RAM out there.
And yes, I strongly suggest saving up for a 8800GT; its pretty much the best price/performance winner you're gonna find, though its kinda pricey (about $300 American; but I actually got my eVGA 8800GT Superclocked for $280). Or a Radeon HD3870; its cheaper, but doesn't perform quite as well. However, with your budget (and depending on how quickly you want to get your upgrades), one of these two options will be your best bet for getting a part that will last a couple of years (at least); the 7900s won't have as long of a lifespan. And avoid anything thats 8400, 8500, or 8600; they just aren't worth it except for the most budget-strung casual gamers; getting an 8800GT or a HD3870 is worth the extra cash.