# Prebuilt VS Home Made Gaming Rig



## Sc0tt (Aug 15, 2007)

I have found a prebuilt PC I like and want to see if I can make one for less. Hopefully with better quality and better prospects of upgrading it in the future.

The following is what i'm looking for:

-Quad Core CPU
-Heatsink/fan for CPU if not included with CPU
-4GB RAM
-Graphics card in the region of a GTS 250 (I know about its rebranding) *MUST BE NVIDIA*
-Mobo, obviously one thats compatible with the rest, other than that im not too sure
-A case prefferably with front and rear fans (side+top is a bonus), not interested in paying extra for flashy cases, must be quite and have good airflow
-PSU, don't want anything rediculously over powered, just enough to comfortably power the build
-500GB HDD, possibly more if theres one that has more space and is little difference in price
-DVDRW with lightscribe, if theres money left over for it

Budget = £500 (including VAT and delivery)

I would like all the fans to be reasonably quite, doesn't need to be silent just not annoying. Good enough components for OCing would be a bonus, but isn't required.

*Please note that i'm from the UK so if you are going to post links to shops please remember this*

Thankyou. ray::grin:


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## Net Jockey (Oct 18, 2008)

What one needs to know about...the relation of the negative effects of heat on the computer...That can be caused by the power supply.

Manufacturers test their PSU's at a set temperature...from this their rating is determined... for most this No. is 25 degrees Celsius...which falls short of the temperature that most computers are capable of achieving.

Given that a PSU will actually lose 2-5 watts per one degree of heat above the 25 Degree Celsius testing temperature...coupled with the fact that computers tend to run at 10 degrees higher than room temperature... In the summer time when the room temperature can easily reach 80 degrees F... your computer will be running at 33 Degrees C. or 90 Degrees F.

So the...math can make...your 500 watt power supply into a 460 watt unit.

In addition to this...what needs to be taken into account is that each degree that your computer components are operating at...under powered...adds more heat to the equation. 

Consider also...the possibility...that ratings given by the manufacturer of single components...such as graphics cards...need to be treated with skepticism... Manufacturers may minimize support issues and under rate the power required...in order to make a larger profit. 

The above has not taken into account...the issue of high quality vs poor quality units...Power supplies convert voltages from wall outlets to lower levels used by the PC. During this conversion, some power is lost as heat. The efficiency level of the PSU determines how much extra power must be put into the power supply to run the PC. A high quality PSU can help reduce the noise and heat generated within a computer system. The higher the efficiency rating the less heat the PSU has to deal with.

Therefore heat is the computers enemy...The hotter the temperature your PSU is forced to run at...the poorer the supply of power the rest of the components will receive...which has been known to lead to such things as crashes, freezing, rebooting, BSOD’s, and video distortion, as well as partial and complete failure of other components.

The fact is very few PSU’s are capable of producing the wattage that the companies advertise.

For a very good comprehension of recommended brand names, wattage, and models in listed categories...Plus much more...check out this link. http://www.techsupportforum.com/f210/power-supply-information-and-selection-192217.html


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## Fapguy (Oct 2, 2008)

nvidia only? that wont let you get much bang for buck..


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## Fapguy (Oct 2, 2008)

Get an Antec 900 case, a e8400/e8500 cpu, the same motherboard as me, a simple 1tb spinpoint hdd, and a 750w corsair psu and 2x 4770 or 1x 4890 and upgrade in the future..


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## Sc0tt (Aug 15, 2007)

Net Jockey, by over powered I mean I know i don't need a 90KW power supply for half my town, just whats needed for the build, whatever that may be. Not trying to down play the importance of a good PSU.

KharnakIHazWoW, that case looks very good, but I really need a quad core. The Q8200 is whats in the prebuilt one i'm looking at. The only 750W corsair psu I can find here isn't out yet and it will be £120 which is far too much, no good considering its not out yet anyway. I know I can get more for my money with AMD/ATI cards but I want Nvidia.

The main thing i'm unsure about is a mobo, I want one that would allow me to add more ram in the future. So really I need one with 3-4 slots and supports more than 4GB of ram, like 8GB.


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

If you want a PC for gaming then a Dual Core CPU (E8500) would be a better choice.


