New Gaming PC

SK1979

1. What is your budget? As cheap as possible, but hopefully around €400 (could go a little more maybe)

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? Gaming only, nothing else at all. The first game on the list is Diablo 3, so I would like to play that on as high a setting as possible (realise recommended spec's might not be out yet). Other games as they come out too, I'm going to try get back to PC gaming after a good while out of it.

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? Yes

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? My brother has a 4890 that I intend to take. Is this still a decent card or would it make more sense to get something more modern?

5. Do you need a monitor? I will do, but can live without it for now. Have a 4-5 year old monitor that I'll carry on with.

5a. If yes, what size do you need. N/A

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? Sorry, kinda answered this above. I have a monitor that I'll keep, think the res is 1600/1200. Its definitely not 1920/1080 anyway.

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? Again, I have all of these, well they'll do for the moment, I'll gradually improve them over time.

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? Yes

8. How can you pay? All payment types

9. When are you purchasing? ASAP, ideally in the next forthnight though.

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? Not sure if I'll try build it myself yet or just get Hardware's to take care of this.

Note: Ideally, I'd like to get a 2500K processor into the build and have scope to improve the rig over time, particularly the GPU.

Thanks in advance.

FlyingIrishMan

Item|Price
Intel Core i5-2500K Box, LGA1155|€188.78
Crucial M4 64GB SSD 6,4cm (2,5")|€74.75
BitFenix Merc Beta|€31.61
4GB Kingston ValueRAM PC3-10667U CL9|€19.37
ASRock P67 Pro3 SE (B3), Sockel 1155, ATX|€70.37
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 450W|€42.19
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€446.06

Got everything there, got the i5 2500k. Included a P67 motherboard as I thought you might aswell spend the extra 20euro for an overclockable board if you're getting an overclockable chip. Of course, you can save 20euro if you don't want to overclock.

Couldn't fit Windows in sorry. Not sure if software4students.com is still selling them or not, but they sold them for 45euro, worth looking.
Also doesn't have an optical drive, if you want one, it costs an extra 15euro, you can always install Windows of a USB and stick to downloaded games.

I thought an SSD would be better than a larger slower hard drive, its what I did.
Bought a SSD first, then bought the hard drive a month later when I got more money, glad I did it.

Skerries

maybe pick up a second 4890 second hand and SLI them?

http://www.adverts.ie/for-sale/q_4890/

SK1979

Thanks for the advice so far guys. I tried to put something together myself on Hardwares and came up with the below. Its about €200 more than I had intended to spend but I really cant seem to get it much lower than that with what I (feel I) need.

Item|Price
ASRock Z68 Pro3 Gen3, Sockel 1155, ATX|€82.61
Sony NEC Optiarc DDU1681S schwarz, bulk|€13.00
8GB-Kit Corsair XMS3 DDR3-1333 CL9|€37.62
WD Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 3 6Gb/s|€66.36
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 550W|€52.08
CM Storm Enforcer - black, ohne Netzteil|€78.53
Intel Core i5-2500K Box, LGA1155|€188.78
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit (SB-Version)|€77.61
Rechner - Zusammenbau|€20.00
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€635.58

Can I ask a couple of questions about the build etc?

• Is there enough cooling included in the cpu and case to allow some overclocking in the future?

• About the case, I really couldn't see anything that I liked cheaper than this one. It appears to have decent ventilation (this is important to me) and at least one big fan (I think!). Is there enough room for some expansion inside it?

• The card I'll be using is a 4890, think it must be about 2 years old at this stage, but is it still decent enough? Also, will it fit in the case without difficulty and pair with the MOBO ok? I picked a z68 MOBO, as they're more modern, so will that cover off any future upgrades (definitely a new GPU in 6 / 12 months)?

• Does the RAM and MOBO go well together, and the CPU too?

• I'm not sure wtf "Rechner" is but it got included on my order for some reason!

• I dont think I'm too bothered about trying to SLI the 4890, I think I'd rather try and get a new card in a few months. Something like a 7900 series card when they're a bit cheaper.

