Please help me buy a £850-950 machine! Please!

coolsouthern · 13 Aug 2009 at 09:48

Hi there! My PC died on me and I need to get a new one asap. I have a budget of around £850 but would raise that to £950 if I could get a reasonable screen as well (no bigger than 19").

The only game I really play is Football Manager although this game is increasingly demanding more of both the CPU and GPU. I do also play Civ occasionally but I believe this game is less demanding. I do not care about overclocking as I would not have a clue, someone did tell me there is a very easy way by just upping the volts slightly but I still would not have a clue how to do that. Basically I am looking at this kind of price range hoping it will last me a few years.

I had a look at the "Ultima Warlord" on here and it seemed a pretty high spec. I would, however, update the GPU on that machine but that still sits within my budget. Wondered what people thought of the machine and of the quality of Overclockers' builds. As far as I am aware this is a reasonably new service from Overclockers so just wanted some feedback.
Here is a spec I made:

* CASE: COOLERMASTER ELITE 310 Mid Tower Case
* Power Supply Upgrade: 700 Watts Power Supplies ( Performance ATX 2.0 Power - Quad SLI Ready)
* CPU: AMD Phenom™ II X4 955 Quad-Core CPU w/ HyperTransport
* Cooling Fan : AMD ATHLON64 CERTIFIED CPU FAN & HEATSINK
* MOTHERBOARD: GigaByte MA770T-UD3P AM3 DDR3 770 Chipset 1666+/1333/1066 with PCIe slot SATA RAID MB w/GbLAN, USB2.0, IEEE1394, & 7.1Audio
* MEMORY: 4GB (2x2GB) PC12800 DDR3/1600mhz Dual Channel Memory (OCZ Gold w/ HeatSpreader
* VIDEO CARD: NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250 1GB 16X PCI Express
* LCD Monitor: 19& quot; TFT Active Matrix LCD Display (VIEWSONIC VA1916W 19& quot; 5MS TFT LCD Display Wide Monitor)
* Hard Drive: Single Hard Drive (1TB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16M Cache Hard Drive)
* Optical Drive: LiteOn LH-20A1H 20X Double Layer DVD±RW Super Allwrite + Lightscribe Technology (Black Color)
* Optical Drive 2: (Special Price) LG 22X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER (Black Color)
* SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
* Network: ONBOARD 10/1000 NETWORK CARD
* Keyboard: Logitech PS/2 Keyboard (Black)
* Wireless 802.11B/G Network Card: PCI Wireless 802.11g 54Mbps Network Interface Card
* Cable Wiring: Professional Wiring for All WIRINGs Inside The System Chasis with High Performance Thermal Compound on CPU
* Power Surge Protection: Belkin 6-Socket Surge Protector
* USB Port: Built-in USB 2.0 Ports
* OS: Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Home Premium w/ Service Pack 1 (64-bit Edition)
* Windows 7 Upgrade Coupon: Upgrade to Microsoft® Windows® 7 Home Premium (64-bit Edition)

This all comes out at just £848.37p. I wanted some advice as I could still knock some money of this build. Do I need that high a GPU? I can knock £15 off and get the 9800gt 1gb which I've heard is a great card? Also would anyone recommend me getting a different case or do you think that would be adequate?

Thanks in advance for all your help! Sorry about the length of this essay!

coolsouthern · 13 Aug 2009 at 10:19

also:
# Case: COOLERMASTER ELITE 310 Mid Tower Case
# Power Supply Upgrade: 700 Watts Power Supplies (Performance ATX 2.0 Power - Quad SLI Ready)
# CPU: (Quad-Core)Intel® Core™ 2 Quad Q9550 @ 2.83GHz 1333FSB 12MB L2 Cache 64-bit
# Cooling Fan: INTEL LGA775 CERTIFIED CPU FAN & HEATSINK
# Motherboard: Asus P5Q3 Intel P45 Chipset CrossFireX LGA775 FSB1600 DDR3/1600 Mainboard w/GbLAN, USB2.0, IEEE1394a, & 7.1Audio
# Memory: 4GB (2x2GB) PC12800 DDR3/1600mhz Dual Channel Memory (OCZ Gold w/ HeatSpreader
# Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT 1GB 16X PCI Express
# Hard Drive: Single Hard Drive (500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD)
# Optical Drive: LiteOn LH-20A1H 20X Double Layer DVD±RW Super Allwrite + Lightscribe Technology (Black Color)
# Optical Drive 2: (Special Price) LG 22X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER (Black Color)
# Sound: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
# Network: ONBOARD 10/100 NETWORK CARD
# Keyboard: Logitech PS/2 Keyboard (Black)
# Wireless 802.11B/G Network Card: PCI Wireless 802.11g 54Mbps Network Interface Card
# Power Surge Protection: Belkin 6-Socket Surge Protector
# USB Port: Add External USB 2.0 Hub (4x USB 2.0 Ports) (BLACK COLOR)
# OS: Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Home Premium w/ Service Pack 1 (64-bit Edition)
# Windows 7 Upgrade Coupon: Upgrade to Microsoft® Windows® 7 Home Premium (64-bit Edition)

