£500 PC - Basic Gaming

Cbarker

Active member
Hi all,

Looking to put together first order and am looking for a basic gaming pc. Nothing taxing but mostly strategy games like civ / aoe. Existing pc is 5 years old and on its last legs. Am not desperate for super high settings or playing the most demanding games, I have Xbox for shooters/skyrim etc.

I am not fussed about case Looks / monitors / accessories as it is plumbed in through my tv and have wireless keyboard/mouse.

Looking to spend around 500 but wouldn't go much above this spec as the max cost but wanted the expert opinions as to changes/modifications to it. I am not predicting I'll be replacing parts myself.



Will this do the job? What changes would you suggest?

Major questions were intel/amd to bring down cost?

Case
STYLISH PIANO BLACK ENIGMA CASE + 2 FRONT USB
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i3-2120 Dual Core (3.30GHz, 3MB Cache) + HD Graphics
Motherboard
ASUS® P8H61-MX: uATX, USB 3.0, SATA 3.0Gb/s
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)
Graphics Card
1GB AMD RADEON™ HD6670 - DVI,HDMI,VGA - DX® 11
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
1TB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s HDD 7200RPM 32MB 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
Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE INTEL 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
4 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
DVI-D & HDMI Monitor Cables
1 x 2 METRE DVI-D CABLE (£5)
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: £541.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/intel-home-office-pc/C4MKOHj4xz/

Thanks in advance!!
 

keynes

Multiverse Poster
If you are choosing the HD 6670 I'd consider the AMD A8-3850 APU since you can crossfire them.

Case
COOLERMASTER ELITE 310 BLUE CASE

Processor (CPU)
AMD A8-3850 APU (2.9GHz, 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
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

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
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)

Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL

DVI-D & HDMI Monitor Cables
1 x 2 METRE DVI-D CABLE (£5)

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: £534.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/amd-llano/V7WHhLVcdT/
 

Cbarker

Active member
Thanks.

I had read about cross firing - does this effectively happen when you have the components to do so or is this something that actively needs setting up?

Also - saw the 500gb wd drive instead of the 1tb non branded one. That's one thing I couldn't work out from reading other posts was how much hard drive quality affects performance?

is probably plenty but I saw cost difference on the unbranded and thought might as well.
 

keynes

Multiverse Poster
I'd expect PCS to dispatch the system with crossfire enable, you could contact them for an official response. The caviar black is faster than the standard HDD you selected.
 
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