# Best Gaming PC for under £400?



## Evil Ukulele

So, it has come to my attention that my current laptop (Toshiba 11v-l300d) is rubbish and cannot take my gaming needs.
I am currently going through my Minecraft phase, and am addicted to the game already. When I play single player, I average around 20fps or less, but when online, I do less than 10fps (around 5fps on average). 
If I were to have a budget of £400, what would be the best computer (preferably a laptop) to run Minecraft smoothly (preferably on fancy settings) at about 50 fps?


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## hasseli

I am not the one who is going to prefer PC for you but you might want everyone know;
1) Do you have OS disc/already got (so it won't include in the budget which leaves more money for components)
2) Are you going to buy pre-built or are you able to build the PC by yourself, which makes it more optimazed+cheaper.


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## A1tecice

Well i know for a start that gaming laptops vs gaming desktops are always more expensive.. so i would eather rethink your budget or rethink about a desktop.

And yes answering Hasseli's questions will be a great help

Depending on what your doing on minecraft will determine how much fps you get for instance my pc will lag when using some TNT.


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## Evil Ukulele

hasseli said:


> I am not the one who is going to prefer PC for you but you might want everyone know;
> 1) Do you have OS disc/already got (so it won't include in the budget which leaves more money for components)
> 2) Are you going to buy pre-built or are you able to build the PC by yourself, which makes it more optimazed+cheaper.


1.) Well, I don't have an OS disk, but I don't know if that is necessary (hear me out xD) - My current Laptop, came without an OS disk, and yet the OS is perfectly fine. Also, I can get Windows 7 from my friend.
2.) Preferrably pre-built, as I have little to no knowledge of the specific computer parts I would need.


A1tecice said:


> Well i know for a start that gaming laptops vs gaming desktops are always more expensive.. so i would eather rethink your budget or rethink about a desktop.
> 
> And yes answering Hasseli's questions will be a great help
> 
> Depending on what your doing on minecraft will determine how much fps you get for instance my pc will lag when using some TNT.


Well, it does not have to be a very good gaming laptop, what I meant was something that would be sufficient for comfortable gaming (especially online, where it lags up more).
Also, I would consider getting a desktop if you believe it would be better, but I merely said that a laptop would be better as I would be able to carry that around (which I think we can all agree is a benefit).


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## A1tecice

Evil Ukulele said:


> 1.)I can get Windows 7 from my friend.


If this your referring to isint a retail 'legal' version of Windows 7 it is agents forum rules for us to help you any further.


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## Evil Ukulele

You needn't worry about that, all the computer's I've looked at come with an OS disk. By the way, does this look good? http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5083682/c_1/1|category_root|Office%2C+PCs+and+phones|14418968/c_2/2|14418968|Computers+and+monitors|14419111/c_3/3|cat_14419111|Desktop+computers|14419114.htm
Remember, I'm not looking to buy and play the latest games (I have an Xbox for that) - All I want is the ability to play Minecraft fluently and without any problems


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## ebackhus

It'd handle Minecraft but not much else.


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## -WOLF-

You must build this yourself, no pre-made computer will do that budget. It's very difficult to have something in that budget... I don't know much about British currency or even what websites you could go to but I can probably tell you from prices here what you can get:

CPU
HDD
case
DVD drive
motherboard
GPU

Total price: $366.87 not including extra fees like shipping.

I am aware this is all in American/Canadian currency but this can give you an idea of the price since our economies aren't too far off as well as ideas for exactly what you need and can get.


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## Evil Ukulele

ebackhus said:


> It'd handle Minecraft but not much else.


Well, yeah, but at high graphics? 'Cause that's all I really want, as I said, I have an Xbox for the newer, more graphics intensive games (don't hate me Sony fans xD)



-WOLF- said:


> You must build this yourself, no pre-made computer will do that budget. It's very difficult to have something in that budget... I don't know much about British currency or even what websites you could go to but I can probably tell you from prices here what you can get:t
> 
> CPU
> HDD
> case
> DVD drive
> motherboard
> GPU
> 
> Total price: $366.87 not including extra fees like shipping.
> 
> I am aware this is all in American/Canadian currency but this can give you an idea of the price since our economies aren't too far off as well as ideas for exactly what you need and can get.


Well, according to poundstodollars.com, £400 is about $650.22, so you can extend that price by about $200 
Also, I heard from my friend that Dinopc (DinoPC.com - Best Deals on custom PCs | Gaming PC Computers | Cheap PC Computers | Buy PC Computer London - Dino PC Ltd) is a good site for custom pcs, perhaps you could check that out?
And thanks for all the links, I can see you spent a lot of time on them, so I appreciate that.

