Bit - Techers! One of the most off putting things associated with PC gaming is always 1. Its more complicated than console gaming and 2. The cost. The way that CPU and GPU tech has outpaced games requirements in recent years is astounding, and I've recently specced out and built two triple core 280GTX powered rigs for friends with change to spare from £330. I love 'doing things on the cheap' because firstly I'm not a rich guy (I'm sure when I am I will love 'doing things to ludicrous excess'), and secondly because its more of a challenge than just dropping a grand and putting it all together. All this got me thinking, could I get my Xbox 360 toting housemate playing BFBC2 with a mouse for less than £100? Think of this as the OLPC project, but for underprivileged gamers. So what do I need? Case Mobo CPU RAM HDD PSU GPU I already have a spare copy of Vista Business I can use in the system, and today, I've picked up a Gigabyte GA-G31M-ES2l MATX mobo from the forums for £21 (thank you Nealieboyee) which will form the skeleton of the system. I've also bought a 80GB 5400rpm Seagate HD from a friend for £3. *Update* Acquired a 250GB Western Digital 7200rpm from an old work friend for £5 Here's what I'm thinking: CPU: has to be 775 obviously, so E2180 or E6300 - then give it a light bump to about 2.4Ghz - looking at ebay this should set me back £10-12 *Update* Purchased a E6300 and arctic freezer pro for £16 from meandmymouth! RAM: 3GB would be best, but I think I'm going to have to settle with 2GB to stay within budget, something value orientated about 667mhz should set me back between £10 and £15 *Update* Since the PSU and Case came in under budget, I'm looking for 3GB now. The board only has 2 x RAM slots so it would have to be 1 x 1GB and 1 x 2GB sticks. *Update* - Acquired 2GB Kingston Value RAM @ 800mhz for £15 - Thanks Sleepygamer! Case: Any old thing would do really, I'd prefer MATX as thats what the board is, but beggars can't be choosers, so I'm going to be keeping a look out on gumtree/ebay - budget - £10 PSU: Proving to be one of the hardest things to come by, as I know all the horror stories about no name generic PSUs, and they are heavy so P&P is a real issue. I'm hoping to get this for about £15 but only time will tell if this is possible. *Update* Case + PSU + Optical drives acquired for £5. See page 4 for pics. GPU: A good selection of choices here. Resolution wise, this will be used with a 1366x768 tv, so it doesn't have to be a beast. I'm looking for something with upwards of 600 stream processors if ATI (so 4770 and above) or upwards of 100 if Nvidia (so, 8800GT and above) For this, I'm looking to spend about £25. *Update* Just done a deal with CarpetMonster for a 4730 @ £27. It has 640 shaders - should be perfect for the task in hand. *Addition* 3 x 80mm case fans - 1 used and 2 new @ £3.50 Thanks Fingers66! *Addition* Wireless G Card @ £4 Running total spent - £96.50 If anyone has any of the above lying about, then shoot me a PM I'll update this thread as I go, and hopefully show a few people with a bit of time, and not much money (I'm looking at you Uni students ) that you don't have to spend the earth to get into PC gaming.
for the pc case you can just got to the tip and pick out a old pc case and pick out a few fans as well
Great idea and good luck... but I don't think that will be up to much gaming. Hope it all goes well though
if you can pick up an e7200 anywhere cheap, thats what I use to use in my old system and it overclocked like a dream, got to 3.5ghz stable. Unfortunately I've used it in a build for my granda or I'd of stuck it on the forums for pretty much nothing . GPU wise, i use to use a 4850 512mb and it worked well for pretty much everything
Hmm, thanks, I'll ask, but with my teeny weeny budget I'll have to cross my fingers! Oooh, 1000 posts!
Try freecycle, bound to be someone prepared to donate unused bits. there's also your local amenity tip, fair chance there will be cases with bits in that can be salvaged!
Just thought. Since you are competeing with consoles you should really allow yourself around £150 IMO.
Good luck with this mate! Glad i could help. Boy4rmOz doesn't have the E6600 anymore.. I nabbed that off him a while back.
My mistake ^^ Maybe someone on the forum have an Auldschool e4500 About the powersupply you can look for a Coolermaster Extreme Power 500w they are not expensive at all.
