Gaming PC Build help

Might want to refer to the thread in my signature. You'll probably get more responses if you format that way. Do you need a monitor? If not, we need the resolution you're playing on.

I'm going to use US prices, so feel free to find the parts and let me know if it's over/under budget.

CPU: Phenom II X4 955 $165
Mobo: Asus M4A79XTD EVO $110
RAM: Cheapest 1600 mhz CAS Latency 7 (Timings 7-7-7-x) 2x2 GB kit $115
PSU: 750W Corsair, Antec Earthwatts, OCZ, Seasonic, or FSP. Whatever's cheapest. $100
Case: HAF 922 $100
HDD: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1 TB $90
Optical: $130 for BluRay reader with a DVD burner separate
GPU: HD 5850 $300

Total is $1,110 USD. Using a straight conversion, that's 770 euros. Totally thought that was in euros, not pounds...

I know you said 6 GB of RAM, but anything over 4 is useless in gaming. Also, it would be 8 GB, unless you were looking to get an i7-920, which isn't going to happen on that budget.

Does your budget of 800 pounds (1300 dollars) include a monitor, keyboard, and mouse, or have you purchased those things separately?

Moved The Thread to the new layout.... Sorry And Thanks You may understand it better at the new one.

Thanks

MadAd, these are the rough prices of the components that you suggested..
CPU: £120
Mobo: £90
RAM: £80-£100
PSU: £90
Case: £90
HDD: £70
GPU: £250
Not really sure how much a Blu-ray drive will cost.
The typical DVDRW Sata drive is around £18 tho.

Total - optical drive: £828

Really. Wow. Craps expensive over there...

Going to have to cut the 5850 to a 5770 in that case. Can't save enough other places to get under budget with the BluRay reader.

I Asked on another Forum and I was given this... However I cannot seem to find out if this would have any HDMI port at all?

Processor Amd Phenom II X4 945 £98
RAM (Memory) 6gb (3x2gb) £122
Hard Drive Samsung SpinPoint F3 Desktop Class 1 TB £64.95
Graphics Card Ati Radeon HD 5770 £110
Motherboard Asus M4A79XTD £55.94
Sound Card Creative Sound Blaster £14.70
Cooling System CoolIT Domino A.L.C Water Cooling System £70.00
Case CoolerMaster CM690 £54.05
PSU OCZ Stealth Xtreme 700W PSU £47.80
Optical Drive Blu Ray Reader DVD RW £51.00
Wireless PCI Adapater Wireless PCI Card £9.99

He could probably get a 4890 for £150, which would leave him with a powerful video card and if he cuts back on other parts should have enough for a BluRay reader.

The 5770 has an HDMI port on the card.

I would ditch the water cooling. It's just not worth it.

That RAM is not good for the build. You need to use dual channel kits (2 sticks). The step up from 4 GB is then to 8 GB. The triple channel kits are for the LGA1366 sockets. Using it in a dual channel build will make the speed a lot slower and may actually slow down the entire build instead of speeding it up.

EDIT: Forgot to add that the sound card is unnecessary as well.

My total puts that at 550 pounds, which is more than enough to afford an HD 5850.

The graphics card listed in that build (Radeon 5770) will include 2 DVI outputs, a Display Port output, and an HDMI output, so your fine there.

I'm not sure what exactly they're thinking with the Domino A.L.C Water Cooling System though. Gaming is more GPU intensive than CPU intensive, and as long as you're not overclocking the CPU (which you shouldn't need to do), the stock cooler will work just fine. If you're intent on getting an aftermarket CPU cooler for whatever reason (looks cool, bragging rights, idk) then something like a Cooler Master Hyper 212 will work just fine, and is probably sufficient for a mild overclock, should you choose to go there.

Well that is more along the right track for being under budget. Change the RAM to 4GB. Which will at most be £100, ditch things that you don't need, such as the sound card (until/unless you find out that you don't like onboard sound) and the water cooling system. Which saves you £105, which puts a 5850 back in the frame.

