Buying new PC soon-ish

Got a bit of money coming my way in August so am thinking of getting a new PC ,time to hand this one over to my dad! found this one at Mesh , looks ok to me but always nice to have second...third..fourths opinion on it mostly going to be used on GW ,Spore and BF2/2142 and occasionally films , budget is around £500 but could go a bit over if needed .

clicky

I really hate these built by shops with flashy numbers and small letters, and free windows.

First while the CPU is quite good, the other stuff are bad or sometimes second choices...

The graphics card is crap and will disappoint you.


From www.overclockers.co.uk using the pc configurator option. I believe they will send it you already built, but makes no harm to ask.

I ordered one for my girl from there 2 weeks ago, but I asked for the pieces and I put it together myself (cheaper).

Specification
Antec 900 Nine Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case
AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition 3.20GHz
Gelid Silent Spirit CPU Cooler CPU Cooler
Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard
Corsair XMS3 DHX 4GB (2x2GB) 1600C9DHX TwinX Dual Channel
XFX ATI Radeon HD 4890 1024MB GDDR5
Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA-II
LG GH22NS40 22x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black)
OnBoard Sound Card
OCZ ModXStream Pro 600w Silent Modular Power Supply
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit Edition

£886.88 inc VAT.

You can say, hey but that doesn't seem so different except the card.

Well all parts in this one are top quality, especially the always important PSU that in builds like those is a crappy brand.

Will be cheaper if you can build it by urself.

We can discuss alternatives if it is too expensive (this one is a mean gaming machine).

Although might be too much for what you do :P

there is a pretty big difference between 500-900 pounds lol

anyways, do you need an OS, or peripheals or monitor too???

I know there is.

But there also is a great difference between an ATI 4550 and an ATI 4890.

Or between a good PSU and a crap one that once you are ready to upgrade the graphics card, you will discover wont really do the job.

Or between a dustblower FAN or between a silent cooler.

OR between a nice and huge case or some random one.

And my build uses DDR3 1600 while that one uses DDR2 800 (while DDR23 difference from 1066 to 1600 isn't big, the DDR2 800 is somewhat slower).

It has a price difference though.

That is why I hate those built pcs like the mesh one - they flash one component or 2 and people will think that those components are the only ones that matter and then they question themselves why is their computer so much slower/noisier than someone else that has the same amount of HDD space, the same CPU and the same quantity of RAM.

But lets see what is the op response. I just went for a really good gaming PC with the build I suggested - it is hard to improve its performance without spending a huge premium over a small improvement.

The fact is the difference between the graphics card is colossal and worth around £170 of that amount. And if he doesn't need windows it is like £70 off those £886. Going for a less flamboyant Case can also take £50 off that. Just by doing that those £888 drop to £768.

The CPU used is also the 955 instead of the 945, which on that fan could reach around 3.7-3.8 GHz (on stock volts) with is an easy overclock any new person could do since it is a BE.

Even if he buy that MESH box he will have at least to upgrade his graphic card, so assuming the graphics is around £170, the difference between the mesh build and mine drops from £300 to around £216 . By changing the case (here is the antec 900 http://www.antec.com/Believe_it/product.php?id=MjM= and here is the coolmaster elite 335 http://www.coolermaster.com/products...detail&id=5239 ) from the antec 900 to the cool master 335 and if doesn't need the Windows the difference is only £100.

It's the difference from saying "it's a fantastic PC!!" from "it's a good PC" to "I CANT PLAY NEW GAMES ON MY PC!".

See, the guy gives a budget, then you go and exceeded by HEAPS for no reason. Like...literally no reason;

Specification
Antec 900 Nine Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case - Fine, but probably doesn't need it
AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition 3.20GHz - OBVIOUSLY doesn't need a CPU this good
Gelid Silent Spirit CPU Cooler CPU Cooler - Stock cooler is fine
Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard - Can find other mobos for cheaper
Corsair XMS3 DHX 4GB (2x2GB) 1600C9DHX TwinX Dual Channel - 4gb of 1600 DDR3 ram? Are you high? The guy has a BUDGET.
XFX ATI Radeon HD 4890 1024MB GDDR5 - Get a better/cheaper gpu, this one is meh
Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA-II - Finally a reasonable bit!
LG GH22NS40 22x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - DVD is DVD.
OnBoard Sound Card - Unnecessary mentioning it
OCZ ModXStream Pro 600w Silent Modular Power Supply - Go with something less obnoxious
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit Edition - Hahahahahahahahh. XP 32bit till Windows 7, don't waste money.

If he's buying a 945 why not a 955? If you buy AMD buy black editions.

I see you are on the nVidia boat. Saying the 4890 is meh, big lol.

I just got the windows 64 and mentioned the on-board sound so he can clearly compare (actually I didn't mention, it was the list generated by the configurator).

That one is quite an expensive one, but is easy to cut down from there, to go for his budget.

That list came from the options of the pc configurator of the presented shop.

Choosing piece by piece and assembling yourself will make it cheaper, but I'm not sure if the op is on that boat.

And silence fans ftw! Especially if your pc is on your bedroom.

