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Another cheap gaming PC thread.

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  • deem 30 Jun 2008 14:05:44 31,634 posts
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    Sorry.

    BUT!

    Can anyone help me here? I haven't built a PC for around 4 or 5 years, so I'm completely out of touch, but quite fancy putting one together, and having had Crysis on my Mac wet my appetite, thought I'd look in to how cheaply I could do it.

    I need to get one for work too, so could kill 2 birds with one stone.

    I'm looking at this:

    POINT OF VIEW GeForce 8800 GTS 512 MB Dual DVI/HDTV PCI-Express x16 £131
    CORSAIR TWIN2X4096-6400C5 4 GB (2 x 2 GB) PC2-6400 DDRII-SDRAM £58
    INTEL E6550 Core 2 Duo Processor - 2.33 GHz, 4 MB L2 Cache, 775 Socket £93
    MSI P6NGM-L - LGA775 Socket - Nvidia GeForce 7050 -Chipset Micro ATX £35
    ADVANCE ATX-5012 PC POWER SUPPLY - 480 W £12
    Case - £30

    £359

    Seems like a good price, but would I be crazy thinking that would run Crysis at high settings?

    Anything that could be replaced that could shave a few quid off the price? Anything I've chosen that is shit for the money?

    Cheers!
  • magicpanda 30 Jun 2008 14:09:09 12,293 posts
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    Where are you getting those prices from out of interest?
  • Whizzo 30 Jun 2008 14:09:30 41,155 posts
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    Replace the 8800GT with a similar priced ATi 4850 and you'll be set for Crysis in high with no problems, the GT would do that anyway but the 4850 has more legs.

    edit: oh and don't buy that PSU, really cheap PSUs = trouble.

    This space left intentionally blank.

  • kalel 30 Jun 2008 14:10:31 76,470 posts
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    Do it.

    Can I get first dibs for when you sell it btw?
  • deem 30 Jun 2008 14:22:39 31,634 posts
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    Cheers Whizzo.

    That saves me £20 too!

    SAPPHIRE TECHNOLOGY RADEON HD 4850 - 512 MB GDDR3 - PCI-EXPRESS 2.0 £111
    CORSAIR TWIN2X4096-6400C5 4 GB (2 x 2 GB) PC2-6400 DDRII-SDRAM £58
    INTEL E6550 Core 2 Duo Processor - 2.33 GHz, 4 MB L2 Cache, 775 Socket £93
    MSI P6NGM-L - LGA775 Socket - Nvidia GeForce 7050 -Chipset Micro ATX £35
    ADVANCE ATX-5012 PC POWER SUPPLY - 480 W £12
    Case - £30

    £339

    @ Magic Panda - Pix Mania
  • ilmaestro 30 Jun 2008 14:24:49 31,965 posts
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    I feel like for an extra £30 I would go with an E8400 CPU, and you can probably get a 9800GTX (like an overclocked 8800GTS) for the same price now, presuming that the price drop has been applied, right? Don't know if the 4850 is still the best bet though, it might just be.

    4235

  • deem 30 Jun 2008 14:26:33 31,634 posts
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    I've just seen a SPARKLE GEFORCE 9800 GTX for £169. Maybe that might be the better option?


  • ilmaestro 30 Jun 2008 14:27:26 31,965 posts
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    No, not for that much extra. £20 extra (ie. the price you had for the 8800GTS) and we might be talking.

    edit: maybe someone can confirm, I thought nVidia were dropping the price of the 9800GTX to match the 4850. If that hasn't happened yet, or isn't happening over here, then ignore me.

    4235

  • Dirtbox 30 Jun 2008 14:28:11 73,716 posts
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    PSU is fine, don't get sucked into this "YOU NEED A BILLION GIGAWATTS" bullshit.

    +1 / Like / Tweet this post

  • Dirtbox 30 Jun 2008 14:32:59 73,716 posts
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    Yep.

    +1 / Like / Tweet this post

  • Dirtbox 30 Jun 2008 14:36:36 73,716 posts
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    I would have to agree that you were unlucky.

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  • FixedInfinity 30 Jun 2008 14:40:30 1,682 posts
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    Sometimes you can get lucky and a cheap PSU can work fine. But I'd not chance it myself...
  • Ginger 30 Jun 2008 14:40:38 6,748 posts
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    blizeH wrote:
    From experience, buying a cheap PSU can be one of the worst things you can do on a computer, but I could of just been unlucky I guess.
    depends on how much you're spending, but a PSU can take out a mobo and graphics card, so I'd always err on the side of caution and get something higher quality

    London open taekwondo champion

  • Killerbee 30 Jun 2008 14:54:43 5,016 posts
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    I second the recommendations to get a Radeon 4850 - probably the best bang per buck card there is right now. A decent branded PSU is worth it for the reliability and to reduce the chances of it failing and killing the rest of your PC. The wattage is probably ok though.

    The only other thing I'd say is consider getting a faster CPU - if your budget allows, of course.
  • deem 30 Jun 2008 14:56:41 31,634 posts
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    blizeH wrote:
    ... and maybe this CPU depending on how much you want to spend: http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/728359/art/intel/core-2-duo-e8400-3-ghz-6.html
    Hmm, there only seems to be around a 2 fps difference with Crysis on the benchmarks I've looked at, so I'll maybe stick with the 6550 and save £30 there.