So you would reccomend me to just go for 4gb instead? Or is there a cheap 8gb about?

Can you 'refine' that system for around the same prices so it ends up being a better gaming system for me?

Your help is much appreciated.

Drop the water cooling. Drop to 4 GB. Drop the sound card.

Upgrade to an HD 5850. Much better, probably cheaper.

About The HDMI Port....

Just because Graphics cards have it, surely the case must have it to, i am not sure if it does?

Also, will the PC without the cooler and sound card and less RAM actually work most games like Crysis on about 'High' Settings?

Thanks

I agree with MadAdmiral. For gaming, you want the most powerful graphics card your budget will allow, and the 5850 is a perfect card. The water cooling and sound card are unnecessary, and the comments on the RAM are spot on.

The case doesn't need to have an HDMI port. In the back of your case are a number of expansion slots. These slots are likely covered by thin metal pieces by default, however when installing a video card you would remove these metal pieces so that the cards I/O section sticks out of the back of your case. It should be noted however that your card is NOT a low profile card, meaning that even though it only plugs into one of your PCI express slots, it takes up the physical space of two cards. This means it will cover the slot directly below it, and will also require you to punch out two expansion slot metal plates in your case. Your HDMI port will thus be on the back of your case.

And yes, you don't need a particularly powerful CPU to run games, or that much RAM for that matter. Most of your performance in games is going to come directly from your GPU, which is why we've selected the Radeon 5850 for you. You won't be (nor do you need to) overclock your CPU, so an aftermarket cooler is not necessary, although if you really want one, the CoolerMaster Hyper 212 is good cheap one to go with.

EDIT: Answered.

Again, we need your monitor resolution to answer how high you can put the settings. If it's 1600x, you can play Crysis on high with an HD 5850. If it's 1900x, you'll struggle. The only cards that will for sure play Crysis on any resolution are the HD 5870 ($400) and the HD 5970 ($650+). Both of these are so far out of your budget it's not even worth talking about them.

Have you ever looked at the back of a computer? How about the inside? From some of your questions, I really suggest you start doing some research before trying to build the machine.

What do you mean 'punch out'?

And Yes I have looked inside, I just dont understand some of it... But i will be fine putting one together..

Punch out means they get removed. Some of them pop out completely, some of them have a screw securing them.

Ok. This looks like the PC I will be getting then.....

Can you just give me a lowdown on what It could do really?

What games it could play with no problem etc?

Thanks

Again, it depends on the monitor's resolution. If it's 1600x or lower, it will play any game at high quality. If it's 1900x, it will play almost every game at high quality, with Crysis being the main exception.

For more details, check out these benchmarks. Generally, anything over 30 FPS is playable, anything over 60 FPS is not noticeable. Unfortunately, the 5850 wasn't available, but it would fall roughly in the middle of these two cards. The 5970 is basically 2 HD 5850 in Crossfire.

Infact, Just to throw the spanner in the works. My mums friend has just wrung up. He has offered me a Gaming PC for £705

Here are the specs... Is this worth it?
CPU - AMD Phenom II X4 925 processor @ 3.5 X 4 = 14 Ghz

MEMORY - 4GB OCZ DDR3 PC3-10666 / 1333 MHz / Reaper HPC Edition - 2x 2gb Dual Channel

BLURAY DRIVE - Sony Blu ray combo drive / Dvd / Bluray / Cd

HARD-DRIVE - 750GB Western digital - 750GB Hitachi - 500GB Western digital = 2TB Total

GRAPHICS - Sapphire HD4890 1GB DDR5 PCIE (New Edition) Hdmi - Dvi - Display port

MOTHER BOARD - Asus M4A79XTD EVO - features Next-Gen. 8+2 Phase Power Design & Express gate

SOUND - 7.1 Cinema sound via HDMI or 8 Channel sound via M/B

COOLING - Cool IT Domino ALC with Blue LED + 4 case fans

CASE - Cooler master Cosmos 690 with quick release bays

PSU - OCZ 500w StealthXstream

Operating system - Microsoft Windows Vista premium 32bit

Wireless internet - Wifi network card (internal b/g 54mps) £5 option

Warranty - 5 month return to base warranty + most parts covered for life by manufactures

Price includes - Blue ray software, Vista 32 bit home premium installed, A pc box + more.

