Budget Gaming PC for little brother

enfant terrible

1. What is your budget? [€450-500]

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? [Gaming/Internet] (COD, Assassins Creed, Football Manager)

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? [No]

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? [500gb Ext HD, Old Dell DVD-rw drive]

5. Do you need a monitor? [No]
Has a new LCD tv in bedroom think 720p


5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? [720p] [No]

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? [Keyboard/Mouse/Card Reader]
Can sound be played through tv speakers?

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? [No]

8. How can you pay? [Credit Card/Laser]

9. When are you purchasing? [This month]

Found this system in the budget gaming thread, what do yee think?
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=77616525&postcount=1348

Thank you

FlyingIrishMan

That build looks fine with a few small changes,
change the 6870 to a 7850, the 7850 is much better and around the same price.
And if you want to save a bit more the bitfenix merc is a great quality case too and almost 20euro cheaper.

MRTULES

maybe 3rd generation i5 like 3450??

Tij da feen

There's no HDD in that build.

Item|Price
8GB-Kit G.Skill RipJaws-X PC3-12800U CL9|€34.04
Seagate Barracuda 7200 500GB SATA 6GB's|€53.54
BitFenix Merc Beta|€32.20
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 550W|€54.98
ASRock B75M-GL, Sockel 1155, mATX|€52.38
Intel Core i3-3220 Box, LGA1155|€107.11
HIS HD 7850 GDDR5 1024MB DVI/HDMI/2xMini DP|€158.53
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€511.77

Here's a nice balanced system that will easily play games at 720p on decent settings with a nice framerate. Also make sure that the old DVD drive is SATA and not IDE... that's if you'll even need the DVD drive. The sound can be played through the speakers as long as you use HDMI.

enfant terrible

Tij da feen wrote: »

There's no HDD in that build.

Item|Price
8GB-Kit G.Skill RipJaws-X PC3-12800U CL9|€34.04
Seagate Barracuda 7200 500GB SATA 6GB's|€53.54
BitFenix Merc Beta|€32.20
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 550W|€54.98
ASRock B75M-GL, Sockel 1155, mATX|€52.38
Intel Core i3-3220 Box, LGA1155|€107.11
HIS HD 7850 GDDR5 1024MB DVI/HDMI/2xMini DP|€158.53
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€511.77

Here's a nice balanced system that will easily play games at 720p on decent settings with a nice framerate. Also make sure that the old DVD drive is SATA and not IDE... that's if you'll even need the DVD drive. The sound can be played through the speakers as long as you use HDMI.

Thanks guys great help.

Was gonna try and use the external HD, remove the hard drive from its case and install it.

Do I need a card reader or can I use the usb slots on the case?

Tij da feen

enfant terrible wrote: »

Thanks guys great help.

Was gonna try and use the external HD, remove the hard drive from its case and install it.

Do I need a card reader or can I use the usb slots on the case?

Card reader only if you need to be able to plug SD cards in.

The drive in that is most likely 5,400rpm and it wouldn't be very suitable as a boot drive, it would still work, just wouldn't be as fast as the one I listed. That said if you get rid of the HDD from that build upgrade the processor to a i5-3450

enfant terrible

Tij da feen wrote: »

Card reader only if you need to be able to plug SD cards in.

The drive in that is most likely 5,400rpm and it wouldn't be very suitable as a boot drive, it would still work, just wouldn't be as fast as the one I listed. That said if you get rid of the HDD from that build upgrade the processor to a i5-3450

Would the 5,400rpm HD be ok for gaming?

Would there be a big difference in gaming between the i3 and i5?

kneeelix

A friend passed this site on to me. Take your pick. Getting one from here myself. Enjoy http://www.envizage.com/categorylist/computers-gaming-intel-based/

* these are just towers and lack an OS but still great prices.

FlyingIrishMan

kneeelix wrote: »

A friend passed this site on to me. Take your pick. Getting one from here myself. Enjoy http://www.envizage.com/categorylist/computers-gaming-intel-based/

* these are just towers and lack an OS but still great prices.

