Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Building A Windows PC For £170 ($270)...

Goftrey

Goftrey

macrumors 68000
Original poster
May 20, 2011
1,853
76
Wales, UK
I've been looking around for a while and I think I might build a custom PC, a nice budget tower, I've been looking at components and these are the cheapest, best quality to value I can find

Specs for my PC build (if it goes ahead)...


- 2.7ghz AMD Sempron 140 Single Core Processor

- 2gb Kingston ValueRAM DDR2 SDRAM

- Nvidia Geforce 7025 Intergrated graphics with 256mb shared VRAM on an Asrock N68C-S UCC AM2+ Micro-ATX motherboard

- LiteOn CD/DVD-RW Optical Drive (22x DVD, 48x CD)

- Western Digital Cavier 160gb 3.5" SATA Hard Drive Disk

- Windows 7 Ultimate

- CiT CSCiT2003BLK Midi Case Prescott 24pin SATA Case With A 450W PSU


All of this will cost me £170, I've never built a PC before being a teenager but I know my way around a computer pretty darn well. Is it worth it for the money? How much would I be able to sell it on for? What games will I be able to play on it?

Thanks guys, I posted it here because it's in a non-Mac specific section and I'm not a member of a Windows forum ;) :apple:
 
I would honestly save up and go to the $400-$500 mark and afford AMD's Llano or perhaps AMD Bulldozer processor/motherboard for really cheap. That way you don't need to buy a graphics card as the integrated graphics on both are pretty good.
 
TSE said:
I would honestly save up and go to the $400-$500 mark and afford AMD's Llano or perhaps AMD Bulldozer processor/motherboard for really cheap. That way you don't need to buy a graphics card as the integrated graphics on both are pretty good.
Click to expand...

The Nvidia 7025 That I've Been Looking At Is Intergrated Into The Motherboard.
 
Goftrey said:
How much would I be able to sell it on for?
Click to expand...

A "budget" desktop PC is essentially a throwaway, you generally won't be able to resell it for much, so that should not be a consideration.

Let's turn it around. What do you want to play or do with your new PC?

B
 
The AMD solution I pointed out will be much better bang for buck and I doubt that nVidia 7025 can do much of anything... the AMD solution's graphics are much superior.
 
balamw said:
A "budget" desktop PC is essentially a throwaway, you generally won't be able to resell it for much, so that should not be a consideration.

Let's turn it around. What do you want to play or do with your new PC?

B
Click to expand...

Uhh... COD6? GTA San Andreas, GTA Vice City, GTA 3, COD4, Test Drive Unlimited, Fifa...?

----------
TSE said:
The AMD solution I pointed out will be much better bang for buck and I doubt that nVidia 7025 can do much of anything... the AMD solution's graphics are much superior.
Click to expand...

The graphics card is the main thing for me, so if the 7025 isn't kicking, any good value video cards out there that you know of?
 
Goftrey said:
The Nvidia 7025 That I've Been Looking At Is Intergrated Into The Motherboard.
Click to expand...
The integrated graphics are in the processor.

You're going to have to spend a decent amount more to get to play those games. I'm not really familiar with AMD processors, but to play those games you'd need something more mid range than low range.

I'd probably suggest 4GB DDR3 RAM. It isn't that expensive.

The WD HD is kinda small. I'd say at least go for a 320GB if you want some future proofing.

Edit: The graphics card isn't everything in the system. Everything plays into the system's ability.
 
Okay so what I did was make essentially a file server, for $300 (US). It consisted of a 1.8ghz CPU, and an integrated video card. Repeat after me: Do not skimp out on the motherboard, unless you want to replace it. I did that once, I will never do it again. (I also got a cheap Asrock motherboard. It was a good rock, but not so good a motherboard)

Likewise, you'll need a much better video card. Spend an extra $100 (USD) for a better motherboard, CPU, and more RAM. You'll thank yourself in the end.
 
thejadedmonkey said:
Okay so what I did was make essentially a file server, for $300 (US). It consisted of a 1.8ghz CPU, and an integrated video card. Repeat after me: Do not skimp out on the motherboard, unless you want to replace it. I did that once, I will never do it again. (I also got a cheap Asrock motherboard. It was a good rock, but not so good a motherboard)

Likewise, you'll need a much better video card. Spend an extra $100 (USD) for a better motherboard, CPU, and more RAM. You'll thank yourself in the end.
Click to expand...

