£400 Gaming Rig

[navdeepchani]

Hi I'm new to this forums and I'm looking to build my own computer for roughly £400-£425. I'm looking for a dual core processor either Intel or AMD with a monitor. I want a decent graphics card, I've been looking at the Sapphire Ati Radeon HD4670. Here is what I've been looking at so far:

Arianet Ventus MIDI Case - 25CM case fan! (https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Cases/MIDI+Tower/Arianet+Ventus+MIDI+Case+-+25CM+case+fan%21+?productId=22390)
Arianet ValuePlus (Socket LGA775) CPU Cooler / Fan (https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Fans%2C+Heatsinks%2C+Coolers/CPU+Coolers/Arianet+ValuePlus+%28Socket+LGA775%29+CPU+Cooler+% 2F+Fan+?productId=29946)
Samsung HD322HJ SpinPoint F1 320GB SATA-II 3.5" Hard Drive - OEM (https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Hard+Drives/Serial+ATA/Samsung+HD322HJ+SpinPoint+F1+320GB+SATA-II++3.5%22+Hard+Drive+-+OEM+?productId=33292)
Intel Core 2 Duo E7500 2.93GHz (Socket 775) (1066FSB) Processor - Retail (https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/CPUs+%2F+Processors/Intel/Core+2+Duo/Intel+Core+2+Duo+E7500+2.93GHz+%28Socket+775%29+%2 81066FSB%29+Processor+-+Retail+?productId=34749)
Asus P5QL Pro Intel P43 (Socket 775) DDR2 PCI-Express Motherboard (https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Motherboards/Socket+775+%28Intel%29/Asus+P5QL+Pro+Intel+P43+%28Socket+775%29+DDR2+PCI-Express+Motherboard+?productId=34965)
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 4670 512MB GDDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Card (https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Graphics+Cards/ATI+4000+Series/Sapphire+ATI+Radeon+HD+4670+512MB+GDDR3+PCI-Express+Graphics+Card+?productId=35202)
SAMSUNG SH-S223C SATA DVDRW Black (https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/CD%2FDVD+Drives/Internal/SATA/SAMSUNG+SH-S223C+SATA+DVDRW+Black+?productId=38547)

I've got no ram because my other PC has 8gb ram and I'll just take out 4gb. The other PC also has the ASUS P5QL pro. I'm also probably going to overclock the processor to maybe 3.4GHz.

Total £412.94 incl Tax and P&P

I was wondering if anyone could suggest a better spec and tell me if all these items are compatible. Because I've got an Ati graphics card on a mboard with an Intel chipset. Also the case comes with a 25cm fan i'm just wondering how is that powered, is it directly from the PSU or do you have to connect to a 3/4 pin molex.

Another question I have which is off topic sorry. I've got another PC and its got only one case fan and a CPU fan. I got the Asus P5QL Pro motherboard and there is a 3 and 4 pin molex which are taken up by the two fans. I got space for another fan but how could i power it.

[wonderlust]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

First things first, with the items you have listed you have a retail E7500 and an Aria heatsink and Fan. The Retail processor comes with a heatsink and fan in the box, the Aria one you have selected will be no better imho.

But I would look at a I3/5 or AM2+/3 system which will cost around the same, but have a future upgrade path as Socket 775 is now at a dead end.

Same price as the items you have selected

https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/CPUs+%2F+Processors/Intel/Core+i5/Intel+Core+i3+530+2.93Ghz+%28Clarkdale%29+%28Socke t+LGA1156%29+Processor+-+Retail+?productId=39240

https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Motherboards/Intel+Socket+1156/Gigabyte+GA-H55M-S2H+Intel+H55+%28Socket+1156%29+DDR3+PCI-Express+Micro-ATX+Motherboard+?productId=39533

Or

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/CPUs+%2F+Processors/AMD/Athlon+X4/AMD+Athlon+II+X4+Quad+Core+630+2.80GHz+%28Socket+A M3%29+Processor+-+Retail+?productId=39496

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Motherboards/Socket+AM2%2B+%28AMD%29/Asus+M4N78+PRO+nForce+8300+%28Socket+AM2%2B%29+DDR +PCI-Express+Motherboard+?productId=37383

[NickCPC]

Hi and welcome.

I agree with wonderlust, Socket 775 is nearing the end of its life so I'd look at the alternatives. I recently built a £400ish gaming rig based on AMD kit (see sig), so I'll focus on this and let everyone else choose an Intel rig for you.

CPU - AMD Athlon II X2 250 (http://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/Other+products/AMD+Athlon+II+X2+Dual+Core+250+3.00GHz+%28Socket+A M3%29+Processor+-+Retail+?productId=37441) - overclock to 3.6GHz
Mobo - I personally have the MSI 770-C45, which is brilliant. Will have a look later for alternatives since Aria don't stock it. However, you can get one for about £50.
RAM - You don't need more than 2GB for a gaming rig, and it's something you can upgrade later. 2GB DDR3 (http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Memory/DDR3/DDR3+1333+%28PC3-10666%29/Arianet+2GB+%281x2GB%29+DDR3+PC3-10666C9+1333MHz+Single+Channel+Module+?productId=3 4514)
PSU - Corsair CX400W (http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Power+Supplies/200w+to+449w/Corsair+CX+Series+400W+ATX2.2+Power+Supply+?produc tId=34003)
GPU - Depends on the resolution you are gaming on. I'd say the best price/features/performance GPU currently out is the 5770 (http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Graphics+Cards/ATI+5700+Series/HIS+ATI+Radeon+HD+5770+1024MB+GDDR5+PCI-Express+Graphics+Card+?productId=39068), but if you can find a 4870 second hand, go for that instead (my 4870 is faster than a friend's 5770 and I paid £80 for my second hand 4870 about 2 months ago, and also got a Vortexx Neo cooler, which is excellent. The 4670 is unfortunately pretty rubbish.
HDD - Samsung F3 500GB (http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Hard+Drives/Serial+ATA/Samsung+HD502HJ++F3+500GB+3.5%22+SATA+II+Hard+Driv e+-+OEM+?productId=37759) as it is a few percentage points faster than the 320GB you listed.
Case - Antec 300 (http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Cases/MIDI+Tower/Antec+Three+Hundred+Cool+and+Quiet++Gaming+Case+?p roductId=31087) - in another league to everything else at this price point.
CPU Cooler - AC 64 Pro (http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Fans%2C+Heatsinks%2C+Coolers/CPU+Coolers/Arctic+Cooling+Freezer+64+PRO+PWM+Fan+%28Socket+75 4%2C+939%2C+940%2C+AM2%29+?productId=25586)

