Gaming PC build, expert advice required

J

jeditiger22

hi, since my old gaming pc became so outdated and un-able to play modern games to a satisfying standard i decided it was time for a completely new pc. However instead of buying a pre-assembled pc ive decided to buy the parts seperatley and build the pc myself. Ive assembled a few computers at school and in my free time so i have a fairly good understanding on how to construct the pc, the only problem is picking the correct parts to put into the pc. I dont have a fixed budget however i would like the final cost to come somewhere around the £500 - £600 mark. Anymore than that is getting to expensive for me at the moment. This is the current specification i was thinking about using, anyone care to cast their opinions or advice?

Cpu - Intel i3 560 3.33Ghz £112.50
Hdd - Western digital caviar black sata 6 gb/s 640 gb £ 49.98
Psu - Novatech powerstation gaming silent ATX2 600W £ 49.98
Ram - Kingston DDR3 4Gb £ 55.00
Optical drive - Samsung S223C £ 15.98

however i do not know which motherboard or graphics card would be best for this gaming rig? or if the hardware ive chosen is worth the money or if im better off going for a more powerful component?

any help would be much appreciated, thank you
 
What about other components like monitors, mouse, and os. Do you have those yet?
Click to expand...
Yeah, what exactly does your budget include.

SAPPHIRE 100315L Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX 550W ATX12V V2.2 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply
OCZ Reaper 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model OCZ3RPR1600C6LV4GK

I really like AMD's ATM, so i'm going to recommend an AMD setup:
GIGABYTE GA-870A-UD3 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
AMD Phenom II X3 740 Black Edition Heka 3.0GHz Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Desktop Processor HDZ740WFK3DGI - OEM
Doesn't come with a cooler though.
Otherwise:
GIGABYTE GA-H55M-S2 LGA 1156 Intel H55 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
 
Dont be afraid of micro atx either. Works fine for what you need. Idunno so much about the psu. Gonna look into that.
 
Its laying around, gonna sell the parts here on TS soon. IF not they will just go to waste. I still have 2 8800 ultras i never got rid of that I paid 700usd for 4 years ago. Not going to do that again.
 
1) I wouldn't build a intel pc rigth now, no clear upgrade path

2) if you dont have much money and the priority is gaming go for amd, spend all the the money in a good vga,( 6850) good psu and skip on the rest , get a phenom and like 2 gigs of ok ram ( 4gb ideal) small hd and you are set, gaming? all about the vga, ans psu.
 
i dont need a monitor, keyboard, mouse, case or operating system i already have all of these :) its just the internal hardware i need. Everyone is recomending AMD over Intel however i always believed that intel where better? or is that just a myth? :S

So i should spend as much money as i can afford on a good graphics card basicly?

edit: okay after looking around abit more ive decided to change a few specs, what do you think?

Cpu - AMD Phenom II X4 970 Black Edition Deneb 3.5Ghz Quad Core $180.99 which converts to around £114.00

also im considering investing in the radeon Hd 6850 graphics card that hellokitty[hk] posted..

however im kinda wondering if my psu is sufficient for this build and if i should look into something more powerful? as well as this im still stumped as to which motherboard to get if i am investing in the AMD Phenom II X4 970 black edition, any suggested will be extremely helpful :)
 
change that psu! , never ever use cheap generic psu, ( specially if you are gaming!) the mobo posted before its good
GIGABYTE GA-870A-UD3 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

the cpu is not going to make much difference unless you go really cheap, if you want to spend more just buy a better vga (6870) and upgrade your cpu later, that amd cpu is not " energy eficient" so you would need a good psu ( but the gpu it is efficient, low idle draw)

intel is good, but for gaming the difference is a non issue. its all about your videocard. besides like i said before, no clear upgrade path , ( lga 1366 @1156 > dead ) so you might aswell buy the am3 platform, its cheaper, has a lot more features, and tons of cpu options.

GET > AMD athlon 2 x4 640 propus 3.0ghz 95W
 
Ermm you could do this, it isnt a phenom processor but its almost as good:

AMD II X4 640 3.0Ghz (£75)
Asus M4A78LT-M. not the LE version....(£50)
Kingston 4GB DDr3 (£60)
Antec Basiq Power 550W PSU (£55)
Sapphire HD 5450 1GB DDR3 HDMI (£53.71)
Western Digital Caviar 1TB 7200RPM (£42)
Samsung SH-B083L (£45)

cant think of anything else but will look it up if you want
 
i thought novatech was a reliable company? Surely their psu's are of good quality?

Correct me if im wrong but surely a 3.5ghz processer is better for gaming than lets say a 3.0ghz processor?

and well what wouldyou class as a good enough graphics card?

saram96 thanks for that. I might consider something along that line :)
 
change your psu. corsair, forton, antec, - coolemasters @ ocz if you wanto to go cheap, yes the 3.5 cpu is better, but how much? are you going to play games or are you going to edit movies? also 95W ( specially if you are planing on going cheap on the psu)
 
hmmm, i take it novatech isnt a good make? :) okay ill invest in a more pwerful psu. Ill be using the pc for mostly gaming but also for everyday use, such as web browsing etc. Okay, well what ould you recomend as a suitable cpu within the £120 price range?
 
mmm, how many times do i have to say it man... > get this one Athlon II X4 645 @ Phenom II X4 955 ( nice 6 MB L3 cache) if you have a good reliable psu
 
Uh, ok a lot of cr@p just went down.
I still believe that the AMD build I posted above stands above everything else mentioned.
If you can spare a little more money, change the 6850 to a 6870.
And if you've still got more, the Phenom II X4 955 over the Phenom II X3 740.
 
the amd phenom ii x4 955 looks really tempting, hmm i think im gonna hold back for a few weeks n do abit of research :) will probaly be a sensible idea, thanks for all the help
 
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