Building Mid range pc (help much appreciated)

[fub4r69]

I am currently building a PC that will be used primarily for gaming. I need it to be able to play new games like oblivion and battlefield 2 on high/max settings at a respectable fps. So far I have:
+ A case
+ 550w PSU (I think it should be up to the job)
+ A hard drive (Maxtor 250gb 7200 RPM)
http://www.superwarehouse.com/Maxtor_DiamondMax_10_250GB_Hard_Drive/6L250R0/ps/622935
+ Speakers
+ Monitor
+ DVD drive

So what I need help on is the motherboard/cpu/graphics card/RAM
combo. I have a budget of around £280. I would prefer an AMD chip over an intel one, as I feel that for the money that I have to spend, an AMD chip will do just fine.
I have my eye on an ati x1950xt graphics card for £120, I feel that it's price/performance ratio is competitive.

Sadly I have no idea about RAM or motherboards. I am unsure whether 1gb of RAM would do fine or 2gb would be best.

I am using websites that are able to ship to the UK, or are UK based to buy the components. I have been using scan.co.uk, ebuyer.co.uk and dabs.com

So far I have this combo in mind. Is it good? Would it work?

+ Sapphire ATI X1950XT 256MB PCI Express x16
£104.99
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/119441

+ AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ (2.4GHz) Socket AM2
£63.95
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/122941

+ Gigabyte AM2 AMD 690G ATX DDR2 A L
http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4LYB&CategorySelectedId=11143&PageMode=1&NavigationKey=11143,405090000,48620000,356410000
£52.00

+ RAM Ebuyer 2GB Kit (2x1GB) DDR2 800MHz PC2-6400
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/116357
£60.99
(This RAM is tested before it is shipped, and ebuyer generally have a good reputation with RAM)

Total cost: £281.93

Is this a valid combination? And more importantly would this combination allow me to play new games at a reasonable fps?

Suggestions, criticisms and help is all welcome and much appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Solariscs]

Hi there, build looks good, but what kind of PSU do you have? It's important to get a very good one for the life of your system. As for the hard drive, I think western digital/Seagate/Samsung would be better than Maxtor. They are more reliable.

 

[emp]

What is the brand of your PSU? More than wattage what you need to care about is reliability, stability, and output current on the 12V rail. Remember that the two things you cannot skimp on a gaming PC are PSUs and graphics card.

 

[Noya]

Battlefield 2 and Oblivion have very different hardware requirements if you want to MAX them out.

You can max out BF2 with a single core A64 and a 7-series Nvidia, while Oblivion needs a OC'd Core 2 and a GTX (if not SLi GTX's).

 

[fub4r69]

I have two PSU's. I bought one from ebuyer that had some good reviews and a long average life span. It was cheap though. The output current on the 12v rail is 30A.
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/102994/rb/0

I also have a PSU that came with the case. It is 400w and have been using it for about 2 years, it has been reliable so far, but i figured it wouldn't have the grunt for the X1950XT. Am i right?

How is the motherboard for the build, is it a good choice or not?

 

[emp]

I wouldn't trust either (Generic or Bundled with case PSU are usually not good enough), at least not on a good card as the X1950XT, that card can suck power you know. And needs a PSU that doesn't give too much ripple, unless your goal is to damage it 😛, I suggest you put around $100 on a good PSU like Antec NeoHE 500/550, Seasonic M12 500, or Corsair 520HX. (Don't know how much is that on euro thingy of yours)

 

[Solariscs]

It's around 70 euro I believe.

 

[emp]

Well I prefer working on $$$ unless Im forced to use another currency 😛

 

[Solariscs]

Well I was just saying 😛 and plus he doesn't use euro anyways, he's british, he uses Pounds.

 

[TSIMonster]

Looks like a good build, but a new PSU is in order. A good 500 watt or better from Antec, FSP, OCZ, Corsair, TT, Seasonic, etc would do the job. OCZ and FSP tend to offer some good PSUs for a lower price. Look into those.

If you could stretch your budget enough to get an 8800GTS, then do it. Look for a mATX that can overclock well, like the Biostar 7025 or the Sapphire 690 and then get a 3600+ and overclock it to the 4600+ speeds. This should open up a little room for the 8800GTS.

 

[fub4r69]

Will this PSU do the job? It is a 500 watt antec which has recently been dropped in price.
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/90609

 

[emp]

No, those are not made for gaming builds. The only PSUs from antec that work very well on gaming builds are the NeoHE (All single card computers and some SLI/Crossfire setups) and TruePower Quattro series (For dual 8800/HD2900). (NeoHE is far better than the TruePower Trio and they're both on the same price range)