new computer £1000

Dark88 · 13 Apr 2007 at 09:52

hey guys,

I'm looking to purchase a new computer and I'm willing to spend up to £1000 on it. With it I hope to be able to play most FPS titles comfortably with reasonable/good graphics.

I've fallen a bit behind with the current computer technology and there's such a range of different components I'm a bit lost :/ Also I'm not really comfortable building one so it would have to come pre-made. Within the £1000 I'd also like to budget for a monitor and also an OS, anti-virus and office software. any suggestions guys?

Greatly appreciated, thanx

mishima · 13 Apr 2007 at 09:56

I would seriously consider building one mate, as with a pre-built you are going to loose out a few hundred which could be used towards the components inside the case. It works out so much better if you build, if its you're first time just check out a few guides on the web and of course we will be here to asist you constructing it, its really not that hard at all and you will be much better off

gurusan · 13 Apr 2007 at 09:58

If you insist on buying a pre-built one then this is the best you can get from OCuK with your budget.

But I STRONGLY recommend building your own.

Dark88 · 13 Apr 2007 at 10:00

kk if I can save that much then looks like I should look into building. Can anyone suggest a good list of components? Also any nooby tips when building your own pc that I could use to avoid common pitfalls or errors?

Cupra · 13 Apr 2007 at 10:02

well it all depends if you need a moniter ect

Lolcb · 13 Apr 2007 at 10:03

Office software + OS + Monitor + Keyboard + mouse, is going to eat up half of your budget, maybe even more.

Then you're left with very little for your base pc, I would recommend you stretching your budget a little if you wish to play present fps and future fps titles comfortably.

Dark88 · 13 Apr 2007 at 10:03

paul_64l said:
well it all depends if you need a moniter ect

yes please I do need a monitor and also some software aswell

EDIT: also If I'm likely to see a significant performance increase I'm willing to throw 100-200 more at it

over that I really cant (poor uni student)

Cupra · 13 Apr 2007 at 10:07

any preferance in what case, overclocking, and xp or vista

semi-pro waster · 13 Apr 2007 at 10:08

Welcome to the forums, this is just about on budget. I'd use Open Office instead of Microsoft Office as it is free and has probably 99% of the functionality (I use it personally and haven't missed anything yet).

GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB6400UDC) £94.99
(£111.61) £94.99
(£111.61)
EVGA GeForce 8800 GTS SuperClocked 320MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £177.99
(£209.14) £177.99
(£209.14)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB ST3250620AS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM £42.99
(£50.51) £42.99
(£50.51)
Gigabyte GA_965P_DS3P (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £74.99
(£88.11) £74.99
(£88.11)
Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail £154.99
(£182.11) £154.99
(£182.11)
BenQ FP202W 20" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black £139.99
(£164.49) £139.99
(£164.49)
Samsung SH-W183 18x18 DVD±RW Serial ATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
(£21.14) £17.99
(£21.14)
Antec Sonata II Piano Black Quiet Case - 450W Smart Power PSU £59.99
(£70.49) £59.99
(£70.49)
Logitech Cordless Desktop EX-110 - Retail £17.99
(£21.14) £17.99
(£21.14)
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit Edition DVD - OEM - 1Pk (66I-00788) £63.99
(£75.19) £63.99
(£75.19)
Sub Total : £845.90
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £12.95
Vat : £150.30
Total : £1,009.15

Dark88 · 13 Apr 2007 at 10:11

paul_64l said:
any preferance in what case, overclocking, and xp or vista

overclocking I probs wont be going in for tbh, dont have the confidence. and with a case I have very little preference I dont want to spend a fortune on LEDs etc. just something big enough to fit everything in. I was leaning towards vista, save upgrading again later but is it stable enough? also with open office is it basically a free version of office with all the same software? I basically need word, excel and an email client.

Dark88 · 13 Apr 2007 at 10:12

semi-pro waster said:
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit Edition DVD - OEM - 1Pk (66I-00788) £63.99

semi-pro waster I'm currently also playing CnC3 which I dont think is compatible with 64 vista, would a 32 version be just as good?

gurusan · 13 Apr 2007 at 10:13

Darkmage88 said:
semi-pro waster I'm currently also playing CnC3 which I dont think is compatible with 64 vista, would a 32 version be just as good?

CNC 3 is compatible with 64 vista...in fact I haven't encountered any compatibility problems with any games so far and I;'m running vista 64

mishima · 13 Apr 2007 at 10:14

I hadn't overclocked a CPU in the 5 years I have been into computers until a few weeks ago when I had the assistance of WJA to overclock my core 2 duo. Its really not hard at all, and the results you get are marvellous. I think you just need a little push

Esepcially as we have managed to convince you to invest in a bundle of components rather than a pre-built system. Reap the rewards

Semi-pro's spec is spot on!

Cupra · 13 Apr 2007 at 10:14

i had just about the same spec as semi pro... it would be a shame not to overclock a c2d setup tbh ... it can make a huge diffrence in your games... also if you have the extra £200 you could get a gtx gpu for that extra fps

mishima · 13 Apr 2007 at 10:17

One thing I would say about Semi-pro's spec though is that if you are comfortable with overclocking downgrade the CPU to a E6300 (you can easily overclock to above 3GHz) and then replace the 320MB 8800 with a 640MB, the increase in video memory will help in high-textured games and also future proof you.

Dark88 · 13 Apr 2007 at 10:23

mishima said:
One thing I would say about Semi-pro's spec though is that if you are comfortable with overclocking downgrade the CPU to a E6300 (you can easily overclock to above 3GHz) and then replace the 320MB 8800 with a 640MB, the increase in video memory will help in high-textured games and also future proof you.

EVGA GeForce 8800 GTS KO ACS3 320MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £199.99
(£234.99) £199.99
(£234.99)
EVGA GeForce 8800 GTS ACS3 SILENT 640MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £239.99
(£281.99) £239.99
(£281.99)

this upgrade? Is only £50 so I'd be willing if that extra 320MB will help in games

mishima · 13 Apr 2007 at 10:27

Yep, thats it. Some games do demand greater video memory I have found that to be the case with Oblivion, I have the 320MB version and it suffers in Oblivion at times which I'm not very happy about. Its worth the extra video memory.

You can get a 640MB version for £250 by the way - BFG one.

semi-pro waster · 13 Apr 2007 at 10:28

Darkmage88 said:
semi-pro waster I'm currently also playing CnC3 which I dont think is compatible with 64 vista, would a 32 version be just as good?

gurusan has answered this one and it appears Open Office works fine as should Avast Antivirus which is also free for non-commercial use and seems to work perfectly. There is plenty of free software if you look about or even just ask for recommendations in the Windows sub-forum after searching.

Like mishima says you could get a cheaper CPU such as the 6300 and overclock to get the same sort of performance then put the remainder of the budget towards a graphics card with more Ram if you want.

Dark88 · 13 Apr 2007 at 10:28

been lookin at the 8800 GTS and it recommends a 500W minimum PSU, currently only paying for a 450W would an upgrade here be required?

semi-pro waster · 13 Apr 2007 at 10:31

Darkmage88 said:
been lookin at the 8800 GTS and it recommends a 500W minimum PSU, currently only paying for a 450W would an upgrade here be required?

Nope, the disclaimer about 500w PSUs is because cheap/generic PSUs often use the maximum wattage output as their claimed figure, their stable power output is lower than that. The Antec is not a cheap and nasty PSU so it is quite capable.