Your Rig...

[TPI]

how about this i think it come in at just under a grand though so yea

 

Fractal Design Define R3 Case

Intel Core i5 3570 "Ivy Bridge" Processor @ up to 4.5GHz

Akasa Nero 3 Cooler

Asus P8Z77-V LX Motherboard

8GB PC3-10666 DDR3 Memory

Chillblast GeForce GTX 670 2GB Graphics Card

1000GB SATA III 7200rpm Hard Disk

1000GB SATA III 7200rpm Hard Disk

Samsung Blu Ray / DVD-RW Combo Drive

Corsair Ultra Low Noise 600watt PSU

Onboard High Definition Audio

7 x USB 2.0 ports

2 x USB 3.0 ports

1 x PS/2 for keyboard

Audio outputs

1 x 10/100/1000Mbps Ethernet for network

1 x DVI output

1 x HDMI output

[iAcorn]

how about this i think it come in at just under a grand though so yea

 

Fractal Design Define R3 Case

Intel Core i5 3570 "Ivy Bridge" Processor @ up to 4.5GHz

Akasa Nero 3 Cooler

Asus P8Z77-V LX Motherboard

8GB PC3-10666 DDR3 Memory

Chillblast GeForce GTX 670 2GB Graphics Card

1000GB SATA III 7200rpm Hard Disk

1000GB SATA III 7200rpm Hard Disk

Samsung Blu Ray / DVD-RW Combo Drive

Corsair Ultra Low Noise 600watt PSU

Onboard High Definition Audio

7 x USB 2.0 ports

2 x USB 3.0 ports

1 x PS/2 for keyboard

Audio outputs

1 x 10/100/1000Mbps Ethernet for network

1 x DVI output

1 x HDMI output

 

Pretty good build. But then again £1000 for just a the tower then you're going to have an awesome PC! Everything seems compatible so thats good. If you really want to go even higher then you can buy a 10,000RPM or SSD hard drive to install your operating system on, and programs. Then have a normal HDD for your data. And well done for getting the 670! Overclock it a bit and you'll basically have a 680 Also that GPU has 2 HDMI outputs

[Airsoft-Ed]

I've found this and it's right in my price range, to me it also sounds really great.

 

Can I get a second opinion on it?

 

Is this the best I can do with the money, or if I built one could I get better specs for the same price?

 

http://www.overstock.com/Electronics/Cyber...r-reviews.html#

[Tariq]

Never used that site, also the link isn't right.

 

LINK

 

Also the card that comes with it isn't very good. You'd struggle with BF3 and deffo ARMAII. It can run then, but low FPS and low graphics.

 

The keyboard and mouse etc that is said to come with it seems to be unnamed. So you'll probably end up with some dirt cheap ones.

 

 

Try Overclockers. You can customise some of the PCs they have prebuilt for you.

 

PC1

Chose a case you like, remove Windows7 if you want to get it elsewhere, and add a GTX670.

Should be just over £700 ish

[Airsoft-Ed]

Whoops, didn't realise I'd linked the reviews for it. Sorry about that.

 

So the graphics card is lacking. Would I be able to just buy a drop in replacement for it? What would you recommend?

 

Would it actually be able to run everything well minus the graphics card?

 

I'm not fussed about the keyboard and mouse, I was planning on spending my full budget on just the tower and then getting the monitor and all the other gubbins separate.

[Tariq]

Edited my post. have a lookie.

 

It could run games well with a new card. But if you wanted a newer card, their around £200+

[Airsoft-Ed]

So it makes a lot more sense to go for the one you linked in your edited post then lol. Assuming I get the graphics card you said, which makes it about £770, would that be as capable as the other one that I linked?

 

Is there a benefit to be had from changing the case? I really couldn't care less about aesthetics, but if there's some sort of functional reason for changing it then I might do but otherwise I'll just stick with the standard one since it's free.

 

Also, what's the difference between all the versions of Windows 7? Professional, Ultimate and Home Premium.

