Gaming PC Advice

Mephisto_Helix

Mephisto_Helix

Resident Postwhore
Joined
Jan 29, 2008
Messages
33,893
Reaction score
11,780
Location
UK
I know a guy who is gonna be upgrading his PC and I thought I would make a thread here as well coz we have some crafty, knowledgeable peeps at mybb whose input could be invaluable.

These are the parts he is thinking of ordering from Matrix Warehouse:


DVD Writer SATA Lightscribe,
Hard Drive 2.5" 500GB SATA Notebook,
Microsoft Comfort Curve Keyboard 2000,
Intel Quad Core Q8300 2.5GHz,
Akasa 12CM Case Fan - Red,
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Basic 32-Bit,
Microsoft Compact Optical Mouse 500 (Red),
500Watt Power Supply,
ECS Elitegroup P55H-A2 LGA 1156 Motherboard,
19" LCD TFT,
AFox ATI Radeon HD 4670

Total Price: R7,119.00


He is planning to use this PC for school (the story) but he needs a PC that can run games well (the truth).

So please suggest better parts and cheaper prices and let's see if we can build him a monster RIG for under 7k :D
 
Lightscribe is a bit impractical and you need to buy expensive media for it. It also takes quite a while to make the rather feint image on the disc. Not worth it.

Any particular reason for the small form HDD? Most desktops have 3.5" ones. Also 500Gb is on the small side nowadays, but you could live with it. Which brand and model?

The ATI 4670 got 3 stars in Computer Shopper (Nov '10). Only Directx 10 compatible, low fps on games etc ... Best buy of that old series was the 4850. The '4000' series is looking dated too so they recommend either something from the 5000 series or the Nvidia 400 series.

The Q quad core cpu is looking old too. Depends how much you have to spend though. I don't think the one you have is compatible with LGA 1556 motherboards, so either pick a different processor or an LGA775 motherboard. The Intel i3 isn't a lot more expensive...

Which screen is that? Does it have HDMI ports or DVI and what's the resolution.

All in all, I think with that spec, games might be a disappointment.
 
Never buy from Matrix/Incredible Connection/Macro/Game/Dion Wired, unless you really know what you're getting into.

That system that you've posted has an hardware incompatibility even! The Q8300 won't fit on the LGA 1156 motherboard, since its an LGA 775 chip!
Other remarks:
1) It's just silly to buy a notebook hard drive for a desktop
2) Why only a 19" screen and not a 22" wide or bigger
3) Don't buy previous DirectX generation cards. Stick to AMD HD 5xxx / newer or NVidia GTX 4xx or newer.

Your friend should try to get an Intel i5 or AMD X4 rig with and Radeon HD 6850 (if he can wait a week or slightly more) / GTX 460 1GB.
I usually buy my stuff from Prophecy Shop. I think they can also build a PC for you, but that would cost you a few bucks.

Here's roughly the system that I thought of (I'm just guessing prices here):
Intel Core i5 760 @ R1800
4GB DDR3 1333 @ R750
Socket 1156 motherboard with USB3 + SATA3 6Gbps @ R1350 / without USB3 & SATA3 @ R1000
NVidia GTX 460 1GB @ R2000 / AMD HD 6850 @ R2300
CoolerMaster GX 550 @ R800
500GB 7200rpm SATA HDD @ R400
DVD Writer @ R200
22" wide LCD @ R1600
Windows 7 Home Premium x64 Retail @ R1200
Keyboard and mouse @ R250 - R1000
CoolerMaster Case @ R400 - R900

ESTIMATED TOTAL: ~R10000

PLEASE note that I've just estimated those prices and I may be far off in some cases.
If R10k is far above his budget, then he should look at making the following changes:
1) Home Basic x64 OEM
2) cheaper power supply: eg. CoolerMaster Extreme Power Plus 460W
3) cheaper CPU & motherboard, eg. Core i3 540 & an R800 motherboard
4) cheaper screen like you originally had
5) cheaper AMD graphics card, eg the HD 5770
6) 1x 2GB DDR3 1333 memory module

I highly doubt that you'll be able to get a gaming rig WITH a screen and WITH an operating system for under R8k !
 
Last edited:
He's a schoolkid so budget is pretty set ..... he plays on a crappy laptop now, lol, so anything would be better.

Appreciate the input so far, keep it coming.
 
I see you're from durban so i'm assuming your friend is also . Give these guys a try, www.zones.co.za

Core i5 3.20ghz
2GB DDR3
500GB HDD
H55 Motherboard
keyboad, mouse
gigabyte case with 300w power supply
R3299

R350 for a 500w power supply

R1499 for a samsung 23" screen with hdmi

R2000 for a GTX460

Total: R7147
 
Unfortunately he's from PE or some such place ..... but I will tell him to come check the thread for now. Again, thanks for all the input.


Mickey - don't have the pricelist to give, lol
 
If in PE and not going to wholesalers, then he can visit either Anstek (Cape Road/4th Avenue) or Allied (Fig Tree Village) for fair pricing.
 
The thing is: a gaming PC is expensive.

So either he dishes out R8k OR he should look into 2nd-hand parts.
I seriously doubt that this http://www.vtechnologies.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=102&Itemid=120 would include an OS, especially if they don't mention the OS
and it's power supply is too smal & unknown IMO.

He might be better off by buying an entry level gaming laptop instead - eg. http://www.comx-computers.co.za/Buy-Notebooks-Laptops-59036819-Lenovo-Y560-Notebook-lp-34982.php
Specs:
Lenovo IdeaPad Y560 Series Notebook 59036819 Black Tattoo, Intel Core i3 series Dual Core i3-330M Dual Core 2.13Ghz 3MB Cache 1066Mhz FSB, 4096MB DDR3-1066 SO-Dimm Memory (2x2048), 320GB SATA 5400rpm Hard Drive, 15.6" WXGA HD VibrantView LED (1366x768 resolution) TFT LCD Display, ATI Radeon HD5730 with 1GB dedicated graphics, DVD writer optical drive, 802.11b/g/n wireless LAN, Bluetooth, Webcam, 6 cell battery, 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN, Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64, 1 year carry in warranty
Click to expand...
 
I came up with this while a bit bored .... IMO, this is a fair step up from a laptop and should do him ok for a while.

Case: CM RC334 - R405 - Link

Mobo: Asus-P7H55M - R755 - Link

Processor: Intel i3 - R932 - Link

Gfx Card: Sapphire 5770 - R1591 - Link

PSU: Gigabyte Odin 585W - R523 - Link

HDD: Seagate 1TB - R550 - Link

DVD-RW: Samsung 22x - R188 - Link

Screen: 20" Samsung Wide - R1282 - Link


Total so far - R6226
 
Last edited:
Cool, will have a look at those and add them on the original post :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X