Suggestions for quiet-ish gaming PC (£500 appx)? - noob at building

esther11

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Jan 13, 2011
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I currently have an old XP PC, which is starting to struggle with more and more basic things. I have monitor/keyboard/etc. I'm in the UK.

I only really play games I've picked up through Humble Bundle, so they tend to be a couple of years old. I don't have time to game much, but this likely to be the only demanding thing I do with the PC, which is used mainly for web browsing, writing and some statistics programmes.

I'm pretty broke, but have been saving up for a new PC for ages so have some money to spare if really useful, but also I'm unlikely to want to play new games beyond 1920x1080 any time soon. I don't need something super-powered and will happily spend as little as possible!

One option is to get a cheap Dell during black-Friday discounts and then slip a 1050 into it. eg Inspiron-3650: http://www.dell.com/uk/p/inspiron-3650-desktop/pd?oc=cd65014&model_id=inspiron-3650-desktop

Might this be a decent way of getting a cheap PC for gaming with minimal cost/trouble? Just getting Windows 10 seems to be pretty expensive compared to some of the cut-price pre-built PCs.

Our current PC is a rowdy dust sucking monster, so really I'd like to get something quieter, but I don't want to pay the real premium needed for silent machines. A mid-way point would be ideal. I expect the Dell will be as cheaply put together as possible with little concern for noise.

I'm a novice with PC stuff. I've upgraded to my current graphics card, changed some ram, and changed a power supply (and tbh, changing the power supply was more work than it should have been!). Other than that, clueless and lacking in experience of all technological tinkering. This makes me think a pre-built PC in a Christmas sale and upgrading the graphics card could be wise.

Any advice appreciated. Thanks!
 
Here is a post from some time ago regarding a "budget " build.
Take from it what you will; I think it matches your budget, and it will be quiet.
Particularly of you use a $30 cryorig H7 or similar for cooling.


------------------------------ budget skylake build ---------------------------
For a budget gaming build, I like to recommend that one builds for future expandability.
That means paying a bit more up front for some parts that allow for an easier future upgrade.
A good rule of thumb is to budget twice as much for the graphics card than for the cpu.

Let me start where you might not expect:

1. Buy a good 500w psu or better. 520w will run a card as good as a GTX1080.
Future graphics cards will be built on smaller 14nm so they should not need more power than today.
I would normally suggest Seasonic 520w: Expect to pay around $60.
Look for a tier 1 or 2 quality unit on a list such as this:
https://community.newegg.com/eggxpert/computer_hardware/f/135081/t/45344.aspx?Redirected=true

2. Buy a Z170 based motherboard. Z170 will allow you to install a overclockable cpu and even permit a future Kaby lake processor upgrade.
You should find one for under $100. Lesser lga1151 chipsets will work for the truly budget constrained but at the expense of future upgrade optiions.
Here is a M-ATX example: ASRock Z170M Pro4S for $99:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157637

3. I suggest a I3-6100 @3.7. About $130. If you are truly budget limited, you can buy a g4400 dual core for $60.
In time, you can upgrade to any I3/I5/I7 cpu that you want and market theoriginal processor.

4. The intel stock cooler will do the job. Skylake runs cool.
If you want, you can use a cryorig H7 cooler with a 120mm fan. $35. It will be quieter.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA4UF2DZ6565
One can always add a cpu cooler later.

5. For ram, speed is not important. Buy a 8gb kit of 2 x 4gb DDR4 1.2v 2133 speed ram.
About $40. If you ever want 16gb, buy it up front in one kit; adding more ram is never guaranteed to work.
Heat spreaders are marketing and generally useless.
Faster ram is not worth it for skylake:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1478-page1.html

6. Cases are a personal thing. Buy one you love. Most will do the job for <$50.
Here is a silverstone PS08 for $35; It fits a smallar M-ATX motherboard.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163223

7. The graphics card is the most important component for gaming.
I like the GTX750ti and EVGA as a brand.
Here is a superclock version:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
You could go stronger in the video card if your budget permits and your games need it.
On the other hand, you could build using the integrated 530 graphics which is quite good and see how you do.
By deferring on the graphics card, you will get a better idea of what you really need.
Integrated is fine for sims, but not fast action games.
8. Lastly, I will never build again without a SSD for the "C" drive. It makes everything you do so much quicker. 120gb will hold the OS and a handful of games.
With 240gb you may never need a hard drive at all. Defer on a hard drive until your ssd approaches 90% full.
Currently, I like samsung 850 EVO best.

-------------good luck------------