Games - Swat 4 game + Avatar, NFS Shift, Crysis, Wolfenstein, Tom clancys Hawx, batman arkum asylum, BF 2142 demos

Go with that or my customly built one?

The one above also has a bulit in WIFI card

The custom built one will be better and more upgradeable. It will also be more expensive.

I would say that with all of the games, that build is probably a good deal. Without them, it would be slightly over priced.

Both are good machines. I personally would prefer to go with the full custom build for the ability to change things myself, but it's up to you.

So, the custom build one is not really anywhere near as good?

Yup it's worth it, It's only worth it because of all the drives there
Edit: I don't think it's worth it because the games are probably pirated if they give it to you for free/need disk to play

Ok So i should go with my custom one?

Someone please update me , MadAdmiral do you have any Instant messaging like MSN so i can speak easier ?

The custom build is a more powerful machine. It's also more expensive.

What makes the second one a good buy isn't the hardware. It's the extras that come with it (the games mainly). If you go with the non-custom one, and want to upgrade later, you'll be looking at some major costs. A better GPU will be a good $300 (the HD 5850 that's in the custom), a $175 CPU (also in the custom build), and a bigger PSU for crossfire (again in the custome).

So for the 'long term' i am looking at my custom one.

I will work out an overall cost and tell you it in a few minutes.

No I don't use an IM. And I'm about to leave work, so I'll be on more infrequently.

I'm tempted to just buy it now ( My custom built one) Its just I feel I have gone wrong somewhere.... I can't choose things myself....

And something in my system just doesnt seem right...

If anyone can help..

No. 3.5 X 4 =/= 14GHz. That's not how it works at all. I suggest you take a look at the CPU Buyer's Guide 2.0 and read up on hyperthreading.

Dual Core does not mean you can multiple the clock speed by 2, and quad core does not mean you can just multiply the clock speed by 4. Dual and Quad core are differences in CPU Architecture moreso than they are speed. Granted, a quad core will work faster than a dual core, which will work faster than a single core, but not not based on the simply "multiply by 2/4" principle.

I know this is purely trivial, but it is something you must understand if you plan to build a PC.

Maybe it would be easier for other people to help if you posted a direct comparison between the two systems you are considering. Altho as far as I've been able to keep up, the custom build (the one with the Phenom II X4 945) is the better system.

I Already Understood this...

Would anyone be willing to start again and choose me all the parts again...

Just make sure it has a decent graphics card, HDMI Port, WIFI, And a Blu Ray Player...

Thanks..

CPU: Phenom II X4 955 £122 Very nice gaming processor.
Mobo: Asus M4A79XTD EVO £87 Allows for crossfiring.
RAM: Crucial 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz/PC3-10600 Ballistix Memory Kit CL7 (7-7-7-24) 1.65V £88 Fast low latency RAM, all that is needed for gaming.
PSU: OCZ StealthXStream 700W £75 Allows for crossfiring.
HDD: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB £65 Best HDD around, plenty of space.
GPU: Sapphire HD 5850 £218 Will have an HDMI port.
Wireless Adapter: D-Link AirPlus Wireless-G USB Adapter £18 Don't know much about wireless adapters.
Bluray: LiteOn iHOS104 Blu-Ray Reader DVD-Rom Serial ATA Internal Black - Retail Box with CyberLink Software £60
Case: Coolermaster CM690 Dominator £61

Total: £796

EDIT: Silvune's build above

Compared to:

