Gaming Rig - How To Build?

conormurphy

So basically I am ordering everything on this list so far:

[FONT=&quot]COMPUTER CASE - [/FONT][FONT=&quot]COOLER MASTER Elite 33(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119115) (€25.73)[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]MOUSE - [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Ultra Mini Mouse Chromatic[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot](http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/-/708/916/-/728578/Ultra-Mini-Mouse-Chromatic/Product.html?searchtype=genre) (€11.49)[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]GRAPHICS CARD - [/FONT][FONT=&quot]NVIDIA GeForce 7300GT/512 MB/PCI Express X16[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot](http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/-/668/875/-/5173050/Play-Value-Geforce-7300GT-512MB-PCI-Express-X16-Graphics-Card/Product.html?searchtype=genre) (€46.49)[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]RAM - [/FONT][FONT=&quot]OCZ 2GB DDR2 PC2-6400 800 MHz/Gold Gamer eXtreme XTC Revision 2 Dual Channel Memory[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot](http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/-/704/911/-/3433909/OCZ-2GB-DDR2-PC2-6400-800MHz-Gold-Gamer-eXtreme-XTC-Revision-2-Dual-Channel-Memory/Product.html?searchtype=genre) (€46.99)[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]KEYBOARD - [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Labtec Standard Keyboard Plus[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot](http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/-/716/924/-/689086/Labtec-Standard-Keyboard-Plus/Product.html?searchtype=genre) (€8.49)[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]MOTHERBOARD - [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Gigabyte GA-945GCM-S2L[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot](http://www.commentcamarche.net/guide-achat/gigabyte-ga-945gcm-s2l-1041931-avis-opinions.php3) (€43.00)[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]CPU - [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 Allendale 2.2 GHz 2M shared Dual Core Processor[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot](http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115031) (€76.60)[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]HARD DRIVE - [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Samsung 500 GB SATA II HD501LJ 16mb Cache HDD[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot](http://www.shoppingsquare.com.au/product.php?id=686) (€57.20)[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]SOUND – [/FONT][FONT=&quot]SENNHEISER PC 166 USB 3.5 MM[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot](http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826106164) (€57.29)[/FONT]

Any tips? Can I have information on how to actually put it together? Is there any vital components missing?

Conor

Total Price = €373 + €80 for postage

AlmightyCushion

You're missing a power supply.

Sqaull20

This is a pretty good guide..

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055014760

I like this channel on youtube too, plenty of good videos..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldJNp6wdfqI

Most common mistake when building for the first time is not putting those screws between the case and motherboard, so that motherboard isnt accualy lying on the case..

Building a pc is dead easy, give yourself a few hours free when building and dont panic if it doesnt boot the first time..

Sqaull20

Good psu here for 60 delivered...

http://www.memoryc.com/pccomponents/powersupplies/ocz500wstealthxstreamuk.html

Bit ott for your spec, but you may get a powerful grapjics card in the future..

Keggers

I would seriously consider upgrading your graphics card to a DX10 capable one

TerrorFirmer

You need a far better video card for a gaming rig, that one is not only old; but was a budget card even a few years ago. Would be OK for older games like Source, Battlefield 2 etc at high settings, but assuming you'll be looking at the latest games, you need to be spending at least 120-ish quid on your video card to make it worthwhile as a gaming machine. Examples - 8800GTS 320MB OC from Komplett for E125 - Sparkle 9600GT E105 on Hardwareversand - 8800GS 384mb E110 on Komplett. In a bit of a rush so don't have time to link, but those are the general best cards for performance class on a budget. If you really can't stretch the budget, drop some items to make it - getting a brand new 'gaming' machine that struggles through the latest games at low-ish settings isn't exactly ideal.

Newegg don't ship here either. I assume you're not ordering all these parts from individual sites, would end up costing a fortune in postage. Cheapest thing is to get them all from Hardwareversand if you're buying from overseas.

mordeith

conormurphy wrote: »

So basically I have everything ordered on this list so far:

[FONT=&quot]MOUSE - [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Ultra Mini Mouse Chromatic[/FONT]

Why have you gone for a notebook mouse? Surely if you're using the build as a gaming rig you should go for a gaming mouse?

TerrorFirmer

I play FPS games and use a small compact mouse....I actually find them better. I think it cost 10 euro.

L31mr0d

do you live in the states? Can you get stuff shipped to Ireland from the states?