Doing piece by piece:

AMD 955 BE (special weak offer) http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...atid=6&subcat= £149.98

Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P (Socket AM3) http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...=5&subcat=1377 £107.98

OCZ Platinum 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C7 1333MHz Dual Channel (OCZ3P13334GK) http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...=8&subcat=1387 £46.99

XFX ATI Radeon HD 4890 XT 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (Includes Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X.) http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...56&subcat=1403 £139.99

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...14&subcat=1279 £65.99

Antec 900 Nine Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case - Black (No PSU) http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...atid=7&subcat= £79.99

OCZ ModXStream Pro 600w Silent
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...23&subcat=1098 £54.99

total £645.92 inc vat

Need to assemble yourself though.


Want a cheaper case take £30-40 off the price. Really want to save money? Go with an AMD Phenom II X3 720 (another £50 off) and drop the PSU from 600 to 500 Watts (like £10 off).

Graphic card too powerful? Get an ATI 4870 1GB (I bet this oen is meh, £30 off) or a Geforce GTX 260 core 216 (I bet this one isnt meh! - only £15 off, scrap this one the 4870 trade blows with it and the 4890 eats it and craps it for only £15 more).

And are you telling me you recommend a PC for gaming with an ATI 4550? And DDR2-800, when the phenom II works at 1066 by default?

I will not be playing high end games , all I definitely want is for it to run GW2(if it ever comes out!) at a decent setting and a large hard drive for storing stuff on and for watching films . As for operating system I notice that a few of the online stores are offering an upgrade to Windows 7 so would it make any difference what system I had installed XP or Vista? at a push I could get budget up to £550 I would like to go higher but funds have been allocated elsewhere .I am looking at pre built ones as I do not think I would be capable of assembling on with any degree of confidence! thnx for the input so far guys

Buy that one then and toss something like an ATI 4770, ATI 4850, ATI 4830 or Geforce GTS 250. If you cant get enough money for that settle with an ATI 4670 or a Geforce 9600 GT or GSO. Or upgrade later if you find the card included is enough for ur needs.

About windows7 vs vista vs xp.

Vista is a bit crappy since it is demanding in resources and that is why XP is still out there.

But lets face it, XP is end of life and soon will lose support.

i7 is supposed to be what vista should had been. Chat in tech forums show positive impression. That pc has 4GB ram so I would go with 64 bit version of i7.

Okay, gonna post my current setup, which should be more than enough for you. The prices are hungarian prices - 1 GBP = 330 HUF -, please check them in your local stores. Here we go:

AMD Phenom II 720 Black Edition CPU - 32.000HUF - £97
Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard - 30.000HUF - £91
HIS HD4850 1GB GDDR3 IceQ4 PCIE GPU - It has a really good cooler! - 37000HUF - £112
2GB 1333 DDR3 Memory - I have a Corsair KIT now, gonna buy another set and then go for Vista 64. But only 2gb should be enough for you. - 11.000HUF - £33
Some random DVD reader.
Any SEAGATE 7200RPM winchesters, depends on how much disk space you need for your gaming/working/etc. - Let's take one with 500GB capacity - 14.000HUF - £42,5
Onboard sound should be good enough. - Onboard.
CORSAIR VX550W PSU - 21.000HUF - £64
Don't know what kind of Case you were thinking, but I have a COOLERMASTER RC-331-KKN1-GP Elite - 9.600HUF - £29

That's a total of £486+a DVDRW of your choice, but it's not expensive.

Hope this helped you a bit!

Regards,
daraaksii

One thing about OSes - get Vista x64 NOW and you will get a free upgrade to Win7 on release.

This is true of Novatech for sure - I fully expect Overclockewrs to follow suit. (I vastly prefer Novatech over Overclockers, Ghengis - they have a habit of winning PC Retailer Awards every year)

(edit) My reading comprehension lets me down again - you already mentioned the Win7 upgrade. It MUST be Vista, though - they won't be skip-updating from XP.

if you feel like taking a chance, you can just go with windows 7 x64 RC until the retail version comes out. the RC is stable enough already.

Well the cheque arrived today and so I have been wandering round websites and found this for £633 , graphics card is GTS250
- Intel Core 2 Quad Q8400 LGA775 'Yorkfield' 2.66GHz Overclocked to 3.20GHz!
- Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3P Intel P45 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
- Corsair XMS2 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 PC2-8500C5 TwinX Dual Channel
- LG GH22NS30 22x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black)
- Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM
- Akasa AK-967 Nero Direct Contact Heatpipe CPU Cooler
- OCZ ModXStream Pro 700w Silent SLI Ready ATX2 Modular Power Supply
- Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound professionally hand installed by our technicians
:- Windows 7 Upgrade Voucher included with Windows Vista Home Premium, Business & Ultimate install options.
- 1yr Onsite Collect & Return Warranty

What's the verdict?

That is a very respectable setup Ghengis. The original one wasn't, but the latest one you posted is excellent. You can always upgrade the GPU down the road when you need to with that PSU as well. Order it.

I don't know about average pricing in the Euro region, but that price seems quite high for what you're getting (using 1GBP = 1.65 USD exchange rate).

Ordered it!! should be here early next week woot!

2014. Vista loses support in 2012.

Hhehe. You sure it's i7? ;]