Guide - the Budget Gaming PC

Solitaire

They're Raidmax-es and they're exploding

There. Feel better now?

Darn it... wish the HD5670 appers soon so I have an excuse to try and drag this thread back on topic...

thewheel2.0

I intend to use it for PC gaming something like left 4 dead 2. Also i dont intend to build it until december so will these products be outdated?

Not too sure on the power supply is it a bit cheap?

Any other advice welcome!

Jock Strap

thewheel2.0 wrote: »

Not too sure on the power supply is it a bit cheap?

Best stick with Brand names to protect your componants! (and your ESB bill!)

Corsair CX400 is the likely candidate!

Effluo

thewheel2.0 wrote: »

I intend to use it for PC gaming something like left 4 dead 2. Also i dont intend to build it until december so will these products be outdated?

Don't get set on anything yet. As you never know what's gonna happen w/ prices n' gpu's.
By the looks of things l4d2 doesn't go much further graphics wise and even a 4850 would max it out at vhigh resolutions(although i am not suggesting you get one).
The pc you've built is quite high end(for l4d) and maybe you could save a bit if you went amd, do you have any other uses for this other than gaming?

Someone on this forum was singing xilence's praises but looking at it's price i can't imagine it could be that much better than the usual cheap psu...

thewheel2.0

Effluo wrote: »

do you have any other uses for this other than gaming?

I want to build this because my Macbook pro cant run l4d on any settings and its primary and probably only use is gaming.

Also I went for Core i5 cause I want to future proof the build, but if the core i5 is overkill should I go back to something like a core 2 quad to save money? (yes i did blow all my money on a Macbook so the cheaper the better:))

5uspect

Valve tend to set their performance footprint generously low compared to other Devs.
While L4D2 has larger maps and more detailed Zs than the first game I would imagine you won't need a major system to handle it.

Recommended:

• Supported OS: Windows® 7 / Vista / Vista64 / XP
• Processor: Intel core 2 duo 2.4GHz
• Memory: 1 GB for XP / 2GB for Vista
• Graphics: DirectX 9 compatible video card with Shader model 3.0. NVidia 7600, ATI X1600 or better
• Sound Card: DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card

Most games today don't use more than 2 cores. That said the i5 seems to be a good platform that should handle games quite easily over the coming years with the only main upgrade issue for the future being GPUs as ever.

Effluo

But if this is just solely for gaming and the cheaper the better... Then an AMD build is the way to go.

As the guy said hardly any games use more than 2 cores nevermind 4/8logical. Also future-proofing in a gaming cpu constitutes having a quad core. Anything more and it's just a bit silly(for the money paid)

And now, will there be any overclocking involved?
What screen will you be playing this on?

Solitaire

>€650 shipped isn't really a budget build... :P

But this, for a shade over €450 shipped, is



Yup, the HD4770 is back and until the HD5670 comes out its going to be a big element of sub-1080p budget builds thanks to the power requirement - or lack thereof

thewheel2.0

Ok so here is the latest revision:


I want to keep the case and GFX card regardless, but should i go with AMD or Intel?.. its more or less the same price to go with one or the other. EDIT: I thought that Intel are better for gaming?

Also i intend to run Win 7 on it because I'm loving RC1. Probly be running it on this http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B001PN68HU/ref=ord_cart_shr?_encoding=UTF8&m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE.

So what do ye think?

Solitaire

They're not common yet, but multithreaded games tend to suffer on even fast dual-cores. The AMD build has three CPU cores and an unlocked multiplier for easy OCing.

And that case is unreasonably expensive. Do you really need a case window and that many (unoccupied!) fan ports? :P If you wanted to blow over €75 on a case get the windowed version of the Xigmatek Midgard and three cheap 120mm fans to go with it (it starts with two reasonably quiet ones and a fan speed controller for three more ) Or go the whole hog and get a Mini-HAF, its not even that much more expensive! But all these options are utter overkill for a budget build IMHO.