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## Sc0tt (Aug 15, 2007)

Yes right now it would be, but I have my eye on some games coming out in the near future that will use quad cores effectively. I'm also a serial multi tasker so i'm sure the extra cores will come in useful. Bassically i've already made my mind up on what I want as shown in the orginal post. I appreciate everyone saying what they think is best but it's not helping because it isn't what I want.

Heres where i'm at so far:
Antect 300 case £47
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/143854

Corsair 700W PSU £45
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/124927

Maxtor 500GB HDD £42
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/159390

Crucial 4GB 800mhz ram £37
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/143844

Q8200 Quad core 2.33Ghz £127
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/148933

Arctic Cooling AC-FRZ-7P Freezer 7 Pro £15
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/105994

ASUS P5QL PRO iP43 Mobo £67
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/149274

Card reader + fan controller £6
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/136400

Revoltec 120mm Dark Blue LED Case Fan (will use for front) £6
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/161529

Cart total including VAT and shipping is £393.39

GTS 250 1GB £114
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?ASU-2501

Cart total including VAT and shipping is £114.44

TOTAL £507.83

Hows that? Am I missing anything? (I will use existing DVD drives and the OS I already have)


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

Be aware of the location of the PSU to Mobo power connector. I've done a few builds with those and it can make wire routing/connecting a problem.


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## Sc0tt (Aug 15, 2007)

Can you suggest any other case with similar fan design for the same price (or less)?


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

The Antec 300 is a great case. My reference was to the location of the electrical plug on the Mobo. 
I realize you can't shop US but this link will give you a good pic of the PSU to Mobo location.


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## Sc0tt (Aug 15, 2007)

I think your link has run away, 'cause I don't see one. :laugh:

I'm not too worried if its a bit tricky, just aslong as the cables are long enough and its psyically possible?


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

Sorry. ASUS P5QL PRO 
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131329


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## Sc0tt (Aug 15, 2007)

I see exactly what you mean now. Will most PSU's reach that far? And if not can you get exstensions for that connector?

Also maybe cutting a hole and running the mobo power cable under the mobo mounting plate? (not sure if theres enough room under there for that)


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

The PSU cables should be adequate for length but the actual bulk of the PSU to Mobo wiring cluster is quite thick and heavy. The PSU mount in the Antec 300 is located at the bottom of the case & the Graphics card lies between the PSU and Mobo power connector.
When I use that Mobo, I mount the PSU upside down so the PSU to Mobo power wiring harness is located out away from the Mobo. Not as neat in appearance but it works better.


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## McNinja (Jun 22, 2008)

The wires are long enough, I have a Corsair 750w in storage right now.

I would say to not buy a Maxtor or Seagate HDD as I have heard issues of them randonmly locking up.

Your PSU you have there is low quality doorstop stuff.

You should be getting a corsair 650w

Corsair 650w
£77
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/135514


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## Sc0tt (Aug 15, 2007)

You guys love breaking my budget don't you. :sigh:


Tyree, I really couldn't care how it looks aslong as it works well. So i'll try it both ways and see which I prefer. Wouldn't have thought of putting it upside down! :suprised:


Mcninjaguy, For now i've added the PSU you said, some of the things in my list were thrown together quickly, will keep looking. :smile:

As for the HDD, i've always had Maxtor drives and none of them have ever had any problems, infact the only reason i've ever had to stop using them is because they are too small now! I think its simply down to the fact there is so many out there, will always be a certain % that fail and that amount will be higher if overall there are more.

Theres 46p between WD and Maxtor so I could get either.


- Only thing left that i'm not 100% on is the motherboard (ASUS P5QL PRO iP43), anyone know if its any good? Am I corrent in saying it has one IDE connecter which i could use to connect two IDE devices?

Will all the parts come with enough cables to complete the build?

Thanks everyone, looks like i'm almost there.


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

Seagate/Maxtor have had some recent problems with their drives so I've switched to WD for awhile. The Black series carries a 5 yr. warranty.
The ASUS P5QL PRO iP43 is a great board other than the Power connector location. I looked on the site that you are purchasing from for a P5Q Pro (uses p45 chipset) but i didn't see any listed. 
It does have one IDE connector that supports two devices.
The Mobo pic on Newegg shows One IDE cable-One Floppy cable-One SATA cable-One Molex to 2 SATA power connector


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## Sc0tt (Aug 15, 2007)

Dunno about the black series, sounds like more money. lol. Both of the ones i'm looking at come with 3yr warrenty anyway.

