Low budget gaming setup (£550) open to suggestions

[MrWillis]

For starters my old laptop broke so I decided it's time for a desktop PC. I'm on a rather tight budget at the moment hence why it's not the best spec going.

I will be using it mainly for gaming/media. WoW/Minecraft & Guild Wars 2 when it comes out, preferably on high settings and with FRAPS running sometimes. No FPS' or high end games like Skyrim, at least for the time being. I will be upgrading the parts as time goes on but for now I will make do with this (or something like this).

So, the question: is this the best gaming setup I can get for my current budget?

Thanks.

Case
PCS MAELSTROM T900 BLACK GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD BULLDOZER QUAD CORE FX-4100 (3.60GHz/4MB CACHE/AM3+)
Motherboard
ASUS® M5A97: AM3+ PLATFORM, DUAL DDR3, SATA 6.0GB/s, USB 3.0
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 2GB)
Graphics Card
1GB AMD RADEON™ HD6770 - DVI,HDMI,VGA - DX® 11
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
500GB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s HDD 7200RPM 16MB CACHE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
450W Quiet 80 PLUS Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£29)
Processor Cooling
STANDARD AMD CPU COOLER
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
Quantity
1

Total: £549

 

[keynes]

From looking at your choice I don't see where you can improve without increasing your budget. You can probably downgrade the motherboard and try to get a caviar black for an HDD and/or a triple copper heatpipe CPU cooler.
Try to at least get Silver warranty for £5


Case
PCS MAELSTROM T900 BLACK GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD BULLDOZER QUAD CORE FX-4100 (3.60GHz/4MB CACHE/AM3+)
Motherboard
ASUS® M5A78L-M/USB3: M-ATX, USB 3.0, SATA 3.0Gb/s
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 2GB)
Graphics Card
1GB AMD RADEON™ HD6770 - DVI,HDMI,VGA - DX® 11
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
500GB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD5002AALX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
450W Quiet 80 PLUS Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£29)
Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE AMD CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £570.00 including VAT and delivery.

Configure Here: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/amd-bulldozer-top-spec-pc/ekDTTdEchP/

 

[MrWillis]

Thanks for your help. I've been fiddling around and this is what I've come up with, I upgraded the HDD as you can see and downgraded the motherboard. I left out the CPU cooler (I don't think I'll need it for now) and upgraded the GPU to the 7770. As for gaming, do you think this is capable of running WoW at High (possibly Ultra) settings? I may also add that I will be linking it up to my 32" LCD TV, so is there anything I need to change to cater for the monitor?

Also, regarding the HDD, would my upgrade to the WD affect the performance drastically? I know little about computers but from what I've read I am guessing the RPM is the most important thing, and the WD has the same RPM as the stock hard disks - so is an upgrade really going to change much?

Thanks again.

Case
PCS MAELSTROM T900 BLACK GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD BULLDOZER QUAD CORE FX-4100 (3.60GHz/4MB CACHE/AM3+)
Motherboard
ASUS® M5A78L-M/USB3: M-ATX, USB 3.0, SATA 3.0Gb/s
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 2GB)
Graphics Card
1GB AMD RADEON™ HD7770 - DVI,HDMI,2 mDP - DX® 11, Eyefinity 4 Capable
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
500GB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD5002AALX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
450W Quiet 80 PLUS Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£29)
Processor Cooling
STANDARD AMD CPU COOLER
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £571.00 including VAT and delivery.

 

[keynes]

Th HD 7770 should handlw WoW without any problems, the reason for a CPU cooler is to keep the processor at low temperatures, when gaming it tends to go up and the CPU cooler you chosen is a standard/basic one. If you TV/monitor has an input for HDMI or DVI there shouldn't be an issue.

 

[MrWillis]

I've gone for the CPU cooler, just incase I need it.

About the HDD, would there be a big difference between the 500GB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD5002AALX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (7200rpm) and the 500GB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s HDD 7200RPM 16MB CACHE?

Apart from the cache (which isn't that important as far as I'm aware) there doesn't seem to be any difference.

I'll stop asking questions after this!

Thanks.

 

[keynes]

I've gone for the CPU cooler, just incase I need it.

About the HDD, would there be a big difference between the 500GB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD5002AALX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (7200rpm) and the 500GB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s HDD 7200RPM 16MB CACHE?

Apart from the cache (which isn't that important as far as I'm aware) there doesn't seem to be any difference.

I'll stop asking questions after this!

Thanks.

I am afraid I can't say because I don't know what standard HDD PCS uses. I have a caviar black and it performs pretty quick when opening files/applications, you could send an email to PCS requesting further information but I'd expect the caviar black to be more reliable and faster than the standard HDD.

 

[Grinder]

as far as I can tell this will run as good as a hd 7770 fx 4100 but will have a better hdd .
Apparantly the apu and 6670 will run in crossfire mode and double the graphics card abilities which should give you a sound system for now and you can upgrade the gpu later on when you can afford a better one
Also it's easy to overclock if you want to play with it


http://youtu.be/nJqNByn2wjc


Case
STYLISH PIANO BLACK ENIGMA MICRO-ATX CASE + 2 FRONT USB
Processor (CPU)
AMD A8-3870K APU (3.0GHz, 4 Cores) & AMD Radeon™ HD 6550D Graphics
Motherboard
ASUS® F1A75-M: FM1 A-SERIES, SATA 6.0GB/s, USB 3.0
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 2GB)
Graphics Card
1GB AMD RADEON™ HD6670 - DVI,HDMI,VGA - DX® 11
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
450W Quiet 80 PLUS Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£29)
Processor Cooling
STANDARD AMD CPU COOLER
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £524.00 including VAT and delivery.