If you do want a tri-core CPU and a HD4870 (for a Source game?!) you'll need a 550W PSU so that's another €30 to add to the bill. But in that case we're talking about a mid-range build anyway.

ewj1978

how about this on overclockers?

here with an HD4870 come in just over €550. any good?:)

thewheel2.0

Third time lucky:


Not so sure on the mobo and I'm not paying €500 to play l4d Il be playing other games too

Changed the case i want it to have esata and to look good!

And to the last poster.... wheres the fun in someone else building it for you?:D

Solitaire

You can stick a few added fans on the Midgard; even cheap nasty ones (well under €3 a pop on HWVS) can be kept quiet with the included fan control (very nice touch IMHO ). Oh, and that mobo is getting pretty dated now; if you want to run an AM3 CPU on an AM2 board I'd stick to the newer models (AMD 770/785); the one I had up earlier is brand new on the market and its AM3 cousin is known to be a great budget board (if you can be arsed getting DDR3, that is :P)

Otherwise its looking pretty good Bit tight on the PSU and you're better off with 1066MHz DDR2 for about €2 extra but that's about it

Oh, and if you're really mad get one white and one red CCFL for that case for SnG

thewheel2.0

If a mobo supports DDR3 is it backwards compatible with DDR2? Because then i could future proof it.

DDR3 Is making things slightly more expensive...is it worth it?

AlmightyCushion

thewheel2.0 wrote: »

If a mobo supports DDR3 is it backwards compatible with DDR2? Because then i could future proof it.

DDR3 Is making things slightly more expensive...is it worth it?

There is a small performance gain with DDR3 but I doubt you'd notice it.

thewheel2.0

Last and Final (hopefully ) revision.


Is the mobo ok? any disadvantages of using Micro ATX over ATX?

Changed case and graphics card the new one has HDMI so that's sorted!

Just saw that the max bus speed on mobo is 1000MHz compared to 2600MHz on other models...is this important?

Effluo

If you plan on gaming on that big full hd screen although the 4850 would give nice framrates with l4d and l4d2, you would be much better off going with at least a 4870 1gb as l4d really isn't that stressing and as you said you're not just paying €500 to play one game!

Also going with an AM3 mobo seems great considering you can use ddr3 for such a low price, but what you want to do with this thing is play games and the best way to improve a gaming build a lot of the time is to get a better gpu save on the ram and spend on the gpu!

You need to look at the psu too It might work fine for years to come, but it also might not. One thing i can guarantee however is that it'll cost a lot more on the electricity bill in the long run...

The case is nice... but also maybe a bit rich for you needs. If i were you and i needed a pc for gaming for around €500. This is what i would get tomorrow.


I'm really cutting it close with the psu... Especially if you change from a 4890 to a 4870 then you'll need a more expensive one (the 4890 uses less power than a 4870)

Here is an example of a full system power usage. This actually has a i7 965, 6g's of ram and other high power consuming components.
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/944/12/

340watts with an overclocked 4890 and i think that's from the socket!?
So although the psu will be stressed when under load the corsair should be able to handle it...
You could also do with a front case fan for around 3 euro

thewheel2.0

Effluo wrote: »

You need to look at the psu too It might work fine for years to come, but it also might not. One thing i can guarantee however is that it'll cost a lot more on the electricity bill in the long run...

Thanks for the advice im gonna go with that I think,
Ironicly the company that makes the PSU calls it there ECO range of PSUs
So your advice is to go with a brand name when it comes to PSUs?

Solitaire

Effluo wrote: »

You could also do with a front case fan for around 3 euro

The Midgard starts life with a front fan. And a back one. What it doesn't have is a top or bottom fan... or the other top fan (they're both 140mm) or the side fan... Fairly upgradeable so

thewheel2.0 wrote:

Last and Final (hopefully ) revision.

No... that's a step back...

