Gaming Spec £1800-£2000 Please

mikex · 11 Oct 2008 at 10:11

Hello guys, I'm looking for a system that will last me a long time and will perform very well with games such as Call of Duty 4 and World of Warcraft. I would like this to include windows xp and a monitor, although, I have a monitor I could use if you have an amazing spec that doesn't fit the budget.

Thanks!

Fire Wizard · 11 Oct 2008 at 10:18

Hello mikex, what is the size of the monitor that you currently have?

Now, you would also like the specification to include Windows XP, any reason why? If you are looking at purchasing a new system, in all honesty, there is absolutely no reason not to purchase Windows Vista.

Chimerical · 11 Oct 2008 at 10:34

Right. Two major points of contention here. That graphics card is the best single GPU available, but it is grossly overpriced. I included in simply because of the high budget and its raw performance. However, the ATI 4870, which can be purchased for £182 offers something like 10% less power but costs about 60% less too. So between, those GPU choice is entirely yours (would personally go with the 4870, maybe the 1GB edition).

Secondly, that screen is hugely expensive but very good quality. However, a 24" TN panel is just as good for gaming, something like the Samsung SM-245B PLUS 24" is perfect. Also, those Hazro's do seem to come with a lot of faults, so buy with caution.

I've gone with a P45 board, because spending £50-£100 extra for Crossfire on an X48 board seems pointless to me, plus Socket 775 is going to be superseded soon anyway.

Plus, you can obviously add keyboard/mouse/soundcard of choice to this spec later.

HangTime · 11 Oct 2008 at 11:27

Make sure you get the 64bit edition of WinXP if you insist on going down that route.

Personally with such a budget I'd be looking at a minimum of:

-Yorkfield CPU
-8GB DDR2
-4870x2
-Fast system drive (Velociraptor?)
-1TB+ Storage
-24"+ Monitor

ro55o · 11 Oct 2008 at 11:38

Hi there, if you have this amount of money to spend on a system and also want it to last you a long time, then why not wait a little bit longer for i7?

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17927283

That's not saying the rig spec'd by chimerical isn't good, It will definitely last a long time. I'd go with the 4870 over the gtx280 as it's better value for money, but since you've got the money, the 4870 X2 is the fastest GPU available.

I've included an X48 board so you can expand in the future and add another GPU in crossfire. I'd reccommend getting a CPU cooler for the Q9550 and get it overclocked. Again the case is up to you, get one that best suits your needs and that you like. The P182 is a good case for the money.

flinco · 11 Oct 2008 at 14:44

Thats 8 gigs of good overclockable RAM (although having all 4 slots taken up will put a bit of stress on the mobo but should be fine) with with cooler fans

q9550 which should be able to be overclocked to 4ghz+ on the asus rampage p45 board and with the noctua cooler (added another noctua fan for push and pull which is really effective)

1TB fast drive for storage and a 60gb solid state for os/games

the case i chose is lian li which is really good quality and should have good cooling but choose the case you like.

and the acer screen i chose is perfect for gaming but not to everyones tastes, also pick one that you like and look at reviews of them.

mikex · 12 Oct 2008 at 02:10

Thanks for the replies. the reason I request XP was I have never used vista before and have heard mixed reviews about it. if it's actually not bad at all then I may well go for that instead.

*edit* current monitor is 19" I believe and 1280x1024 max.

Strife212 · 12 Oct 2008 at 02:13

You really don't want to run a £2000 PC on Windows XP. You will be limited to about 3GB of RAM detected by windows unless you go for 64 Bit XP which has a really poor reputation.

A new monitor would be really nice for a high end PC too, a 1920x1200 24" or something.

Bradley8988 · 12 Oct 2008 at 08:48

Def get vista 64 and a 24" monitor in that price.

rick fowler · 12 Oct 2008 at 08:58

someone got money to burn!!! i used to have a 1500 system all the trimmings sli ect ect but after a year you would be upgrading again me personally would get a system set for half that and keep it updated when needed,and save yourself some money i can run cryisis on full power graphics the lot and i only spent £700.

N19h7m4r3 · 12 Oct 2008 at 09:16

Well if you have that big a budget, don't you think it would be wiser to wait for i7?
Either that or Deneb, just to see some reviews and be sure you're not wasting money on old tech?

I'm sure 1500 would net you an amazing i7/Deneb Setup

Flamers · 12 Oct 2008 at 09:35

That should work nicely, just over budget but still, crossfirex on 4870x2 and 4870 =D

Flamers

Mucky_Pup · 12 Oct 2008 at 09:38

Won't crossfiring an X2 with a regular 4870 effect the X2 negatively?

Flamers · 12 Oct 2008 at 09:57

crossfirex, read up about it

Flamers

mike gunnz · 12 Oct 2008 at 10:14

Flamers said:
That should work nicely, just over budget but still, crossfirex on 4870x2 and 4870 =D

Flamers

Are you seriously advocating that the OP should spend £550 on a 4870X2 and a 4870 and then pair them with a 22" monitor?

Thats just daft in the extreme.

Solid State Drive also a waste of money at the present time.

Q9650 should be replaced with a Q9550, its £150 cheaper.

mike gunnz · 12 Oct 2008 at 10:16

Flamers said:
crossfirex, read up about it

Flamers

Mate, I think its you who needs to do some reading on the 'benefits' of Crossfire X while gaming at 1680x1050.

Lightnix · 12 Oct 2008 at 10:22

Pairing the 4870 X2 with a 512MB 4870 is going to be wasting a fair bit of VRAM isn't it?

JeffyB · 12 Oct 2008 at 10:35

Heres my take, left cpu cooler out as they seem very overpriced atm, although you would need a decent one to overclock that cpu and get the best out of the system.

i7 is not to far away either, it maybe worth while seeing if its much quicker in games.

caithomas44 · 12 Oct 2008 at 15:50

Pretty self explanitory really

I went for the x48 instead of the 790i as i belive crossfire is more beneficial than sli at the moment £ for £.

PSU is interchangeable (i may change my mind and go for a toughpower 850watt instead)

I used a raptor as SD are not as longlived and the write speeds are still poor; though access speeds are imense.

I also believe that files etc are best stored externally

so a £50 external drive would be better for storing documents etc.

Vista ultimate .................

The screen is the best contrast to res ratio that i could find

AlexTrickle · 12 Oct 2008 at 19:21

You'd be squandering money if you spent anywhere near that much on a pc so close to the release of i7. Therefore if you NEED a new pc this minute, i'd spend 600-800 max (my sig cost 800) and save the rest of a new mobo/ram/cpu when i7 comes out.