Forum • Non-Gaming • PC Hardware

The Budget Gaming PC thread • Page 99

  • Page

    of 105 First / Last

  • Razz 6 Mar 2013 16:45:30 57,937 posts
    Seen 14 minutes ago
    Registered 11 years ago
    Mr_Sleep wrote:
    Razz wrote:
    @Sandbox Cheers man, having an odd problem at the moment. I've connected the PSU motherboard cpu and ram only. When I stat up the PC I get continuous beeps and after about 10 seconds it resets. Any ideas? There is no beep guide in the manual :(
    I've tried starting it up without RAM, new RAM, and RAM from other computers around the house, still the same issue. I've tried the CPU in my other computer and it starts just fine. No idea o_O
    Ummm, stupid question but have you connected the graphics card? Loads of beeps is usually that or some kind of problem with RAM. Maybe try one stick and then the other.
    I haven't connected the Graphics card, it has onboard video. I've tried swapping the ram and cpu with other computers around the house. No joy :( I haven't tried popping in a graphics card though. I'll give that a try!

    Edited by Razz at 16:46:01 06-03-2013

    --------------------------------------------------------------------
    Steam/PSN/XBOX: Razztafarai | 3DS: 1246-9674-8856
    --------------------------------------------------------------------

  • Sandbox 6 Mar 2013 16:48:23 328 posts
    Seen 28 minutes ago
    Registered 7 years ago
    Only time I had this was when I had forgotten to connect the 4 pin CPU power, and when I did the PSU was duff, so perhaps try another PSU?

    Could try removing the CMOS battery for a few mins. to see if the BIOS has its knickers in a twist. If not then you may just have a duff motherboard.
  • Mr_Sleep 6 Mar 2013 16:50:36 13,573 posts
    Seen 3 hours ago
    Registered 11 years ago
    Sandbox wrote:
    Only time I had this was when I had forgotten to connect the 4 pin CPU power, and when I did the PSU was duff, so perhaps try another PSU?

    Could try removing the CMOS battery for a few mins. to see if the BIOS has its knickers in a twist. If not then you may just have a duff motherboard.
    That's a good call, I did that with the 4 pin CPU power thing too. It could be that the motherboard is set for a gfx card rather than using onboard. I don't suppose the motherboard has jumpers or anything that needs changing? Jumpers are so ten years ago ;-)
  • Razz 6 Mar 2013 16:55:34 57,937 posts
    Seen 14 minutes ago
    Registered 11 years ago
    Cheers, I've already tried using a different PSU! :D I've also tried clearing CMOS but haven't popped out the battery, So I'll give that a go in sec. CHEERS!

    --------------------------------------------------------------------
    Steam/PSN/XBOX: Razztafarai | 3DS: 1246-9674-8856
    --------------------------------------------------------------------

  • Razz 6 Mar 2013 18:39:18 57,937 posts
    Seen 14 minutes ago
    Registered 11 years ago
    @Sandbox The motherboard is a dud, mate came round and we ran some tests. The CPU is not receiving any power from the board. I'm returning it and a new one is coming tomorrow. Hopefully I'll have better luck this time!

    --------------------------------------------------------------------
    Steam/PSN/XBOX: Razztafarai | 3DS: 1246-9674-8856
    --------------------------------------------------------------------

  • Razz 6 Mar 2013 20:24:06 57,937 posts
    Seen 14 minutes ago
    Registered 11 years ago
    Can anyone recommend me a different board to go with an i3? I've been looking around but all the different chip sets are confusing

    --------------------------------------------------------------------
    Steam/PSN/XBOX: Razztafarai | 3DS: 1246-9674-8856
    --------------------------------------------------------------------

  • Razz 6 Mar 2013 21:04:35 57,937 posts
    Seen 14 minutes ago
    Registered 11 years ago
    @Buztafen Cheers dude! My fiancee bought me one earlier! :D

    --------------------------------------------------------------------
    Steam/PSN/XBOX: Razztafarai | 3DS: 1246-9674-8856
    --------------------------------------------------------------------

  • Sandbox 6 Mar 2013 23:17:51 328 posts
    Seen 28 minutes ago
    Registered 7 years ago
    Umm, well that sucks.

    I always find choosing a motherboard a bit of a stab in the dark as there are 100's of the fucking things and only a handful ever get a full review.

    MSI H77MA-G43 H77 - about £58 on ebuyer/amazon

    This one seems ok, see if it fits your needs, better chip set (H77 vs H61) has a couple of SATA6's and 4 RAM slots.

    I have used a few MSI boards and they seem to be ok, to be honest I have had the most luck with cheap ASROCK boards, but I built a number of machines at work using MSI and they have been fine, just note this one has no optical out, if that's important.

