need help building a gaming rig

[mockingjay]

1. What is your budget and does that include shipping/taxes?
£500 with tax

2. Where do you live?
UK

3. What do you need this computer to do (like gaming, Photoshop, and so on)?
gaming

4. What parts will you need for the computer? Please list what parts specifically.
motherboard, cpu, PSU, ram, HDD, graphics card, wifi card (fast). also anything else that is important

5. Are you reusing any parts for this computer? If so please say what parts.
the case and optical drives from a sony vaio pcv-rz104

6. What kind of monitor/resolution do you have or want to get to use for the computer?
i don't mind i have a hp pavilion f1703 but can get something better if hit is cheap

7. Do you have a legit OS? If so what OS and is it 32-bit or 64-bit?
i will get windows 7 in whatever bit is required

8. What are you looking for the motherboard to have feature wise? Like SLI, Crossfire, Firewire, USB 3.0, Sata 6.0 Gb/s, and so on.
no usb3, quite a few usb2, 8gb ram, VGA (unless it is in the graphics card) space for a wifi card

9. Any plans to overclock the CPU or GPU?
probably not
10. What time kind of time frame are you planning on ordering these parts? in the next few weeks

[Goku]

I'll do a build for you once Ivy Brdige (Intel's next CPU arch) is released. Should be right when you are looking to order.

[mockingjay]

i was looking at using an intel pentium 4 g620. it is good for my needs although something a bit beefier but cheap would be fine

edit
also lots of the original internals are custom to fit the case like the psi (mjpc-300a1) and i think the motherboard (p4s533-vl) hope you can still find good parts

[Goku]

You're not going to be reusing any of that. All of that is far too dated to be using for a modern computer. That motherboard doesn't support any of the current CPUs out. You have the budget in order to get everything brand new, so I recommend going that route.

[mockingjay]

i don't want to reuse any of the internals just the case and cd drive but the internals will have to be special sizes to fit in the case. also i am aiming for around £350 but £450-£500 is the very highest i can go

[Goku]

Sorry I thought you meant you wanted to reuse the PSU and mobo. You have room in your budget for everything including a new case. Just forget about that one and move onto a new one. I never recommend people using old OEM cases like from HP or Dell for new builds.

[mockingjay]

ok i would like to see what build you would recommend but if i was really set on using that case is there anything you can think of that would fit in it?

[Goku]

I don't know the form factor of the case so you would have to start from there.

[mockingjay]

how do i find out? is it simple measurements or something else?
thanx for all your help btw this is the first useful site I've been on all day

[Goku]

Lol you're welcome. First off of its Matx. Atx, or btx or even a custom
One. Not sure how you are going to do. I tried searching it but I got nothing.

[mockingjay]

ok i need to know how to find out.
also i think i have found a psi that will fit if i replace the cd drives with smaller ones
http://www.maplin.co.uk/450w-cit-atx-power-supply-264429
http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/dvd-drives/7388600/

do you think these would work? if not what would?

[Goku]

That case likely isn't going to be able to provide the proper cooling if your hardware. I highly recommend just forgetting about using it. Check out EZShot's thread for a reference build for 400 pounds. Adding a 6850 for the graphics will still let you stay under budget. If you plan on keeping this for awhile I recommend go for a quad core also. Games are increasingly becoming more reliant on them.

[mockingjay]

ok that build looks good but i was thinking 320gb hdd cos i don't need any more atm and could i use the optical drives from my old comp just to cut costs? also what about a Asus TA-8G1 Midi Tower Case? it is cheap and is recommended by a magazine i was reading about building a gaming rig for £350. i would just use those parts but i was planning on using this old case and wanted to know what other options there were for a similar price. also the optical drives i will probe change to blue ray or something at a later date i will just use the old ones for now

ps
can't i cut holes in the old case and add fans where there is space for better cooling? just an idea don't know if it would work or if it is possible

[Goku]

Whats the price difference on the 320GB vs 500GB?

