Build me a budget gaming computer

[Scottyp86]

I have £ 400 waiting in my account to build a budget gaming computer. I want to play games like arma 2 , Dayz, battlefield 2, fifa 13.. I have a ruff idea what to get, but would be nice to see from other peoples point of views.

Please help

 

[marshallbradley]

It's quite a low budget, but workable. What resolution will you be playing at? Do you require a monitor?

Give us an idea of what you have thought of so far, so we can give you advice based on that. That way you'll actually know the pros and cons of each part decision, and build a PC which gives YOU exactly what you want out of it, rather than using someone else's ideal.

If you have no idea where even to start check out: http://www.logicalincrements.com/

M

 

[Scottyp86]

Sorry yes.
Parts required would be
mobo
cpu
ram
gpu
psu
hdd
cd drive
case

 

[Kamen_BG]

This is as good as it gets.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD Athlon II X4 640 3.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£55.55 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2P Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard (£34.80 @ CCL Computers)
Memory: Crucial 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory (£31.82 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£40.79 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB Video Card (£84.54 @ Aria PC)
Case: Inwin Fanqua ATX Mid Tower Case (£35.21 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£46.79 @ Aria PC)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-222AB DVD/CD Writer (£16.25 @ Amazon UK)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£67.19 @ Aria PC)
Total: £412.94
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-03-09 16:00 GMT+0000)

 

[Scottyp86]

Well I have 2 160gb 7200rpm Seagate Barracuda HDD and a copy of windows 7


At the moment this is what I have in my basket. All from Ebuyer apart from the case.



AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz Socket AM3+ 14MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor £105.30

Crucial 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600Mhz Ballistix Sport Memory Kit CL9 (9-9-9-24) 1.5V£34.98

Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 760G Socket AM3+ VGA DVI HDMI 7.1 Channel Audio mATX Motherboard £34.48

Sapphire HD 7850 OC Edition 2GB Dual DVI HDMI DisplayPort PCI-E Graphics Card £153.58

(free accessory) AMD 7800 2013 Game Coupon with Tomb Raider and Bioshock £0.00

Corsair 500W CX Builder 80 Plus Bronze PSU 3 Year Warranty £49.12

Samsung SH-118AB 18x DVD ROM Drive - Black £11.33

x-case atx - £23.99



Cart total inc vat: £412.78

 

[marshallbradley]

The build you linked Scotty is honestly fine, I wouldn't change a thing (maybe a 1 GB 7850 if you can get it for nearer to £125, though it does mean you can't really CrossFire well in the future). It's much better than the one linked above (since you don't need a HDD or W7).

M

 

[Scottyp86]

Would the 2gb version not be better for gaming?

 

[marshallbradley]

1gb vs 2gb really doesn't matter unless you're gaming at a resolution higher than 1080p. Here's a review of a 1gb where in most of the benchmarks it's compared to a 2gb. You can see there is really no difference: http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2012/11/05/msi-radeon-hd-7850-1gb-review/1 , and the 1gb even does better most of the time.

M

 

[Scottyp86]

The 1gb version is 5 pound more? http://www.ebuyer.com/390924-sapphire-hd-7850-oc-1gb-gddr5-dual-dvi-hdmi-displayport-pci-e-graphics-11200-06-20g

The others 1gb version are around 15 pound cheaper, Last pc I brough was 2006 so Im looking to use this for the next 6ish years so I might aswell get the 2gb for future proof? Is the sapphire version of the hd7850 good, versus the rest?

I watched a good review on the powercolor 7850 2gb

http://www.ebuyer.com/394762-powercolor-hd-7850-pcs-2gb-gddr5-dual-dvi-hdmi-dual-mini-displayport-ax7850-2gbd5-2dhpp ,

which is the same price as this and cant decided between the two

 

[marshallbradley]

I'd stick with the Sapphire, one fan is better than two for both cooling and noise.

M

 

[camohanna]

Need OS-
PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/IDr7
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/IDr7/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/IDr7/benchmarks/

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£78.61 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: MSI 970A-G46 ATX AM3+ Motherboard (£47.94 @ Aria PC)
Memory: Crucial 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory (£31.82 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 160GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£22.95 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB Video Card (£84.54 @ Aria PC)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case (£31.18 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£46.79 @ Aria PC)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-222AB DVD/CD Writer (£16.25 @ Amazon UK)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£67.19 @ Aria PC)
Total: £427.27
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-03-09 23:59 GMT+0000)

Dont need os-
PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/IDsN
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/IDsN/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/IDsN/benchmarks/

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£78.61 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: MSI 970A-G46 ATX AM3+ Motherboard (£47.94 @ Aria PC)
Memory: Crucial 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory (£31.82 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 160GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£22.95 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7870 2GB Video Card (£168.95 @ Aria PC)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case (£31.18 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£46.79 @ Aria PC)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-222AB DVD/CD Writer (£16.25 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £444.49
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-03-10 00:01 GMT+0000)

 

[syrax442]

go with amd, and get the best cpu/gpu/psu you can afford and skimp on the rest..

Amd phenom ii x4 965 black edition - 89$ or Amd fx 6300 $139
Cheap case - 29$
Kingston Hyper x 8gb - $42
Msi Radeon Hd 7850 1gb 256bit video - $159
Asrock 970 Extreme 3 mobo - $69
Lite-on Ihas 124-04 - $17
Cooler Master 212 evo Heatsink/cooler $29
Corsair 500w Builder - 50$

This is a powerful cheap build.. Dunno what it breaks down into your currency but its like $600 american if you buy it right

 

[Scottyp86]

Well I wanted to get the 6300 but most motherboard in my price range need a bios update and I don't have a am3 CPU to do it. Do I'm going up get the 6100 and then save up for the 6300, that way I can flash my bios and it will be ready for the new piledriver CPU.