Budget Gaming Rig

S

Snoopimaru

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Hi all!

I'm looking into buying my first gaming PC in 7 years, so I want to make sure that I'm getting a good deal. I currently have a 2.0Ghz Celeron with a 256MB graphics card, so I've missed out on pretty much every good game in the past 5 - 6 years.

I've looked through some of the other threads regarding people buying new PC's, but most of those people have budgets of R10 000 or more. My budget is quite limited at R4 500, but I just want to buy the box first and add more RAM and a nice screen and an extra HDD as money and time allows.

So this is what I'm looking at : http://www.evetech.co.za/Computer-s...ri-core-custom-built-budget-gaming-pc-53.aspx
Just buying the box and adding Windows 7 for now.
I'm not into impulse buying, so I'm doing some more homework by looking for online reviews for the components they put into this machine.

I've been comparing their pricing with some of the other online stores, and this looks like the best bang for my buck. I know the RAM isn't much, but that'll be one of the first things I'll be upgrading as soon as I can.

The other thing being this will be my first mail-order PC (I live in Mpumalanga), and they will have to ship it to me. I'm going to PTA in middle December and I figure that if there's something wrong with the PC I could pop into their shop and have it sorted out. Is this a viable option? And is Evetech a good enough shop to order from (especially as I have to pay up front)? I've done a search on the forums for Evetech, but most of those just tell the OP's to do a search, so some fresh comments will be very welcome. :)
 
i would change the graphics card on that rig mentioned to a GTS450 at least, that should stay within your budget, if u can somehow, go for the HD5770. great card, should last u a while
 
runtimDLL said:
i would change the graphics card on that rig mentioned to a GTS450 at least, that should stay within your budget, if u can somehow, go for the HD5770. great card, should last u a while
Click to expand...

If you can afford a 5770, then you should actually be buying a HD6850 instead since they are the same price (or at least were when I last checked).

@OP - I have not been able to match the specs of that prebuilt machine. Most likely because they have used a cheap motherboard and PSU that I can not recommend in any build while maintaining a clear conscience.
 
If I was you I'd rather buy a console.
You can also look on www.carbonite.co.za for some good deals.. If you can't find a rig there, post a wanted thread in the wanted section (follow the template) and sure you'll get some interest
 
i said 5770, coz it was actually the best card they offered on that rig, but im sure if you speak to them they could allow for a 6850. Personally i feel if you,re not going to overclock, at all, the mobo should suffice, but that psu on the other hand.......

nakedpeanut said:
If I was you I'd rather buy a console.
Click to expand...

agreed!
 
Thanks for the feedback so far, I appreciate it.

Truth be told, I'm not a performance junkie (I've been getting by with an outdated PC up till now). I really just want to be able to play all of the Call of Duties I missed out on, probably Fallout 3, Half-Life 2, Batman Arkham Asylum etc. I'm not planning on overclocking anything on this machine, as the upgrade will feel supersonic to me already, so I'm not about to push the boundaries.

I just want a decent, affordable machine that will keep me gaming for the next 2-3 years.
 
runtimDLL said:
but that psu on the other hand.......
Click to expand...

Should I be worried about the PSU?

As I understand, if it blows it can take out the rest of the PC with it.

Also, I'm already adding Windows 7 Home for R799 on this PC, so my budget is rather stretched already.
 
Snoopimaru said:
Should I be worried about the PSU?

As I understand, if it blows it can take out the rest of the PC with it.

Also, I'm already adding Windows 7 Home for R799 on this PC, so my budget is rather stretched already.
Click to expand...

I would just build your own. Thats a good price for a working PC, but you can likely get better components for the same price. Yes, I would advise a better PSU. If you ever want to upgrade, even 3 years down the line, at least you wont need to replace your PSU. Get a Corsair CX400 - they are rock solid, efficient and quiet.

Please make sure you get Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit. Not Home Basic, and not 32 bit.

Rather get a dual core (save money, you wont need quad core for games anyway) and keep the 5670. 5770's are much faster, but also much more expensive. 5670's are decent enough cards that all of the games you listed will run quite well. I sold my old 8800 GTS to a friend - he can still max out every game he plays, and thats a 3 year old card less powerful than a 5670. So yes, although a 5770 is more powerful and probably better value for money, its probably also cash you cant really afford if your budget is that low. I'd recommend one if you can get one for something like R1400. 6850's start from about R2000 I think.

EDIT: The other problem with the site you posted is that the upgrades are too expensive. It difference between a 5670 and 5770 is NOT R999.
 
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Definitely research individual components and build your own. You can also then order components from different shops. There's a great thread on online shops. Use the spec of this one as a start.

That Corsair CX series that Ancalagon mentioned is really the best on a budget.
 
Oh and don't upgrade to that PSU in the list - that's way to expensive and Corsair is better.
 
Thanks for the feedback guys!

I'm gonna play around on some of these online shops and just add up similar components and see what I come out at. Perhaps I'll be able to get the Corsair PSU you mentioned.
I actually did a computer hardware course a couple years back, so I can help myself when it gets to the inside of a PC (I know what goes where), so I'll consider building it up myself.
 
Cool, go for it. Dont be shy to ask for help if you arent sure what you need to get.

Building a computer is like LEGO, pretty easy.
 
rather source the components individually it should work out cheaper. i get most my stuff from sybaritic and it takes 24hrs for them to deliver to Nelspruit after payment is received.
 
I would really urge you to rather build your own machine than to go for that prebuilt one that is made up of crappy components!
Like they're using an AM2/AM2+ socket motherboard with a Socket AM3 CPU.

