Help... Confused

[cactwma]

Hey, this is my first post here.

Well, I have been thinking about getting a new PC, but I don't need it to play the latest games. I mainly want something that will comfortably play games on the highest settings from say up to 2006. Most games since then have been released on consoles. Although, I wouldn't mind playing a few newer games like CivRevs that are PC exclusive, even on the lowest setting it won't bother me too much.

I will need a new keyboard, mouse and a nice new monitor as I will be watching HD content on there, and Win7 home premium OS.

So basically, should I buy a pre-made one off here or choose my own parts for it to be built?

Any reccomendations?

Thanks.

Andy.

 

[Reaper 392]

building your own PC is the way to get the most bang for your buck.

from your post i am guessing you want a low end gaming PC that is nice and cheap and will also be good as a video player. will you be doing anything else that is processor intensive? (eg video encoding, 3D design, large photoshop work, etc)

this is what ive come up with:

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition "125W Edition" 3.20GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £89.99
1 x XFX ATI Radeon HD 5830 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £79.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Bundle - Home Premium 64 Bit £68.40
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (WD5000AAKX) £29.99
1 x Cooler Master Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black (with 500w Elite Power PSU) £64.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/4GX) £34.99
1 x ASRock N68C-S UCC GeForce 7025 (Socket AM3/AM2+) DDR2/DDR3 microATX Motherboard £34.99
1 x Arctic Cooling Freezer 13 Pro Extreme Performance CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775/1155/1156/1366/AM3/AM2+/AM2) £24.98
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £456.82 (includes shipping : £11.25).

the CPU cooler isnt needed, but i found the standard cooler on the Phenom II X4 far too noisy for video and gaming without putting headphones in, so i have added a custom one

will you be likely to use lots of (more than two) add on cards, like a TV card, etc?

 

[panyan]

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition "125W Edition" 3.20GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £89.99
1 x XFX ATI Radeon HD 5830 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £79.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Bundle - Home Premium 64 Bit £68.40
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (WD5000AAKX) £29.99
1 x Cooler Master Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black (with 500w Elite Power PSU) £64.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/4GX) £34.99
1 x ASRock N68C-S UCC GeForce 7025 (Socket AM3/AM2+) DDR2/DDR3 microATX Motherboard £34.99
1 x Arctic Cooling Freezer 13 Pro Extreme Performance CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775/1155/1156/1366/AM3/AM2+/AM2) £24.98
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £456.82 (includes shipping : £11.25).

that looks pretty good and a good price too

 

[RJC]

Might be worth looking at the Hard drive and software bundle:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SW-000-OP&groupid=33&catid=1963&subcat=

 

[stulid]

YOUR BASKET
1 x amd phenom ii x4 quad core 955 black edition "125w edition" 3.20ghz (socket am3) - retail £89.99
1 x xfx ati radeon hd 5830 1024mb gddr5 pci-express graphics card £79.99
1 x microsoft windows 7 bundle - home premium 64 bit £68.40
1 x western digital caviar blue 500gb sata 6gb/s 16mb cache - oem (wd5000aakx) £29.99
1 x cooler master elite 430 windowed case - black (with 500w elite power psu) £64.99
1 x kingston hyperx genesis grey 4gb (2x2gb) ddr3 pc3-12800c9 1600mhz dual channel kit (khx1600c9d3x2k2/4gx) £34.99
1 x asrock n68c-s ucc geforce 7025 (socket am3/am2+) ddr2/ddr3 microatx motherboard £34.99
1 x arctic cooling freezer 13 pro extreme performance cpu cooler (socket lga775/1155/1156/1366/am3/am2+/am2) £24.98
1 x ocuk 22x dvd±rw sata rewriter (black) - oem £14.99
total : £456.82 (includes shipping : £11.25).

pity that motherbaord doesnt seem to support 125w cpu's.


@op, you really should be buying intels sandybridge which is massively faster.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core-i5-2500-2400-2300.html - a 2300 easily beats a AMD 975BE CPu and others.


