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Help buying decent gaming PC for ~£500-600

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  • Gaming
  • Games
Last response: in General UK & Ireland Discussions
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January 14, 2013 6:25:35 PM

Recently my 2003 PC that I had been using to play games with my mates (TF2, L4D, LoL etc) died. I'm looking for a decent Gaming PC for around 500/600 Quid that can run these games smoothly, on mid/high settings. Due to the fact that I am a complete newb selecting parts for PCs, I am hoping that some of you kind folk could give me a hand? I really don't want to build it (Nowhere near as confident :p ) so what I thought was I could select some parts from www.pcspecialist.co.uk and have them make it for me.

Bearing in mind that I really don't want to play Battlefield 3/Crysis on Ultra, just the odd PC game like Team Fortress 2 or League of Legends I was hoping to get a base unit that can run these quite well for nearer to £500.I had thought about an i5 processor (I hear their the mid range gaming CPU to buy) with 8 Gb of Ram but like I said, I have no idea of the Motherboard or Power Supply Wattage etc.

What I am basically asking is for someone to show me the ropes about all these different parts and to possibly suggest what I should buy (and the best place to buy from)

Thanks so much for all the help

More about : buying decent gaming 500 600

January 14, 2013 6:31:44 PM

The Motherboard you can choose is AsRock fm2a75m it costs 50 quid and i have one my self and i play bf3 on it so it shoudl be fine with LOL and tf2 Also for the PSU if you are going to use a strong Graphics card 550W will be enough you can get all this on ebay !
January 14, 2013 6:39:03 PM

Cheers for the quick reply mate!

Thanks for the motherboard advice but what would you class as a strong GPU? I have seen an nVidia 630 GeForce but I'm not sure if that will run as well as I hope.

Like you say, you can get it on ebay but that would mean you would have to built it up yourself right? I would much rather select the parts from pcspecialist as they can assemble it for me so I know its all done correctly and in general its just easier (which I suppose is why it costs a bit more).

Do you think an i5 will run smoothly and on what sort of setting?
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January 14, 2013 6:43:25 PM

i will go on that website and check out a good pc for you and i think the GT 630 should work fine as i have a gt520 on my old pc and played tf2 and it was working fine but maybe it was lagging abit but with the 630 it should even be a problem
January 14, 2013 6:46:18 PM

Case
STYLISH PIANO BLACK ENIGMA MICRO-ATX CASE + 2 FRONT USB
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-3470 (3.2GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z77-M: MICRO-ATX, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs, ATI®CrossFireX
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (1 X 4GB)
Graphics Card
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GT 630 - DVI, HDMI, VGA - 3D Vision Ready
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
500GB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s HDD 7200RPM 16MB CACHE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
450W Quiet 80 PLUS Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan
Processor Cooling
INTEL SOCKET LGA1155 STANDARD CPU COOLER
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 7 to 9 working days
Quantity
1




YOU CAN CHOOSE A DIFFERENT RAM AND A CASE BUT THIS BUILD SHOULD BE OK JUST PLAY STEAM GAMES
January 14, 2013 6:49:28 PM

I would not go with a GT630

If you're really on such budget i would rather go with an AMD CPU + Better GPU

and for its cost 8GB Ram.
January 14, 2013 6:50:50 PM

Thanks alot guys, I will have a look at them now
January 14, 2013 6:51:27 PM

I THINK THAT vibox Will be the best choice and an AMD a8 5600k with crossfired Radeon 6670 will just work like a dream even with bf3 on ultra so i would recommend going AMD as this is the Specs that i have right now and play fc3 and bf3 and it just works fine with 30-40 fps. Just go on vibiox and build own pc and choosen those specs i choose no operating system as i dont need one but idk with you

AMD ATI Radeon HD 6670 2GB Graphics Card
No Operating System Needed
CiT 450W PSU
Galaxy Bubble Gaming Case
8GB Corsair Vengeance 1600MHz Gaming RAM
Gigabyte GA-F2A55M-DS2 Motherboard
3.6GHz AMD A8-5600K 4-Core Trinity APU
Standard Manufacturer Heatsink Fan
1 x 24x DVD-RW Optical Drive
1 x 1TB (1000GB) Sata III Hard Drive
1 Year Standard Warranty
January 14, 2013 6:58:57 PM

If he's willing to spend £600 There's no need to go with a APU & Crossfire... £600 imho is enough to build a very good gaming rig now adays.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS... + a 7850 / Win7 comes to about £604

Yes you can get a better system for similar price if you built yourself. but eh :) 

If you really dont intend on heavy gaming, and still carry on LOL etc you can bring that price down by putting a 7770 in there which is still capable of playing all new games at lower details etc.

