Simple gaming PC

[Dreaming]

Hey guys.

Just wondering, I think I've managed to get it for about ~£400 (minus games / software that I think we can get special rates on, need to check), but I run LANs quite frequently and am looking into getting some gaming PCs to loan out on events for something like £10-£15 for a weekend (we are not-for-profit and get grants too so should cover a lot of the cost). Don't need to be top spec whatsoever, cheap is the order of the day. Looked at asus barebones which seems to fit the bill but wondering if anyone knows a more sensible option. Even a server that could cope with 4 clients simultaneously with seperate keyboard and mice and seperate monitors... but I expect that's for linux only

Cheers guys. PS my build:
Asus barebones PC with motherboard - £80
2 gb pc6400 memory - £20
Nvidia geforce 9600 - £80
19" Monitor - £100
E2xxx series CPU - £40
Mouse / Keyboard / Headphones - £40
HDD - £40

Really just want a cheap and cheerful solution for those who have a craptop that can't run doom let alone CSS, it's a big hit in our numbers each years those who lack 'PC confidence', I think renting out 'gaming ready' systems where they just turn up and hand over a wad of cash would bring our numbers up. But just in the feasibility stage so need to see how much it is likely to cost us.

[mediaboy]

Asus barebones with mobo? That could be lots of different things...

What is the motherboard? What is the case? Does it come with PSU (as you don't seem to have one listed)?

And where do you get that £20 memory from ? That cheap would be nice I need to get some more, and that much is good!
I think 2GB PC6400 is about £30-35? E2xxx series for £40 is cheap and cheerful, if you want to save a little money, maybe to get a bigger HDD or more RAM/better GPU you could probably drop the monitor size down to 17" at £80.

[TAKTAK]

Asus barebones with mobo? That could be lots of different things...

i'm guessing it is one of the T3 barebones.... thats has mobo, cooler, PSU in it.
i'd like to know where the RAMs from as well

[mediaboy]

I presumed it had that sort of stuff in it.. but would like to see the motherboard before I comment more on what he's buying...

[Dreaming]

Sorry Ram should have been a bit more; Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK

I've used micron major before and it does perform well, unless you have an enthusiast system and are overclocking there is no problem with it.

I looked on the internet and the AM2 barebones are much cheaper. Here's the one I originally looked at: Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK

Then I saw this one on ebuyer: ASUS Vintage V3-M2V890 - SKT AM2 - With 300W PSU - Ebuyer

... A barebones is usually the case, motherboard & PSU, it often works out quite economically for budget systems.

[Thorsson]

Vintage? Not a good name for PC parts...

It's µATX, which means that you may have problems fitting one of the bigger GFX cards. Won't take the latest AM2 chips. It also takes only 2GB RAM & 2 SATA ports. No details on the PSU either and how good is airflow?

I guess it would make a very basic gaming machine, but for how long?

[mediaboy]

looking at it... about 2 seconds.

The vintage mobo doesn't support PC-6400 at all, so you'll be dead with that already.... or you'll be underclocking the mobo.

Also, the vintage mobo only supports 2GB.. Is this going to be enough in the near future? Given that the last few games out require huge amounts of RAM to play at highest I would imagine that the 2GB RAM is going to be OOD in about 6-18 months... As it'll mean playing on lowest detail or something similar.

Neither of the two seem to have sound either - although it could be something I'm missing - so you might have to buy a sound card... and will these 300W PSUs be any good? Barebones systems don't always exactly have... brilliant... PSUs.

Oh - and where are you finding that £100 monitor? I'm going to post an image of a ~£400-450 computer I knocked together in a few minutes on scan as soon as it's uploaded...

[Dreaming]

looking at it... about 2 seconds.

The vintage mobo doesn't support PC-6400 at all, so you'll be dead with that already.... or you'll be underclocking the mobo.

Also, the vintage mobo only supports 2GB.. Is this going to be enough in the near future? Given that the last few games out require huge amounts of RAM to play at highest I would imagine that the 2GB RAM is going to be OOD in about 6-18 months... As it'll mean playing on lowest detail or something similar.

