Building a £700 Gaming PC

[TheAngryKip]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: In a few weeks time.

BUDGET RANGE: UK£700

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: gaming, internet browsing, occasional use of OpenOffice, watching movies

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: keyboard(PS/2), mouse(USB), monitor(VGA), speakers(3.5mm jack), PCI wireless network card

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: www.ebuyer.com, www.scan.co.uk, www.novatech.co.uk (I am open to others).

PARTS PREFERENCES: Quad-core CPU, DDR3 RAM, a case no taller than the Antec 300.

OVERCLOCKING: Very unlikely.

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: No.

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 15" 1024x768 and would prefer not to buy a new one for a while yet.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

This is the first time I have attempted to design and build my own computer. As far as I am aware the parts I have picked out so far should all work together nicely. There are still some parts like the optical drive and the PSU that I have yet to make a final decision on. The main use of the computer is browsing the internet and playing a particular online game. Any low end computer can browse the web, so I'll talk about the game.

The game is called RuneScape, made by a company called Jagex, and runs as a Java applet in a web browser. RuneScape isn't a very demanding game and is an OpenGL appilcation rather than DirectX. However, in order to run in fullscreen mode with all graphic settings set to thier highest, it does require a fairly modern mid-range graphics card. As for other games, I don't use my computer for many others but this is due to the fact that it can't play them well enough in the first place. It would be nice if the new computer could support more demanding games too and run them smoothly even if it is only at the lowest graphic details.

For everything else I would use a computer for I'm sure a gaming rig would do fine. I'm trying to keep costs low without losing too much in the way of new technology and also trying to keep power usage down too. Here is a list of parts for the proposed build.


Case - £45 - Antec 300; http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?ANT-300B

Motherboard - £95 - Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P; http://www.ebuyer.com/product/158608

CPU - £130 - AMD Phenom II X4 905E (one of the 65W energy efficient models); http://www.ebuyer.com/product/167112

GPU - £85 -Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 4770; http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?SAP-4770

PSU - £50 - Not entirely sure what I need here.

Optical - £20 - Any affordable black combo CD/DVD writer will do, something that matches and looks discrete in the case.

HDD - £70 - 2x 320GB Western Digital; http://www.ebuyer.com/product/124735

Ram - £55 - 4GB DDR3-1333 - http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/partspecs.aspx?IMODULE=CT2KIT25664BA1339

OS - £70 - Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (via pre-order)


None of the above prices are exact. The price of a component that I havn't made a decision on yet is the most I would like to spend on that component.

I assume overclocking uses more power than stock speeds and as power usage is a concern, I doubt I will be overclocking much, if at all.


Questions then:

1. I need to find a compatable PSU and I don't have much knowledge in this area. I would guess I need around 400-500W. Any sugestions on what I could use?

2. Most importantly, will everything work together?


Sorry if this is quite a long post but I want to make sure my first build goes perfectly. No-one likes to buy parts that they can't use and I really don't have any money to waste.

 

[Helloworld_98]

well first swap the graphics card for a 4770 as the GTS 250 uses about double the energy that the 4770 does. and the 4770 is nearly as powerful.

next, get the standard set of ram, but only get 4GB, you don't need 8GB with a build at this level.

for the PSU, since you're going for energy saving, get an OCZ Z-series 550w, it costs £68 but you get 89% efficiency at 50% load which is what your PC will operate at when at full load, and yes that 5% will make a difference to your electricity bill.

Lastly, for the case, pay the extra for a Coolermaster 690, the Antec 300 is quite hard to work with.

 

[TheAngryKip]

You may have swung me over to the 4770, even if it is a little less powerful. Its also a bit cheaper which is a nice bonus. The only problem is that not many online retailers have them in stock right now. That could change by the time I come round to ordering everything though.

As for the RAM, 8GB probably is a bit over the top. I'll get one standard 4GB kit and if in a couple of years down the line I do need more, I won't have to throw anything away.

I'd still like to go with the Antec 300 as just about every review I've read on it has given it top marks. Personally I also think it looks better than most cases of this type that I've seen.

 

[spanner_razor]

The 95w 945 is coming sooner and will be a lot faster for only 5 or so more money. Scan has it instock atm

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/AMD-Phenom-II-X4-945-Deneb-Core-Socket-AM3-30GHz-8MB-Total-Cache-HT-2000MHz-95W-Retail

What about one of the new gigabyte 770 chipset, it's unlikely you'll need the second gpu port and the gx has an integrated card which always makes the board slower than non integrated boards.