Advice needed: a gaming PC challenge!

[Interceptor]

Hi guys, I've been reading the threads and have a question myself.

I've recently been playing this MMO Age of Conan and although my current Dell Dimension 5000 (surprisingly) can run it I feel that it's time for me to upgrade.

I've been looking at several sites (example) and unfortunately I am getting more confused. I don't have much knowledge about this kind of thing so I'm throwing it to your expert opinions!

Things I won't need include; Windows, keyboard, mouse, speakers. I'm considering keeping my old Dell 17'' monitor as a money saver, but I hear that the small size might cause extra strain?

The only thing I want from the system is for it to be able to play Age of Conan on above medium settings. Under £300-£500 would be my price range.

I'd love to see what specs you think would be able to do this.

Thanks in advance!

Sophie x

 

[Waynos_Face]

Hi Sophie,

Try these, there is nothing wrong with your build except you really need 2Gb of RAM in any system, and don't always pick the cheapest parts even if you are on a budget, they are cheap for a reason, they break.

http://www.pcoption.co.uk/pcbaseunits/index41.htm

http://www.pcoption.co.uk/pcbaseunits/index5d_3650amdx2.htm

Either of these will play your game fine, the second option is the better one to go for,

good luck and hope this helps

Wayne

 

[Phaeton]

Hello, are you planning to build a new system or buy a new system ?
Not only is building your own system cheaper, you can also salvage parts from your current PC that will even save you more.

If you intend to buy look at these PC's (you're given the option of having no OS and there are nor peripherals)

If you dont mind going over your budget a bit:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-044-OK&groupid=43&catid=1080&subcat=

Well within your budget :
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-035-OK

Remember:

You can save back a bit on a CPU as games are more GPU intensive. Try to get a dual core at least though.
2GB of RAM hits the sweetspot for a gaming PC

 

[Abarbarian]

Or something like this and you can choose your own card .

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-027-OK&groupid=43&catid=1078&subcat=

Building your own with some of the parts you have would probably be your best bet though .

 

[Interceptor]

Wow thanks for the replies!

I'd like to have a go at building my own PC but I don't feel ready yet. So, after reading your replies I was quite happy but since trawling the Conan tech forums I think I'm going to need more punch. More like:

8800 GPU with at least 512mb
4gb RAM @ 800Mhz

Is it fine for me to prefer staying with XP? I read everywhere that Vista needs more RAM and is a little unstable.

Will my old Dell 17" be compatible with most new systems? Will the small size bottleneck anything?

What kind of power does my PSU need to be capable of with an 8800?


Thanks in advance!


Sophie x

 

[Phaeton]

Vista is perfectly stable now.
Vista needs more RAM to run smoothly.
Your moniter should be ok.
About 450W - 500W would be fine running the 8800GT and all other hardware.

So are we correct in assuming you will buy a whole system ? Might need to increase your budget if you are intent on 4GB of RAM and 8800GT.

Try configuring a system here: http://www.cyberpowersystem.co.uk/

 

[Interceptor]

Yes, I'm going for a ready-made system.

Hopefully I should save money by not needing an OS, Monitor, Keyboard, Speakers or Mouse

Thanks for your advice; it really helps to be able to ask these questions!

Sophie

 

[Waynos_Face]

Hi,

Not sure is this is frowned upon or not, but since building my own PC i have been building them for friends and family, i can beat retail prices by about £100, as others have mentioned its cheaper to build your own and you get better components. so can build you one if you wish.

 

[floppybootstomp]

Depends where you are Waynos, don't it?

The £100.00 you save usually equates to the profit margin for any company building computers.

Most builders can usually beat a private individual, price for price, as they can buy their components in bulk.

Where an individual would gain in either building their own or getting a knowledgable friend/acquaintance/skilled individual to build a system, is knowing the components are good, especially after taking advice from a forum such as this one.

In my opinion, if an individual doesn't have the knowledge and/or confidence to build their own, it's often worth seeking out a local retailer or individual who can do the build and is willing to offer 12 months backup. They may pay just a little more but the peace of mind and the superior system makes this very worthwhile indeed.

