Gaming desktop for €800

Renn

Need a little bit of advice here. Looking to build a desktop for about €800, ideally don't want to go above that. Intending on ordering from hardwareversand.de also.

PSU - Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 550W €55.86
RAM - 4GB-Kit G-Skill RipJaws PC3-12800U CL7 €62.75
CPU - Intel Core i5-760 Box 8192Kb, LGA1156 €173.45
Motherboard - Gigabyte GA-890XA-UD3, AMD 790X, AM3 ATX €114.76
Video/Graphics Card - Gainward GeForce GTX 460 Golden Sample, 1024MB DDR5, HDMI, DVI €158.86
Harddrive - Samsung SpinPoint F3 1000GB, SATA II (HD105SI) €48.84
Monitor - Samsung SyncMaster B2230H €136.53
Case - Cooler Master 690 II LITE Midi-Tower - PURE Black Edition, ohne Netzteil €66.19
Drives - Samsung SH-223C bare silber SATA €18.65


Already I've run over the budget as that comes to €835.89. Not even sure if what I've posted above is compatible with everything there. I currently have a 40" tv but unsure if I really want to use that as my monitor. It would save quite a bit though. Is there anything else I need to get, do I need to get things like Heat-conductive paste or is that all included? Total newbie here. Thanks.

marco_polo

Thats an AM3 motherboards you have paired with the i5, what you are looking for is an Socket 1156 motherboard.

This the right sort of motherboard and as a bonus puts you 22 euros closer to meeting your budget target.

http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=31554&agid=1305

EDIT: I was wondering where the catch was, looking at the tech specs on the Gigabyte website I notice it only supports ATI Crossfire (and not very well) and not NVidia SLI, so it not a runner if you wanted to drop in a second nVidia card in the future.

Renn

Woops, thanks for that. So yeah, like I said, total newbie when it comes to this stuff! I still have to cut it down a little bit more but I'm not sure what's a good alternative to all of the above...

Renn

EDIT: I was wondering where the catch was, looking at the tech specs on the Gigabyte website I notice it only supports ATI Crossfire (and not very well) and not NVidia SLI, so it not a runner if you wanted to drop in a second nVidia card in the future.

Another thing I did not know. Any recommendations for a suitable replacement? Preferably one that is in stock as I'd like to order pretty soon.

Appreciate any advice here guys, not even sure if the monitor I picked is of much use!

Jonny7

Renn wrote: »

Another thing I did not know. Any recommendations for a suitable replacement? Preferably one that is in stock as I'd like to order pretty soon.

Appreciate any advice here guys, not even sure if the monitor I picked is of much use!

Wait 2 weeks and get Sandy Bridge? the 2500K is about 20% faster than the 760 chip

Renn

But will that not be a bit more expensive? Looking to cut here rather than add.

Kevinf63

Renn wrote: »

Another thing I did not know. Any recommendations for a suitable replacement? Preferably one that is in stock as I'd like to order pretty soon.

Appreciate any advice here guys, not even sure if the monitor I picked is of much use!

Nice selection of parts (well apart from mobo but your sorted now ) I was just like you a few months ago, but now I'm getting better at recognizing good stuff when I see them. A few words of advice. if you are ever considering getting a after-market CPU cooler. Make sure your cooler is not obstructed by your RAM. It has that added height from those Ripjaw heat spreaders. An easy way to check is type into google for example the after market cooler you want and your RAM in the same line and look for text/photo evidence of the two in a PC working together. Or you can do it the hard way and figure out the measurements.

GTX460 is a great choice and I'm glad you went with Nvidia. I sadly went for ATi and I soon learned about their flaky drivers. GTX460's are well known to be great in SLI (2 graphic cards in the motherboard/mobo at the same time) so if you even slightly thinking about SLI, upgrade that power supply to something more powerful. However considering your budget I think your going to hold off on that.

Are you considering overclocking? The RAM and processor are great overclockers. However if your not, you won't be getting the full potential out of those components, and would nearly be better getting the i5 750 for less as there's little difference. For example the CPU can be overclocked to 4GHZ, mind you it could require some great cooling, but still. 3.2 or even 3.6 is achievable and a big gain and over the stock 2.8GHZ. You will notice a great boost in performance, but extra heat, power draw and you'll need more cooling. I know you are a newbie but please read this review and you'll see what I mean especially the conclusion.

I'm not sure about Intel models, but my AMD CPU came with a layer of Thermal paste pre-applied. Most CPU's that come with the stock cooler have thermal paste on the cooler. Not so much with third-party/after-market coolers.

Your Cooler Master Case is fantastic, but if you notice that your parts are heating up I would suggest getting extra fans (preferably blue ones ) and I also learned this trick from a topic earlier this year from a guy called Nvus... Read from postive pressure down.

By the way, I haven't added up your overall price but Hardware Versand usually cost about 30 quid to ship all those parts.

Please people correct me if I'm wrong with anything but I think these are notable points.

marco_polo

Given a monitor is required (and you might as well get a decent 22" 1080p model), to get this down under 800 delivered you will probably need to forgo the i5 and go down the AM3 route, as the only place where real savings can be made on the components you have selected are the CPU and motherboard .

