Cheapo gaming rig? Ideas?

[sparky191]

I'm looking for ideas for a cheap gaming rig. Want to be able to play far cry and IL2 at decent frame rates @1024x768. But funds are short so its going to be a cheap and cheerful rig. Probably all 2nd hand. What sort of gfx/cpu/board combo would be best to aim for. I'm thinking of 9700pro/9800 and a 2500+ AMD CPU which I can overclock. Socket A board etc. Anything newer would be a lot more expensive. But I don't want to buy something thats going to be very particular about ram etc. Has to be a good easy overclock that doesn't need expensive cooling kit to achieve it. Just looking for ideas really. I can't afford to future proof at the moment.

[Daymonkey]

how much you looking around spending ?

[Stewart]

The most tried and tested set-up is:

NF7-S.
Mobile Barton 2500+.
Gig of Crucial PC3200.
9800pro.

The board is a great overclocker, the CPU overclocks like nothing else, the RAM is cheap and realiable and the 9800pro wont break the bank anymore, even less so second hand.

Great on-board sound on the NF7-S as well.

[sparky191]

how much you looking around spending ?

Not sure yet. I'd hope to pick up bits and bobs over the next couple of months. I suppose 200-300 eventually. But I don't want a price list, just ideas of builds. At the moment I have a decent laptop, which is my main machine but the onboard fx5600 struggles with the latest games. I have a few old boxes to practise stuff for college, PII/PIII's that kinda thing. So the gaming rig is going to have to be cheap and cheerful.

[Ravens Nest]

I think you have the right idea of a 9700/9800 pro combined with a 2500+ Barton (unlocked) Or mobile, and the best overclocking Socket A motherboard you can get
i.e. an abit NF7S

P.S. i have the Epox 8RDA+(Nforce2) 2200XP+(FSB@166mhz) 1 GB of Twinmos 2700 DDR, 9800 pro.
IL2 runs at 1024x768 very well (a little stutter here and there) and farcry runs very well at medium settings 1024x768.
(And it's not really overclocked)
So this should give you an idea of performance.

[space_onion]

customPC did a article thing a while back about building cheap gaming rigs. They made a machine for around £500. Can't remember what they used right now (XP2500, 512MB, something like that...) but might be worth finding a back-issue. Has some good ideas, like soft-modding graphics cards

[sparky191]

customPC did a article thing a while back about building cheap gaming rigs. They made a machine for around £500. Can't remember what they used right now (XP2500, 512MB, something like that...) but might be worth finding a back-issue. Has some good ideas, like soft-modding graphics cards

Those mags are too expensive. Theres very little in them these days. The xp2500... routes seems to be the most bang for buck at the moment. Especially if you can source it 2nd hand.

[Tarffie]

yeah, PCGamer did a similar article in their latest issue and built a gaming PC for £500. Only problem I saw was that they skimped on things such as RAM and PSU and just went for the cheapest. I'll write up what they used tomorrow.

[Xenctuary]

Check out this guide from CustomPC. They are under Dennis Publishing, which I'm pretty sure is the same as PC Gamer, so the article may be the same one that Tarffie mentioned.

[Dark Horse]

best overclocking Socket A motherboard you can get
i.e. an abit NF7S

Its not the best, the best nf2 overclocking board is the DFI lanparty nf2 Ultra B. It will hit 250fsb with ease, almost all other nf2 boards struggle to get above 230.

Chip wise the 2600+ is also a slightly better clocker but is much less available.

If you have the cash you'd be much better with a 6600gt or 6800, they will get you much better performance than a 9800pro.

On ebay:
Lanparty ultra b - £30
2500+ - £50
6600gt - £70-100 depending on your luck

Elsewhere, maybe scan
2x512mb basic ram - £50?
80gb hdd - £30
decent psu - £50
case - £20

£300 doesn't sounds so bad and should get you 3300ish stock and 3800 overclocked in 3d mark 2005.

Edit: If you can spend a little more you could do an equivalent 64 bit system that would save you more money in the long run for maybe £150 more.

[Ravens Nest]

The original post was made by spark191 on 17/10/04
And you have replied 22/08/05 so i think they have probably already bought there PC by now.

I should have said one of the best socket A NF2 motherboards is the Abit NF7S
Yes the DFI lanparty nf2 Ultra B is better but were they out then i cant remember??

[joshwa]

Probably too late but: I would recommend a Radeon 9700/9800 from Retek around £35 for 9700 128mb. http://www.retekdirect.co.uk/ Got an excellent £35 9700 radeon 128mb ATI card...

[Dark Horse]

Yes the DFI lanparty nf2 Ultra B is better but were they out then i cant remember??

First bios is dated 11/27/03

[ja3h]

I say you should save up a lil more and go 939 pci-e. Buy second hand parts also...
athlon 64 3000+ - ebay 60
an8 ultra/a8n-e - 70
2 x 512 generic - 50
6600gt - 120
psu atx 2.0 - 35
Then cheapo hd/dvdrw/case

when you get some more cash upgrades will be easier

[MiNiMaL_FuSS]

NF7-S (rev 2) - can be had around £20 now
Mobile Barton 2500+. - around £30 now
Gig of PC3200 - £40 if that for ram these days
9800pro - £60-70 (i have one forsale infact if your intrested )

NF7-s has soudnstorm, which gives most soundcard in sharp kick in the nads and runs away laughing