    Gigabyte were always solid, but recently they seem to be having a few issues. Then again, my Asus board at home always tells me I have no CPU fan, and think I do as my wheezing Phenom would have caught fire by now.
  • DodgyPast 7 Mar 2013 02:26:21 7,866 posts
    Seen 4 days ago
    Registered 8 years ago
    2nd or 3rd revision ASUS boards have become my motherboard of choice.

    When they produce the first version for a new chipset they seem to fuck something up far too frequently but once they've fixed that they're solid as rock.

    Admittedly I normally budget 100 quid or so for the motherboard to guarantee I'll get something solid, motherboard failures are one of the hardest issues to diagnose.
  • Deleted user 7 March 2013 03:55:29
    My advice is get a mate like FluffyTucker and ask him to send you all his old stuff.
  • Phattso Moderator 7 Mar 2013 05:16:55 11,883 posts
    Seen 9 hours ago
    Registered 9 years ago
    OK sharpen the knives, PC fans, but I'm thinking of picking up one of the newer X51 machines from Dell/Alienware. They have a GTX660, an i7 and the only weakness for me is a lack of SSD.

    Bearing in mind...

    1) I lost patience and interest in building my own PC about five years ago, having been building my own since the 90s. Laziness plays a great part in this decision - I'd rather spend the time drinking.

    2) I can get the X51 for less than the UK price excluding VAT.

    3) It's a pain to source PC components online where I live and I'd rather avoid the faff of getting a local colleague to help out with the ordering.

    4) The smaller form factor matters to me. The LED lighting can do one though, obviously. I'm hoping it's quieter than your average PC.

    5) It's only for games, I'll stick with my Macbook for everything else.

    ...exactly how retarded would it be to go for the X51?

    What might be the alternatives? Is the GTX660 going to be severely outdated in a year's time? Is the X51 fundamentally flawed, or is the only argument against it that's it's overpriced and Dell are tossers?

    Have at me, people. Thanks in advance for any advice, and also for any interesting insults. :)
  • RunningMan 7 Mar 2013 08:02:27 2,187 posts
    Seen 4 hours ago
    Registered 7 years ago
    There a small form factor pc reviewed here. If you go to the reviews and order now it's at £899. Which is cheaper than the i7 X51, but you get an overclocked i5 in the pcspecialist one. Had friends use these guys and they said positive things.
  • RunningMan 7 Mar 2013 08:04:13 2,187 posts
    Seen 4 hours ago
    Registered 7 years ago
    Oh, if you do go for the dell, get it via quidco. You can possible get up to 11 % cashback and another 10% off. So that might swing it. Oops, missed you bit about the VAT. That is cheap then.

    Edited by RunningMan at 09:28:33 07-03-2013
  • Buztafen 7 Mar 2013 09:07:28 15,156 posts
    Seen 4 days ago
    Registered 5 years ago
    @Razz Aha! That's your fiancee is it. Should have guessed with kensei being in the name. :)

    I'll pick a 'goodun' out and get it posted today for next day delivery.
  • Phattso Moderator 8 Mar 2013 00:53:28 11,883 posts
    Seen 9 hours ago
    Registered 9 years ago
    @RunningMan cheers for the suggestion. I'm not in the UK, which presents something of a problem, but it's great to see another option against which to grade the X51's performance and value proposition.

    Belatedly realise I'd posted this in the budget PC thread, too. Sorry for the technical derail, folks! D'oh!
  • convz 8 Mar 2013 23:02:36 208 posts
    Seen 7 hours ago
    Registered 2 years ago
    For an occasional PC gamer, and someone who is very happy with Xbox 360 level graphics but has an interest in modding, would you guys recommend an i3 or an i5?
  • Carbon_Altered 8 Mar 2013 23:20:19 673 posts
    Seen 1 day ago
    Registered 6 years ago
    convz wrote:
    For an occasional PC gamer, and someone who is very happy with Xbox 360 level graphics but has an interest in modding, would you guys recommend an i3 or an i5?
    Pretty much anything is better than the 360 these days!

    You could go even cheaper than an i3 + graphics card and still beat the 360 every which way. But if you've got a bit more cash then just build to your budget.

    Edited by Carbon_Altered at 23:20:34 08-03-2013
  • convz 8 Mar 2013 23:26:59 208 posts
    Seen 7 hours ago
    Registered 2 years ago
    Thank you :) The i3 is very tempting then... thinking of putting it alongside 4 or 8GB RAM and maybe an ATI 7770 graphics card
  • richardiox 8 Mar 2013 23:31:31 4,976 posts
    Seen 6 hours ago
    Registered 9 years ago
    i3 2100 is pretty cheap and is doing well paired with my 6870. Arma2 is about the only game that makes me wish I got an i5 but all round it gives great performance.
  • convz 9 Mar 2013 10:54:32 208 posts
    Seen 7 hours ago
    Registered 2 years ago
    Thanks richard :)
  • Jetset_UK 13 Mar 2013 23:04:50 3,478 posts
    Seen 1 week ago
    Registered 10 years ago
    Hello hivemind.