This set up comes out at £787.75 or can be upgraded to the Q9650 3.00gz cpu for £862.50. Anyone reckon it's worth the extra money for the Intel processor? I would have thought that the Q9550 at the price of £787.75 would be better than the AMD spec I placed above?

Once again any help is really appreciated!

lukext · 13 Aug 2009 at 10:23

Edit out the competitor!!!!

coolsouthern · 13 Aug 2009 at 10:33

Edited... hope that's ok.

Would really, really appreciate advice guys I am looking to buy today.

I really like the fact that overclockers offer 1yr on site collect and return as standard.

coolsouthern · 13 Aug 2009 at 11:59

Hi sorry to pester again guys but I would really appreciate some help.

I am not knowledgeable enough to do a self build. This is the 1st time I will be spending this much on a machine and could really do with some help.

Are people not replying because of the competitor stuf?? Tell me and I will fully delete the spec I made. I have deleted the competitors name etc so thought it would not be a problem.

Once again any help will be so appreciated!

DragonQ · 13 Aug 2009 at 12:04

Hmmm you could get an i7 system with that graphics card for around £950...

What are the main uses for your PC though? It doesn't look like you'll have to spend too much on a graphics card but do you really need an i7 920 or PII 955 for example?

manic111 · 13 Aug 2009 at 12:09

If you're not using it for graphically intensive games I really doubt that you need to spend that much...

Do you do a lot of video editing or anything?

EDIT: This ought to be more than enough for your needs, if they're the only games you're playing and you aren't doing anything else that's super-intensive!

Product Name Qty Price Line Total
"Titan Slipstream" AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition 2.80GHz @ 3.30GHz DDR3 System "Titan Slipstream" AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition 2.80GHz @ 3.30GHz DDR3 System £483.99
(£420.86) £483.99
(£420.86)
Options applied to the above product:
Asus ATI Radeon HD 4870 Glaciator+ 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £108.99
(£94.77) £108.99
(£94.77)
Options applied to the above product:
No Operating System £0.00
(£0.00) £0.00
(£0.00)
Sub Total : £515.63
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.00
VAT is being charged at 15% VAT : £78.84
Total : £604.47

Linky to the base spec: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-067-OE

EDIT: Rather than having OcUK give you Vista with it, download the Win 7 Release Candidate and pre-order Windows 7. Could also stick in a solid state drive for Windows and FM and still be under budget, that would give you a noticeable performance boost, probably more so than a better GPU with your usage.

lauy · 13 Aug 2009 at 12:19

yeah build yourself I would say, saves so much more money

coolsouthern · 13 Aug 2009 at 12:54

DragonQ said:
Hmmm you could get an i7 system with that graphics card for around £950...

What are the main uses for your PC though? It doesn't look like you'll have to spend too much on a graphics card but do you really need an i7 920 or PII 955 for example?

My main uses are football manager 09, which will obv update to 10 when it comes out.
I'm not really sure whether I need that high spec a machine but I wanted to able to buy something like this while I have the money and then not have to worry about upgrading for at least 3 years considering my usage.

Thanks for your time mate.

coolsouthern · 13 Aug 2009 at 13:02

manic111 said:
If you're not using it for graphically intensive games I really doubt that you need to spend that much...

Do you do a lot of video editing or anything?

EDIT: This ought to be more than enough for your needs, if they're the only games you're playing and you aren't doing anything else that's super-intensive!