An easier option would be to give us your budget and tell us what you want your PC to run and do.

Also list any items you MUST have and why you need them.

jimmy2180

If you are wanting to use this PC for high end gaming, I would recommend getting a better graphics card. As said before better getting a directx 10 card.
My recommendation would be Nvidia 8800 GTS 640MB. It will run games like Crysis and COD 4 taking full advantage of the limited improvements with DX10 (Particle affects and lighting are amazing on DX10).

TerrorFirmer

jimmy2180 wrote: »

If you are wanting to use this PC for high end gaming, I would recommend getting a better graphics card. As said before better getting a directx 10 card.
My recommendation would be Nvidia 8800 GTS 640MB. It will run games like Crysis and COD 4 taking full advantage of the limited improvements with DX10 (Particle affects and lighting are amazing on DX10).

That doesn't make a whole lot of sense, the card is about 2 years old and has been replaced by several classes of cards - G92 8800GTS, 9800GTX, even 8800GT in some situations. COD4 doesn't even utilize DX10 either...

But we'll wait for the budget and intentions, though it has already been established that it's a gaming orientated machine.

jimmy2180

Are we not getting off topic with budgets. The original poster wanted help in building the PC as the components are already bought.

The graphics card advice was in relation to it being a Gaming Rig at a budget due to the original amount the poster has already spent.

TerrorFirmer

Considering the 640mb GTS generally costs more then the superior G92 8800GTS with those retailers that have stock and often, also the far superior 9800GTX, it still doesn't make much sense, budget or not.

But yes you're right, it seems he has already bought these items, I didn't notice that myself. Nothing inherently wrong with any of them, just the video card is a terrible choice for modern gaming.

mordeith

No mention of a monitor or OS. I presume the OP has these already though.

conormurphy

L31mr0d wrote: »

An easier option would be to give us your budget and tell us what you want your PC to run and do.

Also list any items you MUST have and why you need them.

Ok, I'l give you guys a list of what I would like and also my budget.

Firstly, I want a Graphics Card that will play games from 2006 and below on High Settings. Basically, I don't really want to play current games such as Crysis, I usually get my games off the €14.99 shelf in Game so I want to be able to play games like Battlefield 2, Call Of Duty 3 and maybe Microsoft Flight Simulator X at full settings. I'm guessing that I would be safe going with at least a 512 MB card but whatever you guys think.

For the processor, I want 2.2 GHz, Core 2 duo, the Intel one there seemed pretty ok to me.

I want at least 2 GB RAM some of the Generic RAM seem good but if anyone has any recommendations then hit me.

I want a decent hard drive doesnt have to be massive, I would probably be ok with 160 GB but if anyone knows any good deals...

Obviously I want a decent Motherboard, I don't really know much about them so if you know what ones are good. A Motherboard with 2 PCI-Express slots might be good but im guessing that will be very dear...

For the case, I want something that looks slick, the one I mentioned is ok for me tbh unless you can recommend a better one and why.

If you guys can tell me a mouse better than the one I mentioned and still stay within my budget, please do.

Oh and I want a 500 Watt Power Supply at least.

My budget is about €300-€400 and then I odnt know how much for postage really.

Thanks again, Conor

TerrorFirmer

conormurphy wrote: »

Firstly, I want a Graphics Card that will play games from 2006 and below on High Settings. Basically, I don't really want to play current games such as Crysis, I usually get my games off the €14.99 shelf in Game so I want to be able to play games like Battlefield 2, Call Of Duty 3 and maybe Microsoft Flight Simulator X at full settings. I'm guessing that I would be safe going with at least a 512 MB card but whatever you guys think.

Ok, even for those games, a 7300GT isn't overly spectacular. I'd aim for a comfortable middle ground, something sufficient to play those games at maximum quality but with sufficient horsepower to play the latest games at reasonable settings if you opt to do so. Something like this, still very cheap but a lot more grunt. the 512mb doesn't really come into it - only the more powerful cards can utilize 512mb of memory, 7300 class cards certainly cannot.

For the processor, I want 2.2 GHz, Core 2 duo, the Intel one there seemed pretty ok to me.

What you want to use the machine for doesn't call for an overly powerful processor, so in that regard you're fine. I think FSX is reasonably CPU intensive though, so what you can do is plan out a basic machine, and work from there to see what can be changed or increased at the expense of other parts.

