Is this a good start?

[BluIce]

Hi all,

Been looking at the Gigabyte GA-73PVM-S2H GeForce 7100 Socket 775 onboard VGA 8 channel audio mATX Motherboard.

I have started a new build on a budget got the Coolermaster Elite 335 case and was thinking of popping this mobo in.

Its V cheap but has some great reviews, what do you guys think?

My aim is to build an entry level gaming PC that can cope with BluRay too!

With the right processor and Ram I think that this could do the job, am I right?

 

[Diablo]

What sort of GPU are you adding on to that?

 

[BluIce]

Gonna run with the on board stuff at first as its meant to be quite good but then maybe pop in a ATi 4670 or 4830.

The aim of the game is to build an entry level gaming pc with bluray that everyone can afford. So am trying to keep costs as low as i can.

 

[Diablo]

Just to let you know, a 7100 will be truly awful. I reckon a 4830 would be great, but I'm not convinced it will be able to decode bluray (takes a moderately decent chip).

Have a look at a P43 which look to be about £60 with no IGP.

The board might be quite good, its just that the integrated graphics chip is very lackluster. I would strongly recomend the addition of a decent card.

 

[BluIce]

OK I put my hands up I am totally lost :banghead:

I thought that I had the perfect solution, oh well back to the drawing board!

Ok here is the situation, I am trying to build an entry level gaming PC, that will eventually run BluRay. All within a tight budget.

I know its gonna be a tough project but I am convinced that it can be done!

The case I already have, its a CoolerMaster Elite 335.

The next stage is the mother board...

I thought I had it sussed with the Gigabyte but I really dont know now!

Am open to suggestions, anything upto £70

Any ideas will be well recieved!!! :worship:

 

[smithy335]

I've got a 7100 in my media pc , it works fine on my tv thru hdmi but I'm not sure how well it would do Blu ray. Could work with a pokey CPU though. However if your thinking of upgrading shortly, save the money on your igp and buy a card. If your on a budget and just want to play css etc it could be fine

Ps the 7100 is a 9300 right?

 

[BluIce]

I've got a 7100 in my media pc , it works fine on my tv thru hdmi but I'm not sure how well it would do Blu ray. Could work with a pokey CPU though. However if your thinking of upgrading shortly, save the money on your igp and buy a card. If your on a budget and just want to play css etc it could be fine

Ps the 7100 is a 9300 right?

Hi ya Chappy,

Ok, gonna be totally honest with everyone, I am sooo new to all this I really struggle with the abbreviations (only just figured out that mobo was mother board :eyes

So really dont know what an IGP is or a CSS, sorry! So I really dont think that it comes as any surprise that I really dont know if the 7100 is a 9300 (or even what that stands for) :crazy:

 

[Diablo]

No probs, we all have to start somewhere.

An IGP is an integrated graphics chip (i.e. built into the motherboard), these are generally much worse than a separate solution, because they are less powerful.

CSS is counter strike source, which is a pretty old (but quite popular) game, which doesn't require much graphics power. On the other hand, if you want bluray decoding, I would look at the 4650 or 4670 (or 4830).

The 7100 as far as I know isn't the 9300, and is pretty weak as a graphics chip.

The first number reflects the generation of the graphics chip for nvidia (in order 7, 8, 9, 2), the next number (100) reflects who the chip is aimed at (100 = lowest, most basic, 400 = mainstream (just), 600 = budget gamer, 800 = enthusiast) except in the latest 2xx series where xx is a number which represents the audience.

If you want really cheap, how are you going to put a bluray drive on this, because they are still relatvely expensive.

For a motherboard, I would look at an intel P43, with DDR2 memory, because these are relatively recent and the Px3 series tend to be excellent for budget concious people. A 4670 or 4830 will set you back about £65 and £80ish respectively.

 

[BluIce]

I am so pleased that you took the time to explain things!

I am so new and I really appreciate the help!

I know with your help I can build something that is within my budget and can do the stuff I want.

I know that BluRay drives are still quite expensive but this is an addition that I plan to pop in later after the initial build has has been completed, I do want to build something that can take a standard DVD RW and a little later will add the BluRay but I want the initial build to be powerful enough to take the upgrade!

