£500 build-please help

[DaveOx91]

Hi, i know it might be alot to ask but i need some help building a gaming computer for around £500,i tried myself but i really have no idea whats good or bad etc and i cant afford to mess it up.

i dont need a monitor as ive set money aside for one i want, i dont need a hard drive or operating system because im gonna use the one from my current PC and i dont need a keyboard/mouse or speakers.

The games i want to be able to run nicely are Starwars:The Old Republic, Battlefield 3 and Guildwars 2 when it comes out.

thanks in advance :)

[Musthaveittoday]

Here are two options, memory is LP if you want an aftermarket cooler later, the other is to co-ordinate with the MB

Processor option's, fast @ £148 or faster at £180 with better OB GPU, HD2000 vs HD3000

Cases, one to keep in budget, the other as a recommended.

Mix it up until you blend the costs, also check the black Gigabyte MB @ £99, it lacks an OB GPU out port but adds more Sata3 and USB3 option's

http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/motherboards/intel1155z68chipsetmotherboards/ga-z68x-ud3p-b3.html


26772678

[DaveOx91]

Really appreciate the reply, thank you. perfect prices both of them. this might come as a strange question, but what is the 6850 comparable in the Nvidia cards?and how much better than my current GT430 is it? :)

[Musthaveittoday]

6850 vs 430 = 6850 winner

6850 vs 560/Ti = 560

I personally stick with Nvidia because it works out of the box.

If keeping cost down is really a must go for a 560 non Ti, you'll get 90% of what the Ti offers anyway.

[DaveOx91]

well im thinking of not getting the monitor yet and using the one i have for a while longer, which would mean i could essentially add £100 to the build. so would you suggest getting a 560Ti with the extra? or putting that extra £100 somewhere else in the build? thanks again.

[Peeej]

AMD GPUs don't work out of hte box?

[Musthaveittoday]

AMD GPUs don't work out of hte box?


You know what I mean, Nvidia plug and play, ATi plug and bsod/freeze etc, I nearly bought a 6850 myself, I was all ready to do the cheaper option and then I thought.....NA you knows what hassle you've had before with flaky drivers get the 560Ti cos 1 you want that one and 2 you know it's going to be more stable.

[Zryth]

i have a sapphire 6870 and i havent had any BSOD's crashed due to it but i'd admit it gets loud if the fan speed is 60%+

[southpark]

either the 6850 or gtx560ti will give you a big improvement over the gt430. i'd just pick whatever you have the money for.

[DaveOx91]

so i decided to go with the 560ti, does this look ok? wasnt too sure which 560 to pick because there was so many of them, also is it all compatible?

[Musthaveittoday]

If that is this http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/nvidiageforcegraphicscards/nvidiagtx560tifermiseries/gv-n560oc-1gi.html

Be prepared to underclock it back to 822mhz core and 1644 shader, you do this by downloading MSi Afterburner utility and adjust the clocks, if it runs fine just leave it but if you get crashes and artifacts clock it down, the reviews aren't that great for the Gigabyte cards and I think the MSi one I have is much better and cooler and quieter but it's not listed anymore and the clocked version is £195, which this Gigabyte card was until a few days ago also, so be quick cos the stock has halved in a day or so already, and don't think I mean it's a bad card cos it isn't, it's just been clocked up a bit further than it would like, notice the slower version is still more to buy, always reasons for everything.

[Musthaveittoday]

double post.

[DaveOx91]

just looked at that thumbnail, cant see a thing xD sorry, yeh thats the card, if i order that setup but bits are out of stock, will the instock parts come, then the others later, or will it all come together, also, will it come built together so i can just slot my HDD in or will i need to get someone to build it?

[Musthaveittoday]

You need to build it it will be arriving in boxes, out of stock normally means a delay, at suppliers means normally a day.

[randommagik6]

You know what I mean, Nvidia plug and play, ATi plug and bsod/freeze etc, I nearly bought a 6850 myself, I was all ready to do the cheaper option and then I thought.....NA you knows what hassle you've had before with flaky drivers get the 560Ti cos 1 you want that one and 2 you know it's going to be more stable.

Wish I went your route :shrug:

Noisy, Hot, Hot, BSOD, Crashing and Noisy -__-

Not to mention, I miss how cool my 450 ran! this thing sticks at 67*c idling all because I have 2 different resolution monitors on it - works fine (around 36*c) if I only have one!

[DaveOx91]

ok so its abit over the 500 budget but this is the final one- everything look ok?