This comes to £397 if you can get the MSI motherboard for £50 from somewhere else.

Your DVD writer is fine, and I assume you have an OS license (windows 7 hopefully!), keyboard, mouse etc. If you need a monitor, tbh I'd go second hand at this price as this rig will blow what you originally listed out the water. Let us know if you have any specific requirements other than gaming and let us know about your peripherals (as I can shave a few more quid off that if necessary!)

[zaz]

775 is hardly dead is it, its only a couple of years old and for his budget, it will work fine. Given core2quads are being phased out in favour of i3/i5 etc, prices will likely drop, again in his favour.

What exactly is it buyers of new rigs now are likely to upgrade on their system down the line ?

Ram ? he already has 8gb he can nick from and 2nd hand ddr2 prices will likely be less than new/2nd ddr3 anyway, with not a great deal of performance loss

CPU ? how many people, aside from those with seemingly unlimited budgets and a narcissistic desire for new tech actually change their cpu's at any time ? very few i would bet.

Mainboard ? anyone who needs to change their mainboard for any other reason than its broken bought the wrong board in the first place

And so on. GPU and RAM are the two main candidates for future upgrades and as long as he gets a decent PSU now to start with that fits within his specified budget, he can chuck on a better GPU down the line if he really needs to, which again, is probably not required.

That said, i would consider getting what you can for your existing machine and adding that to the budget, an extra 100-150 etc will go a loooooong way :)

[wonderlust]

No one said Socket 775 was dead.

What was said is that it is a dead end, a subtle difference!

I suggested going I3/5/AM2+ as for the same price as the components the OP suggested he could buy the latest spec processors, which in intels case at least, will be faster for the same money, whist ensuring that there is a good upgrade path in the future with minimal cost.

[mac124]

Each to their own but personally i think building a new system from scratch and using a socket that is being phased out isn't necessarily the smartest thing to do either.

You have some valid arguments, using memory the op currently has does make the build more attractive for example however he could sell 4gb of the memory he has to go towards some ddr3 too. Building a system based on an AM3 X2 cheaper dual core allows for more scope for realistic cpu upgrades. I am sure many people build a system based around a lower spec cpu with the idea of upgrading to a "better" cpu in the future just to get a working pc rather than having a pile of boxes in the corner waiting for that one component they are saving for or putting up with some dog of a machine till they can afford every last component, i know i do.

Not everyone is a must have the latest cpu narcissistic epeen waver.

At the end of the day its not our build we can only offer our personal opinion so don't please slag people off for offering a different alternative to the op's listed build.

[zaz]

Not everyone is a must have the latest cpu narcissistic epeen waver.

so don't please lady people

First one made me chuckle, cheers.
Second one..whyever not ?

:D

[sibeer]

775 is hardly dead is it, its only a couple of years old and for his budget, it will work fine. Given core2quads are being phased out in favour of i3/i5 etc, prices will likely drop, again in his favour.


History says to avoid Skt 775 like the plague now based on what happened with Skt 939 and Skt 478. As they were phased out the premium chips in the range such as the X2's and the top Northwoods all became expensive commodities compared to better performing chips in the new sockets. This is because manufacture will soon cease and it is cheaper for people with existing systems to upgrade the CPU than the whole system. Same will happen to DDR2 RAM, etc

For budget gaming at the moment the real question is can you fudge your budget to get an i3? If not go for a cheaper AM3 motherboard and CPU

[sibeer]

What exactly is it buyers of new rigs now are likely to upgrade on their system down the line ?

I got a 775 system when Core2Duo came out and upgraded the CPU twice on the same motherboard as better and cheaper options came out. With my current system I am sure that there will be a worthwhile processor upgrade in the next couple of years. RAM will also get cheaper and faster again so quite a lot of us will upgrade that too. Finally I would try to find a Mobo with SATA 6Gbs as i am certain that in the next two years most gamers will end up with a very fast SSD :thumb:

400W PSU will be fine so long as you stick with single mid/high range GPUs. Just stick the old one on **** and start again every so often.

[zaz]

In my defence, while my opinion has met strong opposition, the plus side is that the OP is now better informed through the last few replies :)

Happy to be of service :D

[Martin]

Could sell DDR2 and go for DDR3.

[NickCPC]

lol zaz :P think he's moved on to other threads now asking about his specs :P

[Sapphire_all_the_way]

Yeah probably, He could be a new 4870 from Aria

[El Wayneo]

If i spent the same money now i would get an i5 750 or an i3 530 depending on budget.