Product Name Qty Price Line Total
"Titan Slipstream" AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition 2.80GHz @ 3.30GHz DDR3 System "Titan Slipstream" AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition 2.80GHz @ 3.30GHz DDR3 System £483.99
(£420.86) £483.99
(£420.86)
Options applied to the above product:
Asus ATI Radeon HD 4870 Glaciator+ 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £108.99
(£94.77) £108.99
(£94.77)
Options applied to the above product:
No Operating System £0.00
(£0.00) £0.00
(£0.00)
Sub Total : £515.63
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.00
VAT is being charged at 15% VAT : £78.84
Total : £604.47

Linky to the base spec: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-067-OE

EDIT: Rather than having OcUK give you Vista with it, download the Win 7 Release Candidate and pre-order Windows 7. Could also stick in a solid state drive for Windows and FM and still be under budget, that would give you a noticeable performance boost, probably more so than a better GPU with your usage.

Wow thanks I really appreciate your time and effort. So do you think a system like this will last me another 3 yrs at least before needing to upgrade? As previously stated I only play football manager and occasionally civIV. I forgot to mention that I am a student and as such will be using Word etc but I didn't think that was such a big deal?

Also forgive me for being a simpleton but if I don't order an OS with it I can't do anything right? What is the Win 7 release candidate? Are you also saying that it would be cheaper for me to get an os somewhere else?

Finally am I right in thinking that I could order an ssd 32gb as my primary hd and a normal 320 gb hd as a secondary drive? Am I also right in thinking I could then put the os and any games I have on the ssd and I would see a good increase in speed ( of loading times etc anyways!) whilst storing documents, music and videos etc on the "normal" storage?

Thanks again for the advice guys this will help me no end!!

coolsouthern · 13 Aug 2009 at 13:04

lauy said:
yeah build yourself I would say, saves so much more money

Haha I would love to as I can see how it is obviously cheaper. Unfortunately my PC skills, to put it a nice way, are limited. The idea of building my own is pretty out there for me tbh.

Thanks anyways!

manic111 · 13 Aug 2009 at 13:35

coolsouthern said:
Wow thanks I really appreciate your time and effort. So do you think a system like this will last me another 3 yrs at least before needing to upgrade? As previously stated I only play football manager and occasionally civIV. I forgot to mention that I am a student and as such will be using Word etc but I didn't think that was such a big deal?

That system will run anything which is out at the moment on high/very high settings at least, so if you stick to FM and Civ games you won't have any issues. If in two or three years time you suddenly start wanting to play the latest greatest graphical game around at the highest settings possible, you will probably need to get a new graphics card, but then that would be the same even if you went absolutely top end at the moment. For your uses that system will be a beast!

Also forgive me for being a simpleton but if I don't order an OS with it I can't do anything right? What is the Win 7 release candidate? Are you also saying that it would be cheaper for me to get an os somewhere else?

The Windows 7 Release Candidate is, effectively a pre-release. If you check out the Windows section of these forums there are tons of people (myself included) using it as their primary or sole OS without any problems whatsoever. You can download it for free off of the Microsoft website, and it's valid until the middle of next year. Pre-order the retail version of Win 7 for £65 here.

Finally am I right in thinking that I could order an ssd 32gb as my primary hd and a normal 320 gb hd as a secondary drive? Am I also right in thinking I could then put the os and any games I have on the ssd and I would see a good increase in speed ( of loading times etc anyways!) whilst storing documents, music and videos etc on the "normal" storage?

You are indeed right in thinking that you can have a small SSD as your drive for Windows and games, and then a normal HD as a drive for everything else. If you do this, whatever you install on the SSD ought to load significantly faster. I don't have one yet myself, but ask around in the Hard Drives section here to find out how people are finding their SSDs in comparison to their old HDs. By the sounds of it the 64GB Crucial is the absolute king of price/performance at the moment.

Good luck!

coolsouthern · 13 Aug 2009 at 13:45

The Windows 7 Release Candidate is, effectively a pre-release. If you check out the Windows section of these forums there are tons of people (myself included) using it as their primary or sole OS without any problems whatsoever. You can download it for free off of the Microsoft website, and it's valid until the middle of next year. Pre-order the retail version of Win 7 for £65 here.

But if I buy a pc without an OS I would not be able to get onto the net to download this temp os. Would I be able to download it onto an external hard drive and then set it up on a new pc?

That doesn't sound too bad although I would imagine to do something like that I would have to enter the BIOS to install the os as it would obviously not come on a disk? If that was the case then I would prob not bother unless someone can tell me that it would be an easy process even for someone as inexperienced as myself?

