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Low-Budget gaming build

D

Daalek

n00b
Joined
Oct 9, 2011
Messages
7
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
I'll use it for playing the latest games on med settings. (Mainly Skyrim and Diablo 3)
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
As low as possible, but the max would be around 500 dollars.
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.

I live in Europe, Estonia
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
I think i'll need Motherboard, Graphics card and a Processor, and 8gb of RAM but tell me if I'm missing anything.
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
I'll be reusing the case, dvd drive, harddrives, power supply, keyboard, mouse and monitor.
6) Will you be overclocking?
Should I?
7) 7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
22 inch, 1920 x 1080
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Around November.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video? etc.
Was hoping you'd tell me.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
I have both 32 and 64 bit versions of Win 7


The main task of this PC would be to run both Skyrim and Diablo 3 on med settings. My main holdback is the inability to buy the high-end parts as my budget is very limited.
 
It's way too early for us to offer any recommendations to you at this time. Parts that are recommended now may become outdated, overpriced, or out of stock by the time that you're ready to purchase everything in November.

But in the meanwhile, we need to know which specific parts you are using, and we definitely need to know how old your power supply is. Believe it or not, your power supply plays a significant role into the video card we recommend, but if it's over three years old, then I suggest buying a new PSU for your new parts.

Since many of us live in the U.S., we need to know which sites you're purchasing parts from. Links would also help immensely. This information will help us better tailor our recommendations to the limits of your budget. Speaking of which, is your budget the equivalent to 500 U.S. dollars or 500 euros?
 
After a bit of research I understand that i'll probably need a new PSU aswell.
As for the time period, I could start gathering the components and doing the research right now, but d like to have it finished by the end of November.
As i have no previous expirience concerning buying pc parts online, I refered to the forum's FAQ and those are the online stores in Europe that were listed there:
Places to Buy - in Europe
ARLT Computer (Germany)
cool-prices.nl (The Netherlands)
Komplett
Prodimex
I also thought of checking Amazon and Ebay.
The budget is equivalent to 500 U.S dollars.
 
Research the prices of the following components:

Intel Core i3 2100
MSI P67A-G45 (B3) ATX motherboard
2x4GB Corsair or G.Skill DDR3 1333 CL9 1.5V RAM (the cheapest set you can find)
GeForce GT 560 Ti video card (from EVGA, Asus, Gigabyte, or MSI)
Corsair TX650 V2 650 watt power supply

I don't know whether or not the above components will exceed your $500 limit, but they are the bare minimum that I would recommend for a general gaming machine.
 
Thanks alot for the advice, from what i find the total would be about 610 bucks, which is bearable, but I'll look around if I can find any bargains.
 
Daalek said:
Thanks alot for the advice, from what i find the total would be about 610 bucks, which is bearable, but I'll look around if I can find any bargains.
Click to expand...

You might be able to get away with downgrading the PSU to the following:
Antec Earthwatts Green 650W
Antec Neo Eco 620C
Antec High Current Gamer 620W.
 
So? The OP may be able to buy one of those Antec power supplies wherever he chooses to shop at.
 
The PSU isn't that good of a choice since it only has 36A on the +12V rail, low for a 600W+ PSU
 
Does that mean that I will be unable to use it? What kind of complications will that bring?
 
Daalek said:
Does that mean that I will be unable to use it? What kind of complications will that bring?
Click to expand...

It means that there's a chance that PSU may end up killing your PC as PSUs with an abnormally low amount of amperage for their wattage range tend to be of very low quality.
 
Okay, but is it a problem if, not having fully upgraded my PC, I upgrade my PSU so, i have more power than needed?
 
No. As long as you don't go stupid overkill, like buying a 80 Plus Gold-rated 1000 watt PSU, you should be fine with a 500 to 750 watt power supply with at least 40A on its (combined) 12V rail(s). (To determine whether you have enough power, don't add up the values of multiple 12V rails. Find out the total amount of power, in watts, going through all of the 12V rails and divide by 12. If the total amount is listed as one amperage value, or A, you should be fine.)