This is what I would suggest, although it is slightly above your budget:
Core i3 540 @ R1000
Socket 1156 motherboard with 4 RAM slots @ ~R1000
2GB DDR3 1333Mhz RAM @ ~R300
HD 6850 @ ~R1650
Corsair CX400 @ ~R500
CoolerMaster Elite 430@ ~R450
DVD Writer @ ~R180
500GB HDD @ ~R350
Total ~R5 450 * Components taken from WootWare.co.za

With a PC like this, you could actually keep your case, power supply and actually upgrade to a decent CPU like the i5 760.
 
I'm starting to consider a Dual Core - the Quad Core looks cool and all, but it seems to me that it's these guys main selling point. And looking at prices, it should make up a quarter of the total price.

So if I come down to a Dual Core CPU, I can spend more on getting better quality parts in the rest of the case, like PSU and more RAM.
 
Ancalagon said:
I would just build your own. Thats a good price for a working PC, but you can likely get better components for the same price. Yes, I would advise a better PSU. If you ever want to upgrade, even 3 years down the line, at least you wont need to replace your PSU. Get a Corsair CX400 - they are rock solid, efficient and quiet.

Please make sure you get Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit. Not Home Basic, and not 32 bit.

Rather get a dual core (save money, you wont need quad core for games anyway) and keep the 5670. 5770's are much faster, but also much more expensive. 5670's are decent enough cards that all of the games you listed will run quite well. I sold my old 8800 GTS to a friend - he can still max out every game he plays, and thats a 3 year old card less powerful than a 5670. So yes, although a 5770 is more powerful and probably better value for money, its probably also cash you cant really afford if your budget is that low. I'd recommend one if you can get one for something like R1400. 6850's start from about R2000 I think.

EDIT: The other problem with the site you posted is that the upgrades are too expensive. It difference between a 5670 and 5770 is NOT R999.
Click to expand...

Games all use quads these days.

Sigh.

Maybe two years ago your statement would have been true.
 
Snoopimaru, the CPU that I suggested was a dual core CPU with HyperThreading, so it is very close the the performance of a quad core CPU.

Gaming PC's aren't cheap and I would REALLY advise you to rather save up and buy decent hardware than the skimp on certain parts like the CPU & graphics card.
If you can't buy everything at once, then you can get the whole case, excluding the graphics card and just use the onboard graphics card to begin with.

Could you perhaps give us more details (preferably model #'s) on your current PC?
Because if you have an OK case, Socket 775 motherboard with PCI-E slots, then it might be worth it to rather just upgrade your CPU, graphics card an power supply to like a Intel Quad Core Q9300 (2nd-hand), Corsair CX400 & HD 6850.
 
@Snoopimaru
Yeah I would agree with that. For a budget gaming rig, a higher clocked dual core will do more for FPS than a low clocked quad core. You can always upgrade later if your motherboard is good enough.

I would get:
Athlon 2 X2 260 - R697
ASUS M4A87TD/USB3 AM3 AMD 870 - R1183
Corsair XMS3 2x2GB DDR3-1333 Desktop Memory - Retail - R771
Sapphire Radeon HD5670 1GB PCI-E Graphics Card - Retail - R1049
Corsair CX400W, Eps12V, ATX 12V V2.2 - 400W - R478
CoolerMaster RC-370, Elite 370, No PSU, Black - ATX - R363
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB - R399
Samsung SH-S223C, 22x, SATA, Black, with SAT - R192
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit OEM - R966
Total: R6098 excluding delivery

Probably more than you wanted to spend, but a very good quality PC. Could possibly get a cheaper motherboard but I probably wouldnt recommend it.

Games all use quads these days.
Click to expand...

Still rarer than you would think for whatever reason. Starcraft II, for instance, does not. Neither do a lot of the older games he wants to play. R5k - R6k is just not a high enough budget for me to recommend a quad core. Takes too much money away from other areas such as GPU, memory, motherboard and PSU. Besides, even if games use 4 or more threads, almost all of them except Supreme Commander are more GPU bound than CPU bound. Perhaps if you could get double the cores and the same clock speed for only a few hundred more (ignoring overclocking) then it would be worth it. Some games (most modern ones) would gain double the performance. Well, just under.
 
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I have a Core i7 860, 4GB RAM and a HD 5670 and I can't even play CoD4 with decent framerates at high quality. I have to play the game at low quality @ 1024x768 to get more than 60fps.
I've bought a GTX 460 768MB for like R2200 a couple of months ago and that allowed me to play CoD4 at maximum detail on 1680x1050 on a Pentium 4 3GHz, although the framerate wasn't that hot.
Now my gaming PC has 2x GTX 460's :D

From my experience, I can tell you that it is DEFINITELY worth it to spend more on a decent graphics card. The same goes for people spending R10k+ on a gaming rig. Like you often see that people spend R10k on a PC, and then simply spending R1k-R2k more, you would actually double your framerate!
I would really advise you to get AT LEAST an AMD HD 6850 or save till you can afford it.

The CPU that Ancalagon suggested is pretty useless when it comes to gaming, seeing that it has no Level 3 cache. Also, it's not necessary to spend R1200 on a motherboard that has USB3, when you can get one without USB3 for much less.
I've had a motherboard with USB3 since the beginning of this year and I've never ever used it.
 
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I knew it was a good idea to ask around here. Thanks for all the advice. I'm compiling a couple of lists of PC's I can build.

@Pada : None of my current parts are usable in a new PC. Still have an AGP card and IDE hard drives. Perhaps the case and PSU are usable, but I'd rather get new ones.
 
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