Guide - the Budget Gaming PC

dkmedia

Solitaire wrote: »

The Zen is nice but really not very good for airflow Pix still has the NZXT Gamma for under €40 and the Antec 200 for a couple of quid more; both are far superior cases.

Agreed, but cant really argue with the price and looks. Has to be the best case for under €30 though. Only €41.73 for the Antec 200. Just keeping in mind though that he said:

low budget gaming/entertainment pc rig

Lu Tze

dkmedia wrote: »

>>Pixmania have a deal at the moment<<

http://www.myvouchercodes.co.uk/discounts/pixmania.ie

15% off for baskets over €400, valid until the 23rd of March. Could end up saving you a lot of money. They accept Laser, Paypal and Credit Card.

http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/great-deals/cmr1_cmp2638_cm.html?srcid=7570

Unfortunately it is €15 off over €400...

Solitaire

^ ......ouch.

And I don't see why the case has to come under €30 in a budget build. Sure, back in the day there was reason - it was a CM330 Elite for €30-odd and then nothing until you reached the Antec 900 at €110+ :eek: But now we not only have the Antec 300 for €50-odd but also the Antec 200, NZXT Gamma, Thermaltake M3 Black... cases with modern internal layouts, dorsal exhausts, cable routing and even painted interiors for well under €45. The Elite and the Zen were awesome cases for their time but time has moved on and both Akasa and CM are urgently in need of a product refresh at the low-end

thewheel2.0

Solitaire wrote: »

^ ......ouch.

And I don't see why the case has to come under €30 in a budget build. Sure, back in the day there was reason - it was a CM330 Elite for €30-odd and then nothing until you reached the Antec 900 at €110+ :eek: But now we not only have the Antec 300 for €50-odd but also the Antec 200, NZXT Gamma, Thermaltake M3 Black... cases with modern internal layouts, dorsal exhausts, cable routing and even painted interiors for well under €45. The Elite and the Zen were awesome cases for their time but time has moved on and both Akasa and CM are urgently in need of a product refresh at the low-end

I went for the coolermaster cause its a screwless case and as far as i know the rest you recommended arent. Not that I cant handle a few screws but it just makes life easier:D

I probly should have mentioned that the most graphics intensive games in my steam games list is Left 4 Dead 2, Team Fortress 2, stalker and maybe torchlight. So Im not sure il need the 5770 (it makes it faily expensive and i can always upgrade it later?)?

dkmedia

Lu Tze wrote: »

http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/great-deals/cmr1_cmp2638_cm.html?srcid=7570

Unfortunately it is €15 off over €400...

damn, I knew 15% seemed too good to be true. Still €15 off isnt too bad.

I probly should have mentioned that the most graphics intensive games in my steam games list is Left 4 Dead 2, Team Fortress 2, stalker and maybe torchlight. So Im not sure il need the 5770 (it makes it faily expensive and i can always upgrade it later?)?

Well given the games you play the hd 5750 should be fine, the hd 4850 is gone cheap enough too:http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/2542721/art/sapphire-technology/radeon-hd-4850-512-mb-gdd.html or the 1gb version http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/1434695/art/sapphire-technology/radeon-hd-4850-1-gb-gddr3.html

The hd 5750 has its advantages though namely dx 11 & lower power consumption.

You can easily upgrade the gpu at a later stage. I'd nearly go for the 512mb hd 4850 for €88 and upgrade when the hd 5xxx series price falls or when Nvidia releases its new cards, or wait for the hd 6xxx series cards. I dont think that the hd 5750 is worth the extra €€ over the hd 4850.


If you really need to cut the price, you could go with the hd 4670 http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/1637126/art/sapphire-technology/radeon-hd-4670-512-mb-gdd.html its just over €60 but you would have to lower the details in games especially newer ones, but its a great card for the price. This card could fit the bill for now but you'd probably want to replace it when you get enough money. I'd advise against it though if you have the money.