[Tariq]

For what you want, Home premium will do fine.

Although i can send you a Windows disc that you can install your own in. Although you'll have to do something to a file which isnt totally legit But free windows!

 

the case isn't Free! Its just the minimum you can get, and the cases you can modify for extra. The prices are lower than standard price. (new case price - original case price)

Case isnt just for looks. larger cases and better fans means lower temperatures. Also different USB locations etc. Some will have USB 3.0 some will not etc.

 

As a general rule of thumb for Nvidia cards. GTX "XY0"

X = generation of the card. 6 being the newest atm.

Y = model version. Starts at 1 and stops at 9. Only card better than the GTX670 atm is the 680.

 

If you want a wireless card or DVD drive its extra. Add it to your basket if you get a pc from there, or phone them up and they can do it for you.

[Airsoft-Ed]

Ok cheers.

 

I think I might be trying to run before I can walk lol, I might have to go and have a pint with some of my nerdier friends to talk it all over with them.

 

Plus, it'd help if I had some money to actually buy the damn thing haha.

 

PC gaming... Or more airsoft goodies...?

 

Got to say it's a hard one. I'll have to see how I feel when I have enough.

 

Cheers for the help.

[Deva]

Don't know if you made any progress on this.. if you're building a gaming PC, you're going to want to make it last as long as possible so you want to focus on getting a good graphics card. RAM/CPU/HDD have an effect, but really it's the GPU you need to think about. Get a weak one and you'll be replacing it so quick it'd just be a waste.

[Airsoft-Ed]

Still not even taken the first step lol, by the time I can afford it the market will have probably shifted and I'll have to ask for help again. But thanks for the tip.

[iAcorn]

Don't know if you made any progress on this.. if you're building a gaming PC, you're going to want to make it last as long as possible so you want to focus on getting a good graphics card. RAM/CPU/HDD have an effect, but really it's the GPU you need to think about. Get a weak one and you'll be replacing it so quick it'd just be a waste.

 

I agree somewhat with this. An ace GPU is needed but the CPU helps a lot! Having a good CPU just makes everything a lot smoother. Some games rely more on it than they do the GPU. Plus if it's not up to par you will be running at 20fps! Once you get used to a solid 60+ frames per second then anything below it is really noticeable.

 

But moral of the story. Dont cheap out. The minimum people should be buying these days is a quad core. For gaming at least, as most games allow hyper threading (with some exceptions).

 

I recommend 4GB RAM (minimum)

The HDD can be 5400 or 7200. But I would always get the highest.

[Deva]

Sorry, but I disagree. A GPU is what is doing the bulk of the work in any game, period. Everything else is beneficial but I wouldn't spend less on a GPU to get a better CPU.

 

I'd happily play games on a dual core with no issues if I was given the latest release from nvidia/amd.

[Tariq]

GPU > CPU

 

An old quadcore / dual core still runs most games fine. Its not until PhysX or other high end games you might need slightly more CPU. Not that much though.

[iAcorn]

I never said it was more important! I just said its more important than you give it credit for

 

I was once running an intel core 2 duo with a pretty decent GPU and theres no way in hell I could play the modern games because the FPS was just too choppy. Bad Company 2 was unplayable Once I upgraded to a quad core with the same GPU I could play it fine on med settings (I was running low before).

[iAcorn]

Just added a Triton AX Pro to my rig as my new headset. My Logitech G930 (Wireless) is now for sale at £85. Dead cheap if you ask me!

[Tariq]

I can vouch for that being a great headset. Picked mine up for £90 though, although it was a sale.

[iAcorn]

If you got the AX Pros for £80 then that was one hell of a sale! The G930 however I can see being possible. Its a good headset in terms of playback. but the mic is locked to tape quality and it has USB limitations. Which is why I am going for the AX Pros. They arent USB only USB powered, so I can split my audio the way I want with them (game/mic/teamspeak)

[Lickystrike64]

Ok, thread resurrection!