I want at least 2 GB RAM some of the Generic RAM seem good but if anyone has any recommendations then hit me.

A cheap 2gb set will be fine for your uses, and if you're not overclocking. For example.

I want a decent hard drive doesnt have to be massive, I would probably be ok with 160 GB but if anyone knows any good deals...

I'm the same, I never need big hard drives in my builds so I save quite a bit of money on that. I just get something like this. I don't use much space; so I'd rather 250gb for 40 then 500gb for 55.

Obviously I want a decent Motherboard, I don't really know much about them so if you know what ones are good. A Motherboard with 2 PCI-Express slots might be good but im guessing that will be very dear...

Sli is only really useful when using high end video cards, therefore, if you're only going to be using cheap video cards and playing older games, it's not really a concern. If you're not overclocking, and are only interested in a machine at stock settings, then the motherboard isn't a critical choice. I would get something like this, a good compromise between cheap and functional, though you could go even cheaper if you wanted - this assuming you're not one for features or overclocking - and get something like this.

For the case, I want something that looks slick, the one I mentioned is ok for me tbh unless you can recommend a better one and why.

This is a good investment; nice attractive case and solid power supply in one well priced package.

If you guys can tell me a mouse better than the one I mentioned and still stay within my budget, please do.

Some people swear by certain mice; I use a bog standard optical one and love it, have tried 'gaming' mice but didn't like them even after prolonged use. I wouldn't worry about it too much, and it's one of those things you can come back to later.

Oh and I want a 500 Watt Power Supply at least.

Would come with the case above.

My budget is about €300-€400 and then I odnt know how much for postage really.

I've suggested things above with this small budget in mind. It's better to buy from the one place, or else you'll spend half your budget on postage costs for various items.

conormurphy

Thanks for the help man. The whole package came to €367.01, what will the postage be from that site?

Also, will this play BF2142 or Half Life 2? Recommendations of other games that'll work well?

TerrorFirmer

Yeah that'll play Half Life 2 and BF2142 at high settings without any issues. But see here's already the problem; you're asking what other games will work well despite already saying you only play old games. The card will run Call of Duty 4 and Assassins Creed at medium-high settings at a normal resolution for example, but if you want to play anything that takes your fancy at reasonably high quality levels - fully expected of a new gaming orientated machine - you'll have to shell out. And again, for a brand new gaming machine, if you think think you'll be playing newer games, an 8600GT is a weak choice.

Games that'd work, however, at high, or at least relatively high, settings:

Half Life 2
Battlefield 2/2142
Bioshock
Quake IV
Unreal Tournament 3
Team Fortress 2
Company of Heroes

As examples.

conormurphy

what i meant was kind of games from a few years back that are good yano, thanks for the help, how much would the postage be from that site?

Sqaull20

If you made your budget €500 ex postage you would get a far better pc..

I would go with a much better video card like Terror has said, has to be a new game coming out you will play?

I would get the E7200 for a €25 more, its new tech, runs cooler and faster..



Comes to €520 including delivery..

Well worth the extra 100 imo..

Lovely system for overclocking too, fast cpu, good board, quailty ram..

skuzzb

As usual..... + 1 to Squalls build.....think i know who im asking to check my next build

Your much better off saving up for another while as the difference of a few quid at the low end has much for value per € than at the high end.....having 550 instead of 400 would give you a huge boost and you might even get another year out of the system if you're on budget games!

And this is the cheapest build I can come up with that can play games.....not sure how long it would last though....
Ok €334

Intel Pentium Dualcore E2160 "Box", LGA775
50,26 €
ASRock Conroe1333-D667, Sockel 775, mATX
31,31 €
Club3D 9600GT OC, 512MB, NVIDIA Geforce 9600GT, PCI-Express
128,36 €
Samsung SH-S203D bulk schwarz
23,19 €
Samsung HD250HJ, 250GB 7200, 8 MB Cache, NCQ S-ATA II
36,99 €
Jet Delta mit 400W-Netzteil
31,81 €
2048MB-Kit OCZ DDR2 PC2-6400 Platinum Revision 2 Dual Channel, CL4
33,03 €

add another 30 for delivery from www.hardwareversand.de

conormurphy

skuzzb wrote: »

As usual..... + 1 to Squalls build.....think i know who im asking to check my next build

Your much better off saving up for another while as the difference of a few quid at the low end has much for value per € than at the high end.....having 550 instead of 400 would give you a huge boost and you might even get another year out of the system if you're on budget games!

