My low-cost gaming computer

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SchottayB

New Member
Hi guys, a while ago I was looking to build a computer. Got a few ideas thrown at me etc... and I think i've settled with what i'm getting.

I'd just like a few opinions, and hopfully it will all work fine together! Heres the setup:

Corsair GS Series 600W High Performance ATX PSU
Arctic Cooling MX-4 Thermal Paste
Corsair Vengeance Blue 8Gb DDR3 1600 (2x4Gb) CL9 Memory Kit
Asus M5A78L-M/USB3 AM3+, DDR3, GBLan, 7.1Snd, mATX
Zalman Z11 Plus ATX Gaming Case - Black
Sapphire 1Gb AMD Radeon HD 7770 PCI-e 3.0 VGA Card
LG GH-24NS-90 24xDVD+/-R Writer, SATA - Black
AMD Bulldozer FX-4170 4.2GHz AM3+ Black Ed Processor -Retail
64GB Crucial M4 SSD S-ATA3 Solid State 2.5in Drive
1TB Western Digital Caviar Black 64Mb SATA3 Hard Drive

Hoping to run newish games with out any problems on high settings.

What you think? That's £530 bang on, budget was £550
 
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SchottayB

New Member
I was going to use the SSD for just windows and the HDD for games thats why I chose the 64gb version. Games would be on the 1TB HDD. I use another computer for downloads. But still think the 128GB SSD would benefit me more?

Is the FX-4300 3.8GHz better than the FX-4170 4.2GHz? In what way?

Thanks for the swift reply spirit :)
 
spirit

spirit

Moderator
Staff member
Yep I still think a 128GB SSD is worthwhile, you'll be surprised how quickly 64GB fills up. You'll probably want to install other programs besides games on drive C:\ for the speed increase.

The FX-4300 is newer and has a much better architecture than the old 4170. It is faster and can easily be overclocked to beyond 4.2GHz.
 
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SchottayB

New Member
I'll change the CPU to the FX-4300 :). I wouldn't be overclocking only using the "turbo" feature? I guess that's still kind-of overclocking?

I was thinking that with the SSD, I say i'd only have windows on it but I'm sure i'd just have to have a few of my bigger loading games on there, so I guess I will need the 128gb in the long run!
 
spirit

spirit

Moderator
Staff member
The 128GB drives are cheap now. I mean, my M4 128GB cost me £160 back in October 2011, now it'd cost me about £70-80 to buy one.

Although I love my M4, I'd recommend a different SSD. The Vertex 4 is good, as is the SanDisk Extreme. The M4 is getting old now (it's 2 years old) and the other drives are faster.
 
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SchottayB

New Member
I looked at the Vertex SSDs, but they was £20+ more for the 64GB version. The 120GB is £103, yet the M4 is £78. That's the only reason I chose the M4, and never heard any bad reviews on it.
 
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swchoi89

New Member
I use Vertex 3, 256GB, and this is all I use on my system. I'm already half full with 8 games, and I literally have no music, pictures or anything on it. However, it has its advantages that I can load everything within miliseconds ;)

Also, I forgot to mention that Vertex 3 has been very stable for me so far.
 
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SchottayB

New Member
I'll have a look at those and see what price they are.

The PSU is good enough for the build isn't it And with the graphics card I chose the 7770 over the 7750, good move?
 
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SchottayB

New Member
Thanks mate, I'll have a look at that see what price that comes in at.

As for SATA cables, I guess they still don't come with the product and need to be brought separate? I'll only need two for the HDD's? No other cables will be needed?

From the motherboard, graphics card, ram and case I'm going for a 'blue theme' must be blue SATA cables out there! hehe. And because it's SATA 3 I don't need 'SATA 3 cable' do I? It's just a plane and simple SATA cable?

Sorry if it's a silly question, just don't fancy two trips to the computer shop lol
 
spirit

spirit

Moderator
Staff member
SATA cables come with boards and most of the Gigabyte boards come with blue cables which personally I think are horrible.
 
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SchottayB

New Member
I've chosen the Asus M5A78L-M, doesn't say if it comes with SATA cables or not.

Will be buying it all next Thursday! That's when I get my 'Christmas bonus' from work.... middle of Febuary... lol.
 
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SchottayB

New Member
Ah that's a bonus then.

spirit said:
You'll probably want to install other programs besides games on drive C:\ for the speed increase..
Click to expand...

What did you mean by this? Other than games being?

Just rang up about my parts to order/reserve them. The RAM is out of stock in blue (not a big problem), and the 1TB HDD is only avalible in WD Green (being slow so no good?) rather than Black (quickest?)

I could get them to order the HDD in, or choose another?
 
spirit

spirit

Moderator
Staff member
'Other software' other than games being things like Microsoft Office if you use it and various other bits of software you may have.
 
Darren

Darren

Moderator
Staff member
Get another. Green drives are slow. Just look for a 7200RPM drive. Seagata Barrucudas would work. WD Blues. Samsung F3.
 
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SchottayB

New Member
spirit said:
'Other software' other than games being things like Microsoft Office if you use it and various other bits of software you may have.
Click to expand...

Oh yes, games, software, music, movies etc will be on the HDD. I will only be using OS on SSD, that's correct?

Denther said:
Get another. Green drives are slow. Just look for a 7200RPM drive. Seagata Barrucudas would work. WD Blues. Samsung F3.
Click to expand...

They have WD Blue in stock, is their much between Blue and Black? Cheers
 
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SchottayB

New Member
Do you think it's worth changing the graphics card from the Sapphire 1Gb AMD Radeon HD 7770 PCI-e 3.0 VGA Card to the Sapphire 1Gb AMD Radeon HD 7770 OC GHz PCI-e 3.0 VGA Card it's like £6 differnce and i've saved £5 for not needed to get cpu paste as i've already got it!
 
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