*UPDATE*: What do you guys think of this: Gallant AMD-555 5770 - Dino PC Ltd


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## -WOLF-

That's an O.K. computer but I still don't really like it. The CPU is underpowered and that PSU that comes with it is really underpowered.

You should be aiming for a quad-core processor so your computer can last longer plus it can help a lot with FPS issues when skimping on other features. 4 GB of RAM is fine too.
Even that computer is superior to your Xbox 360.


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## A1tecice

Its almost computer cruelty to have it less powerful than an xbox .

Also a little hint when it comes to computers with ' Budget PSU's ' they don't exists and the ones that do are very cheaply made and will give you more trouble than its worth.

I have been hunting about and i cant find any good 'Gaming' pc for your budget. Realistically your looking at around the £500-600 mark for a prebuilt gaming pc

I would look at other options such as building your own.


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## -WOLF-

Right... you're best off building it yourself. It's not very difficult.

The most important thing you need to know is your power supply should not be skimped on. Look for Corsair and SeaSonic for good brands and try to get above 600w.


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## Evil Ukulele

Ah okay, so what's a good website for building your own computers? I'd really appreciate it if you guys could walk me through this process; it's very confusing to me xD


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## -WOLF-

I've not any knowledge of stuff like that. There are plenty of tutorials however. Try eHow for one I like.

I can give you a step-by-step as well, putting it in plain English and I can tell you exactly the tools you should need as well as estimated costs.


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## A1tecice

First of all where are you from?

USA: Probibily you best bet is newegg

UK:Try Scan 

Just so i know... you do know what components that you need to build a pc right? If not let me know what you do know


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## -WOLF-

A1tecice said:


> First of all where are you from?
> 
> USA: Probibily you best bet is newegg
> 
> UK:Try Scan
> 
> Just so i know... you do know what components that you need to build a pc right? If not let me know what you do know


If he's asking for pricing in Pounds, he is most certainly in Europe.


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## Redeye3323

-WOLF- said:


> If he's asking for pricing in Pounds, he is most certainly in Europe.


You mean the UK since Euro is the European currency


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## -WOLF-

The UK is, as far as I know, in Europe and the Euro is only for countries in the European Union which isn't 100% of all European countries I think.


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## koala

Pound sterling (£) is UK. Euro (€) is most other European countries. Evil Ukulele is posting from the UK.


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## -WOLF-

Thank you, koala. I don't know any good websites for there but like I said you can use the hardware I mentioned for reference.


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## greenbrucelee

Overclockers UK


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## A1tecice

Yeah Overclockers,Scan,Novatech and the three i use


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## Redeye3323

-WOLF- said:


> The UK is, as far as I know, in Europe and the Euro is only for countries in the European Union which isn't 100% of all European countries I think.


Yes, we are in Europe and unfortunately, the EU.

However, that is one of the thing which they tried, but failed, to get us to change.

After the euro issues, the Pound Sterling turned out to be the best currency out of the two.


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## Evil Ukulele

Yes, I am from the UK. Thanks very much for all the enquiry, and I apologise for my abrupt absence.
The issues with those websites are that they either: Breach my £400 budget, or do not come with an OS disk (which I also require).
So any other suggestions?


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## greenbrucelee

build your own. I have never bought a pre-built system for 10 years.

Building your own has many advantages:- It will be a bit cheaper, its fun and you will have a sense of accomplishment.


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## fbappfreak

Have you thought about simply purchasing a gaming PC at that price? I found this list with a quick search... number 2 or 4 down would be similar to what you could build yourself... or even better if you had to purchase the OS.
Prebuilt Gaming PCs 

If you build it yourself, then imo you have to go with a Phenom II CPU and an AM3 Motherboard... otherwise that alone would get too expensive... 

GPU - I might try to get a GTX 460 video card or if you don't have that much, then a HD5770.


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## greenbrucelee

fbappfreak said:


> Have you thought about simply purchasing a gaming PC at that price? I found this list with a quick search... number 2 or 4 down would be similar to what you could build yourself... or even better if you had to purchase the OS.
> Prebuilt Gaming PCs
> 
> If you build it yourself, then imo you have to go with a Phenom II CPU and an AM3 Motherboard... otherwise that alone would get too expensive...
> 
> GPU - I might try to get a GTX 460 video card or if you don't have that much, then a HD5770.


mainly because pre-built gaming PCs usually have crap power supplies in them. Plus building a computer is fun.


