Build me a cheap gaming PC!
Discussion
Help!
What to run the truck sim properly, but laptop is too weak!
So looking for a cheap desktop, but with a decent graphics card.
Where should I be looking for a pure built solution?
Could build my own, not done it before but good mechanically... How hard can it be?
PC will also be used as a network storage for music and photos, and a small bit of video editing
Thanks
Custard
What to run the truck sim properly, but laptop is too weak!
So looking for a cheap desktop, but with a decent graphics card.
Where should I be looking for a pure built solution?
Could build my own, not done it before but good mechanically... How hard can it be?
PC will also be used as a network storage for music and photos, and a small bit of video editing
Thanks
Custard
Something like this perhaps? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Galaxy-3-AMD-FX-Quad-Cor...
or this maybe?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dell-490-Quad-Core-Deskt...
Not that clued up on gaming pc's but they look good enough to me
or this maybe?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dell-490-Quad-Core-Deskt...
Not that clued up on gaming pc's but they look good enough to me
http://www.dabs.com/products/acer-aspire-x3990-cor...
Something like that, then budget £80 for a semi decent graphics card.
Will run Euro Truck Simulator 2 perfectly well and most modern stuff well too.
Something like that, then budget £80 for a semi decent graphics card.
Will run Euro Truck Simulator 2 perfectly well and most modern stuff well too.
How expensive is cheap? Bear in mind you'll want peripherals and suchlike which can make the price go up a fair bit.
Buying a pre-built desktop will generally be fine until the word 'gaming' happens, at which point the prices go loopy. Find something pre-built of the spec you want and then go on somewhere like pcpartpicker.com and use that to find the parts seperately, then build it all yourself. It's a piece of cake to build a computer yourself, I managed to build mine and it's still going strong over a year later!
Buying a pre-built desktop will generally be fine until the word 'gaming' happens, at which point the prices go loopy. Find something pre-built of the spec you want and then go on somewhere like pcpartpicker.com and use that to find the parts seperately, then build it all yourself. It's a piece of cake to build a computer yourself, I managed to build mine and it's still going strong over a year later!
No such thing really, as a "cheap" gaming PC.
Personally, I'd look to 8 gig ram, a decent mobo, asus etc (Z77 chipset) , Intel processor, perhaps start with a Pentium G850, you can always upgrade later .
A graphics card around the £100 mark (6870/7850?) , perhaps a 500 gig HDD ( approx £40) , then a decent case/psu. Don't skimp on the PSU,always buy branded and bigger than needed, helps allow for capacitor degredation.
The secret is not so much paying as little as possible, but trying to give as long a usefull life as possible.
Hence the idea of spending a little more at outset, to reap rewards later.
If you cannot build yourself, get a mate who can.
This site is full of kit http://www.ebuyer.com/
This site is full of serious advice regarding kit. http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/
Personally, I'd look to 8 gig ram, a decent mobo, asus etc (Z77 chipset) , Intel processor, perhaps start with a Pentium G850, you can always upgrade later .
A graphics card around the £100 mark (6870/7850?) , perhaps a 500 gig HDD ( approx £40) , then a decent case/psu. Don't skimp on the PSU,always buy branded and bigger than needed, helps allow for capacitor degredation.
The secret is not so much paying as little as possible, but trying to give as long a usefull life as possible.
Hence the idea of spending a little more at outset, to reap rewards later.
If you cannot build yourself, get a mate who can.
This site is full of kit http://www.ebuyer.com/
This site is full of serious advice regarding kit. http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/
Edited by Cheese Mechanic on Sunday 17th February 15:31
430T said:
Something like this perhaps? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Galaxy-3-AMD-FX-Quad-Cor...
That actually looks like pretty good value. The hardware is out of date in just about every department, but for the money, it isn't bad at all. Should be up to the task of running most games.Tend to find that prices are similar anywhere these days. Something like the Scan/3XS ( http://www.scan.co.uk/ (no connection) or any of the other many custom PC shops) configurator will allow you to play to see what you get for your money. If you make it as future proof as possible (i.e. make sure the processor socket will take something better if you need it, make sure you can put more memory in it without having to take all the existing stuff out if you need more, etc).
Agree with Cheese Mechanic suggestions. Z77 (socket 1155) based motherboard will allow you to upgrade processor if you want to. For 8GB RAM use 2x4GB leaving you two slots empty for another 2x4GB or 2x8GB or whatever if you need it. Graphics NVidia GTX 650 or AMD HD 7770 are both around the £100 mark. Avoid cheap power supplies. eBay can be your friend for monitors - office clearances or people upgrading produce good models at cut down prices.
Agree with Cheese Mechanic suggestions. Z77 (socket 1155) based motherboard will allow you to upgrade processor if you want to. For 8GB RAM use 2x4GB leaving you two slots empty for another 2x4GB or 2x8GB or whatever if you need it. Graphics NVidia GTX 650 or AMD HD 7770 are both around the £100 mark. Avoid cheap power supplies. eBay can be your friend for monitors - office clearances or people upgrading produce good models at cut down prices.
Edited by curlyks2 on Sunday 17th February 16:47
8vFTW said:
430T said:
Something like this perhaps? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Galaxy-3-AMD-FX-Quad-Cor...
That actually looks like pretty good value. The hardware is out of date in just about every department, but for the money, it isn't bad at all. Should be up to the task of running most games.We need to know the spec of the laptop you have.
Then the budget for this build.
You need to focus what you want is it primarily for games or a network storage device, as if you need loads of capacity then 3tb drives are £100 each.
Its almost worth buying that cheap sever in one of the other threads for your nas, then put the rest toward a pc.
However if your budget is £200 then its whatever you can get for the money rather than having specific wants.
This pc im on now is well past the £1500 mark and it doesn't have big drives.
Then the budget for this build.
You need to focus what you want is it primarily for games or a network storage device, as if you need loads of capacity then 3tb drives are £100 each.
Its almost worth buying that cheap sever in one of the other threads for your nas, then put the rest toward a pc.
However if your budget is £200 then its whatever you can get for the money rather than having specific wants.
This pc im on now is well past the £1500 mark and it doesn't have big drives.
rsv gone! said:
Useful!Currently think the linked PC above looks like a good solution
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Galaxy-3-AMD-FX-Quad-Cor...
But is the graphics card a weak link?
Will it give the same performance as the PC built in the you tube link?
Current laptop is: intel 1.2ghz, 3gb 64bit not sure about graphics, but has HDMI out
Cheers custard
Or this from ebuyer
http://www.ebuyer.com/407541-zoostorm-desktop-pc-7...
Plus windows 7 + this
http://www.ebuyer.com/388446-inno3d-gt-640-2gb-ddr...
Comments?
Cheers
Custard
http://www.ebuyer.com/407541-zoostorm-desktop-pc-7...
Plus windows 7 + this
http://www.ebuyer.com/388446-inno3d-gt-640-2gb-ddr...
Comments?
Cheers
Custard
snuffy said:
8vFTW said:
430T said:
Something like this perhaps? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Galaxy-3-AMD-FX-Quad-Cor...
That actually looks like pretty good value. The hardware is out of date in just about every department, but for the money, it isn't bad at all. Should be up to the task of running most games.Buy second hand from forums- you will be able to save over 50% on the price of parts and someone else will have built it for you. I have dome this successfully for my last two pcs and both have been perfect. current pc is close to top end gaming pc and is worth ~ £1350 if i was to buy new parts separately right now. I bought it for £675 second hand from someone on OCUK forums and very happy. of course its a risk but worth it in my opinion.
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