Think thats all I can think of, thanks for the feedback though.

FlyingIrishMan

SK1979 wrote: »

Can I ask a couple of questions about the build etc?

• Is there enough cooling included in the cpu and case to allow some overclocking in the future?

• About the case, I really couldn't see anything that I liked cheaper than this one. It appears to have decent ventilation (this is important to me) and at least one big fan (I think!). Is there enough room for some expansion inside it?

• The card I'll be using is a 4890, think it must be about 2 years old at this stage, but is it still decent enough? Also, will it fit in the case without difficulty and pair with the MOBO ok? I picked a z68 MOBO, as they're more modern, so will that cover off any future upgrades (definitely a new GPU in 6 / 12 months)?

• Does the RAM and MOBO go well together, and the CPU too?

• I'm not sure wtf "Rechner" is but it got included on my order for some reason!

• I dont think I'm too bothered about trying to SLI the 4890, I think I'd rather try and get a new card in a few months. Something like a 7900 series card when they're a bit cheaper.

Think thats all I can think of, thanks for the feedback though.

You get a stock cooler with the CPU, that will allow some overclocking, 4.0Ghz max really.

That case is fine I guess, don't usually add cases that expensive to budget builds, but since you've upped the price its fine.

The 4890 came out in '09 I think, so puts it at three years old.
Wouldn't count on it getting very good fps rates in the latest games. Probably around 30 on low settings for the likes of BF3.. maybe even less.

Yes, all are compatible.

Rechner just means they'll build it for you.


- Heads up, your DVD drive is a read only drive, for the sake of 4euro you should get a rw drive so you can write to discs if you ever need to.

daz801

Get rid of rechner, (someone on here will do it for free if you don't feel you can) and then use the money to get something like this then you can get some proper overclocking done.

SK1979

FlyingIrishMan wrote: »

You get a stock cooler with the CPU, that will allow some overclocking, 4.0Ghz max really.

That case is fine I guess, don't usually add cases that expensive to budget builds, but since you've upped the price its fine.

The 4890 came out in '09 I think, so puts it at three years old.
Wouldn't count on it getting very good fps rates in the latest games. Probably around 30 on low settings for the likes of BF3.. maybe even less.

Yes, all are compatible.

Rechner just means they'll build it for you.


- Heads up, your DVD drive is a read only drive, for the sake of 4euro you should get a rw drive so you can write to discs if you ever need to.

Thanks for the replies. About the case, I would pick a cheaper one, but I couldn't really see one that looked like it had decent ventilation and some fans for much cheaper?

I'll update the DVD drive to a RW one though.

God, I didn't think the 4890 was that rubbish now? Its not my own card (my brothers) but I thought it would still run most new games on medium at least!

Lol, the last card I had myself was a 8800 GTS.

big_heart_on

I would suggest checking the motherboard manufacturers list of compatible RAM for the mainboard you choose.

Generally its not a great concern but you could be unlucky and buy RAM that may always be "somewhat unstable", despite tweaking timings and such. Forums on the Motherboard manufacturers website are a great spot to identify potential problems with a chosen board before you make purchases.

Also a 550W PSU may not have sufficient juice for Crossfire/SLI in the future.

I would have said the 4890 was decent at the mo but not for much longer. I certainly wouldnt buy one at this point.

FlyingIrishMan

SK1979 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. About the case, I would pick a cheaper one, but I couldn't really see one that looked like it had decent ventilation and some fans for much cheaper?

I'll update the DVD drive to a RW one though.

God, I didn't think the 4890 was that rubbish now? Its not my own card (my brothers) but I thought it would still run most new games on medium at least!

Lol, the last card I had myself was a 8800 GTS.

The bitfenix one I said is very good imo. Only 30euro and great ventilation in it.
I have it myself (was on a tight budget too), it only has one case fan but you could throw another one in for a fiver if you wanted. But all my components average around 30 on idle, around 50-60 under load.

As for the card, I really am not 100% certain about it. I just did a quick google and those were the rates people said they were getting, of course, it will improve with the i5 2500k. You'll probably be fine with that card for a few months.