Budget gaming system

[jimbouk]

Hi there

I've got around £300 to spend on a CPU, mobo, ram and VGA. Currently I've got the following lined up from scan:

MOBO £70.83 ASUS M2N-VM DH
CPU £88.11 AMD AM2 Athlon 64 3800 + EE
RAM £65.79 1Gb Corsair Value Select, DDR2 PC5300 (667)
VGA £76.36 256MB Palit 7600GT Sonic, PCI-E(x16), Mem 1500MHz, GPU 575MHz, 12Pipes, D-Sub/Dual Link DVI/HDTV SLI

The mobo has wireless as well which saves me £20 later. I'd like to get back into some gaming and play at 1280x1024. Is this going to be ok? I may be able to stretch to £350. Who's going to quote me a C2D system and say I'm stupid for considering AMD?

[DratUK]

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=443861
Asrock 945 Xfire Conroe 2 £54.63

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=430631

E6300 Intel Core 2

Plus the rest as you have already specced
Total
£322.77
I assume you have a powerful enough PSU. The mobo takes 20 pin connector.

[Nick Smith]

^ what he said , or you could go for the e4300...i've heard there better oclockers

[BlindMelon7]

How well would that motherboard overclock?

Hehe

[jimbouk]

No-one saying stick with the cheap AMD then? Don't really want to be overclocking again, been running an AthlonXP Mobile overclocked for too long.

Do you think the 7600GT will be upto it or I'll need a 7900GS/X1950Pro?

[Clunk]

overcock?

Heh you said overcock

[DratUK]

How well would that motherboard overcock?

Not anywhere near a 965 chip, its based on the 945 chip but it keeps him within budget. The mobo will accept up to a 6700. The asrock is a budget board will still well specced. As long as there is no agressive OC its stable.

[Kumagoro]

From scan I would go for,

LN15258 Gigabyte GA 965P-S3 iP965 £66.73

LN17135 1Gb Micron Major, DDR2 PC2-6400 (800) CAS 5-5-5-12 £49.95 £58.69

LN17304 Intel Core 2 Duo E4300, Retail £91.99 £108.09

Comes to about £235 inc vat with hexus shipping discount.

[CrazyMonkey]

From scan I would go for,

LN15258 Gigabyte GA 965P-S3 iP965 £66.73

LN17135 1Gb Micron Major, DDR2 PC2-6400 (800) CAS 5-5-5-12 £49.95 £58.69

LN17304 Intel Core 2 Duo E4300, Retail £91.99 £108.09

Comes to about £235 inc vat with hexus shipping discount.

Do that, then grab a x1950pro. And you will rocket along nicely. Will play all latest games no problems at the res you want.

[jimbouk]

Very tempting setup, creeping in around £350. I've heard lots of good things about the x1950Pro. Still waiting for my cheque to arrive before I can go shopping...

The main issue I can see though is the ram, I'll be getting some more at somepoint during the year so I think I'd prefer something with an actual brand name. Corsair Value Select was recomended to me on these forums so I think I'll stick with them.

And there's nothing like phallic humour to get a thread active...

[Fillthee]

lo Jimbouk,

Go with the x1950pro, without a doubt the best budget card. as for ram I would imo go with either,

GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC6400C5 800MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX21GB6400DC) - 800MHz RAM Speed, CAS 5-5-5-15 Timings, 1.8-1.9v VDIMM, Lifetime Warranty with GeIL.

OR

Team Elite 1GB (2 x 512MB) DDR2 PC2-6400C5 800MHz Dual Channel Kit (TEDD1024M800HC5DC) - 800MHz RAM Speed, CAS 5-5-5-15 Timings, 1.8-1.9v VDIMM, Lifetime Warranty with Team Group.

Both 1gig kits are priced at £76 on OCUK, but you might be able to find them cheaper on another site?

But keep in mind alot of motherboards dont like 4x sticks of ram being run, or at least that is what I have found in the past so upgrading from 2x sticks to 4x sticks of ram at some point might prove to be a problem.

Shasta