Curse

Spider Osiris · Jul 02, 2008, 01:20 PM // 13:20

Basically I <s>want</s> need a new computer.. Running Guild Wars on my laptop gives me a maximum FPS of 20-ish. I have little to no knowledge of building a computer so thats totally out of the question..
Looking to spend roughly £800 ($1595).
Any help would be much appreciated.
-Spider.

Edit: It will be used solely for gaming purposes

zamial · Jul 02, 2008, 02:19 PM // 14:19

well you a have few choices at this point.

1) You can buy a prebuilt "gamming" computer from hp, dell, or the like but it is a waste of money.

2) You can get a custom built gamming machine but you will be paying for the work done on it. Google for them.
EXAMPLE: http://www.stealthmachines.com/ (I am not advertizing this site, have never done any business with them, It is an EXAMPLE ONLY!)

3) Cut in your teeth, like the rest of us did. Building a computer is fairly easy to do.(you ever use legos?) Since I know you can use a computer and can read, I know you have the ability to build a comp. The reason that dell,hp and the like stay in business is that the gereral public lacks the confidence to do it and does not have the time or willingness to learn. Everything comes with directions. This can be a very rewarding experience as well, as you will now fully understand the inner working of your machine and a "point of pride" to show off to freinds/family. We can also give you pointers and tips before you start. Also this option gives you the ultimate control, along with the best performance for money spent.

Pick a direction you want us to help you with and we will.

Spider Osiris · Jul 02, 2008, 02:34 PM // 14:34

Okay, Say i choose the third option. My problem is.. I have no idea of what specs etc. i need for each part.. or even what some of them do.. So i would be relying on the help of you and others to choose or give me a push in the right direction.

The custom built one therefore does appeal to me.. Though would result in more money being spent i guess.. but still it leaves me with having to choose which parts again..

And and i can probably rule out choice one. (:

zamial · Jul 02, 2008, 03:27 PM // 15:27

before we really get into this, I want you to be aware that there is a new chipset comming out near the end of this year. This is going to drive the price of everything availble at this point down.

lets start with the basics.

The case:
Any mid sized or full size case will work. Full size are really big. The case is what you and the rest of the world are going to see and is 1 of the few parts that can be reused on a "new build". options buy the dirt cheapest case you can and use the rest on parts to go inside or buy a nice 1. Pretty does not = nice. Looks are important but air flow is king, read some reveiws on 1 you like. Small case fans are noisey try for 120mm case fans.

The power supply / psu:
I am telling you for a gamming machine you want a minimum of 550 watts. perfered is 750 watts. modular cabling is very nice. This is also a item that may be used in a "new build" in the future. there are shadey psu's out there so post the 1 you like.

The chip / cpu:
There are many different opinons on this at the moment. Currently intel is king and it looks like it will be for a long time. there are dual core and quad core. at the present time a dual core is good, for the future a quad is better.
look into socket 775 cpu's.

Memory / ram:
DDR2 is great at the moment for price and performance. DDR3 is expensive but will be the new standard. For a starter build I am going to tell you to look at getting 4x1 Gb ddr2 - 240 pin. these are available in kits.

The motherboard / mobo:
This is what everything plugs into. This is important because it will determine the type of cpu and ram you can use. as well as future upgrade ability.
look into a 780i or a 750i mobo.

video cards / gpu:
Time to dig deep. I suggest the x260 or 9800gt from nvidia or the 4850/4870 from ati. even tho noone wants to admit this, there is a platform style build sli for nvidia and spider for ati. I suggest nvidia but that is me. I also suggest to pick either intel/nvidia or amd/radeon. Platform builds have less issues(most of the time)

sound card:
are you a serious audiophile? If not then just about any sound card will work. creative is the king but they have horrible customer service and are the devil's dung pile. This item can be skipped if you can use the sound card that is built into the mobo, if the mobo has this feature(most do).

harddrives:
If you can, get yourself 1 velocoraptor, if thats a little to much then get the 150gb raptor x and a big storage drive. They are made by western digital. Make sure the hard drive is a sata or sata2. There are other harddrives out there but the 2 I have listed, in my opinon are the best.

there will be other items to get into a bit later. this is a great starting point.

