suggestions

I don't want to seem like I'm just asking for people to do all the work for me, but I just am clueless as to where to start and would prefer not to miss anything.

I am looking into building my first system and have £850 to spend on it.

Where do I start or does anyone have any lists for a great system within this limit.

As a laptop user for the past 6 years I'll also need to include a monitor with the setup (sigh) which a lot of the setups don't seem to.

I plan to use the system for
Gaming (WoW, CoD:MW2, just cause 2)
Developing & Designing (no 3d rendering or video editing though)
And running virtual machines (testing purposes)

From the basic knowledge I have I'm under the impression the virtual machines would benefit from intel CPUs & larger amounts of ram. While the rest of my needs could be satisfied by other setups.

So if I could have some help, pointing in the right direction or some system setups It'd be greatly appreciated.

Mark

Hello and welcome to the forums, don't forget to read the FAQ.

Are looking at a pre-built or build your own

Overclockers do a range of systems, link below.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=43

Thanks for the welcome

I have been re-assured multiple times that I may as well get a build your own, more freedom, similar if not cheaper cost and the joy of building it myself. So unless I've been assured incorrectly I think that components for me to build it myself would be the better route.

This would do those jobs without breaking a sweat:

Sadly while that is exactly what I'm after, it's lacking the monitor

Not sure on monitor though:

Intel Core i5 750 2.66GHz (Lynnfield) (Socket LGA1156) - Retail £164.98
(£140.41) £164.98
(£140.41) Iiyama ProLite E2208HDS 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor £139.99
(£119.14) £139.99
(£119.14) XFX ATI Radeon HD 5770 "AVP Edition" 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £127.98
(£108.92) £127.98
(£108.92) Asus P7P55D-E LX Intel P55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 Motherboard £116.98
(£99.56) £116.98
(£99.56) G.Skill Ripjaw 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL) £99.99
(£85.10) £99.99
(£85.10) Corsair TX 650W ATX SLi Compliant Power Supply (CMPSU-650TXUK) £79.99
(£68.08) £79.99
(£68.08) Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD502HJ) £44.99
(£38.29) £44.99
(£38.29) Coolermaster Elite 335 Case - Black £29.99
(£25.52) £29.99
(£25.52) Sony Optiarc AD-7241S 24x DVD±RW SATA Lightscribe Optical Drive (Black) - OEM £18.99
(£16.16) £18.99
(£16.16) Sub Total : £701.18 Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £13.25 VAT is being charged at 17.50% VAT : £125.03 Total : £839.46

Sorry missed the monitor part You should go with the one RJC spec'd and you can also save a bit by going for this PSU http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-031-OC&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat= which will do job just fine plus its also modular which can come in handy in a case like CoolerMaster Elite 335.Invest the money toward a better monitor like this http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-075-LG&groupid=17&catid=949&subcat= Also get this RAM it has better timings and the same price.http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-042-GS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517

Thanks a lot both of you, seems like the system suggestions are very similar.