Yet another Gaming Build.... €900

SimpeSam

Hey Everyone,

I have come into a few euro recently and have decided to treat myself to a proper gaming system, there are a few games coming out [Skyrim ] that I would rather have on PC than on my PS3, also would like to play less demanding games such as CSS.

I would need a computer capable of playing new release games if possible.

Whilst not completely computer illiterate, I have to say I have never modified/built a computer of my own. Is it difficult? Too difficult for a novice?

There are a number of questions that spring to mind when choosing what I want...

Such as, do I get an i5, an i7 or an AMD Athlon or Phenom. No idea which is best value for money. :pac:

Or even GPU's, I have read good things about both the Nvidia GTX and AMD Radeon HD 60** series. But wouldn't know which would work best...or even if I should go for them at all! [Or if I could afford them ]

I would also need a monitor/keyboard/mouse included in the price.


Any help would be really appreciated,
I'm totally out of my depth here. lol

Thanks,
Sam

SimpeSam

Monotype wrote: »

Yes. You could build on the €650 system. You could easily fit a monitor, mouse and keyboard into €200. Don't buy your keyboard at HWV (German layout).
With the spare money you could upgrade the graphics card. An extra €50 would buy you a 6950/560ti. The 6950s have suddenly gone up in price so it looks like the 560ti is better value now.




Yes, all games at HD resolutions, but not really much above that.



It's like lego. Take your time and read the steps. It shouldn't be a problem. You'd have it done inside a day at a slow pace.



Not really. You do get the odd deal where someone is selling off a system that's only a few months old but technology depreciates so fast that you might as well buy the latest for gaming.

Just thought I'd move it to my own thread.

deconduo

Heres a sample one:

Total build cost: €855.79 + €30 shipping
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit (SB-Version) €74.51
8GB-Kit G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9 €31.61
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1000GB, SATA II (HD103SJ) €45.14
Samsung SH-222AB bare schwarz SATA €16.53
ASRock P67 Pro3 (B3), Sockel 1155, ATX €83.63
Intel Core i5-2500K Box, LGA1155 €175.58
Samsung SyncMaster B2430L €140.29
XFX RADEON HD 6950 800M 1GB DDR5 DUAL MINIDP HDMI DUAL DVI €198.84
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 550W €52.06
Xigmatek Asgard II Midi Tower - black/black, ohne Netzteil €32.26
Microsoft Optical Mouse 200 €5.34

Its got a monitor and mouse, but you need to get a keyboard somewhere else as all the ones from HWVS are German layout. Would you need a wireless card as well?

SimpeSam

Going to be getting a 50mb or 100mb UPC broadband line in soon enough.......
And it comes with a free wireless router, so ideally "Yes", but I have a sneaking suspicion a good enough one would be very pricey.

Monotype

Total build cost: €869.28 + €30 shipping
Intel Core i5-2500K Box, LGA1155|€175.58
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit (SB-Version)|€74.51
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1000GB, SATA II (HD103SJ)|€45.14
8GB-Kit G.Skill RipJaws-X PC3-10667U CL9|€37.08
Club3D Geforce GTX560 Ti, 1024MB|€184.66
Xigmatek Asgard III Midi Tower - black, ohne Netzteil|€32.91
MSI P67A-GD53 (B3), Intel P67, ATX, DDR3|€112.19
Acer S222HQLAbid Ultraslim LED|€131.58
Revoltec FightMouse Pro|€23.57
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 550W|€52.06

I have a vague recollection of someone saying that someone said this mouse was ok. You might like something else. You might like to move around the case and monitor depending on your own tastes. There's larger non-LED monitors for the same price.

SimpeSam

Thanks again to the pair of you.

I noticed you both opted for different GPU's,
Why one over the other?

deconduo

SimpeSam wrote: »

Going to be getting a 50mb or 100mb UPC broadband line in soon enough.......
And it comes with a free wireless router, so ideally "Yes", but I have a sneaking suspicion a good enough one would be very pricey.

