Looking To Buy A New Gaming PC

[NoJabbaNoBogRoll]

Ideally I'd rather not be spending over £300, and I'm looking for something that will run pretty much all of today's (and most of tomorrow's) games smoothly.

-----------------------------

Here's the one I have right now (that I will be giving away):

ADVENT 3215, Pentium 4, 2.66GHz, 1024MB DDR, 120GB, PSU 400W, GeForce 7600 GS OC

[tystar]

For that budget what are you looking to include? eg, TFT, Keyboard, mouse, speakers??

Also which games are you looking to play? if your planning on games like Crysis then your budget will get you the cpu and graphics card for it but not much else.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news

[coiler]

£300!!!! You will pay 50% of that for the graphics card to play todays games alone!!!

Make it £500-£600 then your talking

[Micky007]

i agree

[CallumRogan]

if your not including keyboard, mouse and monitor i think it can be done on £350, just you won't be able to run all the newest games at full quality!

[coiler]

Crysis with a gfx card less than a 8800gt, won't be worth bothering with. To spend £350 and not have decent visual quality would be cash down the swanny IMHO

[CallumRogan]

you could get a pentium dual core, an ok mobo, cheap case, mid range PSU and an 8600 i think


ill give it a go

[tystar]

8600 aint gonna play games like crysis and ut3 on full, and there todays games. nevermind tomorrow's games.

[CallumRogan]

Antec NSK4000 Blk/SilverTower - #27192
NEC Optiarc 18x DVD-RW RAM SATA Black - #26576
Intel Pentium Dual Core E2160 1.8GHz (Retail 775) - #27228
XFX GeForce 8600GTS 256MB PCI-E - #29713
250Gb Western Digital Caviar SE SATA 8MB - #28742
Corsair 550W VX Series PSU - #29383
Asrock 4CoreDual-SATA2 Socket 775 Motherboard - #28535
Patriot 2GB PC2-5300 Extreme Performance (2x1GB) - #26801

Total: £357 (inc VAT)

[CallumRogan]

i have UT3 running quite well at medium settings on an 8400GS 256mb.

[PeterStoba]

Crysis won't run high on an 8600, it will run, not high though

[Lynx]

The X1950 is equal to a 8600, and i get medium, on 1024x768

[CallumRogan]

imo the 8600 will run the games at not full quality, but what else can you get for that budget? plus im over budget by £50

[coiler]

Thats what i'm trying to say, £350 to play the latest games on medium visual settings and at 1024x768 then wait till more 2008 games come out, its a waste of cash. Increase your budget to include an 8800gt.

You will not be happy trust me, slideshow games, or low settings.

[coiler]

Ps I think this is quite a key bit of text from the OP's requirements

"that will run pretty much all of today's (and most of tomorrow's) games smoothly."

[tystar]

imo the 8600 will run the games at not full quality, but what else can you get for that budget? plus im over budget by £50

That's we are trying to say.. for his original budget he'd be struggling to get everything he'd want.

it'd be like trying to enter a F1 Race with a subaru impreza... it'd be fine in every day circumstances but in the highest class it'd get smoked...

[PeterStoba]

nVidia GeForce 8800GT 512MB - 29148 - £175.76
Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 2.2Ghz - 28028 - £72.56
OCZ 500W PSU - 29090 - £43.42
NEC Optiarc 18x DVD-RW - 26576 - £17.21Asus P5L 1394 Socket 775 Motherboard - 26512 - £42.24Patriot 2GB PC2-5300 Extreme Performance - 26801 - £29.32
Antec NSK4000 Blk/SilverTower - 27192 - £25.77

Total : £406.28 (inc. VAT)

Probably play about with that and thats the lowest price good gaming system you'll get

[CallumRogan]

ok fair point,

[tystar]

nVidia GeForce 8800GT 512MB - 29148 - £175.76
Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 2.2Ghz - 28028 - £72.56
OCZ 500W PSU - 29090 - £43.42
NEC Optiarc 18x DVD-RW - 26576 - £17.21
Asus P5L 1394 Socket 775 Motherboard - 26512 - £42.24
Patriot 2GB PC2-5300 Extreme Performance - 26801 - £29.32
Antec NSK4000 Blk/SilverTower - 27192 - £25.77

Total : £406.28 (inc. VAT)

Probably play about with that and thats the lowest price good gaming system you'll get

Thats not far off my system and i can run ut3 at max and crysis at high. so for cost thats a good buy.