Of course, finding a trusted builder sometimes isn't as easy as it may seem.

There are surprisingly few really good suppliers of ready built systems out there. Novatech is one, there are others, word of mouth is always the best recommendation.

 

[Waynos_Face]

I'm in Birmingham

If Interceptor is willing then maybe PC Review can moderate the sale? if there is one.
I offer a 1 years RTB and free spares and repair, perhaps if i post the spec available then you can comment on whether she could get the same from a retailer.

I have a friend who works for a computer components distribuition company and so i only pay wholesale prices and not trade.

I could put together

AMD Dual Core 3.0Ghz
Gigabyte M57SLI motherboard,
4 Gb OCZ Platinum 800mhz RAM
Nvidia Geforce 9600GT 512mb
500Gb HDD
Liteon Lightscribe DVD/CD
Icebox case with 650Watt PSU

for about £400, without shipping.
Is this a good deal?

 

[Interceptor]

Wow that's such a nice offer! Unfortunately I won't be able to take you up on it as it's not my money and I'm a bit funny with internet transactions (I've had some bad experiences). But it does make me think I could have a shot at building my own setup.

Is it easy to learn?

Is it just a case of researching all your components and making sure they are all compatible before slotting them all together? Or am I being naive?

Sophie x

 

[floppybootstomp]

Wow that's such a nice offer! Unfortunately I won't be able to take you up on it as it's not my money and I'm a bit funny with internet transactions (I've had some bad experiences). But it does make me think I could have a shot at building my own setup.

Is it easy to learn?

Is it just a case of researching all your components and making sure they are all compatible before slotting them all together? Or am I being naive?

Sophie x

If you give a budget and state what you wish to include (monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers, printer, scanner etc) I'm sure people here, myself included, could advise you on parts to buy.

And it really is quite simple to put a machine together, there are guides all over the net.

And folks here can answer questions as you build if you need to ask any.

 

[Waynos_Face]

Its okay, i would have had to get more parts in anyway as i have sold the 5 i built.

Yeah its so easy to build your own, most things only go in one place anyway and most components come with installation guides.
On your previous budget of £300 - £500 that you mentioned and not including, monitor, OS, keyboard or mouse as you said you already had them, i would go with either komplett or scan to buy your components from, as they are very reliable and if you email the customers services at scan and tell them what you are going to buy and ask about any offers then they normally ship for free.

Anyway from komplett you can get this for £418.21 includes shipping.

OCZ StealthXStream Powersupply, 500W, 120mm Fan, 20/24pin (Power Supply)

AeroCool AE-PLUS Black,140mm fan(front) and 180mm fan (side) (Case)

MSI K9N NEO-F V2, nForce 520, PCI-Ex16 (Motherboard)

Gainward GeForce 8800GT 512MB GDDR3, PCI-Express 2.0 (Graphics)

OCZ Gold XTC DDR2 PC6400 2048MB KIT (RAM)

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB SATA2 16MB 7200RPM (Hard drive)

LG DVD±RW burner, GH20NS20, 20x, SATA, Black, OEM (DVD)

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound 3.5 Gram (For the Processor + Heatsink)

AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ 2.7GHz Socket AM2, retail. (Processor)

Just a suggestion on a possible system and price, but shop around for what you want and don't be tempted to buy cheap.
The only real compatible things are the processor, motherboard and graphics card.
The Processor and motherboard will be a SOCKET type, i.e. AM2+, AM2 or 775 etc.
The Graphics card will be either will either be Nforce or SLI chipset for Nvidia graphics card.
or AMD690, 790, etc, for ATI graphics card.

 

[floppybootstomp]

This would be my choice for a gaming machine within budget.

For another £13.00 you could have a 500Gb Hard Drive instead of the 250Gb listed here.

My first system came to £646.00, had to trim things down a bit

The above taken from www.overclockers.co.uk.

