Advice on Budget PC

[Race Pro]

Hi,

Could i please ask for some advice, Im looking at buying a PC for playing GTR evolutuion, rfactor 2, iRacing & Football manager, Im looking at -

Intel Core 2 Duo vpro E8200 @2.66Ghz
500GB HDD
1GB Nvidia GT520 Card
windows xp pro 32bit
4GB of ram
280w power

or

Dell Precision 470 2xXeon Core Quad (4) x 3.4Ghz 64bit
500GB HDD
1GBNvidia GT520 Card
Windows xp pro 32bit or 64bit - (not sure whichs ones better ?)
4GB of ram
550w power

I know they are old systems, but they can be bought fro cheap ish, and have been told that both would run they games i listed on a HD 32" tv with meduim settings.

Which system would be the better one to buy, really apprecate some advice.

Thank you.

 

[$hawn]

well i'd go with the dual Xeons anyday!!! they'll smoke the *** outta any real 'budget' system

 

[wr6133]

I'd take whichever is cheaper if they cost the same I would take the Core 2 Duo as the xeon setup isn't really designed for what you intend to do and is more likely to be a ballache in the future.

 

[geekapproved]

Obviously the Xeon quad at 3.4 is the no-brainer here.

It also has a power supply which could support a video card upgrade.

64bit is better.

How much is cheapish?

 

[Race Pro]

Hi,

Thanks everyone for replys and advice, they would cost around £220 each with shipping costs included - these are from eBay.

So with the xeon could i put something like a HD6770 video card into it ?

Thanks.

 

[$hawn]

Well fact is Xeons are actually server chips....so i have no idea about what they support....but i guess a PCIe card shud be supported as its pretty much standard
However, i don't think an OS like Win7 home basic will support dual CPU's, just incase ur planning to upgrade later on in the future....u'll have to buy Win7 professional or something....

 

[geekapproved]

Absolutely, I'd recommend a 7770 though or even 6850.

 

[wr6133]

Reason I would err at the xeon setup is thats server or workstation kit. Hardwarewise that means if something goes pop its harder/expensive to sort out. As its secondhand its likely to have been in an environment where it has been on constantly so I would expect the general wear on it to be bad. Yes it seems the "no brainer" for its extra grunt but I think its more likely to end up in (expensive) tears. If you could push your budget to £300 I think you could do alot better on E-bay or gumtree to be honest

 

[geekapproved]

Yeah well guessing at possible scenarios who knows.

How do you know the E8200 wasn't previously overvolted and overclocked to 4.2ghz for the last 3yrs?

 

[wr6133]

Fair point but under normal usage we would expect the xeon to have taken more of a battering.

I still think the OP should save a bit more though for around £300 he could be getting brand new FX based systems with 8GB ddr3 and 1TB HDD's or second hand i3 based with similar RAM/HDD combos.

Or even trawling auctions there's better for around his current price (though this is bid dependent)

Core 2 quad

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Quad-Core-Q8200-Gaming-PC-4GB-RAM-HD4870-1GB-DDR5-HDMI-250GB-SATA-BARGAIN-/290730552772?pt=UK_Computing_DesktopPCs&hash=item43b0e42dc4

Core 2 Duo

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gaming-PC-Computer-Core-2-Duo-Ati-/320930476430?pt=UK_Computing_DesktopPCs&hash=item4ab8f2718e

i3 2100 (slight over budget)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gaming-Pc-i3-2100-3-1gHz-Nvidia-7950gt-/251088099957?pt=UK_Computing_DesktopPCs&hash=item3a76045a75

Phenom X4

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GAMING-PC-/261047153011?pt=UK_Computing_DesktopPCs&hash=item3cc79f7173

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been moved from the section CPU & Components to section Systems by Mousemonkey

 

[Race Pro]

Hi,

Just one more question please, Should i buy the dual core xeon's still or i can get this build for £200 -

Core2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz
GeForce 8800GT
4GB ddr2 ram
250gb dd
windows 7

Now i think the core 2 quad would be better then the xeon, but i know very little about computers, so would appreactte some more advice please.

Thank you.

 

[wr6133]

I'd take that core 2 quad over the xeon definitley for your uses.