CPU - AMD Phenom II X4 925
MEMORY - 4GB OCZ Reaper DDR3 PC3-10666 / 1333 MHz
BLURAY DRIVE - Sony Blu ray combo drive / Dvd / Bluray / Cd
HARD-DRIVE - 750GB Western digital - 750GB Hitachi - 500GB Western digital = 2TB Total
GRAPHICS - Sapphire HD4890 1GB DDR5 PCIE (New Edition) Hdmi - Dvi - Display port
MOTHER BOARD - Asus M4A79XTD EVO
SOUND - 7.1 Cinema sound via HDMI or 8 Channel sound via M/B
COOLING - Cool IT Domino ALC with Blue LED + 4 case fans
CASE - Cooler master Cosmos 690
PSU - OCZ 500w StealthXstream
Operating system - Microsoft Windows Vista premium 32bit
Wireless internet - Wifi network card (internal b/g 54mps) £5 option
Games - Swat 4 game + Avatar, NFS Shift, Crysis, Wolfenstein, Tom clancys Hawx, batman arkum asylum, BF 2142 demos

For about 700 pounds.

Silvune's is a better machine, the second one is a better buy because of the games (assuming they're legit).

I think I might have done you a disservice Mad, by overestimating the prices on the parts you originally listed.

Silvunes looks good ... My dads mate also offered me sometihng the other day.

He offered me this for 900 pounds.

Processor/CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 overclocked to 4GHz

Memory/RAM: 8GB Corsair Doiminator DDR2-1066 overlocked to DDR2-1333

Motherboard: ASUS Rampage Formula X48 with LCD Poster External Diagnostics/Time Display

Graphics/Video Card: ATI Radeon 4870 X2 - 2048MB Dedicated Memory, 1x PCI Video Capture Card

Storage: 1x SATA 2 Samsung 1TB HDD, 1x SATA 2 Samsung 500GB HDD, 1x 50in1 Card Reader/Writer

Optical Drives: 1x IDE Lite-On DVD-ROM, 1x SATA 2 - LG GGW-H20L Blu-Ray and DVD ReWriter

Sound: 1x ASUS Xonar D2X PCI Express Card

Network: 2x 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet

Case: Antec Twelve Hundred Gamer Case (mATX/ATX) with predrilled, rubber protected holes for water cooling tubing.

Power Supply (PSU): 1x Corsair HX Series 1000W Modular ATX2.2 SLI/Crossfire Compliant Power Supply

Operating System: Genuine Windows 7 Ultimate x64

Cooling: Case - 3x high power intake fans with dust guards (with optional Blue LEDs and option to turn fans up or down). 1x 12cm case roof fan, 2x exhaust fans.

Component - 3x RAM cooling fans, inbuilt PSU fans, 1x Internal intake fan, high powered video card fan with exhaust, 1x ASUS silent Knight 2 CPU cooler.

That is based on a dead platform (LGA 775), has far too much RAM. A lot of people you know seem to think that more harddrives = better computer. That power supply is quite nice, but overkill for most setups. The graphics card is probably better than a 5850 in terms of framerates, altho far more power hungry.
That's a more expensive case.
If your Dad's mate could substitute the processor, mobo and RAM from my suggestion into that build then you would have a clear winner, because I don't think that that system could be matched by a self build in the same price range.
With an extra £100 my system could probably not get a 5870 into it, if it could then my system would win. The only things in my system worth upgrading would be the case, and it's not as if the CM690 is a bad case.

So your saying, If i brought everything in your case... I would have a gaming PC capable of playing anything... and most things on at least Medium - 'Ultra' Graphics?

Like MadAd said, depends on the resolution of your monitor, but yes, the 5850 is a very powerful video card, and can play most currently released games at the highest settings with reasonable framerates, the only exception being Crysis.

Is this any good offer for your system Silvune

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU...

U got a IM? I can talk to someone easier...

Yea, those are decent components. Altho the included RAM is overpriced. If it was me I'd just drop that motherboard into the build I already suggested.
I will talk to you over IM tomorrow if you still haven't decided. (And if I have a connection tomorrow).

I think ill just go with all the stuff you said..... I will get confused If i drop something for something else..

By The way , It did have a HDMI Port and also would be upgradable in a few years yes?