Gaming PC - £500 budget

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jestjest

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Hello, after getting as much use out of this uselss overheating piece of crap I currently run with I'm ready to upgrade. Just for reference I am in the UK. Budget is £500, roughly $750.


APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: 1-2 Weeks

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Hardcore Gaming

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: DVD/RW , Hard Drive, OS, Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Any good UK based websites, I only know of Ebuyer.com / Overclockers.co.uk
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United Kingdom

PARTS PREFERENCES: Prefer to use Intel, with adequate cooling throughout the system to accomdate extended periods of gaming (presume 12+ hours occasionally).

OVERCLOCKING: No / Maybe
Maybe SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Yes / Maybe

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: My main concern is having a powerful enough PC to run all games on medium/high settings. I have a crappy AMD Athlon 64X2 5000+ BE which has overheated ever since I bought the thing, even with aftermarket coolers etc. I just want a reliable/stable build that will run cool. I am open to using pre-built systems.
 
J

jestjest

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Do I need to add/remove anything from my original post? Seems other topics of similar nature are getting replies and mine isn't.
 
A

asteldian

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Nope, all is good. I think the delay in answer is people trying to find how best to get a gaming machine from £500, it is about £200 off the ideal.

I recommend www.scan.co.uk as another site for buying in the UK - it has a great layout and you can find all the parts easily, you can then cross check them with other sites to get a good price.

I will try and put something together in a minute (at work, need to look busy while bos is near)
 
gkay09

gkay09

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A

asteldian

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CPU Intel i5 750 - £141.18
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Intel-Core-i5-750-Lynnfield-45nm-Quad-Core-266GHz-8MB-Cache-95W-Retail

CPU Cooler - £15.85
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Arctic-Cooling-Freezer-7-Pro-v2-S1366-A1156-S775-AM3-AM2plus-AM2-939-Up-to-130-Watts!

This cooler is VERY quiet. I believe the most popular cooler is Hyper212+ so if you can find that cheap by all means grab it.

GPU 5770 - £129.92
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/1GB-XFX-HD5770-PCI-E-20(x16)-4800MHz-GDDR5-GPU-850MHz-Cores-800-2x-DL-DVI-I-HDMI

Mobo - £82.90
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Gigabyte-GA-P55-US3L-rev-2-Intel-H55-Express-Sok1156-PCI-E-20-DDR3-2000-SATA-3Gb-s-RAID-ATX

This is just one of a few Mobo options around this price, check reviews to decide which is best for you. Note that none support XFire or SLI (not decently anyway). You have to pay a lot more for that option

Memory - 2 x 2gb Corsair 1600mhz 9-9-9-24 - £102.37
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/4GB-(2x2GB)-Corsair-XMS3-DDR3-PC3-12800-(1600)-Non-ECC-Unbuffered-CAS-9-9-9-24-XMP-165V

PSU - Silverstone 750W - £97.28
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/750W-Silverstone-ST75F-modular-SLi-Quad-plus12V-rail-6X-PCI-E-ATX-12V-22-and-EPS12V-80-Efficiency

Case - £25.24
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Xclio-3060-PLUS-Black-Silver-Midi-Tower-Case-w-o-PSU-36CM-Side-Fan!

Note: There are a number of case options so just have a look and decide which you prefer (plenty in the £25 - £30 area)

Note: You can go cheaper for RAM. On ebay you can get 4gb of 7-7-7-22 RAM for £74. I have not mentioned it above because this is not known RAM and therefore you are taking a risk on its reliability. I can say that I bought some and am using it in my experimental computer (I recently put a machine together using some parts that I was less sure of to see where money can or cannot be saved). One stick was faulty but there have been no issues returning it and getting it replaced. The other stick currently works as stated.

Note: You can get a cheaper PSU, Scan has a £52 750W modular PSU. Again, I did not state it above as it is not a brand PSU and so may not be as reliable. Again, I can say I am using it and have had no problems so far. It is Scans own model, and as a well respected hardware dealer I trust their quality so took the risk. As I say, I have had no issues with it and put it here as an option, but wanted to be clear that it is not a typical recommendation.
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/750W-Powercool-PC750UM-Modular-80plus-Eff-Dual-12V-Sli-Xfire-ATX12V-V22-PSU

Total with recommended parts:
£594.74

Total using the RAM and PSU Noted above:
£521.09

The build does not include mouse/keyboard or Speakers though you can buy a bundle deal for about £10 - £20, it will be fairly standard and cheap but will do until you can afford better.
This build also does not include a monitor, I really hope you did not intend that within the budget
 
A

asteldian

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You could go for a lesser CPU but the i5 750 really is perfect for a gamer so I would find the money to get it.

You could opt for AMD as a cheaper alternative, I myself don't use AMD so can give no opinion on it or suggestions for it.

Eventually you will need to upgrade the GPU to a 5850 or 5870, though probably not until you get a bigger monitor.

If the £600 is too far off budget, you could save some money by only putting in 2gb of RAM for now and upgrading with more later.
 
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