Not exactly gaming builds though, great CPUs, and more RAM than needed, but a cheap, weak graphics card. Looks to be mainly the GT 520 AND THE 6450.

Jonny7

kneeelix wrote: »

A friend passed this site on to me. Take your pick. Getting one from here myself. Enjoy http://www.envizage.com/categorylist/computers-gaming-intel-based/

* these are just towers and lack an OS but still great prices.

Well the prices only reflect what you are paying for, which is a PC made with the cheapest possible parts. This can also be done on hardwareversand.de, however it's strongly recommended to spend the money and get quality branded power supplies, decent cases with good airflow and better motherboards.

Monotype

What about an AMD 5800K? It should run everything very well at 720P.

You could save and invest in an SSD/better harddrive? I can put together a list if you want.

spix

7850 is overkill for that resolution, 7770 would be ideal. also go for the lower wattage version of that psu, 550 is not needed.

enfant terrible

Monotype wrote: »

What about an AMD 5800K? It should run everything very well at 720P.

You could save and invest in an SSD/better harddrive? I can put together a list if you want.

Is a AMD 5800K better than the i3?

enfant terrible

spix wrote: »

7850 is overkill for that resolution, 7770 would be ideal. also go for the lower wattage version of that psu, 550 is not needed.

Would the games not run better on the 7850?

Monotype

The 5800K is from AMD's recently released APUs. It's got a powerful integrated graphics on the CPU chip.

An i3 would be better a good few as it is more powerful at single threaded applications. On the other hand, the i3 is just a dual core (with hyperthreading) and the AMD chip is a quad core (well, technically dual module, but that's another story - it still performs much as a quad core). So the AMD APU will still do fairly well against an i3, in general.

The big difference is the integrated graphics. Now, it wouldn't be as powerful as the cards above, but at 720P, it is sufficient for your needs. Reviews showed this chip capable of running nearly all games at 1920x1080 fairly well. The only exception I saw was BF3 where the frames were dipping under or around 30. At 1280x720, you are talking about less than half the pixels, so any games should run very well on it.

7850 is better than a 7770, but you'd already be running the games at maximum. The only thing you'd be getting is more frames and you won't see the difference in those beyond a point or the capability of the tv/monitor.

The reason why you'd go for the 5800K APU is cost. It's around the same price as an i3. You don't need a dedicated graphics card (although you can upgrade if you need to later). This leaves you another €100-200 for your pocket, or I would recommend that you get a good 128GB SSD like the Samsung 830 or Crucial M4 as well as good hard drive like the Western Digital 1TB Blue. Then you'd have a very capable speedy system with plenty of storage.

Edit: Oh yeah, and power consumption would be low too so you could scale back on the PSU more.

kneeelix

FlyingIrishMan wrote: »

Not exactly gaming builds though, great CPUs, and more RAM than needed, but a cheap, weak graphics card. Looks to be mainly the GT 520 AND THE 6450.

I should have said that I am not a gamer but on price comparisons for a computer to suit my own needs these guys blew me away. Certainly better than the high street and a 3 year warranty which can be nice. I suppose graphics are the last thing on my agenda though. They have a gaming pc section but that could just be to fool us novices who know nothing about gaming

enfant terrible

Tij da feen wrote: »

There's no HDD in that build.

Item|Price
8GB-Kit G.Skill RipJaws-X PC3-12800U CL9|€34.04
Seagate Barracuda 7200 500GB SATA 6GB's|€53.54
BitFenix Merc Beta|€32.20
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 550W|€54.98
ASRock B75M-GL, Sockel 1155, mATX|€52.38
Intel Core i3-3220 Box, LGA1155|€107.11
HIS HD 7850 GDDR5 1024MB DVI/HDMI/2xMini DP|€158.53
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€511.77

Here's a nice balanced system that will easily play games at 720p on decent settings with a nice framerate. Also make sure that the old DVD drive is SATA and not IDE... that's if you'll even need the DVD drive. The sound can be played through the speakers as long as you use HDMI.