2nd Generation Intel® Core? i5 2500K 3.30GHz Socket LGA1155 - Retail. (http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/processors/intelcorei3,i5andi71155socket/bx80623i52500k.html)

Gigabyte GA-Z68AP-D3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) Motherboard (http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/motherboards/intel1155z68chipsetmotherboards/ga-z68ap-d3.html)

MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Twin Frozr II/OC 1024MB GDDR5 (http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/nvidiageforcegraphicscards/nvidiagtx560tifermiseries/n560gtx-titwinfrozriioc.html)

Corsair CX 600W V2 ATX2.2 80 PLUS® Power Supply (http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/powersupplies/cmpsu-600cxv2uk.html)

Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800 C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/memory-pc/ddr3-pc3-12800/1600mhz/cml8gx3m2a1600c9.html)

Novatech nVision Life 22" Widescreen LED Monitor (http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/monitors/22inchmonitors/nov-nled22.html)

Sharkoon T9 Value Gaming Case Black with Red LED Fans - (No PSU)



(http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/cases/cases/t9value-red.html)

[Asce]

Wish I went your route :shrug:

Noisy, Hot, Hot, BSOD, Crashing and Noisy -__-

Not to mention, I miss how cool my 450 ran! this thing sticks at 67*c idling all because I have 2 different resolution monitors on it - works fine (around 36*c) if I only have one!

Thats to do with the clock speeds on the card. When you run a second screen it stays in 3D clocks but doesnt clock to 2D clock speeds. I have thhe same issue with clock speeds on my GTX580 when i run a second screen.

[DaveOx91]

Argh wish they would hurry and get the processor in so i can go ahead and order all this, dying of waiting xD

[Pendragonuk]

Here you go, I know that this is an old thread but many people are looking for a Gaming rig at this price point. £500 quid is one of those magical price points that people look at.

This PC will play any AAA (Console Ports Like Call of Duty) title at max settings Other games like Battlefield:3 should run a med to high settings. True quad core performance with hybrid Crossfire and an SSD large enough for OS and a game or two. There is large enough mechanical drive for all of your files and the games that are not helped by fast map load times. (BF3 needs to be on an SSD if your not going to be the last in to the server on map change)

All of this for under £500 quid :)

http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/1748/500quidgamingrig.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/716/500quidgamingrig.jpg/)


Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)

[Pendragonuk]

This one has a more traditional approach, not taking advantage of the APU and hybrid Crossfire and going for a more powerful single graphics card. Although the CPU is much less powerful the system can by upgraded in the future as money allows. There is a still a good quality SSD coupled with a quick~ish 500GB Hard Drive. There isn't the room or the PSU to do too much more with the graphics card but a much faster CPU will drop right in there when you can afford one. But the 560Ti should more than meet your gaming needs with all of the console port types like Call of Duty and should handle Battlefield:3 at med to high settings.

http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/1643/500quidgamingrigintel.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/16/500quidgamingrigintel.jpg/)


Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)

[nash1979]

You know what I mean, Nvidia plug and play, ATi plug and bsod/freeze etc, I nearly bought a 6850 myself, I was all ready to do the cheaper option and then I thought.....NA you knows what hassle you've had before with flaky drivers get the 560Ti cos 1 you want that one and 2 you know it's going to be more stable.

My pair of 6850 sapphire toxic run straight out of the box, total naff that comment about they dont work out of the box, if your an nvidia fanboy then good for you, but dont talk rubbish its not the done thing really you just make yourself look a bit silly IMO.
Especially when you suggest that the gigabyte nvidia card will have to be underclocked as it causes crashes, talk about not working out of the box
:wall:

Also my 6850 run nice cool and silent much better than the older 4870's i had with non reference coolers.

[randommagik6]

My pair of 6850 sapphire toxic run straight out of the box, total naff that comment about they dont work out of the box, if your an nvidia fanboy then good for you, but dont talk rubbish its not the done thing really you just make yourself look a bit silly IMO.
Especially when you suggest that the gigabyte nvidia card will have to be underclocked as it causes crashes, talk about not working out of the box
:wall:

Also my 6850 run nice cool and silent much better than the older 4870's i had with non reference coolers.

Have to disagree

not a fanboy of anything here, just bought what seemed best - My 6850 cannot handle more than 1 screen without running at 60*c idle, and 90*c during gaming (I have to use a custom fan profile to stop it sounding like a hurricane while gaming) and I've had my fair amount of BSOD and driver crashes already... It's a great card, AMD's just not quite there yet..

[Musthaveittoday]

My pair of 6850 sapphire toxic run straight out of the box, total naff that comment about they dont work out of the box, if your an nvidia fanboy then good for you, but dont talk rubbish its not the done thing really you just make yourself look a bit silly IMO.
Especially when you suggest that the gigabyte nvidia card will have to be underclocked as it causes crashes, talk about not working out of the box
:wall:

Also my 6850 run nice cool and silent much better than the older 4870's i had with non reference coolers.