January 14, 2013 7:12:53 PM

Ok cheers mate. I've got an xbox for BF3 etc, it's just the games like Total War and LoL that I want to run. Also, would it be worth going for an i5 or will an i3 run what I want well? I dont mind about the 'Ultra' settings, just so it runs smoothly and looks nice etc
January 14, 2013 7:16:11 PM

For running smoothly and looking nice i would recommend amd a6 with a a radeon GRaphics card for example 6670 overall that would be enough for these games because if my 5yr old pc could play this these specs would be great and i have a AMD A10 my self crossfired with 6670 and works great on every game and its really cheap!
January 14, 2013 7:19:50 PM

I hear you, but at the same time I want something that will still be able to play games well in a couple of years, which is why i'm sort of leaning towards the newer i3/5 PCs. What do you think?
January 14, 2013 7:21:28 PM

Total war I'm not to sure. I know its a stupidly CPU intensive game. and will probably use all cores possible. so a Dual core may/may not struggle, cant seem to find any shogun 2 Benchmarks done with an I3 http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpus/2012/05/01/intel-...

i do know an I3 coupled with a 7850 is a very nice machine, tho with more and more games comin' out utilizing 4 cores i would look into an I5 build or AMD BUlldozer/ Piledriver, but an I5 system will probably take you over your budget unless you built it all yourself or already have a Windows 7 Retail.

What is your monitors resolution also?
January 14, 2013 7:30:42 PM

I know adrian suggested an i5 earlier on from pcspecialist that looked quite good which turned out to be £536. Is this the machine to get? I suppose I wouldn't mind playing games on low as long as they are playable if you know what I mean.
January 14, 2013 7:36:36 PM

Well its all good, but not sure what PSU they will put in that. & the GT630 is not the greatest infact its a horrible gamin GPU if you want somewhat performance 28fpsish on BF is not pretty even with low settings & may struggle in many games.

Case
STYLISH PIANO BLACK ENIGMA MICRO-ATX CASE + 2 FRONT USB
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-3470 (3.2GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® P8H77-M: M-ATX, DDR3, USB 3.0, SATA 6.0Gb/s, CrossFireX™
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)
Graphics Card
1GB AMD RADEON™ HD7770 - DVI,HDMI,DP - DX® 11, Eyefinity 3 Capable
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
500GB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s HDD 7200RPM 16MB CACHE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
600W Quiet 80 PLUS Quad Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan
Processor Cooling
INTEL SOCKET LGA1155 STANDARD CPU COOLER
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE 60 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 2010 Professional Edition
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 7 to 9 working days
£606 inc VAT and Delivery.

Now, I'm not sure really how good that PSU they will use. 80Plus should be alright & you have warrenty under them
January 14, 2013 7:44:00 PM

What GPU would you recommend? I know you said a 7850 is good, are there any other cheap good ones out there?

Edit:
Sorry scratch that, just seen your post :p 
January 14, 2013 7:45:46 PM

Updated again put a H77 board in there, takes the price over 600 though.
January 14, 2013 7:45:53 PM

Yeah it might struggle but not really because my gt520 just worked fine with the bf3 and the gt 630 is bit better and it could and yeah get that i5 i recommended it will give you good performence for another 10 years HEh
January 14, 2013 7:49:44 PM

Well i've already got a decent dvd drive so its £592 :) 

Edit:
I've had a look at that GPU link you posted, and read the 7770 article specifically. Cant understand what most of it says but if you think its a good choice i'll go with you mate :p  Just glad to get one better than my old GeForce Fx 5600 which, may I add, couldn't run DX 9 :L
January 14, 2013 8:01:55 PM

It will be a massive improvement ;) 

if you really want an I5 build good choice mind you. then a 7770 will do nicely for now.
January 14, 2013 8:05:23 PM

Apparently the website has calculated that the system will use 317w power so I only need a 350w PSU? Any ideas lol?

