[+REP] Gaming PC

[Mark]

Just wondering how much a gaming PC would roughly cost? What are the minimum requirements to have on one and where should I get it?
I'm pretty clueless about gaming PCs so any help would be appreciated, +REP also!

[mrwoooooooo]

it would cost as much as you're willing to spend

[Mark]

it would cost as much as you're willing to spend

An average one, probably under £400. What would that get me in terms of spec? I'm clueless :(

---------- Post added 31-01-2013 at 09:58 PM ----------

My mate recently bought this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/QUAD-BULLDOZER-3-6GHZ-DESKTOP-COMPUTER/dp/tech-data/B0074OM9QS/ref=de_a_smtd

apparently that works a treat?

[Jack!]

An average one, probably under £400. What would that get me in terms of spec? I'm clueless :(

---------- Post added 31-01-2013 at 09:58 PM ----------

My mate recently bought this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/QUAD-BULLDOZER-3-6GHZ-DESKTOP-COMPUTER/dp/tech-data/B0074OM9QS/ref=de_a_smtd

apparently that works a treat?

For £400 you could build yourself a much nicer one, thats full of cheap horrible parts, High Spec, but its all cheap cheap cheap.

[Mark]

For £400 you could build yourself a much nicer one, thats full of cheap horrible parts, High Spec, but its all cheap cheap cheap.

Ah fair enough, thanks btw! What would you suggest as minimum requirements?

[mrwoooooooo]

it wouldn't get you much tbh

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD Piledriver FX-8 Eight Core 8320 Black Edition 3.50GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-337-AM) £139.99
1 x Gigabyte 970A-DS3 AMD 970A (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-385-GI) £53.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500W V2 '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020047-UK) (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-034-CS) £49.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED38GM1600HC11DC01) (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-020-TG) £43.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) HDD (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-252-SE) £43.99
1 x Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-037-ZA) £39.95
1 x Asus 24x DVD±RW DRW-24B5ST SATA ReWriter - Black (OEM) (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CD-056-AS) £14.99
Total : £401.89 (includes shipping : £12.50).

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/pimg/CP-337-AM_60.jpg (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-337-AM) http://www.overclockers.co.uk/pimg/MB-385-GI_60.jpg (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-385-GI) http://www.overclockers.co.uk/pimg/CA-034-CS_60.jpg (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-034-CS) http://www.overclockers.co.uk/pimg/MY-020-TG_60.jpg (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-020-TG) http://www.overclockers.co.uk/pimg/HD-252-SE_60.jpg (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-252-SE) http://www.overclockers.co.uk/pimg/CA-037-ZA_60.jpg (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-037-ZA) http://www.overclockers.co.uk/pimg/CD-056-AS_60.jpg (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CD-056-AS)

[Kieran]

it wouldn't get you much tbh

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD Piledriver FX-8 Eight Core 8320 Black Edition 3.50GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-337-AM) £139.99
1 x Gigabyte 970A-DS3 AMD 970A (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-385-GI) £53.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500W V2 '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020047-UK) (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-034-CS) £49.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED38GM1600HC11DC01) (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-020-TG) £43.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) HDD (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-252-SE) £43.99
1 x Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-037-ZA) £39.95
1 x Asus 24x DVD±RW DRW-24B5ST SATA ReWriter - Black (OEM) (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CD-056-AS) £14.99
Total : £401.89 (includes shipping : £12.50).

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/pimg/CP-337-AM_60.jpg (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-337-AM) http://www.overclockers.co.uk/pimg/MB-385-GI_60.jpg (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-385-GI) http://www.overclockers.co.uk/pimg/CA-034-CS_60.jpg (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-034-CS) http://www.overclockers.co.uk/pimg/MY-020-TG_60.jpg (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-020-TG) http://www.overclockers.co.uk/pimg/HD-252-SE_60.jpg (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-252-SE) http://www.overclockers.co.uk/pimg/CA-037-ZA_60.jpg (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-037-ZA) http://www.overclockers.co.uk/pimg/CD-056-AS_60.jpg (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CD-056-AS)

Graphics card?

[mrwoooooooo]

Graphics card?

£400 isn't enough, but amd's on board graphics are very good for low budgets

[Chippiewill]

Graphics card?

As above, you're not going to be able to squeeze in a dedicated graphics card on that budget which will trump the on-board without seriously bottlenecking elsewhere.

[Chippiewill]

OCuK:
PCPartPicker part list (http://pcpartpicker.com/p/AREJ) / Price breakdown by merchant (http://pcpartpicker.com/p/AREJ/by_merchant/) / Benchmarks (http://pcpartpicker.com/p/AREJ/benchmarks/)

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/amd-cpu-fd8320frhkbox) (£139.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-ga970ads3) (£53.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Grey 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/kingston-memory-khx1600c9d3x2k28gx) (£49.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd5000aakx) (£47.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Case: Zalman Z9 Plus ATX Mid Tower Case (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/zalman-case-z9plus) (£39.95 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-power-supply-cmpsu500cxv2) (£49.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/lite-on-optical-drive-ihas124-04) (£20.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Total: £402.19
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-01 19:42 GMT+0000)

Dabs:
PCPartPicker part list (http://pcpartpicker.com/p/AREJ) / Price breakdown by merchant (http://pcpartpicker.com/p/AREJ/by_merchant/) / Benchmarks (http://pcpartpicker.com/p/AREJ/benchmarks/)

