Mid-Range Gaming PC

TakeTheVeil

I'm looking to build a mid-range gaming PC in the next few weeks so if anyone has any advice let me know.

I specced this up on Ebuyer earlier.

Asus M4A785TD-V EVO 785G Socket AM3 onboard DVI VGA HDMI 8 channel audio ATX Motherboard - Asus M4A785TD-V EVO 785G Socket AM3 onboard DVI VGA HDMI 8 channel audio ATX Motherboard
£65.58

AMD Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition 3.2GHz Socket AM3 6MB Cache Retail Box Processor - AMD Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition 3.2GHz Socket AM3 6MB Cache Retail Box Processor
£69.93

Corsair 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz Dominator Memory Kit CL9 (9-9-9-24) 1.5V - Corsair 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz Dominator Memory Kit CL9 (9-9-9-24) 1.5V
£62.98

Gigabyte GTX 460 OC 1GB GDDR5 OC Edition Dual DVI HDMI PCI-E Graphics Card - Gigabyte GTX 460 OC 1GB GDDR5 OC Edition Dual DVI HDMI PCI-E Graphics Card
£169.46

Antec 300 Three Hundred Case - Antec 300 Three Hundred Case
£46.99

Corsair 650W TX Series PSU - 120mm Fan, 80+% Efficiency, Single +12V Rail - Corsair 650W TX Series PSU - 120mm Fan, 80+% Efficiency, Single +12V Rail
£72.63

Shipping & Handling: £12.93
Total: £500.50 ~€575

I was originally going to go for AMD X4 955 but thinking I might save a few quid and try unlock the other cores on an X2 555 but i'm not sure what the success rate on something like that is.

And if anyone has any other suggestions or advice on other parts i'm all ears.

I've a Monitor, keyboard, mouse and an OS, but that's about all i have to salvage from what i'm using at the moment.

shane547

I've got pretty much the same build, except with a different case and phenom x4 955.

Runs really well, both the cpu and gpu OC great.

Solitaire

What's your actual budget? Bear in mind you'll also need a HDD and probably a DVD burner as well!

TakeTheVeil

Oh yeah, forgot about the HDD and DVD Drive. Can rip both of them from my current set up.

Budget is €500-600.

Have any of the lads on the forum opened up an X2 to a X4?

Solitaire

IIRC the success rate was stated as being below 40% I'd recommend spending less on an Athlon X3 because at least if unlocking fails you still have a 3GHz+ tri-core CPU. A rapidly increasing number of games (especially console ports!) are choking on dualies, so even a low-cache tricore is a better defensive move right now

What size is the old HDD? Are those recycled drives SATA or PATA? PATA is a PITA

TakeTheVeil

I've a 300GB internal HDD and a 500GB External which should suffice fo the time being.

Yeah, I think i'll look into the x3, or maybe just try find the money for the x4 955.

Any recommendations of cheaper cases to help fund a 955?

Solitaire

You said your budget went up to €600... so I pushed the boat out a bit

€600 including shipping once you add some nice 120mm fans:



CPU - Its a Black Edition quad
Mobo - Sound is probably a bit meh but the VRMs look like they're in for the long haul
RAM - There's a few 4GB DDR3 kits around €60-65 at the moment
GPU - OCd GTX460 1GB
PSU - HWVS has been a bit meh for PSUs over the last few days. This unit may border on overkill but it has the power you're gonna need if you fancy OCing the hefty CPU and GPU!
Case - Not the only option, just less fugly than Antec 200

Cooling - There's a bit of cash left over for a few cans or a few cheap 120mm fans, whichever's more important Note that I assume the CPU cooler will fit AM3 without hassle but 99%+ of AM2 coolers do and its staggering value

TakeTheVeil

mmm... is HWVS still bank transfer only?

Solitaire

Think so Thought there was some other way too now though