[coiler]

nVidia GeForce 8800GT 512MB - 29148 - £175.76
Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 2.2Ghz - 28028 - £72.56
OCZ 500W PSU - 29090 - £43.42
NEC Optiarc 18x DVD-RW - 26576 - £17.21Asus P5L 1394 Socket 775 Motherboard - 26512 - £42.24Patriot 2GB PC2-5300 Extreme Performance - 26801 - £29.32
Antec NSK4000 Blk/SilverTower - 27192 - £25.77

Total : £406.28 (inc. VAT)

Probably play about with that and thats the lowest price good gaming system you'll get

Peter nice build!! very good budget there :) The way I'd look at it if you have a £300 budget, its only an extra £25 a month over four months. Right thats sold it for me.....

1 thing I would change for the sake of a quid is go for the 600 PSU

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Power+Supplies/500w+%2B/OCZ+600W+StealthXStream+PSU+?productId=26933

EDIT That PSU is £39.95 on special so £5 saving! WINNER

[CallumRogan]

your missing a hard drive :D

[tystar]

Good Spot Callum.

[PeterStoba]

Knew there was something missing! :lol: most important

160GB Samsung Spinpoint SATA2 8MB - 24013 - £30.49 to keep costs down, can upgrade in the future if necessary

Total : £436.77 (inc. VAT)

[CallumRogan]

so much like mine, just an extra £100 over budget on the gfx card :D

[NoJabbaNoBogRoll]

Will this suggested build be suitable for upgrades in the future, without having to buy an entirely new PC?

[CallumRogan]

yep, you'll be able to update, you HD, wireless cards, disk drives, another GFX card, sound card, new processor, so yeah its very future proof!

[NoJabbaNoBogRoll]

nVidia GeForce 8800GT 512MB - 29148 - £175.76
Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 2.2Ghz - 28028 - £72.56
OCZ 500W PSU - 29090 - £43.42
NEC Optiarc 18x DVD-RW - 26576 - £17.21
Asus P5L 1394 Socket 775 Motherboard - 26512 - £42.24
Patriot 2GB PC2-5300 Extreme Performance - 26801 - £29.32
Antec NSK4000 Blk/SilverTower - 27192 - £25.77
160GB Samsung Spinpoint SATA2 8MB - 24013 - £30.49
I'm not too great at translating what every single one of these things is... What does this build NOT include?

[mac124]

That doesn't include, mouse , keyboard, monitor or operating system.

[NoJabbaNoBogRoll]

Mouse, keyboard, and monitor... Not a problem.

Operating System...

Gimme some advice, people. :P

[mac124]

Well you have 2 choices, Vista or XP. XP is old now and being phased out, though it will take a good few years i guess before its totally gone to be replaced by Vista. Vista is new there fore has one or 2 minor issues though they are being ironed out. I wouldn't recommend 64 bit vista just yet as that has a few more serious issues, things like drivers for slightly more unusual hardware that kind of thing.

If it is a gaming pc for up to date games then imho you really should be looking at vista for DX10. I suggest 32bit Vista home premium.

[Aaron]

Although if you ever plan on using more than 3Gb of RAM you will need a 64bit flavor of vista...

[NoJabbaNoBogRoll]

Also...

If I wanted a flat screen monitor, doesn't have to be large... What would you guys recommend?

[tystar]

how much u wanna spend on a screen?

i've got this screen.. Cibox (http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Displays/Monitors/TFT+20+-+23/22%22+CiBox+Widescreen+TFT+-+DVI+-+Black+?productId=27976) and i'd buy another today if i had the spare cash.

[NoJabbaNoBogRoll]

nVidia GeForce 8800GT 512MB - 29148 - £175.76
Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 2.2Ghz - 28028 - £72.56
OCZ 500W PSU - 29090 - £43.42
NEC Optiarc 18x DVD-RW - 26576 - £17.21
Asus P5L 1394 Socket 775 Motherboard - 26512 - £42.24
Patriot 2GB PC2-5300 Extreme Performance - 26801 - £29.32
Antec NSK4000 Blk/SilverTower - 27192 - £25.77
160GB Samsung Spinpoint SATA2 8MB - 24013 - £30.49

---------------------------------------

Can anyone see any problems with using my current monitor with this:

http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/1715/monitorep5.jpg

---------------------------------------

Also, would Windows XP be enough for this? I'm definitely not an expert, so I'd rather have as few bugs appear as possible.

