Guide - the Budget Gaming PC

Eboggles

Stephen-mx3 wrote: »

Really appreciate the help. I get your point though.
　
It's a very similar setup to what I have in the basket alright, one difference being i opted for the OCZ Agility 3 SSD for the awesome write speed.

The Agility 3 is a very dangerous SSD, its unpredictable and failures are common; you'd be much better going for a Crucial M4

IrishMetalhead

yup eboggles is right plus if i remeber correctly the m4 has much better random read and write speeds which is way more important then just the overal write speed, write speed will only benefit you when your constantly installing programs or tansfering files and even then it can only write as fast as the hdd your reading it from

IrishMetalhead

well if your getting an i7 fairly cheap then you could just upgrade later on down the road but it depends on what i7 model your getting

Stephen-mx3

Cheers for the heads up.

I think I'm going to hold off for the processor, and see what kind of prices he can get them for.

Regarding OS, it's a pain that I've to buy fresh, but I wouldn't be comfortable or confident enough getting one that fell off the back of the internet and installing on a fresh build.

TerrorFirmer

Jaysus, it's a disgrace when I look back at the first few pages of this thread and realize how out of touch I've become. I used to be a fanatic, upgrading every few weeks/months, but living with friends and their darn 360s the past couple of years, gradually I shifted towards the Xbox as the main medium of gaming. Although I get the odd twinge of disgust at the pukey low resolution textures and lack of depth of most Xbox games, I have to say as a platform it is excellent...but I'll always feel nostalgic thinking about the good old PC! I went to play COD4 online today for the first time since about 2009, and the keyboard and mouse actually felt alien to me. If someone told me that I'd feel that way a few years back, I'd...... nearly have shot myself (/end dramatic reminiscing). It came to the point recently that I actually didn't even know what the current sockets were....and I've been stringing along the past few years with an old Phenom and a GTS250. I'm a disgrace!

But now I'm back in the game. :cool:

luyolo

1. What is your budget? [€900]

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? [Gaming/Internet] (LoL, Lineage2, Cs1.6, All the CoDs, BF3, Some MMOs )

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? [Yes]

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? [Hard drive]

5. Do you need a monitor? [Yes]

5a. If yes, what size do you need. [>20"]

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? [No]

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? [Yes]

8. How can you pay? [Bank Transfer/Laser]

9. When are you purchasing? [In 2/3 weeks ]

Is this a good build for me?

Item|Price
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 550W|€52.08
BitFenix Merc Beta|€31.61
Intel Core i5-2500K Box, LGA1155|€187.99
BenQ G2225HD|€99.00
LG GH22NS50/70/90 bare schwarz|€17.73
MS Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit SB-Version Englisch|€83.64
Crucial M4 128GB SSD 6,4cm (2,5")|€133.34
Gigabyte Radeon HD 7850, 2GB GDDR5, PCI-Express|€225.17
Gigabyte GA-Z77M-D3H, Intel Z77, mATX|€82.77
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€932.32

ShadowHearth

Looks grand m8.

Liamario

My build arrived today. Ran into a problem though;

I have this USB 3.0 and Card Reader.

I have this MOTHERBOARD.


There isn't a 20 pin male connection on the mobo for the card reader.
Any solution?

Eboggles

Liamario wrote: »

My build arrived today. Ran into a problem though;

I have this USB 3.0 and Card Reader.

I have this MOTHERBOARD.


There isn't a 20 pin male connection on the mobo for the card reader.
Any solution?

There isn't much you can do at the moment, but you could get something like this which would get you up and running, albeit without USB 3.0 (it'll be running at 2.0 speeds)

Liamario

Eboggles wrote: »

There isn't much you can do at the moment, but you could get something like this which would get you up and running, albeit without USB 3.0 (it'll be running at 2.0 speeds)

Is that not a female connector on the end?

How about this?

Eboggles

Liamario wrote: »

Is that not a female connector on the end?

How about this?

Yeah that would work. By the way have you got the computer set up yet? How's it running?