All I have so far is a very, very bare and sparce and very lonely Coolermaster Elite 335 case

I really need your help! Do you know what motherboard could be the ideal one for me? I have looked and looked and my brain is spinning!

I have £70 to spend on one! I know this aint a lot but hopefully I can get one for this!

 

[Diablo]

What is your total budget? That way it would help me decide what might be a good cpu/memory etc.

What games do you want to be able to play?

Do you overclock, or are you very new to this?

Any brand loyalties (i.e. does it have to be nvidia or ati etc.?

I've found an Asus P5QL PRO p43, which is about £1 over budget (£71 @ ebuyer), but it ain't the greatest clocker from one review, but Tom's hardware seemed to get a 3.0 out of a Q6600. I reckon that ought to be alright for your purposes.

In terms of processor, you could go for one of the core 2 based pentiums (ie quite new) and clock the nuts off it for about £60 @ 2.5GHz, or stretch to £100 for a 2.8GHz wolfdale.

GPU is between 65 and 85 and a hard disk will be £40 ish.

Have you got a decent PSU?

 

[smithy335]

ahh thanks for explaining, saves me time

soz got confused with a diff pc! no 9300 is not 7100, although they are both weak onboard graphics.

 

[Diablo]

Yeah the 9300 is on a similarly numbered mobo...it would be helpful to know what the budget we are looking at is.

 

[BluIce]

Total buget is £500 but that is including the fabled BluRay!

I have nothing more than an empty case at the mo so need everything, I will have a look at that board tomorrow after work. Would really like to get the motherboard ordered this week.

As for the processor, well aint really got that far, keep looking at the Pentium E5200 as seems to be a good all rounder for my money.

I know I need a good PSU too, but would like it to also not be too noisy!

As for overclocking I have not even thought of that or even how it is done! I am sure though once I have the rig built I will want to play a little with this!

I know I am asking allot for my money but I truely believe it can be done

I am really keen to learn and have already learnt so much and have you guys to thank for that! :worship:

 

[Diablo]

Processor looks good, 45nm ought to be pretty cool, so it should clock like a [something that clocks well] at £55.

Mobo is about £71, if you go for the p43 pro.

4GB OCZ gold will be £43

A western digital HD 320GB will be £40 A Sony BDU-X10S Blu-Ray BD-ROM SATA Black Internal is £50 (ebuyer)

A coolermaster 520W PSU will be £63 (do not ever skimp on the PSU unless you like buying everything again)

OCZ Vendetta 2 £30

Sapphire HD 4830 512MB GDDR3 will be £85

An OS (OEM) could be about £100, if you are a student, try software4students for some insane discounts

I hope you don't need a monitor, because a 1080p monitor is about £300

 

[GavX]

If you are a student of computing be glad MSDN exists... free Operating Systems

Regarding blu-ray decoding, apparently the HD3200 can do it, so I imagine most other cards can too

 

[Diablo]

Yeah, but if you want to play games, 4670 or 4830 is definitely the way to go

 

[smithy335]

A coolermaster 520W PSU will be £63 (do not ever skimp on the PSU unless you like buying everything again)

Hes got a point read the 'is my psu blowing my mobo' post by me!

Btw, is there any point in 4gb or RAM? ive got 64-bit vista so i can address it, but will there be any real speed boost from 2gb?

 

[Diablo]

Vista eats ram, so definitely go for it. 4GB is generally what is thought of as a good amount now. Its not like 2GB is that much cheaper (£20 maybe). Even if it doesn't use all the ram, it still precaches stuff. At idle mine uses 1700MB so if I only had 2GB I'd be a little bit stuck.

 

[smithy335]

alright thats down on my list as second thing to buy:yumyum:

btw how do you get enough money to build a system like that Diablo????

im a student so its not gonna happen for a while :nopitty; although MSDN helps!!!

 

[Brooksie]

If your in the UK buy yourself a copy of Custom PC, they have a list of parts from budget to mid gaming to high end spec. I think it comes to like £300 something but my dad has seemed to put my suscribers copy somewhere and I can't find it =(