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/amd-cpu-fd8320frhkbox) (£131.98 @ Dabs)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-ga970ads3) (£53.92 @ Dabs)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Grey 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/kingston-memory-khx1600c9d3x2k28gx) (£43.69 @ Dabs)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd5000aakx) (£44.97 @ Dabs)
Case: Zalman Z9 Plus ATX Mid Tower Case (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/zalman-case-z9plus) (£47.99 @ Dabs)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-power-supply-cmpsu500cxv2)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/lite-on-optical-drive-ihas124-04) (£16.76 @ Dabs)
Total: £339.31
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-01 19:42 GMT+0000)

With alternate power supply "Corsair 500W Builder Series CX 80+ Bronze ATX Power Supply" (http://www.dabs.com/products/corsair-500w-builder-series-cx-80--bronze-atx-power-supply-8CDD.html?q=500W&src=16) total at Dabs: £383.32

Virtually same spec as Mrwoo's but slight improvements in ram and hard drive by saving tons on the dvd drive.

You may want to go multiple retailers in which case a cross-section of Amazon and AriaPC would save you a fair bit.

[Mark]

OCuK:
PCPartPicker part list (http://pcpartpicker.com/p/AREJ) / Price breakdown by merchant (http://pcpartpicker.com/p/AREJ/by_merchant/) / Benchmarks (http://pcpartpicker.com/p/AREJ/benchmarks/)

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/amd-cpu-fd8320frhkbox) (£139.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-ga970ads3) (£53.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Grey 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/kingston-memory-khx1600c9d3x2k28gx) (£49.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd5000aakx) (£47.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Case: Zalman Z9 Plus ATX Mid Tower Case (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/zalman-case-z9plus) (£39.95 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-power-supply-cmpsu500cxv2) (£49.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/lite-on-optical-drive-ihas124-04) (£20.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Total: £402.19
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-01 19:42 GMT+0000)

Dabs:
PCPartPicker part list (http://pcpartpicker.com/p/AREJ) / Price breakdown by merchant (http://pcpartpicker.com/p/AREJ/by_merchant/) / Benchmarks (http://pcpartpicker.com/p/AREJ/benchmarks/)

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/amd-cpu-fd8320frhkbox) (£131.98 @ Dabs)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-ga970ads3) (£53.92 @ Dabs)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Grey 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/kingston-memory-khx1600c9d3x2k28gx) (£43.69 @ Dabs)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd5000aakx) (£44.97 @ Dabs)
Case: Zalman Z9 Plus ATX Mid Tower Case (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/zalman-case-z9plus) (£47.99 @ Dabs)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-power-supply-cmpsu500cxv2)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/lite-on-optical-drive-ihas124-04) (£16.76 @ Dabs)
Total: £339.31
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-01 19:42 GMT+0000)

With alternate power supply "Corsair 500W Builder Series CX 80+ Bronze ATX Power Supply" (http://www.dabs.com/products/corsair-500w-builder-series-cx-80--bronze-atx-power-supply-8CDD.html?q=500W&src=16) total at Dabs: £383.32

Virtually same spec as Mrwoo's but slight improvements in ram and hard drive by saving tons on the dvd drive.

You may want to go multiple retailers in which case a cross-section of Amazon and AriaPC would save you a fair bit.

Thanks a lot! Greatly appreciated, +rep :)

[dggood]

In my opinion you should never use an on board graphics card, unless you are building a school or office PC.
However you mentioned 'gaming pc', for games like Battlefield, they have a reputation for forcing most of their gamers to upgrade their graphics cards to some of the latest ones to be able to play the game.
Graphics cards also use a lot of the power from a PC and would therefore i think would strain the motherboard in the long run having to work with a processor and a inbuilt graphics cards.
Unless you plan on playing Warcraft 3 or Sims 3, you NEED a graphics card that is if you wish to play proper games like, COD and BF and many RPGs.

[mrwoooooooo]

In my opinion you should never use an on board graphics card, unless you are building a school or office PC.
However you mentioned 'gaming pc', for games like Battlefield, they have a reputation for forcing most of their gamers to upgrade their graphics cards to some of the latest ones to be able to play the game.
Graphics cards also use a lot of the power from a PC and would therefore i think would strain the motherboard in the long run having to work with a processor and a inbuilt graphics cards.
Unless you plan on playing Warcraft 3 or Sims 3, you NEED a graphics card that is if you wish to play proper games like, COD and BF and many RPGs.

no you dont

[scottish]

In my opinion you should never use an on board graphics card, unless you are building a school or office PC.
However you mentioned 'gaming pc', for games like Battlefield, they have a reputation for forcing most of their gamers to upgrade their graphics cards to some of the latest ones to be able to play the game.
Graphics cards also use a lot of the power from a PC and would therefore i think would strain the motherboard in the long run having to work with a processor and a inbuilt graphics cards.
Unless you plan on playing Warcraft 3 or Sims 3, you NEED a graphics card that is if you wish to play proper games like, COD and BF and many RPGs.

+1 on the 'no you don't'

strain the motherboard by using gfx? lol

[Stephen!]

For any serious gaming you'll want at least a 550Ti or AMD equivalent

Anything else and you may as well get a 360/PS3.

Edit: Here's what I got

http://www5.picturepush.com/photo/a/12100748/img/Screenshots/Capture.png

Will stomp the above systems for games using only a few quid more. It's entirely performance based - Not meant to look pretty or have amazing cooling. It will get the job done well though.

Optical Drive -You don't need one. Every game out there can be acquired digitally. OS can be installed from a flash drive.