Something like this should be fine:

http://www2.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=42568&agid=271

SimpeSam

"300 Mbps"

Should be more than adequate. :P

Monotype

SimpeSam wrote: »

I noticed you both opted for different GPU's,
Why one over the other?

The 6950 and the 560ti are very closely matched. The 6950 had a very slight edge overall last time I checked but it was the same price as the 560ti. The 6950s have gone up now and I don't really think it's worth that difference in money.

SimpeSam

Are these all compatible with one another, or is mixing and matching from both lists not a good idea?

Like, are they universal?

deconduo

SimpeSam wrote: »

Thanks again to the pair of you.

I noticed you both opted for different GPU's,
Why one over the other?

The 6950 is €15 more and about 5-10% better on average. They are both pretty good cards so it would depend on what games you would be playing with them. NVidia favoured games would be HawkX, DIRT2, Civ 5. The 6950 would be better for Crysis, Mass Effect 2, Wolfenstein, Metro 2033.

If you don't play any of those games its a bit of a tossup. I would probably stick with AMD as their driver support for their 6000 series has been a fair bit better than NVidia's so far, but really its much of a muchness.

Monotype

^^ Hmm... that reminds me that I still have Wolfenstein sitting in plastic for at least 6 months.

SimpeSam wrote: »

Are these all compatible with one another, or is mixing and matching from both lists not a good idea?

Like, are they universal?

Yeah, so long as you keep to the same processor socket (1155) and CPU. You can always post to check anyway.

Explore the site and see what else they have. Click on one of the mice and and select the list of mice in the menu on the left hand column to pick one that suits yourself.

SimpeSam

Cheers guys, you've been a great help.

Will keep you updated.


What kind of tools will I need for putting it together?
Anything in particular?

deconduo

SimpeSam wrote: »

Cheers guys, you've been a great help.

Will keep you updated.


What kind of tools will I need for putting it together?
Anything in particular?

A phillips screwdriver

SimpeSam

I'll have to check the tools drawer, but I'm pretty sure I could manage one of those.

Monotype

Phillips screwdriver.

Optional extras:
Anti-static wristband if you want to be extra safe.
Lint free cloths, thermal paste and Arcticlean or equivalent.
Multimeter.

SimpeSam

Also, what about in regards to Disk Drives and USB ports, etc?

Monotype

Like floppy disk drive? You'd have to buy one of those or salvage one from an old PC. You would need to watch out for compatibility of connections though.

Looks like I forgot a DVD drive in my build. I usually recommend the lite on on account of that the samsung drive I have is a bit noisy. On the other hand, it's almost never used so it doesn't make that much difference.
http://www2.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=44946

USB ports are on the motherboard itself. If you need more, you can usually get a few extra from headers on the board (depends on the individual board) or you can buy an additional card. How many do you think you'd need?

SimpeSam

I meant a CD-Rom, was just distracted.

Eh, 3-4 USB's at most I'd imagine.

In regards to the towers, do some have built in fans?

Monotype

DVD writers support CD-ROMs so you're fine.

All boards come with at least 4. If you pick a case with USB ports, you'll have to connect them to the board. Take a look at the pictures of the board and you can see how many are at the back. The blue ones are USB 3.

Most cases come with a few fans but you usually switch for quieter ones and add more.

SimpeSam

Hey folks,

Just wondering what kind of PSU I would need?
I don't think it's been accounted for yet.

Monotype

A (good quality) 550W is enough for a 560ti/6950 + overclocking + upgrades (excluding adding a second graphics card).

SimpeSam

I don't suppose a 500W would be enough?

You're talking E130+ for a 550W Case + PSU.

I'm a cheap fecker, I know.

deconduo

SimpeSam wrote: »

I don't suppose a 500W would be enough?

You're talking E130+ for a 550W Case + PSU.