For €72 the hd 5670 is available http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/4900997/art/sapphire-technology/radeon-hd-5670-hm-512-mb.html its a step up from the hd 4670 but still isn't the greatest card. Its worse than the hd 5750.

Lu Tze

dkmedia wrote: »

damn, I knew 15% seemed too good to be true. Still €15 off isnt too bad.

I got a bit of a shock when i loaded up the cart and went to buy :eek:
(had decided to forgo buying second hand on adverts when i saw the discount!)

Wats_in_a_name

Hey Guys,

Basically I am looking for a Gaming PC for €350-€400 cheaper the better. Would be used mainly for Microsoft Flight Simulator but would like it to be as smooth as possible. I have no problem building myself but have lost touch in the latest processors and stuff. So any suggestions would be appreciated! Also I would want a small and neat case as possible

Solitaire

Do you need a monitor or Windows? And is there anything you can/will salvage from an existing rig such as HDDs, DVD burners etc.

Wats_in_a_name

I don't need a monitor as I will be hooking it up to a projector via HDMI. I don't have any components either so it is from scratch. I have a Windows 7 bought already.

Solitaire

What about keyboard, mouse etc.? Much more importantly, what's the max resolution of the projector?

Wats_in_a_name

I have a keyboard and mouse. Projector is HDMI with Max resolution of 1920 x 1080

SK1979

Hey
Hoping for some help with building a new budget gaming PC. I've a budget of around €500 - €600. I dont need the following:

GPU - Brother is kindly donating his 4890 as he's moving away.
Monitor - Have an LG with max res 1680 x 1050
Keyboard & Mouse.

I'm just looking for something that will play most new games on decent settings and runs cool enough.

If its pre-built I can just add the GPU or a complete self build I dont really mind. Will prob need an OS too, 64 bit Win 7 preferrably.

Any help is greatly appreciated?

Lu Tze

SK1979 wrote: »

Hey
Hoping for some help with building a new budget gaming PC. I've a budget of around €500 - €600. I dont need the following:

GPU - Brother is kindly donating his 4890 as he's moving away.
Monitor - Have an LG with max res 1680 x 1050
Keyboard & Mouse.

I'm just looking for something that will play most new games on decent settings and runs cool enough.

If its pre-built I can just add the GPU or a complete self build I dont really mind. Will prob need an OS too, 64 bit Win 7 preferrably.

Any help is greatly appreciated?

People don't seem to recommend stuff on adverts here but...

You are probably looking for something new, but if you were considering secondhand i reckon you could pick this up for cheap enough

http://adverts.ie/213815

Though you would have to upgrade the power supply. But ticks all the other boxes. The only thing to check is how long your graphics card is, as i had a 4870 in one of these and it covered 2 of the 4 sata ports, so you would be limited to 1 hard drive. Though i managed to use one of the ports under the graphics card, it was tight and may not be advisable.

SK1979

Lu Tze wrote: »

People don't seem to recommend stuff on adverts here but...

You are probably looking for something new, but if you were considering secondhand i reckon you could pick this up for cheap enough

http://adverts.ie/213815

Though you would have to upgrade the power supply. But ticks all the other boxes. The only thing to check is how long your graphics card is, as i had a 4870 in one of these and it covered 2 of the 4 sata ports, so you would be limited to 1 hard drive. Though i managed to use one of the ports under the graphics card, it was tight and may not be advisable.

Thanks for that mate. I've no problem buying second hand, particularly as I'm on a budget. However, I'm not sure how easily the graphics card I have will go into that existing machine? Its a 4890.

Lu Tze

SK1979 wrote: »

Thanks for that mate. I've no problem buying second hand, particularly as I'm on a budget. However, I'm not sure how easily the graphics card I have will go into that existing machine? Its a 4890.

Ive got one and managed to fit a 4870 in there (think it was about 9.5 inches long) though the motherboard inside in it will be different (mine doesn't support quad core) but the same manufacturer, so can't imagine the layout will be that different.