Your basketProduct Name Qty Price Line Total
Intel Core i5-2300 2.80GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £139.99
(£116.66) £139.99
(£116.66)
XFX ATI Radeon HD 5830 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £79.99
(£66.66) £79.99
(£66.66)
Microsoft Windows 7 Bundle - Home Premium 64 Bit £68.40
(£57.00) £68.40
(£57.00)
Options applied to the above product:
Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (WD5000AAKX) £29.99
(£24.99) £29.99
(£24.99)
Cooler Master Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black (with 500w Elite Power PSU) £64.99
(£54.16) £64.99
(£54.16)
MSI H67MA-E35 Intel H67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Micro-ATX Motherboard - (Sandybridge) **B3 REVISION** £59.99
(£49.99) £59.99
(£49.99)
Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/4GX) £34.99
(£29.16) £34.99
(£29.16)
OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
(£12.49) £14.99
(£12.49)
Sub Total : £411.11
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £11.25
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £84.47
Total : £506.83

 

[panyan]

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core-i5-2500-2400-2300.html - a 2300 easily beats a AMD 975BE CPu and others.

yes, that is true at stock speeds, but would you suggest the amd if overclocked?

 

[Reaper 392]

Pity that motherbaord doesnt seem to support 125W CPU's.


@OP, you really should be buying Intels Sandybridge which is massively faster.

*sandybridge spec*

it says it supports phenom II X4's on OcUK, so is this a case of OcUK being wrong?

also, just because you have a sandybridge now doesnt mean that everyone in the world has to have them and will die without them. they may be better, but some people cant afford them

yes, that is true at stock speeds, but would you suggest the amd if overclocked?

i5 2300 will be faster than the phenom at any speed reachable by the phenom

 

[stulid]

but would you suggest the amd if overclocked?

Absolutely not.

The fact the 2300 is even dominating a AMD 975BE which is 400MHZ faster than a 955BE.

 

[panyan]

also, just because you have a sandybridge now doesnt mean that everyone in the world has to have them and will die without them

people can buy what they want, but at the moment SB offers the best bang for your buck, if you cant afford SB, then AMD offers a good alternative for a lower budget

i5 2300 will be faster than the phenom at any speed reachable by the phenom

so 2300 all the way

 

[panyan]

double post - delete plz

 

[stulid]

it says it supports phenom II X4's on OcUK, so is this a case of OcUK being wrong?

Its a case iof people not checking the CPU support list for the motherboards they try and spec and not seeing that 95W CPU's is all it does.

also, just because you have a sandybridge now doesnt mean that everyone in the world has to have them and will die without them. they may be better, but some people cant afford them

AMD Phenoms are old and crap these days, there is almost certainly a better Intel option.

 

[stulid]

i dont understand, you would absolutely recommend the amd even though the 2300 is dominating the BE's? - perhaps my question wasnt clear - ill assume your going for the 2300 as well

Sorry I left a word out, should be absolutely Not.

Intel are just faster, consume a lot less watts etc.

 

[panyan]

Intel are just faster, consume a lot less watts etc.

understood

 

[Stoner81]

Hey, this is my first post here.

Well, I have been thinking about getting a new PC, but I don't need it to play the latest games. I mainly want something that will comfortably play games on the highest settings from say up to 2006. Most games since then have been released on consoles. Although, I wouldn't mind playing a few newer games like CivRevs that are PC exclusive, even on the lowest setting it won't bother me too much.

I will need a new keyboard, mouse and a nice new monitor as I will be watching HD content on there, and Win7 home premium OS.

So basically, should I buy a pre-made one off here or choose my own parts for it to be built?

Any reccomendations?

Thanks.

Andy.

What is your total budget including keyboard, mouse, monitor and OS?

Stoner81.

 

[Reaper 392]

Its a case iof people not checking the CPU support list for the motherboards they try and spec and not seeing that 95W CPU's is all it does.