Basically, you should be looking at:

500W - 40A
550W - 45A
600W - 50A
650W - 55A
700W - 60A
750W - 65A

Since not all PSUs are identical in quality, please let us know what you're considering before you buy it. We may know something that you don't.
 
Are any of the following PSUs usable? And what do you mean by destroying th PC? Does it mean, that if a PSu is of low quality then it will burn out the whole system? What would happen, if I were to use a PSU too weak for the system?

http://faun.ee/modecom-psu-620w-14cm-atx12v22-4xsata

http://www.arvutikeskus.ee/est/TOOTEKATALOOG/ARVUTIKOMPONENDID-Toiteplokid-PSU-PSU-600W-650W/117109

http://www.arvutikeskus.ee/est/TOOTEKATALOOG/ARVUTIKOMPONENDID-Toiteplokid-PSU-PSU-600W-650W/2475

http://www.arvutikeskus.ee/est/TOOTEKATALOOG/ARVUTIKOMPONENDID-Toiteplokid-PSU-PSU-600W-650W/117109
 
Daalek said:
Are any of the following PSUs usable? And what do you mean by destroying th PC? Does it mean, that if a PSu is of low quality then it will burn out the whole system?
Click to expand...
Exactly that: If the PSU is of low quality, it has a high chance of killing the entire PC.
Daalek said:
What would happen, if I were to use a PSU too weak for the system?
Click to expand...
The PC would shut down immediately if the PSU has a touch of quality. However there's a chance that the PSU could pop and end up killing the PC if it's being used far beyond its limits.


Daalek said:
http://faun.ee/modecom-psu-620w-14cm-atx12v22-4xsata

http://www.arvutikeskus.ee/est/TOOTEKATALOOG/ARVUTIKOMPONENDID-Toiteplokid-PSU-PSU-600W-650W/117109

http://www.arvutikeskus.ee/est/TOOTEKATALOOG/ARVUTIKOMPONENDID-Toiteplokid-PSU-PSU-600W-650W/2475

http://www.arvutikeskus.ee/est/TOOTEKATALOOG/ARVUTIKOMPONENDID-Toiteplokid-PSU-PSU-600W-650W/117109
Click to expand...
You listed the same PSU twice BTW. In any case, the Corsair PSU is the only usable PSU out of those PSUs.
 
Daalek said:
And what do you mean by destroying th PC? Does it mean, that if a PSu is of low quality then it will burn out the whole system? What would happen, if I were to use a PSU too weak for the system?
Click to expand...

A low-quality PSU cannot deliver anywhere close to its total wattage claim without its output going out of spec (and sometimes way out of spec). The out-of-spec DC output can kill some of the components of a PC much sooner than expected: Manufacturers typically expect those parts to last five years. But in the presence of out-of-spec DC output, that life can be shortened to only a few months - too long for the reseller return policies to be effective, but this damage will not be covered at all by any manufacturer's warranty because such damage is considered abuse. And this can affect certain components that are required just for the system can even operate at all, such as GPUs and boot drives. The worst PSUs can't deliver anywhere close to their claimed wattages at all - period - because they can explode when trying to deliver even half of that output. In the worst 650W PSUs, they effectively deliver only 230W to 300W before popping out! That's very dangerous: When such PSUs pop (explode), they also tend to kill some or all of the sensitive parts of the PC.

The truth is, there are a lot of PSUs that simply cannot provide their claimed wattage output for more than a very brief instant. That rating in such PSUs is in absolute maximum peak, not continuous. Continuous output wattage in those PSUs is lower - and sometimes far lower. Some other PSUs are rated at an unrealistically low internal operating temperature of only 25°C or even 20°C - but they do not tell you that continuous wattage output will be lower (and sometimes much lower) at much more realistic operating temperatures of 45°C to 50°C. In other words, many if not most PSU "brands" just flat-out lie about the maximum realistic wattage output from their products.
 
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