Gaming PC

[Topcat]

So after several years of only console gaming i'm returning to some PC gaming with the release of Guild Wars 2.

 

I will need a new PC for this, i don't know a great deal about spec but would like to play the game on it's top settings without going overboard on budget.

 

I've looked through the Dell website and have made up a few systems but it's a minefield trying to know which processors and graphic cards would be best and offer best value for money.

 

Below are the minimum requirements,

 

 

Windows® XP Service Pack 2 or better • Intel® Core 2 Duo 2.0 GHz, Core i3, AMD Athlon 64 X2, or better • 2 GB RAM • NVIDIA® GeForce® 7800, ATI X1800, Intel HD 3000, or better (256MB of video RAM and shader model 3.0 or better) • 25 GB available HDD space • Broadband Internet connection • Keyboard and mouse

 

This looks to me like a pretty basic PC and i'm finding it hard to find the requirements to play the game on top settings.

 

Any help would be much appreciated, also if your going to be purchasing it, the more friends the better for questing and raiding.

 

Thanks, Topcat

[Will370z]

Don't touch dell

 

I've used chillblast for my last few pcs and recommended them to friends. They often get the pc pro awards and it's not that much more expensive than building it yourself and the warranty Is actually valuable in contrast to the Nissan one

[Topcat]

Thanks, will check it out, going to have to do alot of reading to catch my knowledge up on CPU and graphics cards.

[marzman]

I've been looking into processor specs myself recently as im after a new laptop.

 

Basically the current range of intel's come in 3 levels:

 

Intel i3 - budget

Intel i5 - Midrange

Intel i7 - Top Spec

 

I think all of these are quad core processors. I know there are other intel chips on the market, but these are old/end of life and are only dual core i think.

 

If i was building a gaming PC i wouldnt get anything less than an i7 processor, and at least 6GB of Ram.

[Topcat]

I'm looking to spend as little as possible really, as i'll probably be only using my PC for this one game. i think an i7 pushes the price too high for me.

 

http://www.chillblast.com/Chillblast-Fu ... imera.html

 

This is the base level gaming PC on chillblast.

 

Easily enough for the minimum requirements, but i'm not sure it could have smooth FPS at higher game settings.

Also i'm pretty clueless on Graphics Cards

[Topcat]

Although if i swap the i5 proccessor for the top spec

 

Intel Core i7 3770K Processor Overclocked to up to 4.6GHz it's £118 more. If everything else on the system holds up, i guess thats pretty good value for money?

[Ekona]

Another good company is PC Specialist. Don't be put off by the rubbish name or by their rubbish adverts in the specialist press, I gave them a whirl and they were superb. Great prices, even better delivery times, and well packaged upon delivery too.

 

As far as graphics cards go, just look at THG charts and you'll get an idea of how good stuff is relative to each other, then just pick one in your price range. I love my i7 with 12GB of RAM, but it doesn't get used for gaming at all and you'd be better off swapping CPU power for GPU power if it's a games machine. Don't get sucked in by pretty cases either, spend that extra money where it counts like RAM or a better PSU.

[Topcat]

Ok, cheers Dan. Good link, they actually have a 'build your pc around which game you play' and guild wars 2 is there, so that's a good start.

Thanks for the info it's quite hard trying to learn this stuff from a laymans starting point.

[sasha@lazytrips]

In short, if you want to save money, build the thing yourself. It is far easier than you might think, won't take too long and you get full control of every single component that goes in.

 

If you're using the computer to play games, get yourself the best quad processor you can afford, but don't pay the premium for the i7 double-threaded processors as you will notice no difference in gaming (these are made for things like photo/video work).

 

Only get the "K" version of the processor if you are planning to overclock it as otherwise it is exactly the same as the basic model. If overclocking, you'll need to at least stick a better fan than stock and make sure your case has good cooling.

 

If you tell us a budget, I can tell you how much you can get for that. (remember you'll need to get a version of Windows installed as well which will factor into how much you can spend on everything else.

[Topcat]

I was hoping under £800

Spent all morning reading up on the tech.

So far i've built one for around £850

 

Can choose from any of these processor for the same price?

Intel Core i5 2500K Processor Overclocked to up to 4.6GHz

Intel Core i5 3570K Processor 3.40 GHz (No Overclocking)

Intel Core i5 2500K Processor 3.30 GHz (No Overclocking)

Intel Core i5 3570K Processor Overclocked to up to 4.5GHz

(with upgraded fan if oveclocked)

 

 

8gb memory

nvidia geforce gtx 560ti 1024mb

a 120gb solid state drive in addition of 1000gb hd

 

then everything else pretty standard.

