gaming pc - which one

[S3_Graham]

Realistically, are any of these up to the task of handling good games?

BF3 et al?

http://www.novatech.co.uk/pc/gaming/?th=g

Clearly i'd like to spend as little as poss, and i have a netbook for surfing so it literally would be for gaming only! (not even that much gaming as i have an xbox!)

[Jinx]

The Intel i5 is a good enough processor but you really want that partnered with at least the nVidia 560TI graphics card - so probably best to try to get them to upgrade the graphics in one of the first machines (i7 won't show much of an advantage for games) .

[vonuber]

I would suggest building your own, it's very easy and you'll likely get a better one for less money.

[S3_Graham]

vonuber said:

I would suggest building your own, it's very easy and you'll likely get a better one for less money.

my dad is Inspector gadget so he can make them, i just thought it might be easier to buy off the shelf.

what would be a good spec for processor/GFX card? Hdd isnt too much of an issue but i guess solid state is a must.

[Mikeyboy]

S3_Graham said:

my dad is Inspector gadget so he can make them, i just thought it might be easier to buy off the shelf.

what would be a good spec for processor/GFX card? Hdd isnt too much of an issue but i guess solid state is a must.

i5 2500k is a good processor from Intel.
GFX card is very much about how much you want to spend. If not an off the shelf box up to £100 or over £200?
A quick internert search will get you an idea on which cards are good and then you can work from there.
I keep reading that a good off the shelf system should cost you about £750. Sounds about right having just rebuilt my own for just a bit shy of that all in.

[MattyB_]

I've just rebuilt mine.

Best bet is an i5 2500k (plenty in there for overclocking too, should you wish) and I'd go for a GTX 560, possibly a 570 if you can afford it. RAM is cheap enough, so 8GB is worthwhile, just remember than hard drives are currently VERY expensive due to issues with flooding over in Asia, so bear that in mind.

[Mikeyboy]

Oh to add, if you intend to add more and more cards and other power hungry stuff, like additional fans sond cards etc, just remember to get a PC where the power supply unit is over about 600w.
850w would be far more than you need and I think 400 would be borderline for most gaming PCs

[S3_Graham]

brilliant. Thats the kind of stuff.

I was looking at GFX cards and Processors. thought i'd look at them expensive < cheap.

Most expensive ones were £3,500!!!! WTF.

[vonuber]

You can get a very good card for £200; even £100 would run most things very acceptably indeed.

[Mikeyboy]

S3_Graham said:

brilliant. Thats the kind of stuff.

I was looking at GFX cards and Processors. thought i'd look at them expensive < cheap.

Most expensive ones were £3,500!!!! WTF.

No way you need to spend that. I don't think that would even future proof you to a huge extent either.

Best thing is make sure you have a future proof CPU like the ones we've mentioned and then be prepared to compromise on a mid-low price graphics card and do some upgrading yourself as and when you can afford or want to.

this one is a pretty good example at random. Graphics card is decent enough for anything out there at the moment but won't give you the ultra settings or high frame rates and you can add more RAM and a new graphics card as you see fit.

[Du1point8]

with HDs I would look at SSD for main one (120GB is still quite reasonable) and holding out till the price of the normal HDs comes down.

If you look at separates you could get:

2500k CPU for £165.68
120GB SSD for £124.98
ATX MB for £82.05
8GB RAM for £40
Case circa £50
750W PSU £50
Graphics 1GB for £100

Monitor depending on what you need (21-24")
Extras depends on what you need (speakers/keyboard/mouse)

Would be roughly the same as one of their cheaper models (minus £75-150 build costs) and should do what you need but depends on what you are willing to spend?

[130R]

Have a look at the one I spec'd here:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[grenpayne]

A lot of good info on here and as said the best bang for your buck right now is the i5 2500k. Get a decent ASUS, Gigabyte or ASRock motherboard (full size ATX boards are better for gaming PCs) and a decent cooler and it'll work brilliantly. With a little patience and research these can be overclocked close to where the older i7 chips were for a lot less money.

Memory wise 8gb is good, though Win7 32 bit can only use just over 3Gb so go for Win7 64 bit to ensure you can actually make use of it. Although I've just splashed out on a Radeon HD 6950 graphics card the NVidia 560Ti is very good value for money right now.

The other thing that's often overlooked on a gaming PC is the keyboard and mouse. Have a look at the Logitech G5, it's a little pricey but supposed to be excellent.