Neither of the two seem to have sound either - although it could be something I'm missing - so you might have to buy a sound card... and will these 300W PSUs be any good? Barebones systems don't always exactly have... brilliant... PSUs.

Oh - and where are you finding that £100 monitor? I'm going to post an image of a ~£400-450 computer I knocked together in a few minutes on scan as soon as it's uploaded...

eBuyer, there's a phillips 1440x900 one.

[Aez]

i would not recommend an intel processor.
because i simply know what they are, some of you may not.
nice graphics card, sweet process technology.
an 8800gt of many brands may outperform it, the 9600 is more advanced in many ways.

Oh enlightened one, could you please explain "simply what" intel processors are?

[TAKTAK]

i would not recommend an intel processor.
because i simply know what they are, some of you may not.

put simply... your an idiot! (<<<prehaps abit too strong... but you get my drift)

intel is the only viable option at this moment in time due to AMD's pityful offerings (and before you call me a fan boi look at my pc spec) intels offerings are alot better than AMDs in terms of overall performance, cooling and overclocking potential.

thus your accusations need evidence to support it, as there is plenty of evidence supporting intels current lineup being better than AMD's current lineup

if it were a few years ago then yes AMD was miles ahead of intel... but that is the past... this is now! live with it and suck it up!

[/rant]
Edit:

if i had your address taktak you would be dead allready.

my address so i can be killed:

123 fake street
fakesville
new fakeyland
F4KE DAVE

[Dreaming]

if i had your address taktak you would be dead allready.

i am a new user to this forum i come in peace.

Before the thread gets derailed completely...

as I've said before I don't think CPUs tend to bottleneck many games so would consider an AMD option, as I said I'm looking into the feasability of a budget PC gaming system that can run games. Functional is the name of the game. This would be for people who have no PC whatsoever, so anything is an improvement.

Some of the people are still lugging their old systems and playing CSS and whatnot on Athlon XP processors, even though they're slow I've never ever seen crysis been played multiplayer / tournament style .

I expect something like a core2duo will be fine for the next couple of years. Again, some people are still running on nvidia 6600 that seem to run CSS. Obviously though with these systems I would want something that has a good shelf life.

The critical number that I'm aiming to keep to a minimum is: cost / machine lifespan.

So my system would work out as (with replacement parts coming in at equivilent cost for compatibility)
£450 / 3 years (predicted lifespan) = £150 pa

[staffsMike]

if i had your address taktak you would be dead allready.

i am a new user to this forum i come in peace.

I've got an AMD and Intel chip both running the same sort of speeds and they perform pretty much the same in everything.

I don't think there are any AMD chips which are actually better than an intel chip &#163; for &#163; at the moment though, especially when overclocking is involved. Who cares how the performance is attained.. when our only concern is the performance.

EDIT: beat me to it Dreaming

[TAKTAK]

i could have sworn id specced something up for this thread :suprised: (just off to find it ill edit in a bit )

edit:
sorry for hijacking the thread earlier
here we go: and after all of that^^^i'd specced up and AMD system cos it worked out more cost effective

Barebones: here Asus T3-M2NC51PV &#163;99.97

CPU: here AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ &#163;46.21

HDD: here Western Digital WD800AAJS &#163;26.22

RAM: here OCZ 1Gb DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 mebe 2 sticks? &#163;17.01 for 1 stick

DVD: here Pioneer DVR-115DBK &#163;16.20

GFX: here Point Of View 8800GT &#163;101.99
Total: &#163;307.60 <<so that leaves you plenty of room for periphs

[TAKTAK]

Dual Core Xeon E3110 3.0GHz FSB1333 6Mb.

if you got the cash i would think about this.
simular priced to the E8400.

i am 100&#37; sure it would outperform it by miles.
this chip is really worth the money.

it's for renting out so it doesnt need to be megaly powerful it just needs to be able to cope with the stuff you chuck at it so as such it doesnt warrant such a proccy otherwise it's more likely to get nicked

[Dreaming]

Not worried about security, we will be there to supervise...

As I said it's in the feasability stage and moneys would be given to us in form of a grant as we are performing a service but we would be expected to recoup some of the costs.. they may well just say no!

I've got a ballpark figure now so can give it some thought...