I never heard of that case. Cooling is likely ok, but the quality is obviously going to be low. For me I tend to recommend people get a case with good cooling and that decent quality. A case can last multiple builds, so you will be saving money in the long run buying a better case at first then a crappy one.

With Ivy Bridge coming that article you were reading is going to be dated pretty quickly here. Lets just wait and see what the pricing is going to be like. I'll do up a lower budget and higher budget build, so you can make your choice.

[mockingjay]

ok thanx also if i am getting a new case i would like usb3 as well cos the old case didn't have it so i wouldn't be able to use it but with a new case i could

[Rbstr]

Well, USB3.0 would be taken care of by the motherboard. 3.0 and 2.0 use the same connector, 3.0 simply has more pins inside. They're compatible in a way.
Depending on the case, the ports on the case's front may only run 2.0, but the ports on the back would run 3.0.

[mockingjay]

ok thanx what about things like vga and hdmi? are they to do with the case or the graphics card?

[termhn]

ok thanx what about things like vga and hdmi? are they to do with the case or the graphics card?

If you're using discrete graphics (sperate card) then it's to do with the graphics card. If you're using onboard graphics (I assume you aren't) then it's to do with the mobo.

[mockingjay]

goku is there any chance i could get a basic idea of what the build will be soonish so i can see what your going for even though ivy bridge isn't out yet can't the rest of it still be planned? it would help me to get a better idea of the price and things. thanx for your help

[Goku]

Alright. I am not sure if you are including the OS in the budget of this or not. The one I am posting up doesn't include any OS. If you want it to, well that is going to be a lot of cutting down, which I don't recommend if you want to play PS2 nicely.

Anyway:

EVGA GeForce GTX 460 Superclocked FTW - £114.95 (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-171-EA)
Intel Core i3-2100 - £91.99 (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-367-IN)
Seagate Barracuda 1TB HDD - £77.99 (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-257-SE)
Corsair Carbide 300R Mid Tower Case - £59.99 (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-063-CS)
Asus P8H61-M LE/USB3 - £49.99 (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-509-AS)
Corsair Builder Series CX 500W - £44.99 (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-034-CS)
Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 - £29.99 (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-094-KS)
Asus 24x DVD±RW DRW-24B3ST SATA ReWriter - £20.99 (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CD-056-AS)
TP-Link 300Mbps Wireless N PCI Express Adapter - £16.99 (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=NW-054-TP)

Total comes to ~£500.00

This is what you can expect. I am assuming the current optical drive you have is IDE, and that isn't supported by that mobo. I put in a wireless card, but I will have to do more research on which one is best given the price on OcUK.

Also rumormill looks correct in that the i3 IB is not launching till summer unfortunately, I wasn't sure of this at the time you posted up your thread. Probably best off going with a SB i3 at this point and ordering everything so you have a new computer. Once I know about the OS part we can make a final build for you.

[mockingjay]

ok that looks great. what about this case though just cos it looks cooler and has similar features and i dont mind in usb3 is on the back
http://www.maplin.co.uk/jet-turbine-atx-pc-case-48124
also i dont need a 1tb hdd would this one work?
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-252-SE&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=940
furthermore i dont know much about graphics cards but i found this one with more ports and a higher core clock speed. dont know if this small difference matters much but it is a bit cheaper.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-045-HS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=
once again thanx for all the help you have given me this looks like a really good build

[mockingjay]

also os will be windows 7 64bit probably hope that helps

[Goku]

The os isn't included in the budget then?

[Rbstr]

A case is a case as long as it fits your stuff.
Saving 20 pounds by going with that HDD nets you half the storage in an older and slower version of the drive.
number of ports is a terrible way to judge anything unless you need a certain number of ports:
All of these things are googleable and have people testing them and benchmarking them, you know?

[mockingjay]

kind of if it can all be bought for under £500 that would be great but i want at least the hardware to com to under that and os can be dealt with later.

[termhn]

The 6770 isn't nearly as fast as a 460. Plus the 460 has PhysX. The 460's competitors on the AMD side are the 6850 and 6870.

