Cheap, small, gaming rig for GF, spec check :p

[kalniel]

Building a cheap, cute gaming rig for GF. Needs to be able to play Oblivion, NWN2, and have some future upgradability

Can't see any immediate problems, but let me know if I've forgotten anything:

Aspire-X Qpack + 420W PSU - SFF is needed, this seems to be the best value one that actually works as a computer. 420W is more than enough.

ASRock CONROE945G-DVI - mATX, fast, cheap, allendale compatible, PCIx16 is good.

Core 2 Duo E6300 1.86ghz - cheap, still very fast.

Leadtek 6800GT PCI-E 256mb - fab card in it's time, plays oblivion and probably NWN2 fine. Main reason is cheapness - ie it's coming from my system

2gb RAM, probably G.skill DDR2 667, but whatever is cheap/on special offer.

Samsung spinpoint 160gb HDD - 160gb is enough, good value for money, spinpoint are usually quiet.

Pioneer DVD writer thingy.

Win XP home.

I also need recommendations on good (but cheap, spot the theme ) 17" TFT's

cheers,

kalniel

PS: I confess, the Aspire and Asrock have already been bought, as they were on today only just now

[piranha]

Lucky GF - maybe look at the 'todays deals' on Scan as have been having some good cheap 19"'s on offer.

[kalniel]

Heh she's paying for most of it, she's only getting a gfx card and labour out of me

[chrestomanci]

Instead of the Aspire-X Qpack case, you might consider the SilverStone 'SUGO' Evolution SG01B Case instead. It is more expensive, but it looks nicer, and as it is slightly larger it should be easer to work on.

It takes a standard ATX PSU, which is not included.

I have an Antec Aria case that I would not recomend, mainly becase it is very cramped inside and also because I have had loads of problems with the PSU. The PSU has been replaced twice, and the third now sounds like it will be on the way out soon. When the PSU on the Aria goes, I will probably buy the SilverStone and a quality PSU to put in it.

The other thing you need to pay attention to is cooling. You will need a low profile cooler such as a Zalman CNPS8000 and you will need to think about where the airflow is going.

[kalniel]

Thanks. As you can see, price is a major concern, so the extra 60 quid for the SUGO and decent PSU is well out of budget unfortunately. It does look a lovely case though.

I thought the retail cooler fits fine in the Aspire?

I'll definately have to think about airflow - the gfx card has a fan duct to blow over the large copper heatsink on the rear of the card.. not something most cases will be expecting.

[chuckskull]

Looks about right to me. You could probably get away with even slower memory, if budget is a problem. Will overclock just as aswell, and I doubt your girlfriend cares about those last couple of hundred 3dmark points. Those Hanns G monitors seem to be king of the super cheap 17's. Though you can get some real nice monitors closer to the £200 mark.

[kalniel]

Thing was that memory was cheaper than slower stuff I'll just get whatever's cheapest at the time, but if the faster stuff is cheaper/the same price I might as well get it

[greektony]

Where do you guys get girlfriends who are actually genuine gamers. I WANT ONE! i don't suppose anyone is up for a trade????....... I could use my NES as a trade in if anyone is interested?

[chrestomanci]

Where do you guys get girlfriends who are actually genuine gamers. I WANT ONE! i don't suppose anyone is up for a trade????....... I could use my NES as a trade in if anyone is interested?

I met an old friend of mine and his new girlfriend recently.

She is into FPS games, and she was joking how she and Mike would Frag each other for hours every evening.

(Note the spelling)

[chuckskull]

Where do you guys get girlfriends who are actually genuine gamers. I WANT ONE! i don't suppose anyone is up for a trade????....... I could use my NES as a trade in if anyone is interested?

An ex of mine was addicted to timesplitters and quake. Just a shame she was a complete psycho

[Clunk]

An ex of mine was addicted to timesplitters and quake. Just a shame she was a complete psycho

The fact that she was addicted to timesplitters and quake should have been a clue

[chuckskull]

Yeah she loved any game, where you could hurt somone in an amusing way

Then again so do I

[greektony]

play the punisher then on xbox great ways to kill peeps!

As a side night......i dont mind having a nutter as a gf, as long as she keeps me up 'fragging' all night.

[chuckskull]

When I say nutter, I mean it. She was very good at fragging though

[sawyen]

The problem with my missus is.. when she and her (very few) gamer girlfriends are online playing guild wars or counter strike overnight, she's allowed to stay up late..

but when I play counter strike.. after about an hour she'd start nagging me about how messy is the house and that I should clean up the place rather than fragging online..

UNFAIR if u ask me.. UNFAIR..

[Madafwo]

The problem with my missus is.. when she and her (very few) gamer girlfriends are online playing guild wars or counter strike overnight, she's allowed to stay up late..

but when I play counter strike.. after about an hour she'd start nagging me about how messy is the house and that I should clean up the place rather than fragging online..

UNFAIR if u ask me.. UNFAIR..

Yup, mine doesn't game but if I am on this place for longer than 5 seconds my GF starts whining that I'm not paying her any attention and then as soon as I am off she is on bloody Myspace for hours on end, or playing Theme Hospital.

Back on track, I wish that was my budget rig, you can always pick things up second hand and go for a slightly lower spec if you don't plan on upgrading it, like some second hand S939 stuff.

The Aspire is a good little case and the PSU isn't too shabby either.