 

I'm liking the look of the DayZ/ARMA2 thingy-me-bob and I'm thinking of jumping on the band wagon and getting a gaming PC (Unless it'll work on a Mac then happy days).

 

Saw this on Overclockers: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-282-OE

 

Now, being a technotard, I have no idea what's ideal. All the numbers and letter combos make my ears bleed and eyes go blind, so I defer to those with more knowledge: you guys!

[SheriffHD]

Well, My friend being a hard core lover of his XBOX said that PC gaming was just too expensive. After asking how much he had spent on total for his Xbox (£210) I said I could build him a tower that would run new games at decent settings which would still beat the graphics of the Xbox.

And so I built him this.

 

(Take note of just the tower, every thing else is what i use for my rig)

 

 

Specs are;

Biostar A57A FM1 socket Mobo (AMD) - (£34)

AMD Athlon II X4 631 2.6GHz - (£47)

Zotac GTX450 - (£62)

2x4GB G-skill DDR3 RAM @ 1333Mhz (£30)

1x 500gb HDD (brought second hand) (£10)

1x 250gb HDD (stolen from Old machine) (free)

1x 300Gb HDD (Stolen from broken Laptop) (free)

CIT 650Watt PSU - (£20)

Cooler master Elite case. (£30)

 

total build cost £250 Including the shipping cost.

Tested In these games, this was the results i got (after playing full servers for 1 hour)

Battlefield 3 @ Medium/high settings and full 1080p, High FPS = 60 / Low FPS = 15 / Average FPS = 40

Black Ops 2 @ Medium/High settings and full 1080p, High FPS = 100 / Low FPS = 30 / Average FPS = 45

Arma 2 + Dayz Mod @ High settings and full 1080p, High FPS = 40 / Low 10 = FPS / Average FPS= 22

[Deva]

Licky, its not bad but there is really so much choice in the PC market it is hard to say. It's pretty much just a case of comparing specifications between pre-built PC's. Essentially, what has the best graphics card and still reasonable quality components would be your main points.

 

I'd always pick the parts individually and build it myself as I believe that results in a better system. It's really not that hard to do but you could always get a hand putting it together

[Lickystrike64]

Licky, its not bad but there is really so much choice in the PC market it is hard to say. It's pretty much just a case of comparing specifications between pre-built PC's. Essentially, what has the best graphics card and still reasonable quality components would be your main points.

 

I'd always pick the parts individually and build it myself as I believe that results in a better system. It's really not that hard to do but you could always get a hand putting it together

 

I think I'd need help on everything to be honest. It's been years since my ninja skills in this field were of any use and with the amount of selection there is, I'd want to make sure I'm getting the best components for my budget, and that's where I'd fall flat on my face I think.

 

I am seriously tempted to try and build one though... I just need to do more research first. And maybe sell my PTW...

[Deva]

Suggest a budget, what you'd like to use the PC for, what needs to be included and I'll make you up a list of what I'd get if you like. Building it yourself is always fun and what not but if you decided not to ask people you know If that fails then I'd be happy to do a build for anyone so long as they covered the cost of sending the build to them when it was done.

[Lickystrike64]

Suggest a budget, what you'd like to use the PC for, what needs to be included and I'll make you up a list of what I'd get if you like. Building it yourself is always fun and what not but if you decided not to ask people you know If that fails then I'd be happy to do a build for anyone so long as they covered the cost of sending the build to them when it was done.

 

You're gent. At the moment, it's all "hypothetical". At least that's what I'm telling the misses...

 

Budget wise, I'd say £700-800, give or take. It'd be a gaming platform mainly, looking to run things like BF3, DayZ (with the required ARMA software, of course), etc. I'd want to have the graphics at as higher setting as the budget will allow and memory to store it all with room to spare.

[Deva]

Would that need to include things like a monitor, keyboard, mouse etc. though?