And this is the cheapest build I can come up with that can play games.....not sure how long it would last though....
Ok €334

Intel Pentium Dualcore E2160 "Box", LGA775
50,26 €
ASRock Conroe1333-D667, Sockel 775, mATX
31,31 €
Club3D 9600GT OC, 512MB, NVIDIA Geforce 9600GT, PCI-Express
128,36 €
Samsung SH-S203D bulk schwarz
23,19 €
Samsung HD250HJ, 250GB 7200, 8 MB Cache, NCQ S-ATA II
36,99 €
Jet Delta mit 400W-Netzteil
31,81 €
2048MB-Kit OCZ DDR2 PC2-6400 Platinum Revision 2 Dual Channel, CL4
33,03 €

add another 30 for delivery from www.hardwareversand.de

Thanks for the help man I'll take a look at it.

I think though that I will buy all my stuff on Komplett.ie and play.co.uk (free delivery from the latter)

Someone told me http://www.pcwb.ie/ is also good? What is the shipping cost from Komplett like?

AlmightyCushion

I think you have to be vat registered to buy from pcwb.ie

conormurphy

Yeah he said something like that, didnt know what he meant though

Sqaull20

Play.com dont ship hardware here either..

AlmightyCushion

conormurphy wrote: »

Yeah he said something like that, didnt know what he meant though

You need to be a business basically. I'd go with hardwareversand if I was you.

skuzzb

Dont think you can buy hardware from play.com either tbh....just use harwareversand! Youll save as much as your shipping will cost and they are reliable!

conormurphy

OK thanks I'll try them, thanks!

Sqaull20

Or if you are really broke, have no OS and not into overclocking at all..

Dell Vostro 200

http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?b=&c=ie&cs=iebsdt1&kc=D4X20003&l=en&m_30=138820&oc=D052011&rbc=D052011&s=bsd

Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core E2180 Processor (2.00GHz,800MHz,1MB cache)
Genuine Windows® XP Professional - English
1Yr Basic Warranty - Next Business Day Included - No Upgrade Selected
No 17" Monitor
2048MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x1024]
160GB (7200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive with 8MB DataBurst™ cache
Integrated Intel® Graphic Media Accelerator X3100
16x DVD +/- RW Drive
Dell™ Entry Quietkey USB Keyboard - UK/Irish (QWERTY)
Dell 2 Button USB Optical Mouse

€252 delivered..

8800gs €90

http://www.dabs.ie/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4XZC&CategorySelectedId=11137&PageMode=1&NavigationKey=11137,43990000

somakasvh

Pretty similar to Squall20's komplett build above but for €465 incl delivery

its got a 45nm Core 2 Duo and a 8800GTS
also got an Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro which should give you a nice overclock on that CPU

gamer

i have the 7300 pci e card in my pc,i can play cod4, crysis etc, i have to go into advanced settings, knock,off reflections,water ,sky,aa etc so i basically play cod4 at medium graphics settings ,so it certainly plays 2006 games ok,if you are a casual gamer,i mostly buy 360 console games so it,s ok for my pc gaming.
OBviously theres alot faster graphics cards avaidable now.

conormurphy

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=346537

Is this a good card? How much would shipping be?

TerrorFirmer

No not really, the 8600GT would be a better choice at a tenner cheaper. I think postage is between 10-12ish euro.

If you're buying from Hardwareversand, this is factory overclocked and even cheaper again. Postage is high for individual items, so not worth it if you're not buying your system there.

If you're absolutely positive you won't be playing the latest games then the 8600GT excels at most 2007 releases downwards.

conormurphy

No what I mean is, can I buy say 6 items (case, ram, graphics etc.) but put them together myself, or do they put the order together for you?

TerrorFirmer

Did we not answer that already?

You can buy whatever you like there; they will only build it if you specifically pay them too. It's E20. My comment above when I said not worth it if you're buying your system there referred to you buying the components, not specifically a built computer. If you were only buying one item, postage would still be the same, negating the value.

conormurphy

Haha, thanks I understand now... Has anyone bought the components from them before, not built?

Are they packaged separately or all together?

tramoredude

oh dear...