I'm now torn between the GTS 250 and the GTX 260. Pretty large price jump for my budget, but because it has so many more processors(216 instead of 128) i'm thinking it will last longer. I want this build to last a good 1-2yrs running on high settings then maybe a couple more at good mid settings. NOTE: I'm only using 1440x900 resolution so will be far less intensive than most people. 

Will the Corsair 650W hold up with the extra bit from a 260 and with much to spare? :4-dontkno Will pretty much mean the 260 isn't an option if it can't.

And before anyone even thinks about mentioning an ATI card DON'T. :laugh:


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## Sc0tt (Aug 15, 2007)

Link, after reading this article from another thread I think the Corsair should be enough. O-o If i remember correctly the Corsair is a better spec on the 12v than that cheap 600W psu and it had a oc'ed everything with quad and two 8800's on it. 

I tried psu calculator and using the recommended settings with an oc'ed quad, a GTX260, all the rest of my stuff and a couple years of capacitor aging = 563W. Played around with the settings a bit and it looks as though it would be stable. I'm still open to what you guys think about it though.


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## McNinja (Jun 22, 2008)

I would get the 750w for the GTX 260, it will allow for overclocking as well.

The GTX 260 is about 50% faster than a GTS 250


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## Sc0tt (Aug 15, 2007)

Like I said I worked it out taking into account a heavy overclock, even on full load with aging I had nearly 100W left over. I know the calculator isn't perfect and theres other factors but 100W is a fair amount spare. Anyway would like some more opinions. 

Mcninjaguy, are you saying you think it would work on a 650W but not for oc'ing aswell?


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## McNinja (Jun 22, 2008)

I think you'd be pushing it on a corsair 650w with a GTX 260 and stressing The PSU.

The 750w isn't much more expensive and worth the peace of mind. I would not overclock using a 650w TX Corsair.

When you buy a PSU you want to have around a 30% safety mark or so.

So if you get a PC which requires 550w minimum you probably want to get a PC with around 715 watts. 

I can tel lyou this much I have my GTX 260 overclocked and it blazingly fast. worth overclocking.

I went from being able to play Crysis with 2xAA and all maxed settings and just playable FPS (25FPS or so) to runnning Crysis with 8 x AA and all maxed out with around 28FPS. Its been a while since I've used fraps with Crysis.

Its worth the extra money. If you haven't seen Crysis on max detail yourself, you'll see why people went PC gaming crazy to get Crysis working on full settings back in 2007.


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## Sc0tt (Aug 15, 2007)

The research i've done suggests it will be fine, many people running on far lower spec psu than the Corsair. Also I don't plan on oc'ing, the 260 can handle games fine at my res (1440x900) on stock. lol

Corsair 750W pushes me too far off budget anyway, so thats not an option. If I were to get one with higher watts it would have to be something else. How about these? OCZ ModXStream Pro 700w Silent SLI Ready ATX2 or OCZ Stealth XStream 700W PSU

Became quite attached to the Corsair though.


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## McNinja (Jun 22, 2008)

You are quite right o be attached to the Corsair as it runs off of multiple 12v rails which is never as reliable as a single powerful 12v rail. The rails don't add up correctly and don't really share their power.

The corsair 750w is £100.60inc vat here
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/134677


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## Sc0tt (Aug 15, 2007)

Which is too much as I said.


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## McNinja (Jun 22, 2008)

I'm gonna say i but maybe you should go with a ATI 4850

The Corsair 4850 is on par with the GTX 260 and uses less power

Sapphire VAPOR-X HD4870 1GB GDDR5 HDMI DVI VGA PCI-E Graphics Card
£169.99
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/161307


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## Sc0tt (Aug 15, 2007)

lol, now the card is too much. GTx260 = £135, the 750W is + £23 thats £158. That sapphire is £12 more than the already over budget GTX+750W! 

The more I look into it I really really think the 650W is enough. link, link, link (delluser1 only, others are wanting 2 gtx's), link.

Not trying to prove you wrong though, just show my reason for being so sure about 650W.


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## Warfare (Jun 21, 2008)

The 650 watt _will_ run the 250GTS, Im not sure about the 260GTX.

Right now I have 2 hdd, a 250GTS oced, and my CPU oced 22%.. and that's about as much as I can get from this PSU


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## McNinja (Jun 22, 2008)

Alright go for th GTX 260, didn't realize it was cheaper.

Save up another $10 then and get the 750w


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