Along with the other issues above (getting PSU, and SATA ports being covered).

If you want to send on the length of the card i can measure up inside the case etc.? or take a picture of it and stick in measurements?.

They are small cases though, so not a whole lot of room for manouvre inside in it if you are doing anything, especially with a graphics card in the way (you have to remove it to change RAM) and with it being a dell, there is no scope for over clocking it.

Also these dells i think the max supported RAM is 4x 1gb sticks, don't think it will recognise 2gb sticks.

david p

Not bad for 450, unless I'm overlooking something. Add a 5770 instead of the 5670 and it still only comes to around 510, plus you get 1080p games

edit: Oops



A bit small, but you get the idea.

Monotype

^^ That image doesn't work. Can you post the specs?

Solitaire

You can actually shave a few more quid off by dropping the case down to a Thermaltake V3 or NZXT Gamma

david p

Now that I think about it, it might also be cheaper from ebuyer

Brian

Any idea when RAM/GPUs will drop back to reasonable prices?

Solitaire

RAM - After the upcoming recession caused by the current prices

GPU - Next generation and 28nm shrink at earliest

So its going to be a while before things improve. Until then we're treading water at best and going backwards at worst

GGspeedz

sry if its wrong thread but i'm new to pc building and i'm just wondering about this set-up is it a nice combo, is it a bad one, will i find problems if so what should i get..etc..

Cpu = Intel Core i5-750 Quad Core 2.66GHz 8MB Processor
Mb = Asus LGA1156 Intel P55 DDR3 ATX
Psu = Corsair Memory 750W TX SERIES ATX
Gcard = XFX R5770 HD 1GB PCI-E Dual DVI
Hdd = CAVIAR BLACK 640GB SATA/300 7200RPM
Ram = corsair DDR3 1600MHz 4GB kit
Case = Antec 300
Drive = LG DVDRW 22X INT SATA Securdisc

cheers in advance..

Brian

You don't need anywhere near as much power on the PSU, but the rest looks good, to me at least.

GGspeedz

Baza210 wrote: »

You don't need anywhere near as much power on the PSU, but the rest looks good, to me at least.

i was thinking that much power because iv read that psu lose power after a while in the long run and i plan to keep this machine for at least 3 yrs. plz correct me if im wrong

cheers in advance..

Jonathan

GGspeedz wrote: »

i was thinking that much power because iv read that psu lose power after a while in the long run and i plan to keep this machine for at least 3 yrs. plz correct me if im wrong

cheers in advance..

You should aim to run your system at roughly 50% of the PSU's capacity.

GGspeedz

Jonathan wrote: »

You should aim to run your system at roughly 50% of the PSU's capacity.

whats the best way to achieve that?

cheers in advance..

Solitaire

Not that cheap - certainly not a "budget" build - but not a bad build at all.

GGspeedz

Solitaire wrote: »

Not that cheap - certainly not a "budget" build - but not a bad build at all.

would love to know if you think i shud change any component for anything..

Solitaire

Argh, forgot to say something about that... plus my browser's being iffy again, half a dozen posts just appeared that weren't here two minutes ago

It depends on whether you want to overclock that rig or not. If yay, go for a decent 550W PSU like the Corsair VX550 or Antec Basiq Plus 550D. If nay, you could even get away with a decent 400-450W unit like the Corsair CX400.

GGspeedz

Solitaire wrote: »

Argh, forgot to say something about that... plus my browser's being iffy again, half a dozen posts just appeared that weren't here two minutes ago

It depends on whether you want to overclock that rig or not. If yay, go for a decent 550W PSU like the Corsair VX550 or Antec Basiq Plus 550D. If nay, you could even get away with a decent 400-450W unit like the Corsair CX400.

this fella be any good? http://www.elara.ie/products/detailsfull.asp?productcode=ECE1492288