    Anyways, I've been tasked with putting together a PC for a friends 12-year-old. He's a tight git, and I'm left with about £160 for the CPU, Mobo and RAM after all the other stuff he'll need.

    It'll be mostly used for Minecraft and as much gaming as possible for this budget.

    I'm out the PC building loop a bit, but I've been hearing that the AMDs are the way to go on this sort of budget.

    I've pencilled in the following

    AMD A10-5800K = 98.99
    MSI FM2-A55M E33 = 42.98
    4GB 1600MHZ = 23.99

    165.96 - a tad over

    If it helps, I have a old GPU sitting in a friends old PC that he doesn't use if that can help in anyway. Can't remember what it is now, but it cost about 90 quid off ebay about a year ago. My minds telling me a 9800GT but I'm not sure, I'll find out.

    Edited by Jetset_UK at 23:05:06 13-03-2013
  • RobTheBuilder 13 Mar 2013 23:21:46 5,845 posts
    Seen 2 minutes ago
    Registered 8 years ago
    For the cash that doesn't sound too bad.
    Just check the power consumption of the 9800gt versus the power unit you've got.

    Some old cards are quite thirsty

    That card is roughly comparable to the 5670 which I have, that plays all new games right now at low to medium detail.

    Edited by RobTheBuilder at 23:27:30 13-03-2013
  • Jetset_UK 14 Mar 2013 07:51:08 3,478 posts
    Seen 1 week ago
    Registered 10 years ago
    So would it be better to put that old card in it, rather than just use the on board graphics?   Does the on board graphics turn off when you use an additional card?
  • Goodfella 14 Mar 2013 08:13:24 2,017 posts
    Seen 4 hours ago
    Registered 8 years ago
    I'd put the 9800gt in, integrated graphics chips are poor.

    You'll need to go into the BIOS (you usually hold the delete key when booting up the PC) then go to the advanced tab -> chipset -> southbridge, and there make sure primary graphics adapter is set to PCIE-PCI-IGP.
  • Roddles 14 Mar 2013 08:20:16 468 posts
    Seen 12 hours ago
    Registered 3 years ago
    Also make sure you disable the onboard graphics in the bios, as onboards graphics will steal a portion of your RAM to function.
  • grey_matters 14 Mar 2013 08:20:50 3,075 posts
    Seen 4 hours ago
    Registered 7 years ago
    There'd be slight gains from the 9800gt but not that much really. I don't think I'd bother. Extra power consumption (100W) for no real gains. Get faster RAM and the onboard graphics will be fine.

    Edited by grey_matters at 08:26:23 14-03-2013
  • Roddles 14 Mar 2013 08:26:03 468 posts
    Seen 12 hours ago
    Registered 3 years ago
    Onboard graphics aren't fine at all for gaming. Faster RAM won't make it any more suitable.

    You're going to need a graphics card of some kind. At a minimum I'd suggest the AMD 7850, otherwise you might aswell just play on a console.
  • grey_matters 14 Mar 2013 08:37:04 3,075 posts
    Seen 4 hours ago
    Registered 7 years ago
    Roddles wrote:
    Onboard graphics aren't fine at all for gaming. Faster RAM won't make it any more suitable.

    You're going to need a graphics card of some kind. At a minimum I'd suggest the AMD 7850, otherwise you might aswell just play on a console.
    I suggest you read the initial query. A 7850 is not a consideration.
    While you are in reading mode, try a few articles on how the 5800K performs (particularly in relation to faster RAM) in games.
  • Roddles 14 Mar 2013 08:39:29 468 posts
    Seen 12 hours ago
    Registered 3 years ago
    Oh, good point. AMD's onboard GPU is considerably better than the Intel HD 4000. Fair enough.
  • Salaman 14 Mar 2013 09:17:10 16,605 posts
    Seen 2 hours ago
    Registered 9 years ago
    Roddles wrote:
    Onboard graphics aren't fine at all for gaming. Faster RAM won't make it any more suitable.

    You're going to need a graphics card of some kind. At a minimum I'd suggest the AMD 7850, otherwise you might aswell just play on a console.
    No you don't. I bought a system based on that exact same thing (AMD A10-5800K) 6 months ago.
    So far I've played Borderlands 2, Xcom, Just Cause 2 and Deus ex human revolution on it just fine.
    Max Payne 3 was OK but has recently started to crash the PC.

    So if he needs it for minecraft + "any game that will run" he should be fine with the on board card.

    Edited by Salaman at 09:18:25 14-03-2013

  • Page

    of 105 First / Last

Log in or register to reply