Help with choosing a PC.

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Not sure if this is in the right place, so I apologise if that is the case!

Firstly I would like to ask, do overclockers allow for monthly payments on PC?

My problem:
Last night I got home from University and went to go on the PC, which was turned off (turned itself off). Cutting a long story short, the monitor is broke (green light is on, but only displays a black screen) and when another monitor is plugged in, the PC just blue screens all the time.

Why not just buy a new monitor and format?
The PC has nvidia 6200GT, intel pentium 4 and an 80GB hard-drive, it's just not worth it!

What I need help with:
As stated above, the PC I have is awful. I know the names of good hardware, but have no idea what hardware goes with what etc etc (I'm quite stupid).

In need of a gaming PC (but will need space for University work etc).

My budget is around £600 (will be paying monthly if overclockers allows this). This £600 will have to include a new monitor, preferably something around 21inch (not sure if there are monitors out there more beneficial for gaming, so that would also be a major plus). I already have an OS system (Windows XP).

So with that said, I'm looking for a PC which is good enough for gaming. No one in my family has never built a PC before, so I'm open to suggestions, links to PC's etc.

Anyone who could help me or provide me with some help etc, would be much appreciative. Also, if there are any more questions you need answering, please feel free to ask and I will reply asap.

Thanks in advance,

Jamie.
 
If you fancy building it yourself then how about something along the lines of the following;

Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 560 OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card Gigabyte GeForce GTX 560 OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £149.99
(£124.99) £149.99
(£124.99)
Iiyama ProLite E2208HDD 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black Iiyama ProLite E2208HDD 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black £114.98
(£95.82) £114.98
(£95.82)
Intel Core i3-2100 3.10GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail Intel Core i3-2100 3.10GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £89.99
(£74.99) £89.99
(£74.99)
MSI H67MA-E35 Intel H67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Micro-ATX Motherboard - (Sandybridge) **B3 REVISION** MSI H67MA-E35 Intel H67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Micro-ATX Motherboard - (Sandybridge) **B3 REVISION** £61.99
(£51.66) £61.99
(£51.66)
OCZ ZS Series 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply OCZ ZS Series 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £52.98
(£44.15) £52.98
(£44.15)
BitFenix Merc Alpha Gaming Case - Black BitFenix Merc Alpha Gaming Case - Black £32.99
(£27.49) £32.99
(£27.49)
Kingston HyperX Blu 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1333C9D3B1K2/4G) Kingston HyperX Blu 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1333C9D3B1K2/4G) £23.99
(£19.99) £23.99
(£19.99)
LG GH24NS70 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM LG GH24NS70 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £18.98
(£15.82) £18.98
(£15.82)
Sub Total : £454.91
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £19.10
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £94.80
Total : £568.81

HDD prices have rocketed recently but you do see the occasional deal around so worth shopping around for one. You could get an external HDD and disassemble it. You could get a 60GB SSD (around £80) which will be enough for your OS and a couple of games, then buy a storage drive later when prices come down a bit.

As your a student, see if you can get a cheap copy of Windows 7 64bit.
 
Hello, thanks for the reply. I've heard building a PC yourself is a lot cheaper, but I actually have no idea on how to do it! Does it come with any instructions? I don't really fancy putting the PC together to see it blow up, because I put it together wrong haha!
 
Are you sure it's your monitor that's broken? It seems more like a pc component to me. Have you tried your monitor with someone else's pc?
 
Well I've moved the monitor to this PC downstairs, still the same problem (screen staying black even though the light is green). Then took the other monitor upstairs and PC keeps blue screening. Too much effort to format and I think it's about time I upgraded my PC lol.

I'll look around for windows 7 once I've sorted the PC, as I've never really had a problem with windows XP and I don't consider it as something major I need to be changing.

In reply to fowler:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-049-OP&groupid=43&catid=2073&subcat=

How can I add a graphics card to this PC and will this PC run for example; Battlefield 3?

