Associate
- Joined
- 13 Jan 2004
- Posts
- 211
- Location
- Cambridge, UK
Hi there,
It's been a good month and overall a good year, the overtime and bonuses have stacked up well and I decided I want to get a new PC (mines really getting long in the tooth).
I've not really kept up to date with the whole hardware thing, I just don't have the time these days, so I'm looking for advice of what to buy.
The machine will be used for 2 main scenarios:
1. Personal - Playing online games (WoW mostly) and some FPS, would like to be able to play CoD4 etc if possible. Then there is the encoding, I like to use FRAPS to record in game stuff and make movies.
2. Learning - I have a shed load of MS and Citrix exams to take over the next year and I want to have a fairly decent learning environment set up. My idea is to install VMWare workstation and setup around 4 - 6 virtual machines (won't always be all running at same time) with various servers and software on to use for study.
I'm setting aside a budget of £1000 - £1200, in that I'd like if possible a Quad Core CPU and 4GB of RAM, I also need a copy of Vista 64-bit (No idea what version to go for, guessing Ultimate is the way to go).
So over to the more knowledgable, I have no preference over Intel/AMD, same applied with nVidia/ATI, I just want the best bang for buck.
It's been a good month and overall a good year, the overtime and bonuses have stacked up well and I decided I want to get a new PC (mines really getting long in the tooth).
I've not really kept up to date with the whole hardware thing, I just don't have the time these days, so I'm looking for advice of what to buy.
The machine will be used for 2 main scenarios:
1. Personal - Playing online games (WoW mostly) and some FPS, would like to be able to play CoD4 etc if possible. Then there is the encoding, I like to use FRAPS to record in game stuff and make movies.
2. Learning - I have a shed load of MS and Citrix exams to take over the next year and I want to have a fairly decent learning environment set up. My idea is to install VMWare workstation and setup around 4 - 6 virtual machines (won't always be all running at same time) with various servers and software on to use for study.
I'm setting aside a budget of £1000 - £1200, in that I'd like if possible a Quad Core CPU and 4GB of RAM, I also need a copy of Vista 64-bit (No idea what version to go for, guessing Ultimate is the way to go).
So over to the more knowledgable, I have no preference over Intel/AMD, same applied with nVidia/ATI, I just want the best bang for buck.
RAM ratio or that'd put your RAM at 933 Mhz. Easy to do though, when you get it all up and running just ask for help doing that and you'll get it, people on this forum are very helpful.