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## Evil Ukulele

Wow thanks a lot for all the comments! Sorry for such a late reply, and for reviving this thread, but I'd like to say thanks to all of you for putting so much effort into it.
I really am not willing to build my own PC - I'm a hardware noob and would most probably mess it up if it tried it. However, I found overclockers to be very good.
How does this one sound? "Titan Krypt" AMD Phenom II X4 840 "95W Edition" 3.20GHz Quad Core DDR3 System [] It is superior to the Galland from Dinopc.co.uk but it does not specify a graphics card. What to you guys think?


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## Timer5

With this computer do you plan on getting one of the Video Cards or going with on board for your video. If you plan on getting a video card I would go with the HIS Ati Radeon HD 6850 ICEQ X Turbo. The reason is I have read some reviews on it and it is supposed to be a powerful and hardworking card. But with your budget I would go with on board. I know Minecraft it is not a game that stresses the video card it stresses the Hard drive and CPU. If you get this computer you should get the Solid State Drive or SSD the reason is with it being faster than a traditional HDD it can help you play Minecraft at better speeds. Just go with the 30GB and make that a Minecraft HDD. Also make sure you put an OS on it because it is an option on the website so when you order make sure you include Windows 7. Besides that the build looks ok.


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## Evil Ukulele

Ok great. Yeah I've added the OS, so that's fine. But what do you mean about the onboard video card? I mean, do I have to pay extra for one 0_o I'm sorry if this is a dumb question. It says it offers the latest in directx10 and 11 - When will i get to pick, or is it automatic? Cause there's no information on the site. 
And yeah ^ Minecraft is pretty CPU intensive, but I have a friend who has quite a bad Toshiba Laptop for like £400 and it is able to play the game on fancy and far at around 25fps, so I'm pretty sure this will work great. I also wanna play games such as TF2 and generally other fun stuff that the internet has to offer - So, is it a good buy?


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## Timer5

Well The Motherboard has a built in video card. According to the specs it has the nForce 630a has a video card in it. The DirectX 10 and 11 option is if you select one of the video cards they have for sale. The nForce 630a's built in video card is a DirectX 10 video card. This will not affect you because Minecraft doesn't use DirectX 11 so you are good. TF2 might run a bit slow on an on board video card I would recommend the Geforec 450. I am normally an Ati guy but the price is too good to pass up. If you put in the card you could get away with playing bigger games like Fallout 3 or Mass Effect 2. Just a suggestion the Video Card is optional but if I were you I would take it.


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## Evil Ukulele

Yeah, but that would really stretch my budget to almost £600. You say TF2 would run slowly, by that do you mean on highest settings, and at a frame rate around 20? I read in the reviews that it can play WoW on Ultra at around 60fps (I don't play the game but I know what that looks like) and that it can play Modern Warfare 1 & 2 at high frame rates. 
To me that sound great, because I am not accustomed to having a great PC, in fact, I have never had a PC that could run any game on high settings, so with these newer games, even medium is great. 
I mean, I would love to add more upgrades to the model, but I have to think about the impact it will have on my wallet.
Thanks for replying so quickly, and so what do you think about it now that I've given you slightly more info?


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## Timer5

Well I say go for it man. Buy the computer. It is rock solid computer. I did some more research online and found that TF2 will play well on it. And you could get away with Call of Duty at medium. So in my opinion I say buy it. It is a good deal and a good system. If you do buy it let me know.


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## Evil Ukulele

Ok great thanks for your help!  I will let you know as soon as I come back from my holiday at the beginning of august!


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## Splinterwasp

Asrock 880G extreme 3 = £90 odd
ATI RADEON 5770 = £90 odd 
AMD phenom II X4 955 = £90 odd
Ddr3 4gb (£30 - 120)

Cooling can be costly depending on if you plan to overclock, and accessories for gaming such as high Dpi mice and gaming keyboards can be very costly. But all round that's a very good system for a very good price.



-WOLF- said:


> Thank you, koala. I don't know any good websites for there but like I said you can use the hardware I mentioned for reference.


*Amazon*


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## Carpetfizz

5770 is a great DX11 budget GPU.


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## Splinterwasp

Carpetfizz said:


> 5770 is a great DX11 budget GPU.


To true! Runs all games on ultra high graphics with a good 30fps, 50+ if your using AMD Fusion (Am3 cpu's with a DX11 GPU)


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