AMD Phenoms are old and crap these days, there is almost certainly a better Intel option.

that explains why its so cheap then. however, i honestly cant find any new intel mobo + CPU that will equal the phenom II X4 performance for less money. hell, i cant find any mobo + CPU for similar prices from intel, never mind competitive performance.

closest i can get is an i3 2100 + a H61 mobo which, when you overclock the phenom, will not be as good

yes intel have a lot better processors, but they cost a bit more. the motherboards cost a huge amount more though, which is the main problem

 

[stulid]

The 60W at load wattage difference of say a 2300 vs a 955BE will pay for itself in electricity costs alone, depending on how long the PC is on for a day.


And the simple dual core 2100 looks rather good.

http://techreport.com/articles.x/20873/2
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/289?vs=88

 

[Reaper 392]

The 60W at load wattage difference of say a 2300 vs a 955BE will pay for itself in electricity costs alone, depending on how long the PC is on for a day.


And the simple dual core 2100 looks rather good.

http://techreport.com/articles.x/20873/2
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/289?vs=88

well, i remember about a month or so ago you were saying the phenom II X4 955 was way better than the i3 2100, so why the change of tune now?

 

[cactwma]

building your own PC is the way to get the most bang for your buck.

from your post i am guessing you want a low end gaming PC that is nice and cheap and will also be good as a video player. will you be doing anything else that is processor intensive? (eg video encoding, 3D design, large photoshop work, etc)

this is what ive come up with:

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition "125W Edition" 3.20GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £89.99
1 x XFX ATI Radeon HD 5830 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £79.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Bundle - Home Premium 64 Bit £68.40
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (WD5000AAKX) £29.99
1 x Cooler Master Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black (with 500w Elite Power PSU) £64.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/4GX) £34.99
1 x ASRock N68C-S UCC GeForce 7025 (Socket AM3/AM2+) DDR2/DDR3 microATX Motherboard £34.99
1 x Arctic Cooling Freezer 13 Pro Extreme Performance CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775/1155/1156/1366/AM3/AM2+/AM2) £24.98
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £456.82 (includes shipping : £11.25).

the CPU cooler isnt needed, but i found the standard cooler on the Phenom II X4 far too noisy for video and gaming without putting headphones in, so i have added a custom one

will you be likely to use lots of (more than two) add on cards, like a TV card, etc?

Thanks a lot for taking the time to find a system for me.

And basically, yes a low - mid PC is what I need. For EVERYTHING my budget is around £600, which I would have thought adequate as I am not even planning on running games from 07 at the highest settings. I won't be doing anything too processor intensive, no photoshop, 3d designing, nothing except gaming and the regular stuff. And no, I don't think I will be using many cards at all.

Thanks guys.

 

[stulid]

well, i remember about a month or so ago you were saying the phenom II X4 955 was way better than the i3 2100, so why the change of tune now?

Thats before I got Sandybridge and have watched my electricity consumption plummet.

And H61/H67 motherboards/cpus are getting cheaper and cheaper.


£60 - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-172-MS

Includes SATA and USB 3.0 and is more future proof than a AM3 motherboard.


==========================


I reckon im using £2 less per week on my electricity since getting this Sandybridge.

£2 X 52weeks = £104 per year approximately, 1.5 years and the CPU will have paid for itself while enjoying superior performance.

 

[Reaper 392]

Thats before I got Sandybridge and have watched my electricity consumption plummet.

And H61/H67 motherboards/cpus are getting cheaper and cheaper.

surely a processor change wont change the electric bill that much? (i dont pay the leccy bill so i wouldnt know for sure).
however if the H motherboards are getting a lot cheaper than before then i can see why your so strongly behind sandy now

*edit*
nice mobo you got there. your right in it coming down in price a lot. definitely makes sandy the way to go. i remember when them mobos cost almost as much as the p67's do now

*2nd edit*
with a £600 budget there is no argument for AMD. its ~£400 or less that you think about AMD