[CallumRogan]

nope that shud all be fine

except for the monitor

depending on what connection the monitor has you'll need an adapter since the GFX card only has DVI out

[Hosser]

nope that shud all be fine

except for the monitor

depending on what connection the monitor has you'll need an adapter since the GFX card only has DVI out

It'll come with at least one in the box, surely. My ATI X1950 came with two, and that was years ago.

[NoJabbaNoBogRoll]

I've upped my budget a bit... How does this look?

http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/5266/computerspecsep0.jpg

This is what was recommended by the official Aria folk.

[Lynx]

looks good, even got the good new GTS there :D

[maestro59]

4gb ram, remember u need a 64bit Operating system to register more than 3gb

also im probly not correct but your cpu is a retail version, u sure it has a cooler and hsk with it?

[Lynx]

Also, another point, standard (32bit) vista does 4gb and 32bit xp does use 4gb even if it does not show the extra ram...

[PeterStoba]

Also, another point, standard (32bit) vista does 4gb and 32bit xp does use 4gb even if it does not show the extra ram...
So it is still actually used just not shown? :s

[Lynx]

Well technically its not addressed, but systems with 4gb perform better than systems with 3gb on xp.

[NoJabbaNoBogRoll]

also im probly not correct but your cpu is a retail version, u sure it has a cooler and hsk with it?
Someone asks about a cooler on the page, and reply is 'These are full retail, so they come with a cooler with pre-applied thermal paste.' However, I don't know what you mean by hsk.

Also, which operating system would you fellows recommend?

Gonna re-post the suggested specs here for anyone that doesn't want to go back a page:

http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/5266/computerspecsep0.jpg

[maestro59]

and hsk = heatsink ... if its got a cooler etc.. then it will hjave a heatsink too..

And for operating system, i would usually say you need a 64bit, and xp 64bit is awful as not much software/drivers etc is designed for it. But as lynx said (i think) that it does use all 4gb watever OS, ill leave that for them to say.

thats really confusing me lynx, but i dno :s... confused lol

[PeterStoba]

XP or Vista

[NoJabbaNoBogRoll]

Also, are you allowed to tell me anywhere I could find all this cheaper? :P

[maestro59]

what an operating system?

well i personally dont think you will find any genuine OS's for less than on aria, the only way is if you buy some illegitimate one off 'ebay' or download a 'torrent'...

hope i dont get told of ffor saying that, if so jus say and il remove it.

[NoJabbaNoBogRoll]

I meant the whole thing.

[Aaron]

I think the answer to that last bit is no. ;) And i'd be careful about recommending people buy dodgy keys off ebay, and/or downloading a torrent. 1) its illegal and 2) you are never 100% sure what you will end up with from a torrent, be it something completely different or there may be extra special goodies that you dont want hidden in there.

If you're going to build the computer, just buy the OS with it too.
Just a couple of bits taken from the forum rules:



No promotion of competitors please…
Aria Technology Ltd sells computer components, software, gadgets, toys and mobile telephone equipment as you all know. Any promotion of other web sites/businesses supplying these items is not allowed.

Be nice!!!
No flames, insults, trolling, swearing, inappropriate or illegal or adult materials (including links to such), advertising and warez requests. Not to bring in the heavy hand or anything - it just makes it a bit clearer! :)

[maestro59]

Yes,
Well im certainly not recomending it. But its blatently ilegitimate and its a cheaper way to go (for obvious reasons)
Im not persuading him at all, but he asked, And i just replied advising that unless you want to go down the illegal side of software downloading,aria is the best choice. hence
i personally dont think you will find any genuine OS's for less than on aria ^ ok? ^

And for the whole thing, in my opinion Aria is among the few top Technology retailers in the country.
And also, Your here asking for support about a PC, on these forums.. Its rather cheeky to ask us to recomend you to buy elsewhere, and also against the rules.

[NoJabbaNoBogRoll]

Just checking. :P

I think I'll read the rules now.

[Aaron]

Yes,
Well im certainly not recomending it. But its blatently ilegitimate and its a cheaper way to go (for obvious reasons)
Im not persuading him at all, but he asked, And i just replied advising that unless you want to go down the illegal side of software downloading,aria is the best choice. hence ^ ok? ^

And for the whole thing, in my opinion Aria is among the few top Technology retailers in the country.
And also, Your here asking for support about a PC, on these forums.. Its rather cheeky to ask us to recomend you to buy elsewhere, and also against the rules.

Glad we're reading from the same book then :)

[maestro59]

8)

[Lynx]

I got my vista ultimate legally for £60, and it activates properly as a legal version should... They dont do the same thing i got mine through anymore... But it was not illigitimate!