These would bring the cost down from €835 to €759 (with a slight graphics upgrade), and would still be a very competent gaming rig IMO.

Club 3D Radeon 6850 - €162

Gigabyte GA-870A-UD3 - €81

Phenom II 955 X4 BE
- €128

Jonny7

I reckon Sandy Bridge will be doing for 800 inc monitor

The CPU is going to be what, a few euros more?
and there are boards on hws for 110 euros (usb 3 and everything)

you'd be mad not to consider it

Squeeze it into the budget man!

marco_polo

You could also consider a decent quality budget case like the Thermaltake V4 to stretch the cash a bit further, it is not bad at all for the price, a little bit smaller than the CM 690 but it is still long enough to take a full size graphics card.

Renn

Okay I've used some of the information above and currently have the following which totals €731:

PSU - Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 550W €55.86
RAM - 4GB-Kit G-Skill RipJaws PC3-12800U CL7 €62.75
CPU - AMD Phenom II X4 955 Box, Sockel AM3 €128.39
Motherboard - Gigabyte GA-870A-UD3, AMD 770, AM3 ATX €81.65
Video/Graphics Card - Club 3D Radeon 6850 1024MB, AMD Radeon HD 6850, PCI-Express €162.28
Harddrive - Samsung SpinPoint F3 1000GB, SATA II (HD105SI) €48.84
Monitor - Samsung SyncMaster B2230H €136.53
Case - Thermaltake V4 Black Edition ohne Netzteil €36.76
Drives - Samsung SH-223C bare silber SATA €18.65


How's it looking?

Jonny7 - Getting that will push the whole thing up a good bit more I think.

seraphimvc

marco_polo wrote: »

You could also consider a decent quality budget case like the Thermaltake V4 to stretch the cash a bit further, it is not bad at all for the price, a little bit smaller than the CM 690 but it is still long enough to take a full size graphics card.

such a steal at that price!!!

or i'd recommend a nzxt casing, such convenient interior for us builder!

marco_polo

Just to further confuse you, the following alterations would put the i5-760 back in the frame for < 800

If you drop the RAM to slightly slower RAM like the http://www3.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=38050&agid=1192 4GB Corsair XMS3 DDR3-1333 €48.27, get a budget P55 board for around the same price as now like the Gigabyte GA-P55-UD3L for €78,94, and swap the 955 BE for the i5-760 €173.45 you can still scrape in under the 800 mark delivered (Around 765 + 30 delivery I make it).

Jonny7

Renn wrote: »

Okay I've used some of the information above and currently have the following which totals €731:

PSU - Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 550W €55.86
RAM - 4GB-Kit G-Skill RipJaws PC3-12800U CL7 €62.75
CPU - AMD Phenom II X4 955 Box, Sockel AM3 €128.39
Motherboard - Gigabyte GA-870A-UD3, AMD 770, AM3 ATX €81.65
Video/Graphics Card - Club 3D Radeon 6850 1024MB, AMD Radeon HD 6850, PCI-Express €162.28
Harddrive - Samsung SpinPoint F3 1000GB, SATA II (HD105SI) €48.84
Monitor - Samsung SyncMaster B2230H €136.53
Case - Thermaltake V4 Black Edition ohne Netzteil €36.76
Drives - Samsung SH-223C bare silber SATA €18.65


How's it looking?

Jonny7 - Getting that will push the whole thing up a good bit more I think.

I think its gonna push it up to a good bit, maybe +70 for the 2500K and +40 for mobo, could be less though

but it kicks the living crap out of the 955, and draws less power

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/288?vs=88&bcsi_scan_75DC7526612DD24C=kTxAoKdZVRuhdxnTQen8ARIAAADYWloF

Your call really

Edit : looks like 3 choices

1. 955 system for 750ish (delivered)
2. i5 760 for 800ish (delivered)
3. 2500K sandy bridge system for 850ish (i reckon)

Renn

Right, I think this is what I'll go for, so bloody confusing! Everything look ok? Not even sure if the drive is ok...do I need to get a wireless card too or should I be good to go with everything listed below?

Intel Core i5-760 Box 8192Kb, LGA1156 173,45 €
Gigabyte GA-P55-UD3L, Intel P55, ATX, DDR3, PCI-Express 78,94 €
4GB Corsair XMS3 DDR3-1333 CL9 48,27 €
Thermaltake V4 Black Edition ohne Netzteil 36,76 €
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 650W 71,15 €
Gainward GeForce GTX 460 Golden Sample, 1024MB DDR5, HDMI, DVI 158,86 €
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1000GB, SATA II (HD105SI) 48,84 €
Samsung SH-D163C SATA schwarz 15,47 €
Samsung SyncMaster B2230H 140,76 €

Sum: 772,50 €


Thanks for all the help guys btw, much appreciated

marco_polo

I'd be happy enough with that, not certain but I think the DVD may be a DVD-ROM rather than a DVD-RW (can only read DVDs). EDIT: It is a DVD-ROM also it is and IDE drive rather than SATA, (not a huge deal as the motherboard has a single IDE port and as it is an optical drive it would makes no difference performance wise, however SATA cables are just way tidier in a build).