[Topcat]

Thats with windows 7 64

 

So the plan is to load operating system and the game on to the solid state drive so it all loads up mega fast.

Then the Hard disc for everything else.

 

Hope i've not made any noob mistakes there, but from my understanding that'd be the most efficient way?

[MacW]

Definitely agree with going with the i5K instead of the i7, no benefit to gaming at all.

 

Most games are created or optimised for 32bit architecture still so while your 64bit OS will see more than 4gb RAM the game will not utilise it. With the current prices of RAM though I'd only worry about this if you're desperate to save a few quid somewhere.

 

I also would avoid Nvidia cards at the moment as they have some catastrophic issues with driver kernels failing on a regular basis with 64bit systems.

[Topcat]

I can swap out the nvidia for

AMD Radeon HD 6950 1024MB Graphics Card.

only £30 more.

 

From what i understand MMORPG games will benefit albeit slighty from running on a 64bit system.

Also as you say the price difference is a few % of the £800 price.

[sasha@lazytrips]

Basically do the following:

 

Get yourself an Ivybridge processor (a fair few quite good additions over the Sandybridge older Intel ones). Something like a 3770K should be right up your street + will be miles ahead of the 2500K at the same overclock speed for almost the same money.

 

Get yourself either a GTX 570 or something like that (slightly older, but still very good performance + cheaper) card or a Radeon 7950 (new + cool features + nice overclocking potential + very very good price).

 

Get yourself a modular 650-750 power supply from a good reputable brand (e.g. OCZ, Corsair) - if this fails, you'll fry a lot of stuff, so don't skimp.

 

Get yourself an SSD if you really want one. If you can wait a few more seconds to boot, get yourself a Spinpoint 1TB drive (or two in RAID - will work almost as quick and give you 2TB of space, but with 2x likelihood of failure over time - if one goes, all your data is gone)

 

Go buy a basic Asus motherboard that supports all the stuff you want, has USB 3 and whatnot and that allows you to play with clock speeds etc on an 1155 socket.

 

Buy a case of your choice - I prefer big ones for airflow + much easier to install things. I swear by NZXT - very good build quality, reasonable price and extremely easy to fit most things with no tools

 

All of the above should net you an £800 PC with far more ponies than what you were looking at before. Ebuyer and Overclockers are good places to source parts.

[Topcat]

Sasha, thanks for the info.

I've built up that pc on a few sites and looks to be pushing £1000.

My only concern building myself would be, no warranty and only my limited knowledge to put it all together, which i'm not confident of doing.

So maybe biting the bullet and getting it built properly with a warranty is worth it in my case.

 

Although i'll probably have to sacrifice either the SSD or a weaker graphics card.

[sasha@lazytrips]

Sasha, thanks for the info.

I've built up that pc on a few sites and looks to be pushing £1000.

My only concern building myself would be, no warranty and only my limited knowledge to put it all together, which i'm not confident of doing.

So maybe biting the bullet and getting it built properly with a warranty is worth it in my case.

 

Although i'll probably have to sacrifice either the SSD or a weaker graphics card.

 

 

All up to you in the end mate. I had no experience of anything similar when I built my first PC. Took me about an hour and a half all in including opening all the boxes, figuring out what goes where for the first time and all that. I would never do anything other build one myself in the future, but that's my choice. I know that if I want to upgrade components, it's very cheap and easy to do whenever I want to, etc. I've had my latest one for a year and a half with quite extensive usage for periods during this time and average usage at others and it literally still feels brand new. Loads in a matter of seconds, feels, looks and performs exceptionally under any load.

 

If you want the piece of mind by all means go with a specialist builder - at the end of the day it's a matter of what you prefer.

[Topcat]

I'd like to build it myself but I feel like i'd end up doing something catostrophic like blowing the motherboard, maybe i'll see if one of my more tech savvy friends can spare an hour for a few beers

[TomS]

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/index.php is where you want to be asking. Endless amount of helpful people who will help spec you a machine! I've been a member on there for years ever since I built my first PC, very helpful bunch

[sasha@lazytrips]

I'd help you if it was any other month as I live in Nottingham, but I'm the process of moving down south and have a million other things going on which means I'm only gonna be in town for 2-3 days over the next month and these will be spent packing, cleaning, selling, shoving stuff into vans, driving this stuff up and down the country and all that jazz.

 

My one suggestion is: buy yourself a big case (full tower size) with good quality drive bays & tonnes of fixings (e.g. decent NZXT ones) as they are amazingly newbie-friendly and almost everything can be attached by hand with no tools.

