Gaming pc for £500, can it be done?

[howardan]

Sorry if this is in the wrong forum but im new here.

Ive been asked to do a system by a mate who has £500 to spend, he already has a monitor etc...

I dont usualy put gaming systems together so i was wondering what anyone here would recommend. I will be buying all the parts from scan as they are local.

Hope someone can help.

Howardan

[kempez]

PSU: Tagan 530w - £70-80

AMD 3000+ Venice: £95

GEIL Value Performance: £68 (you could get ebuyer value @ £32, but I would reccomend this)

DVD-RW: £35

HDD - Decent 80gb one: £40ish

Case: £35 ((click me - w00t!!!)

Mobo: Asus A8N-E nForce4 Ultra: £88

Aaaaaand: Vid Card: 6600GT: £100ish (inno 3d are £100)

You could go for a 6200 128mb, but if they can squeeze the extra cash for the 6600GT then its worth it

What dya reckon?

[Scarlet Infidel]

If its all form scan for a start:

Go for a lower specced Tagan, 430w for £52 or preferably 480w for £58

3000+ Venice £103

256mb X800 GT £112 or 128mb version for £97 (anyone know the difference?)

I dont know enough about motherboards to recommend one. Ill have another look at the rest of the system later.

[autopilot]

PSU: Tagan 530w - £70-80

AMD 3000+ Venice: £95

GEIL Value Performance: £68 (you could get ebuyer value @ £32, but I would reccomend this)

DVD-RW: £35

HDD - Decent 80gb one: £40ish

Case: £35 ((click me - w00t!!!)

Mobo: Asus A8N-E nForce4 Ultra: £88

Aaaaaand: Vid Card: 6600GT: £100ish (inno 3d are £100)

You could go for a 6200 128mb, but if they can squeeze the extra cash for the 6600GT then its worth it

What dya reckon?

Not bad, but some small changes i would make -

Get an NEC 3540A DVD writer instead. Only £29 at scan and probably the best all round drive at the min (apaart from the stupidly expensive plextors).
Also could go for an Abit AN8 Ultra for £78 from scan.
Maybe get a slighly cheaper PSU too, i don't think a non-overclocked and non-SLI system needs all that juice.
Put the savings towards better/more memory or a better GFX card.

[kempez]

Umm - I didn't name a DVD-RW did I? Don't know much about them

As for the board - I like Asus - good stock board - not a huge fan of Abit but thats only IMO

And the PSU: yeah a little overpowered but I'm a firm believer in good PSU's - my rigs have a Tagan 580w and a PCP&C 510 SLi so yeah

Enermax do a decently priced 500ish w PSU, as do Tagan and OCZ I think

[Dark Horse]

PSU: Tagan 530w - £70-80

AMD 3000+ Venice: £95

GEIL Value Performance: £68 (you could get ebuyer value @ £32, but I would reccomend this)

DVD-RW: £35

HDD - Decent 80gb one: £40ish

Case: £35 ((click me - w00t!!!)

Mobo: Asus A8N-E nForce4 Ultra: £88

Aaaaaand: Vid Card: 6600GT: £100ish (inno 3d are £100)

You could go for a 6200 128mb, but if they can squeeze the extra cash for the 6600GT then its worth it

What dya reckon?

PSU: Would get a lower spec psu, not a qtec or anything that dodgy but something around £30 should be a good compromise between reliability and price.

CPU: Can get a 3000+ venice from lowestonweb for only £82.29 so probs £87 in postage which is still cheaper than scan.

Memory: Cheapest 2x512mb, no point in splashing our for the 1-2% increase you will get for higher specced ram

Hdd: Yep, any old 80gb one, they're all almost identical these days

Case: Again no point in splashing out, just get the cheapest non-ugly one. Scan's enthusiast range is good.

Mobo: Any of scans s939 nf4 boards ,the performance differences are minimal but a lot of people here seem to have the AN8 so that seems a good bet

Vid Card: The scanfx 6600gt is only £101, not bad value at all. If not the x800gt is good value too.