CPU: Fine
Mobo: Horrible. A billionty-year-old nForce4 mobo made even more expensive by DDR3?! Ugh. Get an AM2 mobo with a decent chipset, please. Your games will thank you for it.
RAM: For a budget build you should really stick with DDR2 for the moment. DDR3 is too much money for very little benefit, especially for gamers where latency becomes king past PC8500...
Graphics: HD4850 1GB is a complete waste of time and money. If your money can stretch get a HD4870 1GB, otherwise get a HD4770 or even a HD4850 512MB.
HDD: Fine
Optical: Fine
PSU: Epic Fail. Its an old design with nearly 40% less 12V power than the CX400. And even that will be under a fair bit of stress when gaming with a 95W CPU and a 130W GPU in there! IMHO you should stick with the CX400, and if you really want the HD4870 look for a good 550W which will set you back around €70. Sucky but the smaller PSUs don't even have enough power connectors to run them...
Case: Fine. If budget is that critical get the HD4870 or HD4890 and a better PSU and drop down to a decent €30 case like one of the Coolermasters (that are actually in stock)

Moral of the story: Don't try budget gaming on a 1080p monitor! :P

thewheel2.0

Solitaire wrote: »

Moral of the story: Don't try budget gaming on a 1080p monitor! :P

Lol im sick of taking screen caps




Is the PSU ok? (only one question this time:p)

Effluo

I just don't know what they story is with psu's and connectors. The 4890 will more than likely ship with 2 molex to pci-e connectors and listening to others on this forum saying how the connectors work fine for them then i don't see the problem anymore... Although it is certainly a grey area.

The cx400 would have enough power for all those components. Those corsairs are supposed to run well enough right up to and beyond their stated wattage outputs.

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/750/8 (runs at 120% load with 78% efficiency)
the thing is with psu's and these builds is that, I wouldn't go on about "you only really need this power supply for this build" if there was only a small bit of evidence to support it, but these power ratings come right across the board... If the pci-e connectors work fine then i can see no reason to get a more expensive psu than the cx400


And when i was talking about the extra case fan i was referring to if getting the coolermaster in my build. soz if it wasn't so clear.

JackieChan

I've been planning to go with a 4870 as part of my new build(Pay day on 15th seems to be taking forever to come around!).
With the expected date of the 13th Oct for at least some of
the 57xx range to be unveiled should I keep an open mind on the 5770?
Would we expect prices on some of the 48xx stuff to drop around that date considering the 5770 is expected to be around the same price point as the 4870 now??
I know its all on rumours and little bits of info at the moment.So I suppose we will just have to wait for prices and benchmarks!
Would we expect etailers to have these in stock to order on 13th?

Solitaire

JackieChan wrote: »

Would we expect etailers to have these in stock to order on 13th?

Not in any great quantity... pre-order would be more like it :rolleyes:

Brian

How long do I have to wait for the i5 to become a bit more reasonable? I know the X3 720 is to go-to CPU in budget builds right now, but I can't help thinking that its spotlight is beginning to wane slightly.

leninbenjamin

Baza210 wrote: »

How long do I have to wait for the i5 to become a bit more reasonable? I know the X3 720 is to go-to CPU in budget builds right now, but I can't help thinking that its spotlight is beginning to wane slightly.

it'll probably be a year. the full range isn't even out yet

Zapp Brannigan

So for someone who knows next to nothing about pc components what would be the cheapest budget gaming machine run me? This would include an OS and everything, not just the tower?

Cheers

Brian

Hmm, people's definitions of "cheapest" and simultaneously acceptable can vary quite wildly. I'd say 500-700 for the PC, 50 for keyboard and mouse, 100-200 for monitor ... no idea how much Windows 7 costs though!

Zapp Brannigan

Yikes, a grand so? Looks like I won't get any RPG goodness for a long while!

Brian

Well it all depends on what you want to play. Do you not have anything at all? No monitor, keyboard, mouse?

Leman_Russ

Zapp Brannigan wrote: »

Yikes, a grand so? Looks like I won't get any RPG goodness for a long while!

A Grand is a little much, you can pick up a cheap AMD system very easily. I'll see if I can squirrel you a good setup for cheap :P

What's your overall budget?

And what kind of games you looking to play? That's the main factor really. No point getting Dual 5870's if all your doing is playing Solitaire :P