 

Also get yourself a cheapo set of small precision screwdrivers for £3 or whatever from Maplin + a static strap & attach this strap to the computer case & your wrist. There are millions of guides out there, but in short.

 

1. Open up your case and all the other bits & bobs.

2. stick your motherboard into the case (should be easy to figure out which way this goes. Remember that there are bits that go between the back of the case and the motherboard that keep it away from the metal

3. stick the processor in. You've got to be a little bit careful & check that you're putting it in the right way (align the pins), but this is really very very simple.

4. put some thermal paste on top of the processor & shove the fan on top of it. On a decent motherboard & decent fan, you'll either have no need for tools or very minimal amount of screwdriver action.

5. ping all the other bits that you've got into the slots. Each one can only go into one sort of slot and for everything bar the memory sticks, it makes no difference whatsoever where you shove them. With memory sticks it all depends on how many you've got, what MB you're using and what operating system.

6. stick in your DVD drive & hard drive and attach these to your MB with cables. Spend 20 seconds reading the instructions - this is very very simple.

7. Ping in your modular power adaptor & plug in each component in turn. You really can't get this wrong.

 

8. Switch it on and install windows.

 

That's it.

[Topcat]

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/index.php is where you want to be asking. Endless amount of helpful people who will help spec you a machine! I've been a member on there for years ever since I built my first PC, very helpful bunch

 

Thanks for the link, I'm trying my best to educate myself in the matter.

[Ekona]

I wouldn't remotely bother building a PC these days. Not much saving to be had any more, and you lose the risk of something going belly-up during the buid or trying to hunt down the piece of kit that doesn't work and sending it back.

 

I used to build my own about 10 years ago, with flashy lights and windows and everything, but nowadays I just want something that works.

[Topcat]

I'd help you if it was any other month as I live in Nottingham, but I'm the process of moving down south and have a million other things going on which means I'm only gonna be in town for 2-3 days over the next month and these will be spent packing, cleaning, selling, shoving stuff into vans, driving this stuff up and down the country and all that jazz.

 

My one suggestion is: buy yourself a big case (full tower size) with good quality drive bays & tonnes of fixings (e.g. decent NZXT ones) as they are amazingly newbie-friendly and almost everything can be attached by hand with no tools.

 

Also get yourself a cheapo set of small precision screwdrivers for £3 or whatever from Maplin + a static strap & attach this strap to the computer case & your wrist. There are millions of guides out there, but in short.

 

1. Open up your case and all the other bits & bobs.

2. stick your motherboard into the case (should be easy to figure out which way this goes. Remember that there are bits that go between the back of the case and the motherboard that keep it away from the metal

3. stick the processor in. You've got to be a little bit careful & check that you're putting it in the right way (align the pins), but this is really very very simple.

4. put some thermal paste on top of the processor & shove the fan on top of it. On a decent motherboard & decent fan, you'll either have no need for tools or very minimal amount of screwdriver action.

5. ping all the other bits that you've got into the slots. Each one can only go into one sort of slot and for everything bar the memory sticks, it makes no difference whatsoever where you shove them. With memory sticks it all depends on how many you've got, what MB you're using and what operating system.

6. stick in your DVD drive & hard drive and attach these to your MB with cables. Spend 20 seconds reading the instructions - this is very very simple.

7. Ping in your modular power adaptor & plug in each component in turn. You really can't get this wrong.

 

8. Switch it on and install windows.

 

That's it.

 

That doesn't sound too hard, i won't be purchasing it for 3-4 weeks, so hopefully by that time i'll know what i'm doing a bit more. I'm sure there will be loads of videos guides online too.

 

I was in nottingham last night, Woodborough Hall, for a friends wedding, lovely place.

Just a bit concerned my girlfriend is getting ideas now

 

Thanks, Tom.

[neo]

have you looked at the amd range of CPU's, should be cheaper than intel for similar performance (well it was the last time i build a pc)

 

also AMD should be launching the new CPU's soon so the older ones might come down in price,worth a thought

 

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/CPU/2

 

^^ a few bench marks for cpu/gfx card etc

[neo]

http://www.aldi.co.uk/uk/html/offers/sp ... _25892.htm

 

seems like a reasonable spec for the money, 4gb ram is plenty for the average home user

[TomS]

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/index.php is where you want to be asking. Endless amount of helpful people who will help spec you a machine! I've been a member on there for years ever since I built my first PC, very helpful bunch

 

Thanks for the link, I'm trying my best to educate myself in the matter.

 

Even for learning that's a very good place. Thousands of members and threads about computer hardware and software, a lot can be learnt from those forums!