[autopilot]

I wasn't critisising mate (hell i cant spell today), just overing an alternative.

I take it he had mouse and keyboard then. What about a modem? Probaly about £10 for a PCI 56k or just get a free one with broadband.

A64 3000 @ £102
Abit AN8 Ultra @ £78
1 Gig Corsair Value DDR 3200 @ £64
That coolermaster case @ £35
NEC 3540A DVD writer @ £29
Hiper 425W @ £35
80Gb Maxtor Diamondmax (7200rpm,8MB) - SATA @ £38

That leaves £120 for a gfx card, which im not sure right at the mo which would be best for that money. I think a few are coming down in price quite a bit at the mo/soon.

[Pirate Pete]

dom where are you getting that ram from, the stuff for 64 pounds?
scan?

thanks

[autopilot]

Yeah, everything on my list was from Scan - http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=237278

Back to my list above, if £120 won't get any graphics card significantly better, get the ScanFX 6600GT (which is actually an XFX branded card) for £100. Leaves £20 for maybe a larger HDD or maybe a slightly faster CPU.

[YorkieBen]

does he need a copy of windows xp in there?

[howardan]

Cheers men, ill have a look at that lot and let you know how i get on.

And cheers for making the newbie welcome.

Howardan

[YorkieBen]

Panasonic SW-9584-CF 16 x 16 DVD±RW Black £20.95
Sapphire ATI Radeon X800 GT 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-E) £91.95
AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Venice 90nm (Socket 939) - OEM £69.95
Antec SLK1650B Black Quiet Mini Tower Case - 350W SmartPower PSU £39.95
GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC3200 Value Dual Channel Kit CAS2.5 £59.95
Abit AN8-V nForce4 (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard £59.95
Samsung SpinPoint P SP0812C 80GB SATA 8MB Cache£34.75
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition £53.95
Akasa AK-913 EVO 33 Direct HeatPipe Copper with Fan Controller £19.95

Total £530.34

£30 over budget but includes Windows XP. The psu that comes with the case is a decent make, although a little small should be okay with the small amount of components.

[mike_w]

I'd definately go for the X800GT over the 6600GT. I would also go for the Tagan PSU, with the rating being as close to 480W as the budget permits.

Seeing as I have an Abit board, and have heard good things about the AN8, I would go for the Abit AN8 Ultra (that's a lie - I wouldn't go for any nForce4 board, but that's for reasons that aren't relevant here).

[autopilot]

How much better is the X800GT? Would it be worth swapping my 6600GT for one (it would not cost me anything)?

[Xenctuary]

They are both among the top cards on the market, but I'd go for the X800GT, since it is a lot better suited toward higher end gaming needs. And, in regards to the PC as a whole, you'll probably find the following threads very helpful:

Building A Gaming Rig - A Living Document. (A HEXUS Project)
A great resource that explains all of the basics for those new to system building and to recap key points for the experienced. Has some recommendations on various components, but do be wary of the last update times on the posts, some of the recommendations may be outdated.

Draft Specs of Gaming / Multimedia PC [ Feedback Required ]
A thread created by myself that contains loads of advice and suggestions based upon the design of my high spec PC. I originally had a budget of £500 (excluding the case, monitor, PSU, hard drive, cooling system, speakers and so on; pretty much the same situation as yourself), but stretched it over a bit more to get a machine that'll last for a long time and deliver for my needs. Loads of useful stuff posted in here.

Cheapo gaming rig? Ideas?
It's an older thread, but it has been updated with more recent and relevant information.

PCI Express Graphics Card Review *external link
A recent roundup of the best PCI-E cards. A good start in terms of comparisons. You can ignore the SLI results on the benchmarks, since those are two cards running simultaneously and is beyond the budget you have set.

Hope that all helps you out there.

[Scarlet Infidel]

Hexus is your friend

Random page from the review.