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gaming pc for 500

Comments

  • #2
    Serephucus
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,181 ✭✭✭Serephucus


    Item|Price
    Total build cost: €426.34 + €30 shipping
    Intel Core i5-2400 Box, LGA1155|€168.98
    ASRock H61M/U3S3 (B3), Sockel 1155, mATX|€57.11
    8GB-Kit G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9|€30.59
    Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 550W|€52.68
    MS Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit SB-Version Englisch|€85.37
    BitFenix Merc Alpha|€31.61


    Same processor.
    Much cheaper motherboard (the only thing H67 gives you over H61 is RST)
    Cheaper RAM
    Cheaper PSU (Yes, 550W will be more than enough for virtually any GPU out there)
    Better case for the money.

    You've got room to play with here, so anything else you want?


  • #3
    Random
    Closed Accounts Posts: 19,080 ✭✭✭✭Random


    mobo - i looked up rst there on a quick google. its basically raid? if so then i dont care too much about raid anyway. this is micro atx rather than atx. its just a bit smaller?
    ram - will ram not make performance differences?
    psu - will this one be noiser than the corsair?
    case - the reason i picked the one that i did was because of psu location and the positioning of the hdd trays. i find its a complete mess in my current case and really wanted something that wouldnt be such a mess.

    as for anything else i want - a decent graphics card. obviously this is gonna be crucial to the overall thing but i was gonna put that off until the end of feb when i had more money and just use the onboard/cpu gfx for now and live without games until then.


  • #4
    Serephucus
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,181 ✭✭✭Serephucus


    Motherboard:
    RST, or Rapid Storage Tech. is Intel's answer to SSD capacity (Google if unsure about "SSD"). Basically you RAID (sort of) and SSD with a hard drive, and the SSD is used like a pagefile in Windows. The most-used data from the hard drive is kept on the SSD, so that it can be accessed quicker. This gives you about 90% of the performance of an SSD (for data on the SSD), and all the capacity of a hard drive.
    As regards mATX vs. ATX, yeah, it's just physically smaller. You won't have as many PCI/PCI-e slots, but if you don't need them, then it's no real loss. I can find an ATX version if you like, though it'll be a little more expensive.

    RAM:
    No. Simple-as. "Performance" RAM is nothing but marketing BS. It used to impact overclocks a little back in the day, but even then, it wasn't a big problem. Now-a-days, it's only capacity that matters.

    PSU:
    Couldn't tell you, I've never used these PSUs. They're just the cheapest high-quality ones. Again, I can find one that I know is quieter, but it'll cost more.

    Case:
    Same again. Here's a possibility.
    http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?adp=0&aid=49192&agid=631&apop=1


  • #5
    Random
    Closed Accounts Posts: 19,080 ✭✭✭✭Random


    case - why have you suggested that case now serephucus, its more expensive than the one i had?

    mobo - as it stands at the moment i have no expansion cards in my pc. the only one im likely to add is a pci tv card (assuming the one i have on a shelf somewhere is compatible with win7). im happy without rst for now.

    ram - point taken. ill do some more research and keep your suggestion there for now.

    psu - interested in recommendations and reasoning if you wouldnt mind.

    thanks


  • #6
    Serephucus
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,181 ✭✭✭Serephucus


    The main reason I've gone for that case, is it's the cheapest decent one that still has the management features you wanted. The one you linked to is actually quite good. My main problem with it would be the fans, and the hard drives. The fans probably aren't the quietest (Fractal Design is a company known for quiet stuff), and with your case, the hard drive would have to be screwed directly to the case vs. the caddies used in the FD case, which reduces vibrational noise.

    Tom's Hardware did a RAM test a while ago, showed at most, a 3% (I think) performance jump in one or two, out of about twenty scenarios, otherwise they were all identical.

    This     would likely (I haven't used them, but I would have if I'd found a place here that stocked them) PSU. This one is from the range I'm using, and I can tell you from experience (it's sitting three feet from me) I can't hear it, and that's with four 600RPM fans in my case, and nothing else.


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  • #7
    Serephucus
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,181 ✭✭✭Serephucus


    The main reason I've gone for that case, is it's the cheapest decent one that still has the management features you wanted. The one you linked to is actually quite good. My main problem with it would be the fans, and the hard drives. The fans probably aren't the quietest (Fractal Design is a company known for quiet stuff), and with your case, the hard drive would have to be screwed directly to the case vs. the caddies used in the FD case, which reduces vibrational noise.

    Tom's Hardware did a RAM test a while ago, showed at most, a 3% (I think) performance jump in one or two, out of about twenty scenarios, otherwise they were all identical.

    This     would likely (I haven't used them, but I would have if I'd found a place here that stocked them) PSU. This one is from the range I'm using, and I can tell you from experience (it's sitting three feet from me) I can't hear it, and that's with four 600RPM fans in my case, and nothing else.


  • #8
    Random
    Closed Accounts Posts: 19,080 ✭✭✭✭Random


    mobo - i need ata connection for my dvdrw. the asus one has it but the matx one you suggested doesnt seem to?

    ++ edit
    i suppose this sata dvdrw should work fine for 20.32 if i wanted
    http://www3.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=42993&agid=699


  • #9
    Serephucus
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,181 ✭✭✭Serephucus


    Yeah, this is a bit cheaper though, same specs.


  • #10
    Random
    Closed Accounts Posts: 19,080 ✭✭✭✭Random


    the dvdrw is so cheap i dont see how lack of ata will be a problem for me now. i dont have any ata hdd that i use on a regular basis. i have a spare ata dvdrw which i can connect via my usb adapter if i feel the need.

    i do like that fractal case. i like the way the trays slide out. i do tend to put hdd in and out a fair bit so i reckon this should be handy.

    what sorta performance are those onboard gfx going to provide for now?


  • #11
    Serephucus
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,181 ✭✭✭Serephucus


    Well, I could play Need for Speed: Most Wanted on medium with GMA 850 graphics, and they're only about 1/2 the power of HD 2000 graphics. That's about the best experience-driven statistics I can give you.

    This review should help with more recent stuff.


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