Gonna order tonight, like the system above is ASRock B75M-GL, Sockel 1155, mATX ok or should i get the ASRock B75 Pro3, Sockel 1155, ATX if looking to upgrade to an i5 eventually?

http://lb.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=59305&agid=1601

Also, do i need a 550W power supply or is 450W ok?

Amirani

enfant terrible wrote: »

Gonna order tonight, like the system above is ASRock B75M-GL, Sockel 1155, mATX ok or should i get the ASRock B75 Pro3, Sockel 1155, ATX if looking to upgrade to an i5 eventually?

http://lb.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=59305&agid=1601

Also, do i need a 550W power supply or is 450W ok?

Haven't checked prices but if they're the same then get the ATX. Case will hold both but having the bigger mobo will give you better upgrade options.

enfant terrible

NiallSparky wrote: »

Haven't checked prices but if they're the same then get the ATX. Case will hold both but having the bigger mobo will give you better upgrade options.

There's about 25 quid in the difference, can the cheaper on take an i5?

Amirani

enfant terrible wrote: »

There's about 25 quid in the difference, can the cheaper on take an i5?

Yeah, it will take any 1155 processor. Only difference would be less PCI slots but that shouldn't matter too much.

tuxy

450 watt is fine.

The ASRock B75M-GL has only 2 slots for ram so both will be full with that ram set 2x4gb . It also has no hdmi.

The ASRock B75 Pro3 will make it easier to upgrade ram in the future and the hdmi means it's easy to connect it to a tv with can come in handy.

So you decide.

14 euro in the difference
http://lb.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?adp=0&aid=63544&agid=1603&apop=0
http://lb.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=59305&agid=1601

enfant terrible

NiallSparky wrote: »

Yeah, it will take any 1155 processor. Only difference would be less PCI slots but that shouldn't matter too much.

tuxy wrote: »

450 watt is fine.

The ASRock B75M-GL has only 2 slots for ram so both will be full with that ram set 2x4gb . It also has no hdmi.

The ASRock B75 Pro3 will make it easier to upgrade ram in the future and the hdmi means it's easy to connect it to a tv with can come in handy.

So you decide.

14 euro in the difference
http://lb.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?adp=0&aid=63544&agid=1603&apop=0
http://lb.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=59305&agid=1601

Cheers guys will go with the better motherboard so.

Have a 500GB external hard drive that I was gonna pull out of its case and use as drive for the pc.

If its only 5000rpm will the games still play ok on it?

Do I have to bust it out of its case can I install windows onto an external usb drive?

tuxy

enfant terrible wrote: »

If its only 5000rpm will the games still play ok on it?

That should work fine, if the hard drive is slow to read games will take longer to load but should play just fine when loaded.

Make sure the drive is sata too, I have an old drive about the same size that's ide which would need a converter if I was to use it in a new motherboard.

enfant terrible

tuxy wrote: »

That should work fine, if the hard drive is slow to read games will take longer to load but should play just fine when loaded.

Make sure the drive is sata too, I have an old drive about the same size that's ide which would need a converter if I was to use it in a new motherboard.

Cheers tuxy can you run windows off an ext hard drive? would save me ripping it open?

Is this 450W power supply ok for my system?
http://lb.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=30074&agid=1627

tuxy

It's probably possible but I would not recommend it. Even at 5000 rpm the usb connection would slow things down a lot.

tuxy

Yeah that's a good psu for the price, it will have room to spare with the system. None of the parts are power intensive.

enfant terrible

tuxy wrote: »

Yeah that's a good psu for the price, it will have room to spare with the system. None of the parts are power intensive.

Thanks again tuxy appreciate it.

Would you change anything?
http://lb.hardwareversand.de/basket.jsp

Seems my case is out of stock.

tuxy

No problem
You would have to list all parts. I can't see your basket, it's stored in your browser only.

enfant terrible

tuxy wrote: »

No problem
You would have to list all parts. I can't see your basket, it's stored in your browser only.