I'm a cheap fecker, I know.

€80 for both

Case:
http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=32896&agid=631&lb

PSU:
http://www2.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=30069&agid=1628

SimpeSam

I thought that was a fan......I'm pretty sure I am mentally deficient.

Thanks for your patience guys.

SimpeSam

http://www2.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=43655&agid=1242
AMD Black Edition AMD Phenom II X4 975 processor

Now you guys were saying stick to LGA 1155 sockets, what is that in relation to?

What motherboard should I use for the build?

Thanks.

---

Never mind, figured it out.
And think I will go with the i5 after all, everywhere I look seems to say it is better than the PH ii x4 975....

kfish2oo2

Just a word of warning: I bought a cheap wireless card on the assumption that anything PCI would be better than a USB wireless receiver - and holy **** was I wrong. Even with the router just a few feet away and all drivers correct and up-to-date the PCI card was pinging at well over 300ms AT THE LOWEST, whereas my (very slightly) more expensive USB receiver was delivering a steady 45ms. Also the antenna placement at the back of the case is less than ideal - any shaped mental will interrupt the signal. If you can find one, get a card thats bundled with a antenna on an extension lead that you can mount on a wall or high shelf.

Monotype

2500K is considerably better than anything AMD has (except possibly an X6 in very select situations).

Re: Motherboard.
What do you want from a motherboard? - Firewire, eSATA, room for two graphics cards, the option of integrated graphics, high overclocking, specific size or a even a colour that you like?

Go to the search bar and type in P67 or Z68 for a list of compatible motherboards.

blehhhh

deconduo wrote: »

A phillips screwdriver

You will need more than that!

SimpeSam

Monotype wrote: »

2500K is considerably better than anything AMD has (except possibly an X6 in very select situations).

Re: Motherboard.
What do you want from a motherboard? - Firewire, eSATA, room for two graphics cards, the option of integrated graphics, high overclocking, specific size or a even a colour that you like?

Go to the search bar and type in P67 or Z68 for a list of compatible motherboards.

Hey Mono,

Yet again thanks for the reply.

I did a bit of research about Mobo's [:cool:], I was thinking I should probably get one with the ability for Crossfire/SLI, just in case I need to upgrade in the future....
Overclocking isn't essential but I'd be interested in experimenting...a little.

How does this set up look so far?
Is it all compatible?

8GB-Kit GSkill RipJaws-X PC3-10667U CL9 - RAM 37.08
IN WIN Griffin Midi Tower black/black, ohne Netzteil - Case 37.32
Intel Core i5-2500K Box, LGA1155 - CPU 175.58
HIS HD 6950 IceQ X Turbo GDDR5 2048MB - GPU 224,46
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1000GB, SATA II - HDD 45.14
Corsair GS Series, 600 Watt - PSU 67.11
ASRock P67 Extreme4 (B3), Sockel 1155, ATX - MoBo 128.51
LG FLATRON E2341T - Monitor 140.48



Cheers

SimpeSam

kfish2oo2 wrote: »

Just a word of warning: I bought a cheap wireless card on the assumption that anything PCI would be better than a USB wireless receiver - and holy **** was I wrong. Even with the router just a few feet away and all drivers correct and up-to-date the PCI card was pinging at well over 300ms AT THE LOWEST, whereas my (very slightly) more expensive USB receiver was delivering a steady 45ms. Also the antenna placement at the back of the case is less than ideal - any shaped mental will interrupt the signal. If you can find one, get a card thats bundled with a antenna on an extension lead that you can mount on a wall or high shelf.

Thanks for the input Fish,

Have you got any reasonably priced recommendations? :pac:

kfish2oo2

Unfortunately no - I just ended up sticking with the USB receiver :P Just avoid Zyxel like the plague - that was the brand of card I had the bad experience with.

Monotype

If you're going down the crossfire route, get the XFX 650W for the same price. This should handle two 6950s.
http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=39875