Also TBH I'd stick to the 550W PSU you originally had as I you are probablbly better off sticking to single card graphics upgrades in the future given the motherboard can only run on the second PCie slot at 4X anyway and the case would probably be a bit cramped for multiple graphics cards too. Put the extra €15 towards a wireless PCI card like this DLink instead as the motherboard only has a intergrated ethernet(wired) network card.

Kevinf63

Renn wrote: »

Right, I think this is what I'll go for, so bloody confusing! Everything look ok? Not even sure if the drive is ok...do I need to get a wireless card too or should I be good to go with everything listed below?

Intel Core i5-760 Box 8192Kb, LGA1156 173,45 €
Gigabyte GA-P55-UD3L, Intel P55, ATX, DDR3, PCI-Express 78,94 €
4GB Corsair XMS3 DDR3-1333 CL9 48,27 €
Thermaltake V4 Black Edition ohne Netzteil 36,76 €
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 650W 71,15 €
Gainward GeForce GTX 460 Golden Sample, 1024MB DDR5, HDMI, DVI 158,86 €
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1000GB, SATA II (HD105SI) 48,84 €
Samsung SH-D163C SATA schwarz 15,47 €
Samsung SyncMaster B2230H 140,76 €

Sum: 772,50 €


Thanks for all the help guys btw, much appreciated

Back again, I have the exact same RAM its good. Newly selected case is at a great price, I think your getting a brill deal here. One last word of advice, don't forget to do cable tidying... I know its horrible but it will be worth it in the end! I hope all goes well for your build. Good Luck!

Kevin Finnegan.

Renn

marco_polo wrote: »

I'd be happy enough with that, not certain but I think the DVD may be a DVD-ROM rather than a DVD-RW (can only read DVDs). EDIT: It is a DVD-ROM also it is and IDE drive rather than SATA, (not a huge deal as the motherboard has a single IDE port and as it is an optical drive it would makes no difference performance wise, however SATA cables are just way tidier in a build).

Also TBH I'd stick to the 550W PSU you originally had as I you are probablbly better off sticking to single card graphics upgrades in the future given the motherboard can only run on the second PCie slot at 4X anyway and the case would probably be a bit cramped for multiple graphics cards too. Put the extra €15 towards a wireless PCI card like this DLink instead as the motherboard only has a intergrated ethernet(wired) network card.

Well when I was doing the build on the site it wouldn't let me match the graphics card with the 550W PSU

Renn

marco_polo wrote: »

I'd be happy enough with that, not certain but I think the DVD may be a DVD-ROM rather than a DVD-RW (can only read DVDs). EDIT: It is a DVD-ROM also it is and IDE drive rather than SATA, (not a huge deal as the motherboard has a single IDE port and as it is an optical drive it would makes no difference performance wise, however SATA cables are just way tidier in a build).

Can you recommend a different drive to go with what I've already selected?

Have added the PCI card!

seraphimvc

get a homeplug if you can, save alot of hassle of pulling those phone line/lan cable.

lcrowley

Hi, im trying to build a pc at the moment to, don;t know much but have spent ages reading about it and have cone up with an idea, does anyone know if this spec would be good for online racing games and possibly some shooters, i don't want to miss out on anything in the graphics of whatever game i am playing also if i am missing anything or am way off, any help would be much appreciated.

http://www.custompc.ie/index.asp?function=CART&ECD=4228&productid=44930

The processor i am after is not there is why its not selected.

Jonny7

I'd advise making a new post rather than using this guys one

Also, your link didn't work and custompc.ie are quite overpriced - in my opinion

In your new thread, list your budget, monitor size, what you need.. read other threads on here and you'll get the idea

Renn

Yeah I tried to build it again there on the site but it won't let me select the 550W PSU with the graphics card I want...annoying.

Jonny7

Its just a restriction they have to cover themselves

You can select all the components separately and put them in the basket, then go to services and select the build it now and put that in the basket as well.. should work, .. I think.. nyeh try it anyway

Kevinf63

lcrowley wrote: »

Hi, im trying to build a pc at the moment to, don;t know much but have spent ages reading about it and have come up with an idea, does anyone know if this spec would be good for online racing games and possibly some shooters, i don't want to miss out on anything in the graphics of whatever game i am playing also if i am missing anything or am way off, any help would be much appreciated.

http://www.custompc.ie/index.asp?function=CART&ECD=4228&productid=44930

The processor i am after is not there is why its not selected.

Your link doesn't work and jonny7 is right, CustomPC.ie are a little overpriced. Try getting your builds components from Komplett.ie, pixmania.ie or hardwareversand.de

Renn

Ordered guys. Thanks for all the help

Renn

2011-1-07 at 11:58 Online-Order
2011-1-07 at 21:03 The order was cancelled.
2011-1-07 at 21:04 Your payment conclusion via PayPal was confirmed us.

Em, how come this happened? When I go to my paypal account it doesn't have any refund there if it has been cancelled...confused