Building Gaming PC need help!!!

[GAMING Beaver]

Hi, I have been wanting to build my own gaming pc, however I am unsure of what parts to buy to put into the pc. I want the PC to run games such as starcraft 2, minecraft plus anymore I buy in the future. I would like it to be dual screen if possibe, and i was thinking of a processer from the intel core i series. Besides these things I am completely unsure on what to buy, any ideas? My budget is between £300 and £500 at the moment.

Thank you!

[ShyguyXPC]

Not possible with your budget as far as dual screens go.... It CAN be CAPABLE of Dual Screens but factoring in Dual screens now is not going to happen.

Sadly with your budget there would be barely any room to factor a Single LCD Display into it.

You could build the core part of the system, but minus the Keyboard, mouse, Speakers and Display.



Using 2 different UK sites, out 4 that I know of, I did a build list on each, very similar in performance.

This first one has a bit faster CPU speed, and a bit lower Graphics card than the 2nd, for about the same price, otherwise similar Motherboard, RAM, HDD, and OS.

2nd Generation Intel® Core™ i3 2120 3.3GHz Socket LGA1155 - Retail. | BX80623I32120

Gigabyte GA-H61M-S2PV Intel H61 (Socket 1155) Motherboard | GA-H61M-S2PV

Seagate Barracuda 1TB 64MB Cache Hard Drive SATA 6GB/s 8.5ms 7200rpm - OEM | ST1000DM003

LG GH22NS70 22x DVD+/-RW SATA Black - OEM | GH22NS70.AUAA

Corsair XMS3 4GB (1x4GB) DDR3 PC3-10666 C9 1333MHz Memory Module | CMX4GX3M1A1333C9

Coolermaster GX Lite Series - 500 Watt Power Supply | CM-RS500-ASABL3-UK

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit DVD - OEM - Service Pack 1 | GFC-02050

Novatech Prowler Midi Case V2 | NOV-PROWLE

PowerColor AMD Radeon HD 6850 1024MB GDDR5 | AX6850-1GBD5-DH

The Case, and Power Supply on this one are also marginally better than the other sites list.


£495.86 inc





The 2nd site:

EVGA GeForce GTX 460 Superclocked FTW 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (01G-P3-1363-KR) [01G-P3-1363-KR]

Intel Core i3-2100 3.10GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail [BX80623I32100]

Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) [ST1000DM003]

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) [GFC-00599]

Gigabyte H61M-S2PV Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard []

Cooler Master Elite Power 500W Power Supply [RS500-PSARJ3-UK]

Xigmatek Asgard Midi Tower Case - Black []

Corsair XMS3 4GB (1x4GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Single-Channel Module (CMX4GX3M1A1333C9) [CMX4GX3M1A1333C9]

Samsung SH-S222BB/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM [SH-S222AB/BEBE]

This list has a Bit better Video card, and the PSU is still fully capable of running the system and more powerful video cards if upgraded in the future. The Case is a little more basic, but still decent, and the CPU though 200MHz slower, is still a good option.

Sub Total : £414.60 + VAT : £85.42

Neither list includes shipping costs.

Overall performance wise, both lists should be very similar to each other. In games that need a tad bit more GPU power the 2nd list will be a bit faster, in games where CPU power is needed a bit more, such as World Of Warcraft and most MMO's, then the 1st list will be a tad better.

Starcraft 2 is somewhere in the middle, though if I were to guess, I'd say its a bit more CPU intensive, though with a lot of action going on on the screen it can tax the GPU pretty well.


Neither system is capable of any Overclocking, so getting Faster 1600MHz RAM is pointless, and you'd have to pony up some more cash for a better motherboard with any overclocking support as well.

Forget about asking if AMD is better to go with (I used to be all about AMD up until 5 or 6 years ago when I switched to Intel since it was better performance for my money, though I'm not totally against AMD, just they don't have any worth while CPU's that will get you more performance than a similar priced Intel), as it is, this is the same price range as AMD's current worthwhile CPU options, and the intel CPU's outperform them anyways, so going with AMD is a moot point and won't save any money worth while.

[ShyguyXPC]

You could try to piece together parts from one site and others from the other, and that might allow you to get more for your money, not factoring in Shipping costs.

But if you want, you could try these other 2 sites and see if you can piece together similar build lists with similar parts and see if they are any more or less than these two.

Computer Hardware - Scan.co.uk

Cheap Laptops, Computers and Cheap LCD TVs | Ebuyer.com

[GAMING Beaver]

Thank you for your help, it is much appreciated. The computer is something i will improve over time.

One question i have though: are both these builds capable of running a dual screen set up eventually? as it is something i would definetely like in the future

again Thank you very much

[ShyguyXPC]

Yes.

Just about any and every video card on the market for the past 10 years has been capable of Dual Screens.

[SpaceSquad]

Shyguy strikes again. Move on, everybody

[GAMING Beaver]

okay, would i have to buy an extra graphics card for dual screens or is just the one good?

[nickslick74]

Just one graphics card that Shyguy listed (either the 6850 or the 460GTX) will do dual monitors just fine.

[ShyguyXPC]

Thank you for your help, it is much appreciated. The computer is something i will improve over time.

One question i have though: are both these builds capable of running a dual screen set up eventually? as it is something i would definetely like in the future

again Thank you very much

Yes.

Just about any and every video card on the market for the past 10 years has been capable of Dual Screens.

okay, would i have to buy an extra graphics card for dual screens or is just the one good?

Just one graphics card that Shyguy listed (either the 6850 or the 460GTX) will do dual monitors just fine.

Thank you!

[GAMING Beaver]

Okay, thanks for all the help guys much appreciated

[bigBonehead]

And so Ladies and Gents... another Happy Ending on TechImo!