Author Topic: £400 ish Budget  (Read 2333 times)

  • Offline Bacon

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£400 ish Budget
on: January 10, 2009, 17:25:35 PM
I am no closer to getting my new system, its becoming a headache now, dual/quad, amd/intel, im going to cry!

Processor
Motherboard
Graphics
Case
PSU
Memory (optional) Got 2GB Corsair XMS PC6400
Cooler

System will be used for gaming.

Your thoughts?
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Re:£400 ish Budget
Reply #1 on: January 10, 2009, 17:50:10 PM
Thats quite a limiting budget for a good gaming rig.

A PSU can last for years and years though 4 or more systems so that is allways a good place to spend some money.

Intel are the only processors worth going for at the moment, but with the new 1366socket out it migh tbe daft spending on socket 775? Im not sure how long intel are going to stick it out with s775....

Ill have a play on ebuyer and see what happens.

edit:


the E7400 is good for stable 3.6Ghz (400*9 @ 1.45v) at least on that cooler.

  • Offline Pete

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Re:£400 ish Budget
Reply #2 on: January 10, 2009, 18:31:13 PM


I still maintain that anyone who spends more than £25 on a PSU is a gullible twat. Especially on a budget system where a saving of £30-40 can bump up the level of the stuff that actually matters like CPU and video. Theres a reason why Dell, HP, FJS, etc dont put £100 PSUs in their systems - its completely pointless.



Id wanna read a few reviews on that board but thats pretty much where Id spend the dosh. Dev picked out a sweet motherboard there btw.

And the stock cooler is fine imo.
I know sh*ts bad right now with all that starving bullsh*t and the dust storms and we are running out of french fries and burrito coverings.

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Re:£400 ish Budget
Reply #3 on: January 10, 2009, 18:34:14 PM
PS try not to use ebuyer, due to their current stock (levels) they are not cheap :P
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  • Offline Pete

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Re:£400 ish Budget
Reply #4 on: January 10, 2009, 18:35:41 PM
Quote from: Bacon
PS try not to use ebuyer, due to their current stock (levels) they are not cheap :P


On a slight ot weve noticed at work that prices have shot up, IT stuff is costing anywhere up to 25% more than it was before christmas.
I know sh*ts bad right now with all that starving bullsh*t and the dust storms and we are running out of french fries and burrito coverings.

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Re:£400 ish Budget
Reply #5 on: January 10, 2009, 20:05:55 PM
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400
Asus P5QL - P43 - PCI-E 2.0
Nvidia 9800GTX+ 512MB
OCZ Stealthxstream 600W
Coolermaster Elite 334
(would be using my current Corsair XMS2 2GB pc6400 for this)

Intel Pentium Dual E5200
Asus P5QL - P43 - PCI-E 2.0
Nvidia 9800GTX+ 512MB
OCZ Stealthxstream 600W
Coolermaster Elite 334
Corsair 4GB DHX 4,4,4,12

AMD or Intel Quad, using similar components to first build.

Dual higher speed processor for gaming, but im wondering how many games will make use of quad core in 2009, cus chances are i wont be upgrading for a while, unless i end up with the E5200 setup i would aim at upgrading the cpu when i had more cash.
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Re:£400 ish Budget
Reply #6 on: January 10, 2009, 20:44:16 PM
ATI cards are currently better value and quality imo.

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Re:£400 ish Budget
Reply #7 on: January 10, 2009, 20:55:26 PM
Better value maybe, but performance wise there are matched. Although im considering this from an ease of use point of view, ATI drivers still cause issues, and i heard something about having to underclock them, i dunno i guess all those horror stories just bring back to many memories, think ill stay green. The point was i actually decided on a 4850 3 days ago, and could save myself £10-20 on that, im just a bit wary though.
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£400 ish Budget
Reply #8 on: January 10, 2009, 22:36:34 PM
Ive recently upgraded, didnt need to change my PSU (Enermax 500 modular), and my 4870 1gb installed fine with Vista 64, no unclocking or driver issues.

Quad core is okay I suppose, but I cant see many games using all 4 cores for a couple of years. Very useful if you do a lot of encoding though.

Oh and the stock HSFs are fine, my E8400(stock speed) runs at about 42degC under full load, for hours.

Save money on the PSU (unless youre going for future proofing), go with a dual core, and pump as much of your budget as possible into the graphics card.

Another alternative is to save up for a little longer and get better stuff, although January sales will be finishing soon.

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Re:£400 ish Budget
Reply #9 on: January 10, 2009, 22:39:05 PM
Quote from: Bacon

OCZ Stealthxstream 600W


Dont forget the lead to go with that..
http://www.advanproducts.co.uk/tacima-hifi-system-screened-mains-cable-13amp-5mtr-p-2236.html

 :roll:
I know sh*ts bad right now with all that starving bullsh*t and the dust storms and we are running out of french fries and burrito coverings.

  • Offline Bacon

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£400 ish Budget
Reply #10 on: January 10, 2009, 23:37:34 PM
Quote from: White Giant
Ive recently upgraded, didnt need to change my PSU (Enermax 500 modular), and my 4870 1gb installed fine with Vista 64, no unclocking or driver issues.

Quad core is okay I suppose, but I cant see many games using all 4 cores for a couple of years. Very useful if you do a lot of encoding though.

Oh and the stock HSFs are fine, my E8400(stock speed) runs at about 42degC under full load, for hours.

Save money on the PSU (unless youre going for future proofing), go with a dual core, and pump as much of your budget as possible into the graphics card.

Another alternative is to save up for a little longer and get better stuff, although January sales will be finishing soon.


I really cant afford to spend more money on the pc at the moment. Its a shame i know:D
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Re:£400 ish Budget
Reply #11 on: January 10, 2009, 23:37:54 PM
Quote from: sdp
Quote from: Bacon

OCZ Stealthxstream 600W


Dont forget the lead to go with that..
http://www.advanproducts.co.uk/tacima-hifi-system-screened-mains-cable-13amp-5mtr-p-2236.html

 :roll:


You lost me ? :)
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  • Offline Bacon

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Re:£400 ish Budget
Reply #12 on: January 10, 2009, 23:38:57 PM
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/charts/desktop-cpu-charts-q3-2008/PCMark-Vantage-Gaming-Suite,814.html

according to this the 9950 X4 Black Edition is better than an E8400 at stock speeds. which is why i considered quad also, that processor is on special this weekend for £137 which isnt to bad.
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Re:£400 ish Budget
Reply #13 on: January 11, 2009, 10:37:12 AM
Back to square one, the oc route

E5200 2x2.5 (OC to 3/3.2Ghz)
Akasa 965
Asus P5QL - P43 PCI-E 2.0
512MB Palit 4850
4GB Corsair TwinX DDR2 DHX 4,4,4,12
Silverstone Strider 560W
Lian Li PC7B Plus (2x120mm) its alu, its black, its sexy :P

£412

I think this will be my system :D
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Re:£400 ish Budget
Reply #14 on: January 12, 2009, 20:32:16 PM
Ordered the above setup with a Seasonic S12II 500w :)
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