Sorry mate you are wrong, I've had a lot of cards over the years, the ATi ones either crash a lot or pack up early, ask Half Pint what he thinks of ATi right now, so nothings changed, the fact they are cheaper than Nvidia says everything, if Nvidia dropped to ATi prices ATi wouldn't sell a single card, everyone who knows anything about computing will always pick the Nvidia card over ATi if the prices are the same, ATi/AMD are out of the game, Nvidia and Intel are kicking the **it out of them in every corner right now, the trouble with them is they always try to get things out early just like that other pet hate of mine Asus, all bleeding edge on the box and a cheaply made to fail component inside, I have 3 systems in the family, the elder one is a Core 2 with a 9500GT passive in it, the mid one is a Q6600 with a 9800GT, and my latest one is i5 2500K with a 560Ti in it, not a blue screen amongst them, cost me £150 more than a Bulldozy and 6850 set up, but it's worth it not to have to keep gluing my hair back in tbh, anyway each to their own, I used to love AMD back in the old Athlon days of reliability and performance, and I hope they return some time soon, but right now trust me they make the don't waste your money products.


The Gigabyte one is all over the net as bad, reason is it's an 822 card running at 900, clock any card up too much and it will play up, I have the MSi Twin Frozer 2 and it's awesome, never crashes and performs, reason is MSi put a proper cooling unit on it, and one that is whisper quiet on idle and still not loud when belting along, again ask around which card is the pick of the 560's and the answer will be MSi.

[Peeej]

Mate you are a fanboi who has only rececntly upgraded from a 9800GT meaning that you haven't used AMD in years and therefore don't have any 1st hand experience. At least own up to it!

[Musthaveittoday]

Mate you are a fanboi who has only rececntly upgraded from a 9800GT meaning that you haven't used AMD in years and therefore don't have any 1st hand experience. At least own up to it!


Thats kinda true, the last ATi card I used was a 1600XT which also died early, before that I can't remember the model but it was one that wouldn't run unless it had a certain HW set with it, i.e it was locked out from certain HW and a patch was never released, would've been ok if they informed you before you paid out for it but they didn't, but however I can read reviews and user experiences and they say ATi = hot and buggy most of the time, as you say I am on the N side and I don't mind admitting it, but whats a cheap ride on a bus thats gonna break down worth when you really have to be somewhere? :)

[nash1979]

[QUOTE=Musthaveittoday;326164]Sorry mate you are wrong, QUOTE]

How can i be wrong, they are right here in my pc working.

If thats your opinion then thats fine, but really dont go slagging off other products when you have no experience of that product.

your talking nonsense.

As for heat issues in other 6850 then this maybe down to the cooler you have, my toxics suck in air and pushes it out the back, if you have a cooler that allows the hot air to circulate back into your case then this maybe why your seeing such high temps, also 80' is not that high for an ati card to run at. There are many issues which can affect gpu temp, one is how is the cable management in you case, whats the air flow in the case like, they are all factors which have to be taken into account.

[Musthaveittoday]

[QUOTE=Musthaveittoday;326164]Sorry mate you are wrong, QUOTE]

How can i be wrong, they are right here in my pc working.

If thats your opinion then thats fine, but really dont go slagging off other products when you have no experience of that product.

your talking nonsense.

As for heat issues in other 6850 then this maybe down to the cooler you have, my toxics suck in air and pushes it out the back, if you have a cooler that allows the hot air to circulate back into your case then this maybe why your seeing such high temps, also 80' is not that high for an ati card to run at. There are many issues which can affect gpu temp, one is how is the cable management in you case, whats the air flow in the case like, they are all factors which have to be taken into account.


Ok mate, have it your way, I'll just realise I was wrong all along with all the other thousands of users who've come to the same opinion as I have, oh and not to mention the lab reviewer's either, all their tests must be wrong as well.


I have the coolest card anyway, MSi TF 560Ti, and I always advise case selection to ppl as well because it is important overall.

So you can fully understand me, I may not have experience of the 6850 card, but previous experience and reading the words of others on the net say don't buy one unless it's as far as your budget will go, I read up before buying, the 560Ti I have I chose because the MSi one works and the Gigabyte one doesn't, others may think they are the same card due to the name, but MSi has produced a stable card, Gigabyte pushed it to the max and hey presto hundreds of users all complaining. http://www.google.co.uk/products/catalog?q=gigabyte+geforce+gtx+560ti+oc&hl=en&cid=1323606381779257544&rate=1&os=reviews

[wuyanxu]

let's all defend our purchase like it's our lives!

now, all that's missing is some AMD vs Intel fanboism :D