The parts come individually packaged, shipping is 12 euro for small items and will grow to 25 euro or so if you are buying a lot of stuff. Just buy the Vostro 200 and put an 8800gs in it. Its the cheapest and easiest option and its one of the fastest that was spec'd too.

conormurphy

Right I think I've basically got the build I want in this here:

Graphics Card MSI GeForce 8600GT 256MB OC GDDR3, PCI-Express
Computer Case Antec Sonata Miditower III, Black w/500W PSU
Hard Drive [FONT=&quot]Samsung SpinPoint T166 320GB SATA2 16MB 7200RPM
Motherboard ABIT Fatal1ty F-I90HD, ATI RX1250, DDR2 Socket-775
Memory Corsair TWIN2X 6400 DDR2, 2048MB CL5 Kit
Processor Intel Pentium Dual Core E2200 2.2GHz, Socket LGA 775

The total price of that build including postage is €436. Seems pretty good to me.

It will play on high settings:

Half Life 2
Call Of Duty 4
Team Fortress 2
Counter Strike
Unreal Tournament 3
Doom 3
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

And other games such as though, once I can do that kind of thing im good. I have a laptop for internet and the such
[/FONT]

skuzzb

Rubbish GFX you need anything above 8800 series.... and Rubbish Motherboard there.

New build below go with that, the dell+8800gs option or an xbox360....

Sqaull20

Go with Skuzzb's build, its way better

skuzzb

Wow managed to get it down further!

MSI P6N SLI V2, Sockel 775 nForce650i SLI, ATX
63,49 €
Sparkle 9600GT, 512MB, PCI-Express
106,06 €
Antec Sonata III, ATX, 500 Watt
96,22 €
Samsung SH-S203D bulk schwarz
23,78 €
Samsung HD250HJ, 250GB 7200, 8 MB Cache, NCQ S-ATA II
36,27 €
2048MB-Kit OCZ DDR2 PC2-6400 Platinum Dual Channel, CL4
35,63 €
Intel Pentium Dualcore E2160 "Box", LGA775
49,90 €
Sum: 411,30 €
Total 431.30 delivered.....order that and get back to us when you need help building!

Sqaull20

Fan for the cpu?

skuzzb

Fixed! Only an extra 5 quid.....nicely spotted squall!

conormurphy

skuzzb wrote: »

Wow managed to get it down further!

MSI P6N SLI V2, Sockel 775 nForce650i SLI, ATX
63,49 €
Sparkle 9600GT, 512MB, PCI-Express
106,06 €
Antec Sonata III, ATX, 500 Watt
96,22 €
Samsung SH-S203D bulk schwarz
23,78 €
Samsung HD250HJ, 250GB 7200, 8 MB Cache, NCQ S-ATA II
36,27 €
2048MB-Kit OCZ DDR2 PC2-6400 Platinum Dual Channel, CL4
35,63 €
Intel Pentium Dualcore E2160 "Box", LGA775
49,90 €
Sum: 411,30 €
Total 431.30 delivered.....order that and get back to us when you need help building!

Sound man, what site is that? Do the parts come packaged individually or all together?

skuzzb

www.hardwareversand.de order and do the bank transfer and in about 10 days when it arrives you can build it yourself, its like a lego kit with 7 parts but ya can only slot the parts into one place and its worth learning how to do it....theres a million guides on the internet including youtube.

Everything will come in its own box and each of those boxes will be contained in a larger box which will come in a van to your door.

If you want it built add an extra 20 quid....in all this were assuming you have an operating system already sorted out....

conormurphy

Yea how do I sort out the OS? Do I just stick in the XP PRO cd and boot from cd?

Sqaull20

Yeah thats it..

You may have to go into the bios and change boot sequence from hard drive to cd..

mordeith

I presume this is a new XP cd and not one that came with your laptop? You can't use the same CD to install XP on two different machines (correct me if I'm wrong).
Also, have you a monitor?

MooseJam

conormurphy wrote: »

I usually get my games off the €14.99 shelf in Game

yea me too mostly, most games find their way to that shelf, it may take a few months but they get there

conormurphy

How is that build? remember I only want it for battlefield 2, half life 2 etc.

Sqaull20

Change cpu, mobo and graphics

8800GS €89

http://www3.hardwareversand.de/3/articledetail.jsp?aid=19899&agid=394

Gigabyte GA-P31-DS3L €50

http://www3.hardwareversand.de/3/articledetail.jsp?aid=18279&agid=659

E2180 €52

http://www3.hardwareversand.de/3/articledetail.jsp?aid=17478&agid=398

Its now a cheaper faster pc, with a better mobo..