Gaming rig guide £400-£500

[AndrewRackstraw]

Ok I'm from the UK, My budget is £400-£500 My aim is to run Microsoft flight simulator x decently, I need everything ect, mouse keyboard, The only thing I don't need is the monitor, speakers and flight simulator x if you could direct me to some links or give me advice it would be greatly appreciated , thanks.

 

[AndrewRackstraw]

My preferred CPU is an Intel core 2 duo E7500

RAM would be around 2 GB

GPU Nvedia 9600GT

Hard drive about 500GB

O/S Windows vista 32bit

Sorry that I didn't Post it before.

 

[WR2]

Look at this article from Bit-Tech:
What Hardware Should I Buy? - October 2009 / Affordable All Rounder

They explain why they recommend the Athlon II X2 250 Regor 3.0GHz CPU and Socket AM3 motherboard.
If you're interested in overclocking you can get the Phenom X2 550 Black Edition CPU for £20 more.

The E7500 is a bit more powerful CPU but the GTS 250 (9800GTX) is a good step up from the 9600GT.
All in all it should be very little difference in FSX performance while giving you better future upgrade options.

If you do decide to go with the E7500 (check the prices on E7400s too) I'd suggest a Gigabyte GA-EP43-DS3L.
You can go through back issues of 'What Hardware Should I Buy?' to see how recommendations have changed over time. They're linked at the bottom of the page.

 

[build]

AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition 3.1GHz - £73.67
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/166518

MSI 770T-C45 AMD 770 Socket AM2+ - £46.19
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/175765

Antec 200 Two Hundred Mid Tower Case - £34.06
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/168615

Microsoft Black Keyboard 500 - £6.88
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/88759

Logitech S96 Black Optical Mouse - £4.98
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/129830

OCZ DDR2 Dual Channel CL4 4GB Kit - £46.51
http://www.dabs.com/products/ocz-technology-ocz-ddr2-dual-channel-cas-4-4gb-kit-5J6D.html

Samsung 500GB F3 7200rpm 16MB - £36.70
http://www.dabs.com/products/samsung-500gb-f3-7200rpm-16mb-ecogreen-6605.html

Corsair Memory 450W - £48.07
http://www.dabs.com/products/corsair-memory-450w-atx-ps-2-sata-12v-4N14.html

Sony 24x Int DVDRWRAM SATA - £15.97
http://www.dabs.com/products/sony-24x-int-dvdrwram-sata-black-bare-63FP.html

1GB Power Color HD 4850 - £79.24
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/1GB-Power-Color-HD-4850-PCI-E-20(x16)-1900MHz-GDDR3-GPU-625MHz-800-Cores-DL-DVI-I-HDMI-D-Sub

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium - £65.21
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Microsoft-Windows-7-Home-Premium-E-Retail-(Green)-PreOrder-Release-22-10-09

Total = £457.48 (dabs and ebuyer offer free delivery, and for scan you need to sign up to a forum called hexus to avail of free delivery)


You can overclock the Phenom II X2 550 if you want as WR2 mentioned with a decent retail cooler, should cost you around £20.