Buying a new Computer - Q&A

[Kyan]

Look...1550 GBP is a pretty damn decent budget. You will get a monster-PC for that much. Have fun. :D

Thank you. My problem is my lack of knowledge on the subject usually just leads to me wasting my money. I want a PC that can play any game on max settings for awhile at least.

[Krill]

Still, that's an excessive amount of money.

[Kyan]

Still, that's an excessive amount of money.

If you can point me to a PC that meets those requirements for less, then by all means, I will be extremely happy to hear it! I would of course prefer not to use the entire budget but if i'm asking for help, I figured i'd need to give all the parameters.

[Bobchillingworth]

I purchased my new computer back in November, and it can play every game I've tried on either ultra high or high settings. Cost slightly over $600. So throwing the equivalent of $2,200+ at a PC is awful overkill.


What I did was purchase a PC with good specs but very few extras (no monitor, no speakers, no installed software beyond the OS and the most basic applications like Paint). I then upgraded the graphics card and power unit myself using components I purchased on Newegg.


The PC is by some manufacturer called "ZT Systems"- I found it offered by Costco online, and as far as I can tell that's the only place you can find the brand. I don't know if they sell them in the UK- ZT operates out of New Jersey, if that matters.


For $499, the PC came with:

* AMD Phenom II X4 955 processor (3.20 GHz)
* 8 GB memory
* 64-bit operating system
* 2 TB hard drive (utterly excessive, no idea why it came with one so large)
* Windows 7 Home Premium


I then upgraded the graphics card with a Radeon HD 6770 manufactured by Sapphire, purchased through Newegg, on sale for $80 (plus came with a free copy of some racing game called "DiRT3", which I gave away to a friend).


I forget the exact model I used for my power supply, but it was from OCZ and 600w. OCZ seemed reputable enough from their hundreds of overwhelmingly positive reviews on Newegg. I also go it on sale, $30-40 final price.


My monitor is just reused from my previous desktop. My speakers are cannibalized from an old stereo system.



I don't know all that much about PCs on a technical level, but it only took half a day's worth of research to come up with all of the components I knew I wanted to get the kind of performance I desired. Don't just blow a giant wad on some massively over-priced pre-fab "gaming PC" crap.

[nabaxo]

Although I myself went for an Intel CPU and an Nvidia graphics. Still cost me less than 600 GBP.

[kjn]

Bob already covered a bunch of good points.

Consider your peripherals. Good speakers/earphones, a really good display, and quality keyboard/mouse/trackball/whatever. These things last a LONG time, and you will enjoy them more than the fancy graphics card in a year, I think.

If you have trouble with overheating of your current computer, definitely think about the thermal situation the computer has to handle. Where do you place your current computer (WRT airflow and ambient temperature)? This ties into how much sound it makes, as well. If you place it somewhere cramped so it doesn't sound so much, then that might have caused airflow problems, causing overheating. Definitely something to think about. So look at getting additional fans and maybe sound proofing (if you can't select silent components).

Checking the build: since you're not building yourself, skip the overclocks. And an i7 is overkill. The i5 2500 should be more than enough, maybe even go down to the i3.

I believe having several quality fans in the box is better than having a monster CPU fan. The CPU/GPU fans help move the air around the CPU/GPU, but they won't help if the entire case is getting too hot.

You put almost a third of the budget into the video card. I have no idea if the GTX 680 is worth it, or if a GTX 560-580 would be a better buy.

An 850W power supply is way overkill. Most brand power supplies are sold on efficiency (bronze, silver, gold) nowadays, not nominal capacity. I'd consider the 650W Coolermaster bronze supply. It should be built for a peak efficiency at around 520W.

[sunrise089]

What's your monitor resolution Kyan? "I want to play on max settings" is meaningless without knowing the resolution because very different PCs are needed fir 1680x1050 versus 2560x1600.

[Ruff_Hi]

My old pc has started to lock up ... completely stop ... screen still shows stuff but box is completely silent, mouse will not move on screen, alt-tab does nothing. It is erratic but it only happens when I have firefox open ... and typically when I am asking FF to do a lot (update a few tabs while I read or click on a different tab).

I've disabled all add-ons and extensions to see if that is the problem. BTW - FF loads soooo much quicker with the add-ons disabled.

Any other ideas?

[sunrise089]

IMHO reinstall Firefox -> reformat. Your new PC will be here soon, right? If so maybe wait until then, migrate, and then reformat the old PC how you want to at that point.

[Bobchillingworth]

Use Chrome. Much better looking browser, same basic functionality.