ASRock B75 Pro3, Sockel 1155, ATX
ready for dispatch

69,29 €


69,29 €
Article No. HV20G331DE
8GB-Kit G.Skill RipJaws-X PC3-12800U CL9
ready for dispatch

34,94 €


34,94 €
Article No. HV203BMBDE
BitFenix Merc Beta
Delivery date unknown

33,17 €


33,17 €
Article No. HV20I322DE
Intel Core i3-3220 Box, LGA1155
ready for dispatch

108,14 €


108,14 €
Article No. HV1025HYDE
HIS HD 7850 GDDR5 1024MB DVI/HDMI/2xMini DP
ready for dispatch

157,48 €


157,48 €
Article No. HVR450SADE
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 450W
ready for dispatch

42,28 €


42,28 €
Article No. HV206S1BDE
Samsung SH-118AB schwarz
ready for dispatch

13,33 €


13,33 €

notice basket Clear your basket

Factoring amounts at a glance

amount 458,63 € + Shipping costs + 4,99 € = funding base 463,62 €

tuxy

If you were going for the BitFenix Merc Beta then get the BitFenix Merc Alpha
Only difference is the Alpha has vents on the top to fit exta fans
http://lb.hardwareversand.de/Midi/50575/BitFenix+Merc+Alpha.article

enfant terrible

tuxy wrote: »

If you were going for the BitFenix Merc Beta then get the BitFenix Merc Alpha
Only difference is the Alpha has vents on the top to fit exta fans
http://lb.hardwareversand.de/Midi/50575/BitFenix+Merc+Alpha.article

Thanks tuxy think i'm sorted, what do you say at the bank i want to send a payment to hardwareversand.de for this amount?

tuxy

Also while that ram will work fine in the system this
http://lb.hardwareversand.de/1333+Low+Voltage/44315/8GB-Kit+G.Skill+PC3-10667U+CL9.article
For a little cheaper will do the same job. All other parts look fine to me.

When you make the order you will get an email,it went into my spam folder so check that if you can't find the mail. Print that off and bring it into the bank with you.

enfant terrible

tuxy wrote: »

Also while that ram will work fine in the system this
http://lb.hardwareversand.de/1333+Low+Voltage/44315/8GB-Kit+G.Skill+PC3-10667U+CL9.article
For a little cheaper will do the same job. All other parts look fine to me.

When you make the order you will get an email,it went into my spam folder so check that if you can't find the mail. Print that off and bring it into the bank with you.

tuxy your a star

The Black Oil

From memory, the email will probably include their bank account info such as their IBAN, BIC and Swift code - this is useful if you intend to do an international transfer via internet banking (or in branch), which is what I did. I ordered on Nov 9th, payment was received at their end on the 13th (over a weekend, tbf), goods were picked/packed and dispatched on the 14th. I got them via UPS on Monday (19th) - Germany > UK > Dublin.

enfant terrible

tuxy wrote: »

If you were going for the BitFenix Merc Beta then get the BitFenix Merc Alpha
Only difference is the Alpha has vents on the top to fit exta fans
http://lb.hardwareversand.de/Midi/50575/BitFenix+Merc+Alpha.article

The case tuxt recommended is not in stock.

Can anyone recommend me another one that will fit my parts below?



ASRock B75 Pro3, Sockel 1155, ATX
ready for dispatch

69,29 €


69,29 €
Article No. HV20G331DE
8GB-Kit G.Skill RipJaws-X PC3-12800U CL9
ready for dispatch

Article No. HV20I322DE
Intel Core i3-3220 Box, LGA1155
ready for dispatch

108,14 €


108,14 €
Article No. HV1025HYDE
HIS HD 7850 GDDR5 1024MB DVI/HDMI/2xMini DP
ready for dispatch

157,48 €


157,48 €
Article No. HVR450SADE
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 450W
ready for dispatch

42,28 €