UK Sub £550 buld for gaming. Ordering parts later today.

[slowpoke101]

Hey so hoping to get some input on this build.

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Today.

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, Watching movies.

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: All tower parts. Already have 22" screen, keyboard mouse and operating system.

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: EBUYER

PARTS PREFERENCES: I have always been a Intel/Nvidia person however I am tempted to try out a AMD/ATI combo with this build.

OVERCLOCKING: Never really tried it before, so if I do it i will be with help from here.

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Initially no, however I want a motherboard and power supply good enough to do this ina few weeks/ months time.

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1680x1050

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: The only none standard thing here is I will be setting up a dual partition drive. One for Windows XP and one for Windows 7 beta.

So onto the system


Case:- Antec 300
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/143854

Power Supply:-OCZ 500W Mod XStream Pro PSU - 2x PCI-E 6x SATA
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/152009

Processor:-AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz Socket AM3 6MB L3 Cache Retail Boxed Processor
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/159071

Motherboard:-Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P 790X Socket AM3 DDR3 8 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/158608

RAM:-OCZ 4GB Kit (2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz/PC3-10666 Gold Dual Channel CL 9-9-9-26
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/142388

Graphics Card:-(I am looking to buy a 4770 at the moment, not sure where from yet as a lot of places are out of stock. Given what ive spent so far the budget for the card is £70-80) Ill have a proper look around when I actually place the order.

Hard Drive:-Western Digital WD6400AAKS 640GB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 16MB Cache
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/144339

DVD R/W:-Sony AD-7200S 20X DVD±RW/DL/RAM Internal SATA
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/139414

NOTES:-

i) None of these parts is set in stone, if anyone has ideas for a better system for around the same amount of money (Max- £575 but less if possible) then I am all ears.

ii) In the above build I am using a stock cooler, with no overclocking in mind. If if its recommended that I switch to 3rd party then fine. Max budget for the cooler would be £30.

 

[slowpoke101]

Doh, sorry for the broken links. Not sure if a mod can fix them. It wouldn't let me edit the message.

 

[slowpoke101]

OK come up with an alternative build for a similar price. See if theres any thoughts.

Same case as above, Antec 300.

Power Supply is Antec TruePower New 650W Modular PSU - 80plus Bronze and SLI Certified 3x SATA
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/159920]

Motherboard is Gigabyte GA-X48-DS4 iX48 Socket 775 8 channel audio ATX Motherboard
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/145368]

Processor is Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Socket 775 (3.0GHz) 1333FSB 6MB L2 Cache
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/139971]

RAM is Crucial 4GB (2X2GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 Ballistix Memory Kit CL4 2.0V
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/166461]

I would use the same WD 640gb hard drive and still go for a ATI 4770.

Again any comments welcomed please.

 

[gkay09]

+1 for the AMD build...
Just replace the PSU with a good quality 600W and you are good to go...
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/650W-Silverstone-ST65ZF-GM-SLi-Dual-PCI-E-EPS12v-ATX12v-v201-PSU

The antec 300 is a very good case no doubt...But here is a very good offer, that am sure is hard to resist...
It is about £29.77 Inc VAT and has a special offer - Free shipping for all the other items bought with this case - whole order...
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Xclio-Propeller-Midi-Tower-Case-with-36cm-Quiet-Fan-on-Side-Pane-w-o-PSU

 

[slowpoke101]

OK just priced that up at Scan looks like.

650W Silverstone ST65ZF-GM SLi Dual PCI-E EPS12v ATX12v v2.01 PSU £67.47

Xclio Propeller Midi Tower Case with 36cm Quiet Fan on Side Pane w/o PSU £29.77

640 GB Western Digital WD6400AAKS Caviar Blue, SATA 3Gb/s, 7200rpm, 16MB Cache, 8.9 ms £48.21

LG GH22NS40 22x DVD±R, 16xDVD±DL, DVD+RW x8/-RWx6 ,12xRAM SATA, Black, OEM £16.43

Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P, AMD 790X, AM3, PCI-E 2.0 (x16), DDR3 1666(OC), SATA 3Gb/s, SATA RAID, ATX £107.86

AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition, Sok AM3, 2.8GHz, 7.5MB Total Cache, 95W, Retail £109.02

4GB (2x2GB) CorsairTwinX XMS3, DDR3 PC3-10666 (1333MHz), 240 Pin, Unbuffered, CAS 9-9-9-24, DHX £63.37

That lot comes in at around £450.

Im really struggling to find anyone that has 4770's in stock atm though.

So I am wondering if it is worth spending a bit extra and going for either a 4870, a 4850x2 or a 216 core 260, I can any of these for around £130.

Or better still if someone knows where I can get a 4770 from. For not a lot more I can get 2 of those for crossfire.

 

[gkay09]

Why dont you try the 4850 - cost about the same as a 4770 now and is still a good one...
Check this store...
http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/9768510/Sapphire-ATI-Radeon-HD-4770-512MB-DDR5-PCI-Express-2-0-Graphics-Card/Product.html

 

[slowpoke101]

Already rang em this morning, out of stock and not sure when its back in lol

 

[gkay09]

Sad...
I guess that is why ATI has reduced the 4850 prices so as not to loose that market segment...
If you are not able to find the 4770, then get the 4850 512MB...

 

[slowpoke101]

Im now looking at maybe going down a 260 (216 core) route. However apparently theres an issue with it fitting it in cases. Any idea if that case you mentioned will take a 260 card and if not, maybe recommend one that does?