I've used Komplett a few times over the years, no problems.

I've used OCUK a lot, one minor problem over delivery but 99% very good.

E-Buyer are now very very good indeed, fabulous company to deal with.

I've used Scan, I've had quite a few problems with them, including an RMA that took five weeks (Saitek Gamers Steering Wheel, DOA) so I rarely use them now.

Those are my experiences with a few online suppliers, you'll find other people's experiences may differ.

The real test is when something goes wrong.

In this area, for me, E-Buyer & OCUK have been good.

 

[Interceptor]

You guys are too good!

I'm inspired to have a go and so I will read some PC building guides and have a look around.

Thanks again for all the advice, I really appreciate it!

 

[Waynos_Face]

Nice build Flopps, like that price on the 8800gt.

 

[Phaeton]

Me too ! Me too !

Hard drive is cheap and cheerful with good storage and decent specs.
The case is the smaller brother of the popular Antec 900. This smaller version should be decent.
One of the cheapest sets of Ram I've come across on overclockers, theres two pairs here therefore 4GB. 800mhz and good timings 4-4-4-12
Sata DVD which allows you to have a smaller cable and allows better airflow
CPU cooler is cheap is uses H.D.T technology to enable better cooling.
450W PSU by a quality company
AMD dual core 3.00GHZ, fast and reliable. Cheaper then Intel equivelent but a tad slowerdue to other specifications. Price to performance not as good as intel, but it is cheaper by far, great if you are on a budget.
Quality board by Asus, out for a while so BIOS should be pretty mature now and your system would be stable. Also can run two nvidia cards for extra performance boost.
PNY 8800gt, decent brand with 2 years warranty. Stock speeds but it's cheap and does the job well.

parts from overclockers.co.uk

compared to floppys build:
the HDD on my part my be louder
PNY 8800GT is waaaay slower and bundle isn't as good.
He got a quality case and RAM
He got a slower CPU but is overclockable (but not recommended for intial system builders who are on a tight budget).
Great heatsink but ugly fan.
Cheaper then my build

 

[floppybootstomp]

There ya go, three options so far.

I deliberately went for an Intel processor as, quite simply, they own at the moment.

The Intel CPU may be slower but clock speed is not all. Other factors mean the Intel 2.4Ghz CPU will outperform the AMD 3.0Ghz CPU.

My Intel machine is the only Intel machine I have, the other three are all AMD.

Prior to me purchasing the Core 2 Duo system in Nov '06, I'd never owned an Intel machine (started building around '96). You could say I was something of an AMD fanboy.

I have the black edition AMD 3.2Ghz dual core CPU at the heart of my video/audio editing machine.

I can honestly say the 2.4Ghz Intel chip outperforms the AMD 3.2Ghz CPU in everyday use real observations.

The Noctua heatsink is the best cooler I've ever owned and I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder, lol, I think the matt cream colour looks cool. I have a second on my cooler giving me a push/pull cooling effect.

Also have another Noctua 120mm fan in the side of my Antec 900 case, cooling my grafix card. I think it looks good
The build is good and it's quiet.

I think a 450W PSU is probably just about on the limit of acceptable but I will agree it will suffice so long as a significant number of extra components are not added to the system.

Mine's cheaper, lol - by £1.26

The hard disks in both systems are made by Samsung so likely they'll make the same noise. I have a Samsung 500Gb HDD in my media machine, it's not noisy.

Also in my media machine is an Asus M2N-Sli motherboard, the same one you've specced. It's a fine board but getting a little long in the tooth now, I fear.

The DFI board I specced had good reviews and I thought offered the best value for money considering an X38 or X48 chipset-based board was out of the budget range.

WF's system is also a very good buy, if you're being budget conscious, it will perform admirably. Some considerable saving made there by using the CPU retail cooler rather than a third party cooler.

All the above systems will be fine, it's just a case of selecting priorities.

 

[Waynos_Face]

I would never of thought of that an intel C2D 2.4 would spank an AMD DC 3.2, guess i have a fair bit to learn.