Great deal! Only 2 left: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-269-AS&tool=3

[Goku]

I won't worry about the OS then. Let me see what I can tweak in that one I posted for you.

[mockingjay]

ok thanks gocu. also i take the points the others are making and firstly that other case is slightly cheaper, i dont need 1tb of storage so saving £20 seems logical, i know number of ports is a bad way to judge but it is useful and all the other numbers in the spec (although i dont know what most of them mean as i said i dont know much about graphics cards) are bigger which i assume is better, also that other graphics card termhn posted looks great i hadnt looked at ones lower than £90 but i looks like it is great value thanx for pointing it out

[termhn]

The card I pointed you to was 150 (pounds?) when it originally came out, so it's a pretty damn slick deal ;)

[Goku]

Is this better?

Intel Core i3-2100 3.10GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-367-IN)
Asus HD 6850 DirectCU V2 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-269-AS)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-252-SE)
Gigabyte H61MA-D3V Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-386-GI)
Corsair Builder Series CX 500W V2 '80 Plus' Power Supply (CMPSU-500CXUKV2) (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-034-CS)
Antec One Gaming Case - Black (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-178-AN)
OcUK Value 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Low-Voltage Dual Channel Kit (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-023-OK)
LG GH22NS70 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CD-090-LG)
OcUK Value 300Mbps NWP300E Wireless-N PCI Express Adapter (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=NW-030-OK)

Total = £430.85

I honestly do not know much about wireless cards. You may want to look into those more to see if its beneficial to spend more money on one. Does that mobo have enough USB ports?

[mockingjay]

that all looks really great thanx for all the help. now to convince my rents to pay for it :)

[Goku]

If for w/e reason they want it cheaper I can still get a cheaper mobo and processor plus a few other things. What I have up here now is still a good gaming machine. Anything else will start breaking it down too much I think is all. So hold your ground ;).

[mockingjay]

before i start buying things are you 100% sure everything will work and also will it be able to run bf3 at highest graphics?

[Rbstr]

Will it work? Yes

BF3 at highest graphics? doubtful, unless you go with lower resolution.

[mockingjay]

how well will it be able to run thingslike bf3, swtor, skyrim etc?

[Rbstr]

Things will be playable.You're just going to have to find your preferred balance between graphics and performance.

[mockingjay]

ok great as long as it can run the games with little lag i dont mind too much about having the best graphics. thanx for all the help you have given me im hoping to start building it soon :)

[mockingjay]

can i use an ivy bridge processor without having to change everything else? if so which one?

[Vancha]

can i use an ivy bridge processor without having to change everything else? if so which one?
With the H61 motherboard? No.

Edit: Fuck, okay, yes. I'm not doing very well here the last couple of days...

[Goku]

There is no IB in your price range ATM. However if you want to upgrade to a quad core a year or two down the line you can do so with a bios update.

[mockingjay]

ok thanx

[Mutant]

If you want to try saving a few more £ try Amazon and Ebuyer, overclockers is not renown for being the cheapest UK retailer.

[mockingjay]

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-163-MS

is this graphics card ok to use because the one you recommended has been taken of overclockers and this is on sale

[Goku]

Yes

[mockingjay]

k thanx. is it the same card just made by different people? just curious cos it has the same number

[Goku]

Yup its the same kind.

[mockingjay]

also what about this ram will it work?
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-327-CS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1516
the one posted has been removed as well

[Goku]

Looks good.

The build I did for you was quite awhile ago. When you are getting this now? I probably should do a one maybe.

[mockingjay]

could you recommend another graphics card now they have both been removed :( i already have the case, motherboard and wifi card so if you think a new build would be better please bare that in mind. thanx

[Vancha]

It's been a while since we last chose you a GPU. What budget do you have left?

