Hardware Analysis - Help please ! New gaming rig on a budget

Re: Help please ! New gaming rig on a budget

Beavis Khan — 2008-06-25T15:04:26-05:00

Brendan Gonsalves said:

2) The 1000:1 contrast ratio on the monitor is a bit of let down. I would recommend getting a monitor with at least a 2000:1 contrast ratio.

Don't put too much stock in contrast ratios - they're pretty easy for the manufacturer to fudge. I'd rather have an honest 1000:1 than a sleazy 2000:1 any day.

Re: Help please ! New gaming rig on a budget

Dan Whitfield — 2008-06-25T14:48:52-05:00

Ive created a different build for the same price, what do you think ? This build has a far superior TFT and the new ATI 4850 card for the same price.

Would you make any alterations considering my budget is maxed out here ?

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium - Licence and media - 1 PC - OEM - DVD - 64-bit - English

�59.65

Corsair 4GB Kit (2x2GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 XMS2 Memory Non-ECC Unbuffered CL5(5-5-5-18) Heat Spreader Lifetime Warranty

�64.78

Sony DRU-190S 20X DVD�RW DL & DVD-RAM Serial ATA - Retail Multi Bezel & Nero CD ROM

�16.95

Western Digital WD3200AAKS 320GB SATAII 16MB Cache 7200 RPM - OEM

�35.94

Samsung SM2032BW 20"TFT Monitor Widescreen 1680x1050 3000:1 300cd/m2 2ms VGA/DVI-D Glossy Black 3 Years Warrany

�169.99

PowerColor HD 4850 512MB GDDR3 Dual DVI HDTV Out PCI-E Graphics Card

�122.95

MSI P35 Neo-F Socket 775 FSB1333 onboard 8 channel audio ATX Motherboard

�54.92

Coolermaster Centurion 5 All Black Case + 550W eXtreme Power Plus PSU

�73.94

Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 (3.16GHz) Socket 775 Wolfdale 1333FSB 6MB L2 Cache Retail Boxed Processor

�166.95

total inc vat + delivery : �766.07

Re: Help please ! New gaming rig on a budget

McFly — 2008-06-24T22:14:58-05:00

*sigh* ... I love how a card that's better than the "high end" video card that I was saving up to get is now a "mid-range" card ... and I still don't have the money, lol.

Re: Help please ! New gaming rig on a budget

Adam Kolak — 2008-06-24T22:13:14-05:00

That looks like a great configuration, and the E8500 and Gigabyte P35 motherboard also offer you some overclocking room for the future. Although with the E8500 running stock @ 3.16Ghz you really have no reason to overclock at this point. Down the line though, you may want the extra power and you could easily OC that thing to 4Ghz.

Also you got a solid midrange graphics card that should play all the latest games, plenty of ram for Vista, and just a solid system all around. I can not find anything wrong with that configuration at all.

I have the Cooler Master Centurion 5 case, and it is the best case you can get in that price range. It's built as well or better then many cases costing much more. It also offers plenty of room for future modifications and has excellent dust filtering in the front panel.

Re: Help please ! New gaming rig on a budget

Brendan Gonsalves — 2008-06-24T22:09:09-05:00

Dan Whitfield said:

How about this then !

PC Case: Coolermaster Centurion 5 All Black Case �73.94 http://www.ebuyer.com/product/141707
Power Supply: 550W eXtreme Power Plus PSU Free with case
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 CPU - �152.58 http://www.shopandgo.co.uk/product.php?product=e8500&x=0&a...4a7_p90134
Heatsink & CPU Fan: Arctic cooling freezer 7 pro �15.62 http://www.ebuyer.com/product/105994
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L Motherboard - �58.14 http://www.ebuyer.com/product/143176
Memory: OCZ 4GB Kit (2x2GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 Memory NVIDIA SLI READY EDITION CL5 �66.47 http://www.ebuyer.com/product/138561/show_product_overview
PCI-E Graphics: ASUS 8800GTS 512MB DDR3 �139.95 http://www.ebuyer.com/product/139381
Sound Card: Creative Labs Audigy SE 7.1 Sound Card �16.62 http://www.ebuyer.com/product/98938
Primary Hard Drive: Samsung SpinPoint HD501LJ 500GB �42.49 http://www.ebuyer.com/product/130454
Main Optical Drive: Sony DRU-190S 20X DVD�RW DL & DVD-RAM Serial ATA �16.95 http://www.ebuyer.com/product/142274
Network Adapter: Integrated 10/100/1000 Network Card - included in price
TFT Monitor: Samsung Syncmaster SM2043NW 20" TFT Monitor �139.99http://www.ebuyer.com/product/142612
Operating System: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium - Licence and media - 1 PC - OEM - DVD - 64-bit � English �59.67 http://www.ebuyer.com/product/123067/show_product_overview