    Cheers all.

    Looks like I'll go with the 4850 too.

    Ram anyone? DO I need to spend £60 or could I save there also?
  • mcmonkeyplc 30 Jun 2008 14:58:48 35,883 posts
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    deem wrote:
    Sorry.

    BUT!

    Can anyone help me here? I haven't built a PC for around 4 or 5 years, so I'm completely out of touch, but quite fancy putting one together, and having had Crysis on my Mac wet my appetite, thought I'd look in to how cheaply I could do it.

    I need to get one for work too, so could kill 2 birds with one stone.

    I'm looking at this:

    POINT OF VIEW GeForce 8800 GTS 512 MB Dual DVI/HDTV PCI-Express x16 £131
    CORSAIR TWIN2X4096-6400C5 4 GB (2 x 2 GB) PC2-6400 DDRII-SDRAM £58
    INTEL E6550 Core 2 Duo Processor - 2.33 GHz, 4 MB L2 Cache, 775 Socket £93
    MSI P6NGM-L - LGA775 Socket - Nvidia GeForce 7050 -Chipset Micro ATX £35
    ADVANCE ATX-5012 PC POWER SUPPLY - 480 W £12
    Case - £30

    £359

    Seems like a good price, but would I be crazy thinking that would run Crysis at high settings?

    Anything that could be replaced that could shave a few quid off the price? Anything I've chosen that is shit for the money?

    Cheers!
    You need a Blu-ray player. It's the future!

    Come and get it cumslingers!

  • Kay 30 Jun 2008 14:59:52 15,620 posts
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    I'm sure you can get good 4GB 800mhz RAM for cheaper. Corsair, Kingston, Geil, OCZ are all good companies.

    I wouldn't take a chance on a cheap PSU. If that fucks up it's likely to take your whole PC with it.

    K
  • deem 30 Jun 2008 14:59:53 31,634 posts
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    I already have one that's supposed to play games too.
  • Killerbee 30 Jun 2008 15:12:04 5,016 posts
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    I've always found Crucial to be the best place to buy RAM.

    BTW, the usual caveat about a 32-bit O/S not using the full 4GB of RAM you install applies. With a 512MB graphics card, you'll probably only see about 3.2GB. Best bet is to go for Vista 64-bit if you're buying a new O/S to put on the PC. If not, think about whether that extra 0.2 GB is really worth it or whether you can make do with just 3GB of RAM instead.
  • President_Weasel 30 Jun 2008 15:18:44 7,763 posts
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    Actually it often turns out cheaper to buy 2x2GB of RAM than 2x1GB + 2x512MB, so you might as well install 4GB that you won't quite use all of.
    I installed 3GB myself, but then again I am slightly odd.
  • Whizzo 30 Jun 2008 15:19:03 41,155 posts
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    Custom PC has their yearly, very thorough PSU supertest and puts the Antec Earthwatts EA 650 in as their budget choice, it's available around the 40-50 quid range and I'd certainly take that over a £12 one!

    This space left intentionally blank.

  • deem 30 Jun 2008 18:24:28 31,634 posts
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    Ok, one more question.

    If I was to spend an extra £100, is there a Graphics card that would offer a performance increase to justify the spend?

    I'm happy to spend £111 for 30fps in Crysis, but is there a card that would offer double that for double the money?

    Basically is it worth spending a little extra, or is the performance increase minimal?

    I'm looking at the CONNECT 3D Radeon HD3870 2 x 1 GB DDR3 PCIE 2.0 at the mo, for £199.
  • Kay 30 Jun 2008 18:36:38 15,620 posts
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    Nope.

    If you want to get 60fps in Crysis, you'll need to spend a lot more. In fact, I'm not even sure if there is a card currently available that guarantees that sort of performance (at high settings).

    K
  • deem 30 Jun 2008 22:31:19 31,634 posts
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    Sure, I kind of meant hypothetically.
  • Bremenacht 30 Jun 2008 22:44:38 11,232 posts
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    Get a 4850 or a 4870 (if you can wait a while). They're up to date GPUs and are recommended over the 9800GTX (and GTX+, and Nvidia 260) by most review sites e.g. anandtech, 3D guru etc. Don't get a HD38xx card - they're not bad, but the HD48xx cards are reportedly much better in terms of performance and value. A 4850 will cost you about £150. Whichever route you go down (Nvidia or AMD) try to match your GPU with a motherboard with a matching Nvidia or AMD chipset. This is so that you can then run SLI or Crossfire (dual GPUs) at some point in the future. What res can your screen run at? You've not mentioned that, but if you're using an existing screen, buy a GPU to match.

    www.anandtech.com
    www.guru3d.com
    www.hexus.net
    www.hardocp.com

    Have lots of nerdy fun!

    This post is unsuitable for those with a high rumour-sensitivity.

  • Carlo 30 Jun 2008 22:49:30 17,041 posts
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    Magic Panda wrote:
    Where are you getting your OS out of interest?
    ;)

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