Gaming Computer Around £400

[Kornowski]

My friend wants to build a computer for gernal use and gaming.

What parts do you recomend?

Thanks a lot for any help

 

[leetkyle]

Can't get the best Gaming computer in the world for £400, but here's a little something I drew up in OcUK:

It's basic, but I think it could handle current games on medium settings. I know the 7600GT is quite a good card, especially for its price.

 

[daisymtc]

AMD setup including OS:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ (2GHz) Socket AM2 L2 1MB 2x512KB Retail Boxed Processor £43.11

MSI K9N Neo-F nForce 550 Socket AM2 PCI-E DDR2 Retail £38.82

Inno3D 8600GT 256MB DDR3 128bit Dual DVI FAN HDTV PCI-E £69.75

Kingston 2GB KIT (2X1GB) DDR2 667MHz/PC2-5300 CL5 Non Ecc 1.8V £50.99

NEC Optiarc AD-7170S-0B 18x DVD±RW/DL/RAM Serial ATA Black - OEM £17.48

Western Digital WD1600JS Caviar SE 160GB 7200RPM SATAII/300 8MB Cache -OEM £29.20

Antec Basiq Power 500W ATX 12V PSU 114929 132 in stock £32.04

Casecom Black Mid Tower Case - Front Blue LED 120mm Fan - With Side Window £15.30

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic x64Bit OEM 1pk DVD 123051 754 in stock £46.00

Total: 342.69 + VAT = £402.69 from ebuyer

I think leetkye is a good choice. But I will not buy the soundcard, use that money to get GF8600GT.
And M/B, I will get a Gigabyte GA-945PL-S3 or MSI 945P Neo3-F i945P instead
P.S. he leetkye include any OS.

 

[Shane]

okay hows this...ive left out a Psu because im useless at knowing what good/bad Psus are out there lol.

My build:£453

Yes i know its over £400, but i think if he could strech to another £70-100 it will be alot better.

Heres my list.

 

[leetkyle]

kyle* not kye

I do not recommend getting a DX10 low-end card, if he wants DX10 to play DX10, then he needs a better system than what he can afford really. I'd recommend at least an X2900XL or 8800GTX to even think about going DX10 this early, new cards will be released by the second.

As for the Operating System, I would obviously choose Vista. Even Home Premium is very cheap and if he can stretch a bit over then he can get it too.

> As for the sound card, I have no knowledge is X-Fi as I don't own them, and looking at them from a glance, this is what he could afford.

 

[Kornowski]

Thanks for the suggestions guys!

I think out of them leetkyle is the best, but I think he'd get rid of the sound card and maybe get a better motherboard, I'll show him these and see what he thinks.

 

[Shane]

yeah show him this post and see what he thinks
Does he need an Os?

 

[Kornowski]

I will do, he said that he wanted Vista, so

Thanks guys!

 

[daisymtc]

kyle* not kye

I do not recommend getting a DX10 low-end card, if he wants DX10 to play DX10, then he needs a better system than what he can afford really. I'd recommend at least an X2900XL or 8800GTX to even think about going DX10 this early, new cards will be released by the second.

As for the Operating System, I would obviously choose Vista. Even Home Premium is very cheap and if he can stretch a bit over then he can get it too.

> As for the sound card, I have no knowledge is X-Fi as I don't own them, and looking at them from a glance, this is what he could afford.

Sorry spelling mistake I think the 8600GT is comparible with 7900GS and it is a DX10 card. Looking at his budget, 8800GTX is not an option.
Even if he want to upgrade at 8800GTX later, I think a 8600GT worth more selling on ebay than a 7600GT.

 

[Rip_Uk]

I recently built this for my brother:

Motherboard

Gigabyte GA M57SLI-S4 SKT AM2 Nvidia MCP55P PCI-E 8Channel audio ATX

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/113844

£63.45


CPU

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ (2.5GHz) Socket AM2 Energy Efficient L2 1MB (2x512KB) Cache Retail Boxed Processor

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/125203

£86.14


RAM

Crucial 1GB 240-PIN DIMM UNBUFF DDR2 PC5300

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/106114

£35.00


HDD

Western Digital WD2500KS 250GB 7200RPM SATAII/300 16MB Cache Hard Drive - OEM

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/94403

£43.47


GPU

BFG 7600GT 256mb GDDR3 Dual DVI PCI-E

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/106643

£79.85


DVD-RW

NEC AD-5170A-0B 18xDVD±RW DL Black - Bare Drive

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/117543

£17.97


Keyboard

Microsoft Black Wired PS/2 Keyboard 500 - Retail Box

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/88759

£7.02


Mouse

Logitech MX400 Performance Laser Mouse Silver

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/105489

£21.94


Case + PSU

Extra Value Black Dracula Case With Window Side Panel - With 500W PSU

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/126236

£32.99

 

[Kornowski]

Thanks for the list Rip_Uk, I'll show him these tomorrow

 

[leetkyle]

Back from a day off from Computer Forum heh. Yes, I would recommend then scrapping the sound card I recommended and perhaps go for an E6400, or a slightly better motherboard.

Rip/ that system is nice, but buying an X2 now? no way! C2Ds are better, faster and cheaper. The case I wouldn't even THINK of looking at. £32.99 for a case AND a PSU? The case will no doubt be flimsy and the PSU is awful! I'd be willing to bet it couldn't even handle 400W without bottlenecking!

 

[Rip_Uk]

Rip/ that system is nice, but buying an X2 now? no way! C2Ds are better, faster and cheaper. The case I wouldn't even THINK of looking at. £32.99 for a case AND a PSU? The case will no doubt be flimsy and the PSU is awful! I'd be willing to bet it couldn't even handle 400W without bottlenecking!

yes C2D's are faster but not cheaper, that cpu was £80, and the case has space for 1 120mm fan and three 80mm fans which I thought was sufficient, it also has a 500W PSU, and for those components will be fine, maybe in the future I would need to put a better PSU in. As for the case he liked the look of it. obviously things can be changed I just put the spec in for an option.

Oh and also the case is sturdy and has no sharp edges inside.

 

[hpi]

Why bother building a gaming rig if you only wanna drop 400$??

Unless hes only doing light light gaming.

 

[Kornowski]

Thanks guys, I'll show him this tomorrow... He'll like it so far!

 

[Shane]

What did he say Kornowski?

 

[Kornowski]

Thanks guys, I'll show him this tomorrow... He'll like it so far!

What did he say Kornowski?

Sorry, I forgot I wasn't in college today, tomorrow'll be the day

 

[Kornowski]

Finally got round to showing him it, He said he wants to spend about £300... I know it's hard, but I bet you can do it

 

[taylormsj]

Id go with a E4300 and the cheapest motherboard that supports C2D. Possibly only 1 GB of RAM? 7600GT is a nice card. Can get some cheap cases an decent PSU's off ebuyer for cheap. Cheap sata 2 HDD for £30, Linux for free?

 

[Kornowski]

Yeah, I think that sounds like a good idea, thanks for the help, He wants me to build it once he's ordered the parts, I'll take note and then start some pricing for him, he's current on just died...