Thanks.
 
you buy the card seperately then just pop it in when you get the bits home, even if you buy a pre-built system from ocuk which come with a graphics card from what I've read they take the card out and send it with the system to avoid issues during transit.

yes it'll run bf3, how well depends on the graphics card.
 
Well I've moved the monitor to this PC downstairs, still the same problem (screen staying black even though the light is green). Then took the other monitor upstairs and PC keeps blue screening. Too much effort to format and I think it's about time I upgraded my PC lol.

I'll look around for windows 7 once I've sorted the PC, as I've never really had a problem with windows XP and I don't consider it as something major I need to be changing.

In reply to fowler:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-049-OP&groupid=43&catid=2073&subcat=

How can I add a graphics card to this PC and will this PC run for example; Battlefield 3?

Thanks.

Might have meant to just by a GPU and slot it in not 100% sure.

any system with a i3 and a decent graphics card should run Bf3 very well actual. Something like shadow_boxers spec should run it on high.

Building a PC yourself is actual really easy, first time I tried it I was 16 and I just read the instruction and looked at a few picstures, also some videos on youtube. Overall its very easy mostly it like just slot this here and slot that there and your done.
 
you buy the card seperately then just pop it in when you get the bits home, even if you buy a pre-built system from ocuk which come with a graphics card from what I've read they take the card out and send it with the system to avoid issues during transit.

yes it'll run bf3, how well depends on the graphics card.

Right, thanks. Which graphics card would you advise? Would like to play older games still (Call of Duty 1/2), but I also want to play newer games at a 'playable' level I guess. How much would I be looking at?

Cheers.
 
Nope. Not with the one i bought atleast.

don't shoot the messenger ;)

just going by what others have said in some threads talking about pre-builds.

JamieA1990 it maybe worth rining ocuk and asking about this, if they can fit your chosen graphic card in then you don't need to worry when you get it home.

Bare in mind the PSU on that unit is only 500w...

not going to be an issue as his budget doesn't allow for the 'power hungrey' graphics cards ;)

6870, 560/560ti will run fine on 500w
 
Alright. Had some people saying that due to me needing a monitor aswell, £600 isn't a very good budget. If I take the budget up to £700, would this make any difference, allow room for better specs etc?

Oh and some people said I shouldn't bother with the i3 and should try and get an i5? Is there much price difference?
 
Last edited:
If you fancy building it yourself then how about something along the lines of the following;

Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 560 OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card Gigabyte GeForce GTX 560 OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £149.99
(£124.99) £149.99
(£124.99)
Iiyama ProLite E2208HDD 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black Iiyama ProLite E2208HDD 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black £114.98
(£95.82) £114.98
(£95.82)
Intel Core i3-2100 3.10GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail Intel Core i3-2100 3.10GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £89.99
(£74.99) £89.99
(£74.99)
MSI H67MA-E35 Intel H67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Micro-ATX Motherboard - (Sandybridge) **B3 REVISION** MSI H67MA-E35 Intel H67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Micro-ATX Motherboard - (Sandybridge) **B3 REVISION** £61.99
(£51.66) £61.99
(£51.66)
OCZ ZS Series 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply OCZ ZS Series 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £52.98
(£44.15) £52.98
(£44.15)
BitFenix Merc Alpha Gaming Case - Black BitFenix Merc Alpha Gaming Case - Black £32.99
(£27.49) £32.99
(£27.49)
Kingston HyperX Blu 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1333C9D3B1K2/4G) Kingston HyperX Blu 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1333C9D3B1K2/4G) £23.99
(£19.99) £23.99
(£19.99)
LG GH24NS70 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM LG GH24NS70 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £18.98
(£15.82) £18.98
(£15.82)
Sub Total : £454.91
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £19.10
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £94.80
Total : £568.81

HDD prices have rocketed recently but you do see the occasional deal around so worth shopping around for one. You could get an external HDD and disassemble it. You could get a 60GB SSD (around £80) which will be enough for your OS and a couple of games, then buy a storage drive later when prices come down a bit.

