Best gaming machine for £500?

[Online]

Hey guys I'm looking to build a gaming machine for £500, and want to play games like Crysis at high settings, now, i am a complete newbie when it comes to pc gaming, i've done a bit of research in terms of the different ram, motherboards that have sli, processor overclocking etc etc and have managed to put this together from my small knowledge:



I'm sure there's things i can improve though, better ram maybe? I've got OCZ platinum performance ram there right now but then there's the dual channel ram for around the same price, just wondering which is better for gaming purposes? Also if the graphics card is good enough or if i'll need another one, and whether i'll need a better power supply for all this, i just want to know if i could improve on the stuff that's on there and get pointed in the right direction by people who are experienced with this stuff really, would really appreciate it, thanks!

[Phalanx]

even though i'm in the same boat as you, don't skimp out on the powersupply, the one you've picked is for a lack of a better word: gash.

[SiM]

E7200/E7300 + gtx260/4870 will cost about the same and will be much superior for 95+% of games

[staffsMike]

Best gaming rig for £500 would look like this imo

Intel E5200 (no need for quad for gaming) ~£55
4GB PC6400 (OCZ is fine) ~£50
DFI Lan Party P35 ~£75
640GB Western Digital AAKS ~£50
Antec 300 ~£35
Corsair 450W VX ~£45
ATi HD4850 ~£120 (sapphire dual slot) or to use the whole budget the Nvidia GTX260 (might want a different PSU for this).. that is what i would buy but it depends what resolution you wish to game at
Samsung DVD-RW ~£15

Total is about £500

Don't skimp on PSU's or the Case, or the motherboard which isn't very good for stability (the 650i that is)

I'd also use www.scan.co.uk. Better prices for the most part and great service.

[rgreeves]

What would you change to get it down to £400 ish ?

RG

[staffsMike]

What would you change to get it down to £400 ish ?

RG

2GB of RAM, HD4850. Should get you to £400.

If not. Smaller HDD, 320GB Single platter if you can and a slightly cheaper motherboard.

DFI blood iron or ASUS P5K

[Online]

Best gaming rig for £500 would look like this imo

Intel E5200 (no need for quad for gaming) ~£55
4GB PC6400 (OCZ is fine) ~£50
DFI Lan Party P35 ~£75
640GB Western Digital AAKS ~£50
Antec 300 ~£35
Corsair 450W VX ~£45
ATi HD4850 ~£120 (sapphire dual slot) or to use the whole budget the Nvidia GTX260 (might want a different PSU for this).. that is what i would buy but it depends what resolution you wish to game at
Samsung DVD-RW ~£15

Total is about £500

Don't skimp on PSU's or the Case, or the motherboard which isn't very good for stability (the 650i that is)

I'd also use www.scan.co.uk. Better prices for the most part and great service.

Thanks for the advice mate, i wasn't trying to skimp out on the PSU or the case really, was just a bit clueless when it came to those, and i thought a quad would be better as i want my pc to last for quite a few years but i'll look into the core 2 duo's anyway And the reason i chose that motherboard was because of sli (and it seemed to have good reviews in general), as i wanted to put in one graphics card for now, then in a year or so put another one in just incase it was needed, also i should have mentioned i don't need a dvd drive since i already have one, so that's a little more money to spend

[staffsMike]

Well the problem with the SLi board is that is Nvidia only and you have picked an ATi card. If you want to double up on graphics cards you are looking for crossfire with ATi.

While not a perfect solution, this would go a very good job of that
http://www.scan.co.uk/product.aspx?ProductId=25073

Currently a few quid cheaper here www.scan.co.uk/todayonly.

That said, dual graphics setups aren't really that cost effective. It's better to sell your old card and buy a new and improved single card

I'd use the little bit of money saved from the DVD on a nice aftermarket CPU cooler like this
http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=700899

It's usually found on scans today only for about £17 (but not today I'm affraid).

[rgreeves]

I'm finding picking the processor quite confusing - I originally was thinking of getting a q6600 like Online. What is the difference between it and the E5200 which incidentally doesn't seem to be stocked by scan?

RG

[staffsMike]

It's under pentium dual core
http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=860613

The differences are, well the very obvious, two cores vs four. The E5200 is 45nm the Q6600 is 65nm, means the dual core uses less power for both of those reasons.

Game's don't utilise all four cores. That doesn't mean to say people with Quads have wasted their money. Doing tasks in the background of games is far easier with the power of a Quad behind it.

They both overclock very well but the E5200 is very light on it's motherboards since it has a low starting FSB of 800MHz vs. 1066MHz of the Q6600.

The Q6600 has more cache but in gaming terms, above 1280 x 1024 that counts for next to nothing.

Anything which is 2.2GHz + on a dual core or more at the moment is pretty much enough for any game when coupled to a decent graphics card like those that have been specced. If you need more power later on these have a hell of a lot of breething room. THe E5200 should easily hit well over 3.5Ghz (the Q6600 can do this also but usually only around 3.4GHz comfortably on air cooling).

[rgreeves]

When you say light on a motherboard, are you talking about the power drain/heat?

RG

[staffsMike]

When you say light on a motherboard, are you talking about the power drain/heat?

RG

Heat yes, but more like strain if you take my meaning.

The native FSB of these board is 1333MHz. So chips which operate below that to begin with, when overclocked don't push the motherboard any harder than it was really designed to be.

So with regard to the E5200 being 800MHz (which is actually 200MHz x 4 , the board being 333MHz x4) you have that 133MHz overclock for free essentially. You don't need to push the board very hard at all.

If you were to buy a 1333MHz native chip. Any increase in frequency or speed.. will be overclocking the board.

That might be confusing lol Clunks overclocking guide in the stickies of this forum may explain things better

[rgreeves]

Thanks, this is interesting...

So you're saying that the cpu would be overclocked but the motherboard wouldn't be?

RG

[staffsMike]

Thanks, this is interesting...

So you're saying that the cpu would be overclocked but the motherboard wouldn't be?

RG

Essentially, yes. You wouldn't be taking the board far if at all out of it's stock settings.

The chip will no doubt need a bit of extra voltage put into it as may the motherboard chipset, though I doubt it unless you are really pushing it.

[rgreeves]

Can I change the subject and ask about microATX motherboards - is there any downside?

If I stuffed the above setup in an asus t3-p5g31 would I have any issues with power?

RG

[staffsMike]

Make sure it has 45nm support before you do of course, some boards don't.
not sure what other problems you might come across.. long graphics cards etc.. I wouldn't do it personally.

uATX has come a long way though. Relatively few draw backs. For intel the G33 chipset if very well balanced

An Asus G33 at £56 (scan today only) coupled to an antec NSK3480 ~£55 (comes with a decent PSU) fits the same budget and is for more flexable than the Asus.. just not as pretty lol