[mockingjay]

if we stick to the £430ish then £59.24 but i am prepared to go a bit over to get a similar graphics card to the one before (in price and performance)

[Vancha]

The GPU market has changed since you last asked, so I was wondering how much the one from before cost.

http://www.kikatek.com/P180375/EAH6850-DC-2DIS-1GD5-V2-Asus-EAH6850-DC-2DIS-1GD5

That's basically what was recommended before (minus the overclock, but with a better cooler).

[mockingjay]

i think it was £80ish but im not sure

[Vancha]

It certainly wasn't sub-£100, but ah well, that's what you were going to get, anyway.

[mockingjay]

on overclockers it was definitely cheaper than the cpu which is £90 something. that is why i wanted to get it from there not amazon where it is over 100

[mockingjay]

what about something like this?
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-283-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1982
i cant remember what stats the last one had is this close?

[Vancha]

Wait...Is this still with the HP Pavilion monitor?

[mockingjay]

i dont know about monitors yet that was an old one i had lying around and was planning on using but it is a bit bad so i might use my tv. i dont know what type it is but i think it has hdmi

[Vancha]

The 6750 is significantly weaker than the 6850, but it'd be fine with the HP monitor, simply because it has such a low resolution. If you're looking at a 1900x1080 TV on the other hand, you really don't want to go any lower than the 6850.

[mockingjay]

ok i will have to look around for one at a lower price. if i were to buy on in america would it still work or would it be incompatible some how?

or what about these?
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/asus-nvidia-gtx550-ti-pci-e-graphics-card-1gb-11284345-pdt.html (this has vga so i could use the bad monitor if necessary)
or
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/pny-gtx-550-ti-pcie-2-0-graphics-card-1-gb-10893004-pdt.html

they are both gtx550 but have different prices and looks. i dont know if that makes a difference

[Vancha]

Same deal. The 550 ti is slightly better than the 6750, but the 6850 is a big jump up. 550 ti should be fine for the Pavilion, but not for 1080p.

Edit: http://www.ebuyer.com/391772-xfx-hd-6850-1gb-ddr5-dual-dvi-dual-mini-displayport-hdmi-pci-e-hd-685x-zcfc

That's the cheapest of the cheap for 6850s. Your mileage may very vary.

[mockingjay]

thanx i have ordered one so hopefully i wont have this problem of it going out of stock again

[mockingjay]

in the build should i have an unused fan?, my case came with two but i can only find one slot on the mb

[Goku]

Given your components it should be fine even with one fan.

What case and mobo do you have? Been awhile since we have done this for you and I don't know if you changed anything since then.

Did your case come with anything like looks like this?

http://c1.neweggimages.com/NeweggImage/productimage/12-189-119-03.jpg

[mockingjay]

i have the parts you suggested, and no i dont think it came with anything like that

[mockingjay]

if one fan works it is fine, i just wanted to make sure i hadnt done something wrong

[Goku]

Yeah it should. If you really want the other fan hooked up I recommend getting one of these (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CB-030-AK). That hooks up to this connector (http://0.tqn.com/d/pcsupport/1/0/4/7/-/-/molex-8981-amp-mate-n-lok.jpg)on the PSU, which allows you to run the fan. It doesn't cost that much and will make for proper air flow at least.

[mockingjay]

ok thanx i will look into it, what is that cable called?

[mockingjay]

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CB-003-LL
would that do it or does splitting the power reduce their effectiveness?

or this as a cheaper version
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CB-013-AK

[Rbstr]

Why not just go with the one he linked?
That'll draw right off the PSU instead of splitting a motherboard fan header.

[mockingjay]

oh thanx, i hadnt actually seen the link :P. i got one yesterday though and it has worked perfectly so now after all this time the comp is fully operational, thank you for all the help you have given

[mockingjay]

ok so my computer is starting to get a bit outdated and will need an upgrade before the witcher 3. can i just get a better cpu and put it in or do i have to choose a specific one that fits my mobo? also should i get a realy good new graphics card and remove my old one or could i get a more average one and use them both to get the same performance?