As your a student, see if you can get a cheap copy of Windows 7 64bit.

Sorry to be a pain guys. I've just put this into a basket, had a look around and it looks good. Think my dad is going to help me have a go at building the PC.

Is this PC ok? I mean.. I don't want to buy this and then I find out something doesn't fit or, the power supply isn't strong enough, or I need extra fans etc?

Sorry for asking dumb questions, just want to make sure and thanks in advance!
 
It fits and all works etc.

Has it been mentioned to you that the above spec cant be overclocked?
 
Hey guys.

I've spoken to my dad and he says if I'm going to buy a new PC, I may aswell be buying something that I can easily upgrade or/and will last me for a while. Therefore I've figured if I'm going to be using the pay over 36 months plan, that what I'm going to be paying isn't going to be too much of an issue.

I don't want to be spending megabucks, but I understand the i5 would make quite a difference to the PC and would allow for a better graphics card?

Would anyone be able to make me a PC (a build yourself or a pre-built one) with an i5/decent graphics card (not sure if i5 is the way forward at all, so if there's something better please let me know) and I'll still need a monitor and a new HDD.

Thanks a lot!
 
I'd say save yourself the hassle and the risk and get a pre-built system like the "Titan Supersaurus" Intel Core i5 2500K 3.30GHz @ 4.60GHz DDR3 Sandybridge System
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-190-OE&groupid=43&catid=2040&subcat=

System Specification
- Case: Coolermaster CM 690 II Dominator Advanced - Black
- Power Supply: OCZ ZS 650w PSU
- CPU: Intel Core i5 2500K 3.30GHz Overclocked to 4.40GHz Sandybridge CPU
- Motherboard: Gigabyte Z68X-UD5 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard ** B3 REVISION **
- Cooler: OcUK H2 Flo Cooler
- RAM: 8GB DDR3 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
- Hard Drive: 1TB + Crucial M4 64GB Sata 6GB/s Solid State Drive
- Graphics Card: Choice of the latest DX11 Graphics Cards
- Sound: Asus Xonar DG PCI Sound Card
- Optical Drive: DVD+/-RW SATA Drive

Very good value for money and will run every single game very well on normal resolutions.
If you order the components separately you will hardly save anything I think because of the rising HDD prices, which I believe are not reflected yet in the pre-built systems.
 
I'd say save yourself the hassle and the risk and get a pre-built system like the "Titan Supersaurus" Intel Core i5 2500K 3.30GHz @ 4.60GHz DDR3 Sandybridge System
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-190-OE&groupid=43&catid=2040&subcat=

System Specification
- Case: Coolermaster CM 690 II Dominator Advanced - Black
- Power Supply: OCZ ZS 650w PSU
- CPU: Intel Core i5 2500K 3.30GHz Overclocked to 4.40GHz Sandybridge CPU
- Motherboard: Gigabyte Z68X-UD5 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard ** B3 REVISION **
- Cooler: OcUK H2 Flo Cooler
- RAM: 8GB DDR3 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
- Hard Drive: 1TB + Crucial M4 64GB Sata 6GB/s Solid State Drive
- Graphics Card: Choice of the latest DX11 Graphics Cards
- Sound: Asus Xonar DG PCI Sound Card
- Optical Drive: DVD+/-RW SATA Drive

Very good value for money and will run every single game very well on normal resolutions.
If you order the components separately you will hardly save anything I think because of the rising HDD prices, which I believe are not reflected yet in the pre-built systems.

Thanks for the reply, the system looks decent. The only thing is that I prefer nvidia over ATI (as there are problems with the older games I play and ATI cards), so which nvidia card would be best to take? I assume the GT430? Thanks for the reply!
 
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