Edit:
Apparently thats not including a 20% variation. Do you think I should stick with 600 or move to a 450? Is there any harm in sticking to a 600?
January 14, 2013 8:07:41 PM

I wouldn't go by that. I put a 600W Psu in since its an unbranded one.

if you went with a 450 80 plus that should easily be enough but if you was to upgrade your GPU you would probably need a new PSU.

Worst case your PSU blows after the 3 year warranty.
January 14, 2013 8:13:44 PM

a 550w would be enough as i have that but 600w takes alot more electircity when using moitor and speakers but it depends if you want to save money, if you think im nuts saying 550w would be enough and think that 600 is the same thing you are wrong the 550w and 600w is a very big diffrence.ALso good luck when you buy a pc make a thread giving us a review about the system and what Fps you get on games and send me a private message :D  ANd good luck again :D 
January 14, 2013 8:15:25 PM

I'm probably gonna stick with the same set up until some massive failure happens so the 450 would be alright. Besides it takes price down around 50 quid which is a bonus. And I suppose 450s are cheaper to buy (?) so if it does blow I can get a new one for less

Edit:
Mind you, if 600 is a necessary thing then I don't mind getting it, i'm just wondering if its overkill?

Edit 2:
I will mate, cheers for all the help!!!
January 14, 2013 8:18:11 PM

Yep thats true and they are really cheap so you will know that you need a better one if it blows :D 
January 14, 2013 8:19:30 PM

yes a 450W will be fine then. if you don't intend on upgradeing your GPU anytime soon, tho with a 7770 you may need to quicker than if you say bought a 7800+/660+series card which will probably last year or so extra. depending what FPS you can live with :p 

well if your PSU blows within 3 years you should get a free fix from pcspecialist. so no problem there.

Good luck with the computer!

You'll have to do a bit of reading about building computers btw, it's really straight forward and can save you some nice cash :)  worst part for me building a system is getting all the front case headers into the correct place :D  always need the manual for that. everything else can pretty much only go in one place :) 
January 14, 2013 8:22:01 PM

Alright guys, Thanks so much for all the help! I'll be sure to tell you how it goes!
January 22, 2013 11:18:47 PM

Is eBay completely out of the question for you?
You can pick up a GTX 580 in brilliant nick for about £150- I've seen some go for as low as £120. Spotted an i7 3820 go for £166 yesterday. Then just couple all that with a Gigabyte GA-X79-UD3, 8GB of Corsair RAM and you're ready to go!

Would work out as follows:
Intel Core i7 3820 (Will easily OC to 4.5+= £166
Thermalright TRUE Spirit 140= £30
Gigabye X79-UD3= £115
Nvidia GTX 580= £150
1TB Seagate Barracuda= £47
8GB 1600mhz Corsair Vengeance= £26 (ebay)
Zalman Z11 Case= £44
Inwin GreenMe 650W= £50

Total: £628 if I'm not mistaken. Barely over budget. If you stick with a stock cooler, it'll even come in £2 under budget.

Gives you a brilliant base for the future and is guaranteed to outperform any of the suggestions thus far- perhaps even a couple of times over.

Might be an option worth exploring.
February 16, 2013 8:54:19 AM

Case: Fractal Design Core 1000
CPU: Intel Core i3-3220
GPU: Any Radeon HD 7770
Psu: Any 500 watt Psu
motherboard: Asus P8H61-MX USB3,s1155
Hdd: Seagate Barracuda 500GB - 3.5inch
Ram: 2x 4GB 1600 clocked memory
Cd/dvd drive: Any cheap drive

This build cost: 460 euro`s thats about 400 pound
I have these specs myself and i run battlefield 3 on ultra at 40FPS
!