[Ghost Runner]

Hi I havent seen Goku in awhile and I dont have the time to look through this thread to see what you have perhaps you can let me know what you are curently running and maybe I can point you in the right direction. :)

[mockingjay]

sure,
antec one case
gigabyte h61ma-d3v mobo
intel i3 2100 3.1ghz
corsair builder series cx 500w
500gb hd
corsair value 8gb ram
radeon hd 6850 (i think it is an xfx one but i cant remember)

i think that is all the important stuff, currently i am looking at these for an upgrade
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Intel-Generation-i5-3570K-3-40GHz-Technology/dp/B007SZ0E1K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416588452&sr=8-1&keywords=intel+i5+3570k
http://www.amazon.co.uk/VTX3D-280-X-Edition-Graphics-Express/dp/B00IY182ZM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416588182&sr=8-1&keywords=radeon+r9+280x
will they both work in my system and can they run the witcher?

[Ghost Runner]

Yes both will work for your system and you should be able to play witcher 3 with out AA enabled no problem.

[mockingjay]

great thanks, is there anything cheaper that would do the job or is that as low as i can get it?

[mockingjay]

also what sort of setting would i be able to run it on and at roughly what fps?

[Ghost Runner]

great thanks, is there anything cheaper that would do the job or is that as low as i can get it?

GTX 760 or 770 would work also but I think you have a really good deal on that 280X and it performs on par with the GTX 770\680 I suppose you could consider the R9 280 or the R9 285 But from what im told the 280X is a killer card and that price is pretty good.

also what sort of setting would i be able to run it on and at roughly what fps?

This I have no hard data for but from what I can gather data on, it should run every thing on medium to high as long as you don't use AA as witcher 3 has not got propper support for it yet.

[mockingjay]

ok great, thanks for the help.

[mockingjay]

Are you sure this processor will work? it arrived today and i installed it but it wouldn't work, it it just a dud?

[Ghost Runner]

Its an 1155 Socket board with an 1155 socket Chip it should work,
what is happening blue screen? -may have to reinstall windows or find the driver causing the conflict in safe mode,

beeps? -RAM or proc may need to be reseated or proc is a dud but this is rare unless buying used,

or nothing at all? could be a connection knocked loose check power cords, case connectors, power supply.

Is the video card seated properly?

Is the CPU heatsync fan plugged in?

[mockingjay]

yeh i was wondering if the psu isnt strong enough or something. it will turn on, fans will spin for 10/15 secs then it stops, then it will keep doing that but the fans are only on for 1 or less secs. i dont have a system speaker so if there were beeps i wouldnt know. all the graphics cards/ ram should be fine as im using it now with my old cpu back in. i discharged my static before i touched anything so i dont think it is that.

[Ghost Runner]

Is your current chip overclocked? even if not try resetting the bios then install the new chip with just 1 stick of ram and see if that gets it going if it dose then shut it down, and add back the Ram to see if it will turn on still, if it dose then adjust the bios to the new chip. If not then start the RMA proccess.

Other thought see if the board needs a bios update to use the chip.

[mockingjay]

its not overclocked, unfortunately i cant get into the bios when using an hdmi cable for some reason and i dont have a vga cable one me atm. can any of these things be done without accessing it?

[Ghost Runner]

Well you can try the 1 stick of RAM but if the Bios is under voltaging aka not providing enough power to the chip it probably wont help can you reset the bios with a jumper on that board? Can also possibly reset the bios by pulling the Cmos battery and putting it back in of course.

[mockingjay]

ok i will give that a go in a bit, thanks.

[mockingjay]

I got it working, turns out i needed a bios update. now i just need to wait for the graphics card.

[Goku]

Hi I havent seen Goku in awhile and I dont have the time to look through this thread to see what you have perhaps you can let me know what you are curently running and maybe I can point you in the right direction. :)

I lurk in about once a week, but I forget to scroll all the way down here often. Thanks for leading him in the right direction. The upgrades he got should make for a solid computer.

[Ghost Runner]

You are welcome glad to see you around still :)

[teamxzz]

I don't know the form factor of the case so you would have to start from there.