Thanks again for your help

manic111 · 13 Aug 2009 at 13:51

coolsouthern said:
The Windows 7 Release Candidate is, effectively a pre-release. If you check out the Windows section of these forums there are tons of people (myself included) using it as their primary or sole OS without any problems whatsoever. You can download it for free off of the Microsoft website, and it's valid until the middle of next year. Pre-order the retail version of Win 7 for £65 here.

But if I buy a pc without an OS I would not be able to get onto the net to download this temp os. Would I be able to download it onto an external hard drive and then set it up on a new pc?

That doesn't sound too bad although I would imagine to do something like that I would have to enter the BIOS to install the os as it would obviously not come on a disk? If that was the case then I would prob not bother unless someone can tell me that it would be an easy process even for someone as inexperienced as myself?

Thanks again for your help

Have you got access to any other PC? The way that you would install it is to download the release candidate which comes as an ISO file. You then burn this file to a DVD, and install it on your new PC as you would with a "normal" OS which comes on a disk. Don't worry, you wouldn't have to touch the BIOS

lauy · 13 Aug 2009 at 14:20

coolsouthern said:
Haha I would love to as I can see how it is obviously cheaper. Unfortunately my PC skills, to put it a nice way, are limited. The idea of building my own is pretty out there for me tbh.

Thanks anyways!

The website below is a good step by step building guide!

http://www.driverheaven.net/guides/buildingapc/index.php

Just follow the instructions, and you can't go far wrong really. Take your time with the build etc

Thing is you may need to learn how to install the software!

coolsouthern · 13 Aug 2009 at 14:20

wow thanks that really does help... So I would effectively be saving myself around another £25 ish and would still be getting the windows 7 os?

Thanks mate that's another bit of saving !

manic111 · 13 Aug 2009 at 14:32

coolsouthern said:
wow thanks that really does help... So I would effectively be saving myself around another £25 ish and would still be getting the windows 7 os?

Thanks mate that's another bit of saving !

Yep no worries; it's not really worth installing Vista now only to install Windows 7 over it in a couple of months. You might as well install Windows 7 now; you will still have to do a re-install when the retail version of Windows 7 comes out, but at least you will have saved yourself some cash!

Incidentally, pre-order Windows 7 when you buy your PC; the price will go up to £150 at the start of next year.

coolsouthern · 13 Aug 2009 at 15:33

had a look at the link thanks but tbh building a pc still seems well out of reach for me. If I was building a much cheaper system for pure use of Word etc then I would have a go but considering I'm looking at a more expensive rig I will give it a miss.

Have decided to stick with the "Warlord" unit here on ocUK... the only screen they had for my needs was a 20" samsung but I have found a much cheaper 19" HannsG one here : http://www.misco.co.uk/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=247844&Sku=125170

Altogether this will be £837.97 ( I added a wireless card). Thanks for all your help guys I will let people know when it arrives how well it destroys Football Manager!!

demonfatality · 13 Aug 2009 at 15:36

buiding your own pc is a real doddle...

coolsouthern · 13 Aug 2009 at 16:57

manic111 said:
That system will run anything which is out at the moment on high/very high settings at least, so if you stick to FM and Civ games you won't have any issues. If in two or three years time you suddenly start wanting to play the latest greatest graphical game around at the highest settings possible, you will probably need to get a new graphics card, but then that would be the same even if you went absolutely top end at the moment. For your uses that system will be a beast!

The Windows 7 Release Candidate is, effectively a pre-release. If you check out the Windows section of these forums there are tons of people (myself included) using it as their primary or sole OS without any problems whatsoever. You can download it for free off of the Microsoft website, and it's valid until the middle of next year. Pre-order the retail version of Win 7 for £65 here.

You are indeed right in thinking that you can have a small SSD as your drive for Windows and games, and then a normal HD as a drive for everything else. If you do this, whatever you install on the SSD ought to load significantly faster. I don't have one yet myself, but ask around in the Hard Drives section here to find out how people are finding their SSDs in comparison to their old HDs. By the sounds of it the 64GB Crucial is the absolute king of price/performance at the moment.

Good luck!

demonfatality said:
buiding your own pc is a real doddle...

A doddle for some it may be but as soon as I saw remarks like " then simply scre/unscrew" it was already to much for me! cheers though