Decentish gaming PC for £500

[Thackerz]

Is this possible, because thats what I'm after and thats what I have,,,

So far, the best I've come up with is;

Athlon 64 3200+ (Venice core)
1024MB DDR400
160GB SATA @7200rpm
4x Dual Layer DVD R/W
128 Radeon X300-SE PCI Express

And thats £499 from PC Specialist,,,

I reckoned that with the 64bit processor and the PCI Express its reasonably future proof.

Any thoughts?

 

[Ian]

I'd go for something more powerful than the X300 for a gaming PC, as it isn't really suitable for a main gaming machine (although is is reasonable).

Do you need a monitor included for that price?

 

[Thackerz]

No, I'm good with the monitor I've got,,,

What kinda price would I be paying for a reasonable card then?

 

[Ian]

I'd go for something like an X800 or 6800 series card if you are a serious gamer, as you should be able to get a PC with those included for just over £500 if you look round.

Would you consider building one yourself?

 

[Thackerz]

I guess I could, but I'm not blessed with a huge amount of time, so it would be alot easier to get one pre-built

 

[Me__2001]

definately get a better graphics card if you can afford it, the X300 is a pretty low spec card and wont really be good for gaming

 

[Ian]

I'd suggest taking a look at the Dell 5000/8400 series, as they do have some cheap options - although I have just taken a look myself and can't find anything without a monitor (there are ones the same spec/price as above with a 15" TFT though).

Someone else here may have a suggestion for a better deal for a gamer though.

 

[Me__2001]

Ian i agree dell do some reasonable systems, also maybe the "Titan" athlon version from overclockers.co.uk, it will be about £620 with the OS


http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/full_systems.html

 

[Thackerz]

Thats actually one thing I don't need, I have a copy of XP Pro with SP 2 lying about somewhere,,,

 

[Raje]

Look 3 key elements to gaminng ----#1 processor, even if you got best video card in world, it can only go as fast as processor will allow. #2 --- you may want to spend equal or more for video card, you picked a mean *** processor, get a video card that can use that can use some of that power. Since you are already at your limit i'm not sure how flexiblae your budget is.... #3 memory, your set- no games I can think up to date will use more than 1GB ram, and actually I'm am scared of the day when 4GB dual channel ddr is standard.
some video card options:
the easy on the pocket option- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814131411
less easy - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814123146
1/4 your budget but very nice card - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814164041

good luck

 

[BaseLine9]

http://www.microdirect.co.uk/ProductInfo.aspx?ProductID=7694&GroupID=342

These are very good in the 6600 range.
I have the asus "top" version you can pick up for around £140, and there is the standard versions you can get at £122 ish

I hear the Ledtek solution is very good too; the geforce 6600 gpu is generally a very good Low/Mid priced card for today’s games

I would try to find time and build your own, you will get better value for money, (and its great fun!) the below system cost me around £600

For "ready made systems" try some of these online self builders

http://3xs.scan.co.uk/

http://www.dcs-online.biz/shop/default.php/cPath/47

http://www.aria.co.uk/

Am not sure but they may be able to build something that your after

Hope it’s of help


Cheers

 

[Thackerz]

Ok, thanks for all the replies so far.

If I was going to cut back then, so I could put in a better graphics card, where do you suggest I do it?

 

[Me__2001]

AVOID microdiret !!!!!!

do you have a system you could upgrade ? it would probably be easier and cheaper

 

[BaseLine9]

AVOID microdiret !!!!!!

How come man? Had bad a experience?

I get most of my stuff from there (And Aria), so far no problems but interested to here of your reasons why?

 

[Me__2001]

How come man? Had bad a experience?

I get most of my stuff from there (And Aria), so far no problems but interested to here of your reasons why?

read this

https://www.pcreview.co.uk/forums/thread-4541.php

 

[Thackerz]

do you have a system you could upgrade ? it would probably be easier and cheaper

That depends on whether you consider a 733Mhz processor, 20GB HD, 128MB RAM and a 32MB TNT2 to be worth upgrading. My guess is that most people wouldn't.

 

[Me__2001]

ok, well you could build a pretty mean system into your old case for about £575 i know its more than the PCSpecialist one but it would kick its butt

ASUS A8N-E
Atlon64 3200
1 GB corsair RAM
Leadtek 6600 GT TDH
160GB Maxtor HD
DVD-RW
and a Tagan PSU to run it all

 

[Thackerz]

Ok right, current plan, I have decided I may have a go at building one. Heres the list of components I'm looking at now;

Gigabyte GA K8VT890-9 Socket 939 K8T890 PCI-E ATX
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Socket 939 512KB Inc Fan
DabsValue 512MB 184Pin DIMM PC3200 CL3 NP
Maxtor DiamondMax Plus9 120GB SATA150
Connect 3D Radeon X600Pro 256MB PCI-E DVI-I VO
Sony DWQ28AS DVD+/-RW Dual Layer OEM Silver
Sony 16x DVD-ROM 40x CD-ROM OEM Silver

And some random case that I will have a look around for at some point.

That all totals up to around £410 (not including the case). Can someone point out to me if there is anything else I would need to get for that? Cheers.

 

[BaseLine9]

All looks sweet, just remeber a PSU, but am sure you have it all sorted

 

[Thackerz]

Oh yeah, I'll probably get a case with one in,