Advice on my gaming build.

H

Halborn

New Member
Hey, I wonder if i could draw on the experiences of people here. I'm a rookie when it comes to actually building a pc from scratch but i have replaced hard-drives and i know about hardware through a Computing A Level I did.

I'm looking to build a strong gaming pc. For years now i've been using laptops but my laptop is 2 years old now and whilst its still pretty good for working on and watching films its gaming ability is starting to fall behind.

I have an approx. budget of £400. From the prices below it comes to £430, so its a little over. I'm not too worried about peripherals as thats something i can get when i have more cash and also I have a monitor.

I don't have a copy of windows 7 which is an issue i'm guessing so what i'm looking for is first for someone with good knowledge to just double check everything is compatible and that it will work properly. Also i'm looking for any advice on better products for not much more money and also if theres anywhere that i can save some money.

Thanks in advance

Here is the potential build i have come up with:

Case: Antec 300 - £50
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/143854

MBO: Asus M4A78LT-M - £40
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/181968

CPU: AMD Athlon II x3 445 - £56
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/235421

CPU Cooler: Arctic cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev 2 - £15
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/176157

GPU: Sapphire 5770 1GB - £102
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/189741

RAM: Corsair 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1600MHz - £41
http://www.amazon.co.uk/CORSAIR-CMX...11?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1294266361&sr=1-11

PSU: Antec Earthwatts 650W - £68
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/141006

DVD Drive: LG GH22NS50 22x - £14
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/169683

HDD: Spinpoint F3 1TB - £44
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/173804
 
May I ask what the benefit of having 4 slots. From my experience 4gigs of ram should handle most games on at least medium if not high quite well. Also if more is needed in the future surely there will eventually be a 4gb per single stick of ram in the future that I can replace with.

However, if there is a valid reason can you recommend one?

I don't want to buy this until I'm sure that it is good for both value and performance so could you just clarify for me that everything else will be compatible.

Thanks for the feedback and I await your feedback
 
A couple things to think about.
You can overclock a little with just the stock cpu cooler.
Your PS is big enough for 2-5770's, but your MB has only 1 slot.
You may decide to drop the cooler and get a MB w/newer chipset, w/2 slots and, w/ or w/o the onboard igp(whichever fits the $). Something like an 870. Then you could add a cooler and another gpu as an upgrade later on.
Or.
A possibilty for single gpu configuration would be to drop the cooler, go down to a 500w to save a little more there, and put the saved $ towards a bigger GPU and/or a 870/880G. You can do a single card up to a 6870(but not the 5970) w/ 500w, but not any lower.

My feeble thought: your list but with a little better MB that CF's and with 4/ram slots. I'd drop the cooler if my budget needed to. Then future upgrades would for GPU, RAM, ans CPU would be easier.

I haven't looked where you can shop, but their might be an oem Phenom II x3 + cooler for near the Athlon II x3 BOX price.
 
Halborn said:
May I ask what the benefit of having 4 slots. From my experience 4gigs of ram should handle most games on at least medium if not high quite well. Also if more is needed in the future surely there will eventually be a 4gb per single stick of ram in the future that I can replace with.

However, if there is a valid reason can you recommend one?

I don't want to buy this until I'm sure that it is good for both value and performance so could you just clarify for me that everything else will be compatible.

Thanks for the feedback and I await your feedback
Click to expand...

Buying another 2 x 2GB would usually be cheaper than buying 2 x 4GB, then sell existing 2 x 2GB

Just forgot to mention, your machine won't need 650W. With single video card, 500 - 550W would be enough.
Antec 520W High Current Gamer PSU - 80plus Bronze 13.5cm Fan 3x PCI-E 6x SATA
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/245671
 
Last edited:
I understand now. The MBO i had chosen really wasn't future proof. I decided I preferred the dual GPU route to the single GPU route. In the long run it'll give me more options. I've looked at my funds and i've come up with this revised build. I chose to keep the cooler as its only £15 and really i'd end up needing it eventually. Could you just double check it for me now that its good and compatible (i'm getting the hang of checking myself but 2 checks are better than 1).

Case: Antec 300 - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/143854

MBO: Asus M4A88T-V EVO/USB3 - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/236462

CPU: AMD Phenom II X2 555 - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/198349

CPU Cooler: Artic Cooling Freezer 7 pro rev 2 - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/176157

RAM: Corsair 4GB (2x2gb) 1600 - http://tinyurl.com/34ochr8

GPU: Sapphire 5770 1gb - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/189741

PSU: Corsair 650W TX - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/135514

HDD: Samsung Spin Point 1TB - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/173804

DVD Drive: LG 22x DVD RW SATA - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/169683
 
Last edited:
Halborn said:
I understand now. The MBO i had chosen really wasn't future proof. I decided I preferred the dual GPU route to the single GPU route. In the long run it'll give me more options. I've looked at my funds and i've come up with this revised build. I chose to keep the cooler as its only £15 and really i'd end up needing it eventually. Could you just double check it for me now that its good and compatible (i'm getting the hang of checking myself but 2 checks are better than 1).
Click to expand...
Halborn said:
Case: Antec 300 - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/143854

MBO: Asus M4A88T-V EVO/USB3 - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/236462

CPU: AMD Phenom II X2 555 - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/198349

CPU Cooler: Artic Cooling Freezer 7 pro rev 2 - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/176157

RAM: Corsair 4GB (2x2gb) 1600 - http://tinyurl.com/34ochr8

GPU: Sapphire 5770 1gb - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/189741

PSU: Corsair 650W TX - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/135514

HDD: Samsung Spin Point 1TB - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/173804

DVD Drive: LG 22x DVD RW SATA - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/169683
Click to expand...
I know you’re just looking for compatability, so yes, it’s all compatible.
However, :PI’m compelled to mention(not that you don’t already know) that that’s a great dual core and oc’s very well. I have it and was lucky it unlocked to x4. But what if it doesn’t? Wouldn’t you rather have an x4 640 for 8 more?
 
well i'm at the max of my budget atm.

I've heard of alot of success with the core and if im one of the unlucky ones then i'll just have to deal with dual core until i can get a quadcore or other type.

The major point here is it can be upgraded if needed later on and im hoping it'll unlock to quad core.

I'm gonna go ahead and order it.
 
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