New PC :)

[Vyper08]

So I'm kind of sick and tired of being told my computer can't handle this or that, and my graphics card and mobo and CPU and everything bar the case, which is pretty ugly anyway, need replacing.

I am on a fairly tight budget, but I'm not into overpriced branded PC's, and basically I saw this:


Processor: Intel Core2 Duo Processor E6600 (2.40 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB, 2 x 2 MB L2 Cache)
Memory: 2048 MB
Hard Drive: 500 GB SATA2
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT 512MB PCI-Express
Operating System: Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium
Optical Drive: DVD-SM Super Multi
Other features: 350 W power supply unit, 6x USB 2.0 external, 11 in 1 Card Reader
Sound: Realtek High Definition Audio
Networking: Gigabit LAN
Size: (W)198mm x (H)440mm x (D)500mm
Monitor: None

Now, I'm a newb at PC's, I can't tell my CPU from my PCI so what I want from my PC is one that, paired with a really sexy Samsung LCD HDTV, can run pretty much every game on the market, well the popular ones, such as CoD4, Age of Conan, ETQW and WoW, at a GOOD level. Good as in I won't suffer ****ty FPS, I won't have to put up with mundane graphics and I won't be told I lack the Processing power to run game x.

Also it would have to be quite futureproofed, I mean of course I can spend a few bob a year getting it up to scratch, but when CoD5 is released I want to play it as good as I would on my PS3.

For full specs, it's this PC -http://www.aria.co.uk/Systems/Special+Offers/AriaNet+Value/Arianet+Gamer+XL+?productId=31335

It's quite cheap, £455, and the other things I would like to know is what else would I need with it should I purchase it-

I have a monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers, and it has an OS with it.
So is it Good to go, or even worth it ?

My mate says it would fulfill my needs and is pretty decent, and thinks I'd only need to replace the mobo after around a year...but I can't rely on one person's word since it's a big purchase for a student, and I don't want to be disappointed really :)
Thanks a lot.

[Lynx]

I would build yourself a Pc, you will be able to get all of that, and better for less money, or better spec parts, the 350w power supply is very low for the spec and worrys, me, and i would go to a Q6600 over a E6600, but other than that, the pickthere seems fairly good.

[mlb07165]

I'm with Lynx, build your own. About the futureproofing thing, you can't really future proof a pc but if you built your own you could upgrade it every so often without having to buy a complete new system.

Do you have a budget, if so I'd be more than happy to spec you a computer. You'll get tons of advice n stuff on here anyway.

Power supplies get overlooked by some people, which you can't afford to do as if it fails it will ruin other components. If you go for a well branded psu it will blow itself before it blows other components.

:)

[Vyper08]

About the PSU, I'm not really sure what it's for/does but could I just buy another one or would I have to do a little tinkering to install it, of which i'm unfortunately hopeless :)
I mean I live in UK so I need one that fits our Voltage, but I'm not certain that's what you mean so that may be irrelevant to your point :)

About the buying-the-computer in parts...
I'm sort of noobish at putting parts together, I'd probably fry half of my hardware :( and I'd hate to spend money and then for it to break down on me
That's why I was preferring to get one pre-built, to be honest, but I have a budget of probably MAXIMUM £500 including VAT/Shipping e.t.c and it needs everything bar Monitor/Mouse/Keyboards/Speakers since I have those already ;)

If I fork out for 500 and built it myself I would want it to be pretty awesome and good enough to run basically any game on the market, though, considering I would only use it for gaming, as I have a laptop for my media needs.

Thanks.

[Vyper08]

Oop, as an edit unless the price difference isn't that great, since I won't use a lot of memory on that PC I think I could get away with 200GB+

[Vyper08]

Yeah so now I've considered building my own, as I've seen the price differences.
Never done it before, a little retarded at electronics so I hope I wouldn't fry all my **** but I think I can read up how-to on the internet.

Therefore if, like you said you could above, build me up a PC with a decent spec to run most games at a high level then my budget is 500 -WITH- an OS and everything I need (including silly things I'd forget like cables/wires/plug sockets/screws (lol) e.t.c) bar keyboard/mouse/headphones.

Thanks a bundle

[Jiggles]

To me building the PC is the easyest bit. Things only go in one way. The hardest part is getting the right parts that work together!

[mlb07165]

Hi, I meant to get back to you sooner but I was out last night. Anyway I was thinking somewhere along the lines of this:

Case - Antec Three Hundred (31087)
DVD - LG 20x Sata dvdrw (30468)
CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo e4600 @ 2.4GHz (30451)
Fan - Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro (20729)
Graphics - nVidia GeForce 8800gt 512mb pci-e (29148)
Hard Disk - 320gb Hitachi Deskstar (sata2, 16mb) (24793)
Ram - Patriot 2gb pc2-6400 (26802)
Mobo - MSI P35 Neo2 FR (28015)
PSU - OCZ 600w StealthXStream (26933)
OS - Vista Home Premium 32-bit (25905)

I think this maybe just comes to a little over £500 once you add delivery. If you really can't go over £500 then keep your eye out for superspecials to try and get it under budget. Otherwise it should be a good system, my only piece of advice, if you can afford it, would be to go for 4gb of ram but that can come at a later date as there is 4 slots for ram on the mobo.

If you have any further queries or questions don't hesitate to ask.

[Vyper08]

Well, if it's going to be a good machine I'm willing to go up to ~550 :)

I spoke a little to some other people, and I was told the PSU is too much, and the CPU is too little, a friend was getting a "Quad Core" and another was talking about a "Q" version or something (sorry if you don't understand me :P).
And also, since it's not an OEM CPU that you included, why is there another cooling fan included (again I'm a little nooby at computers so I'd need explaining too).
Also, with the GFX someone left a comment about how it doesn't work with Vista, of which I was told I should opt for 64bit.

Otherwise, if you're confident I can play games like AoC on high, and games like CoD will be smooth also I love you loads and I appreciate the help!
I've decided to go and build one myself, the experience could come in handy :)
I'm just going to total all this up and hopefully I can report back in a few weeks time :D

(P.S anyone know how quick things take to deliver using cheapest Aria pnp?)

[Jiggles]

Del is next day for me if you order it in the morning.

[mlb07165]

The psu is fine. Cpu is good too but you get what you pay for, if you're feeling rich then by all means go for a more expensive model.

The cpu cooler I have included would replace the one that comes with the cpu as it runs quieter and cooler which comes in handy if you have any plans for overclocking.

What you said about the graphics and vista, I will start a new thread in the graphics card section to try and get an answer. 64-bit versions of operating systems should only be necessary if you have 4gb or more ram.



Here (http://forums.aria.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5402) is the topic I started.

[mlb07165]

Yeah, the graphics card should be fine with vista.

[Vyper08]

http://forums.aria.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5403

updated.