= �766.80 delivered (dont need keyboard and mouse, speakers can be bought later on.

Looks good.

Re: Help please ! New gaming rig on a budget

Dan Whitfield — 2008-06-24T17:02:26-05:00

Re: Help please ! New gaming rig on a budget

Brendan Gonsalves — 2008-06-24T01:50:09-05:00

Looks pretty good however I have two suggestions.

1) Why not get 2GBx2 DDR2 instead of 1GBx4 DDR2? That way you can have dual channel support + a better upgrade path in the future if need be.

2) The 1000:1 contrast ratio on the monitor is a bit of let down. I would recommend getting a monitor with at least a 2000:1 contrast ratio.

Re: Help please ! New gaming rig on a budget

Dan Whitfield — 2008-06-23T22:10:00-05:00

bump

Re: Help please ! New gaming rig on a budget

Dan Whitfield — 2008-06-23T20:00:48-05:00

its all logitech gear

the psu should be okay but i understand as that was my only worry

Re: Help please ! New gaming rig on a budget

Liquid Shadow — 2008-06-23T19:41:56-05:00

My only concern with that rig is the power supply. 460W seems to be on the verge of "not enough juice" Other than that it seems to be a decent rig. You might want to check on the specs/make of the speakers, mouse and keyboard.

Help please ! New gaming rig on a budget

Dan Whitfield — 2008-06-23T19:21:48-05:00

Hey guys,

Well, its that time again to scrap my old faithful and invest in building a totally new rig. I have a set budget of �780 ( 980 Euros / 1 527 $ ). I do a lot of gaming and also need a decent tft, 2.1 speaker set and the OS for this price.

Now if i wanted a pre-build job I could get all this from arbico.co.uk for the price :

PC Case: Coolermaster Elite 330 Case
Power Supply: Quiet Coolermaster 460Watt Dual 12V Rail PSU
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 CPU
Heatsink & CPU Fan: Standard Heatsink & CPU Fan
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L Motherboard
Memory: 4 x 1GB Corsair 800Mhz PC6400 DDR2 Ram
PCI-E Graphics: 512MB nVidia Geforce 8800GT PCI-Express Graphics Card
Sound Card: Creative Labs Audigy SE 7.1 Sound Card
Primary Hard Drive: 500GB SATA 7200RPM Hard Drive
Main Optical Drive: 20x Dual Layer DVD Rewriter
Network Adapter: Integrated 10/100/1000 Network Card
TFT Monitor: 22" Cibox (C2201) Widescreen, VGA, 1000:1, 5ms, TFT
Keyboard & Mice: Keyboard & Optical Mouse
Speakers: 2.1 Surround Sound Speakers
Operating System: Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium (32bit Version)
Antivirus & Security Software: AVG AntiVirus
Multimedia Software: Nero Burning Rom
Office Software: OpenOffice
Warranty: 2 Years Return To Base Warranty (1st Year - Parts & Labour, 2nd Year - Labour Only)

= total �780

What do you guys think?

Could this be beaten or improved on for the price if i build myself (after looking on e-buyer i highly doubt it )

If anyone could post a better spec with links I would be really grateful !

Im useless at overclocking so im going for stock spec over OC potential but i wouldnt midn a bit of scope for future OC'ing

Cheers !!