Liamario

Eboggles wrote: »

Yeah that would work. By the way have you got the computer set up yet? How's it running?

Not set up yet. Everything is connected. Need to sort out the power connections yet and then hopefully, we're good to go. Will update

Liamario

I am not in a position to connect the monitor and the main unit at the same time. So I powered on the main unit, I got a blue led light indicating power. I turn it off and tried again. No LED this time

Looks like I'm going to need some help.

Serephucus

Liamario wrote: »

I am not in a position to connect the monitor and the main unit at the same time.

Erm, how are you going to use the computer?

Liamario

I need to pick up another plug adaptor.

Serephucus

Ah, I see. Well I'd pick that up before doing much else. Extremely difficult to troubleshoot without a monitor.

Liamario

Serephucus wrote: »

Ah, I see. Well I'd pick that up before doing much else. Extremely difficult to troubleshoot without a monitor.

Missus has the car tomorrow, so looks like a long walk into town.
Should I be concerned about short circuiting something?

Serephucus

The only things that would fry from being plugged in the wrong way are a couple of the front panel connectors. So basically no. Where are you based? I think I have a couple of spare adapters lying around.

Liamario

Mullingar. I also think I need a power cable for the DVD disc drive.

Serephucus

The disk drive connects to your PSU. You might need a cable to connect it to your motherboard though, depending on how many it came with.

And I'm in Maynooth with no car, so I guess that doesn't help you much.

Liamario

Serephucus wrote: »

The disk drive connects to your PSU. You might need a cable to connect it to your motherboard though, depending on how many it came with.

And I'm in Maynooth with no car, so I guess that doesn't help you much.

I don't believe it came with a power cord. I'll double check in the morning.
If I had the car, I'd drive up to you, so you could discipline me on my bad pc building skills.

Serephucus

Left is SATA power from PSU, right is SATA data to motherboard, needs both.

I'm pretty busy the next few days I'm afraid, so I don't think I could spare the time to help you anyway.

Liamario

Serephucus wrote: »

Left is SATA power from PSU, right is SATA data to motherboard, needs both.

I'm pretty busy the next few days I'm afraid, so I don't think I could spare the time to help you anyway.

Not to worry man. I think I have the required cables, so that is that issue sorted. I'll keep plugging away at it tomorrow, after I get another adaptor.

Liamario

I have an abundance of SATA power cables and thus I have connected up the disc drive this morning. There still appears to be no power.

If someone wants to come over and help me out with this, I'll be more than happy to pay for your fuel.

Liamario

Update- for those interested.

I tested the PSU (disconnected everything and used paper clip in the green and black connections) and it worked.
The PSU blue glow came on and the fan spun. So, at this point it's clear that the shaver adaptor I was using was either inadequate or the fuse had blown on it.
I'm going to pop down to harvey normans and hope they have the leads which I need.

Update 2

LED on the unit comes on. This led isn't directly powered by the PSU, but the motherboard itself. While LED is on, PSU is not lit up nor does its fan spin.

Tar.Aldarion

Maybe if you took a picture of how everything is connected up somebody could help? I'd say you haven't everything hooked up? Make sure both power sockets are connected on the motherboard, a lot of people forget the smaller 4 pin one.

Liamario

I've left with an independent IT shop. Hopefully, they'll be able to figure things out.
I connected the PSU to the mother board with a 16pin connector which coupled with a smaller 4 pin one (they kind of connected together).

I tried the same without the 4 pin connector and it had no effect; no fan, but blue power light on case.

Serephucus

If you have Skype I'll have a bit of time in about a half hour to walk you through it if you like. PM me if you're around or something.

Liamario

I'll see what these IT guys come up with and I'll let you know. Won't be doing it today. Thanks for the offer

Liamario

Well, the IT shop got it up and running. Some of the cables weren't connected properly. So they've tidied it up inside and got it going.

Can I just say thanks to all those who helped with choosing components, offered advice and took interest in my problem. Not to blow it out of proportion or anything, but it's attitudes and a community spirit like yours that this country needs.

Thanks very much for the help.