Right, i've been looking a lot at budget gaming hardware for my friends, but the reviews of them arn't particularly the best. For example, the processors only show performance with their IGPs. Basically, I need a few opinions on a few parts. Intel Pentium G620 SB for gaming, any good for low end gaming? Could it tackle the likes of BF3 with minimal graphics and low resolutions such as 720p? AMD Radeon HD 66XX and 67XX cards - Are these cards any good at low graphics gaming? Would they be able to play all modern games on the small resolutions with a cheap processor such as a G620? Intel Core i3 - How much 'real world' difference is there between this, an i5 and a G620? Would it do for a budget gaming rig? RAM - How much benefit does 8GB have over 4GB? Is 1600mhz essential? HDD - How important is the cache of a HDD? Say if I got a 500GB HDD with 16mb cache, how much slower would it be than a HDD with a 64mb cache? Nvidia Cards - Are 550ti's worth it or do AMD cards have one over on nvidia at this price range? Sound cards - For people who're used to laptops, are sound cards even that essential? I've recently upgraded from no sound card to an ASUS Xonar DX, I notice very little difference in an every day situation Cases - Which are strong budget cases, i've been looking at the likes of the Silverstone Precision line, namely the PS04 and PS05 (I think that's what they're called) I couldn't find much on the internet about these two cases in terms of video reviews. As you can tell, im a budget gaming n00b. Any help would be appreciated.
I'd go for the i3 over the Pentium, the extra threads would probably help given you won't be able to overclock either of them. Those graphics cards would be alright for 720p area of gaming. You may get high out of most games with a 6770. Benefits of having more than 4GB: not a lot. Some games might be able to use nearly 4 but most don't. However, the price difference between 4 and 8 isn't that much so I'd get 8 if possible. No, 550Ti's are not worth it in my opinion. The 6870 is far better from AMD with the 6850 generally performing about the same as a 550Ti. Sound cards are by no means essential, I don't have one in this rig though I had one in my old rig. Differences to me were marginal at best. Cases: Pass, not my area lol Sorry.
Intel CPU: Go for the highest clock speed you can afford since you can't OC it and there's no TurboBoost. 4GB 1333 memory will do fine. HDD cache is not relevant in a budget PC. It makes so little difference. Use onboard sound, spend more on a half-decent pair of speakers or headphones if you can. Same for a half-decent monitor, keyboard and mice. No use having a fast PC with a shitty 19 inch TN TFT! There is decent choice around the 50-quid case mark: Silverstone, Antec, Corsair for example. GPU: Look for bargains - there was a 99 quid 6850 on sale recently!
scan have 6850 for 87 which is friggin fantastic there is no reason to buy anything less i would opt for 4GB of 1600mhz as there is no price difference between 1333mhz but there is a performance difference HDD just grab a 7200 rpm drive and be done with it as they are so expensive at the moment. Best one ive found is WD blue cavier 500GB for around £55-60. as far as CPU is concerned your budget will restrict you to G series really as the i3 2100 is around £85-90. for case and PSU id opt for a combo from coolermaster elite series. decent case with a decent 460W PSU all for £60