Some people skimp on the PSU :(
 
Okay guys, you've kind of completely put me off this idea... :p

So I'm gonna' turn this thread on it's head and ask if you can upgrade the graphics card in a PowerMac G5?

I love these machines and they seem real good value for money, I can get a dual 2.0gz, 4gb RAM, 320gb HDD, Leopard etc. for £150. I wouldn't be getting one of the liquid cooled ones as they have problems written all over them.

But is Mac a good gaming platform?

Thanks guys again :rolleyes:

----------
firestarter said:
Wouldn't you get more bang for buck with a console?
Click to expand...

I've got an Xbox 360 ;)
 
balamw said:
A "budget" desktop PC is essentially a throwaway, you generally won't be able to resell it for much, so that should not be a consideration
Click to expand...

I'd also go so far as to state even a performance PC is a throw away. I built a nice core i7 PC with some very nice components but if I opted to sell that, I'd get almost nothing. I'm not upset about it, but its a fact, PCs sell for so little these days.
 
maflynn said:
I'd also go so far as to state even a performance PC is a throw away. I built a nice core i7 PC with some very nice components but if I opted to sell that, I'd get almost nothing. I'm not upset about it, but its a fact, PCs sell for so little these days.
Click to expand...

Okay then, If I were to look on eBay now, with a budget of £170

What kind of computer would I get (2nd Hand of course)?
 
A PC where you wouldn't be able to game.



Get an xbox, or even a PS3. Much better gaming system for less price.


A G5 is not a good gaming machine. You're going to have to buy one of the newer Macbook Pros and/or iMacs to be able to game, and even then, you'd have to boot into Windows for most games. The Mac gaming community is pretty small, but rising.
 
yg17 said:
A computer that could barely handle Solitaire and Minesweeper.
Click to expand...

Hey! I always used to play Minesweeper when I was little on my Windows 98 Tower!

I just fancy building a PC to be honest, I just thought as I'm gonna' build one I might aswell get one with a decent graphics chip. Remember this too, the most powerful machine I've ever used is a core 2 duo 2.0ghz Desktop with 2gb RAM and a Geforce 9600 GT graphics cards so I'm the kind of person who would appreciate a lower end machine more, only ever having single core Intel machines and PowerPC Macs.

----------
Firestar said:
You're not going to be able to play those games with your budget.

If you already have an Xbox, then why do you want to build a PC for gaming?
Click to expand...

I have a friend who has a 7025 and he play MW2 on there on minimum settings and he gets 20fps so... :eek:
 
Goftrey said:
Uhh... COD6? GTA San Andreas, GTA Vice City, GTA 3, COD4, Test Drive Unlimited, Fifa...?

----------



The graphics card is the main thing for me, so if the 7025 isn't kicking, any good value video cards out there that you know of?
Click to expand...

Buy a console instead, Xbox 360 comes to mind.
 
Goftrey said:
Hey! I always used to play Minesweeper when I was little on my Windows 98 Tower!

I just fancy building a PC to be honest, I just thought as I'm gonna' build one I might aswell get one with a decent graphics chip. Remember this too, the most powerful machine I've ever used is a core 2 duo 2.0ghz Desktop with 2gb RAM and a Geforce 9600 GT graphics cards so I'm the kind of person who would appreciate a lower end machine more, only ever having single core Intel machines and PowerPC Macs.
Click to expand...
Okay, then appreciate your games not being able to run on them. In order to play modern games, you need modern hardware.


I have a friend who has a 7025 and he play MW2 on there on minimum settings and he gets 20fps so... :eek:
Click to expand...

Is that even worth playing? What are the specs of his computer?

If you want to build a tower, go ahead and build one - don't expect it to run games at that price. If you want it to run games, shell out about double (At least around $650 to get a somewhat decent gaming machine.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back