Also, watch for sales and rebates, this will save you some hard earned money.

The last thing,
operating systems / os
Since we are building a gamming pc, I am going to tell you to get windows vista 64 bit. You will thank me in the future.

moriz · Jul 02, 2008, 04:16 PM // 16:16

if anyone can give us a list of UK etailers, i can get started with parts suggestions.

Tamuril elansar · Jul 02, 2008, 05:05 PM // 17:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by zamial

The motherboard / mobo:
This is what everything plugs into. This is important because it will determine the type of cpu and ram you can use. as well as future upgrade ability.
look into a 780i or a 750i mobo.

intel chips are faster and i think a little bit cheaper, and atm the 4850 has the best price/performance, putting them in crossfire will give you a beast of a computer.

Jormungandr · Jul 02, 2008, 06:44 PM // 18:44

I built the computer I'm using now a few weeks ago, and it was my first build. I highly recommend it. You get to know a lot more about your computer, and it's fairly easy, so long as you're patient. Just follow the instructions given in your pieces' boxes, and you should do fine. Some stores may also give you an additional set of instructions. Also, the store I bought my pieces from installed the RAM, CPU, and bios for free. I recommend you let them handle that too, if your store supplies that service. If you live in Canada, try www.memoryexpress.com, great store. If you live in the US, www.newegg.com.

Just look at what parts you want, and get advice on them. Most good computer stores have employees who would be happy to help you get the best out of your computer, so don't be afraid to ask.

moriz · Jul 02, 2008, 07:03 PM // 19:03

pretty sure he lives in the UK. look for UK etailers, since etailer parts tends to be cheaper.

Snograt · Jul 02, 2008, 07:49 PM // 19:49

The lad's from Welsh Wales, isn't it?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/

http://www.cyberpowersystem.co.uk/

I can personally vouch for the first two - the third are popular, apparently.

Quaker · Jul 02, 2008, 08:06 PM // 20:06

If you are thinking of building a system (or even buying one) here's my 2 cents:

Make sure the case you get is full ATX. Even if the motherboard is mATX (microATX), the full ATX case will take it, and is more "future-proof". Don't get an mATX case and expect to jam a full ATX mobo in it. Stay away from BTX - it's a dead issue.

The power supply needs to be large enough. How large depends upon what CPU, and video card you get, and how much RAM and other stuff you want to run. 450 watts or more. Get one with all the latest connectors (SATA and GPU) for less connection hassle.

If you want to do gaming get at least a decent mid-range video card (GPU).

Get the fastest cpu your budget allows, but don't get overly concerned about it. Almost anything except the very bottom end will do nicely. Intel makes the fastest CPU at the moment, but the price/performance ratio often leans in AMD's favor, especially if you are not talking top-end. And don't compare CPUs based upon just clock speed, there's a lot more to it than that - best to check some tech sites for comparative ratings.

Get at least 2gigs of the appropriate RAM (to go with what the cpu/mobo requires.)

Get whatever size hard drive you can afford. The speed of the drive doesn't really matter all that much and the size is just... well, the size. The smallest you can get (new) these days is about 160gigs anyway. If/when you fill that up you can worry about getting another/bigger one.
(The difference between a fast hard drive and a slow hard drive, in real terms, is whether you have to wait 0.5 secs for a screen to load, or 0.75 - in other words, not an issue for most people.)

moriz · Jul 02, 2008, 08:25 PM // 20:25

Spider Osiris · Jul 02, 2008, 08:34 PM // 20:34

Wow. Thanks for the responses. Any more opinions or advice would still be greatly welcomed. And thanks Moriz for the list of parts and will certainly look in to them all.
(:

Edit: I'm sure i can stretch an extra £93 (:. Thanks for pointing it out Snograt.

Snograt · Jul 02, 2008, 09:06 PM // 21:06

Hehe - take a look at those links first. Moriz didn't see the wonderful VAT we have over here, so add 17.5% to that price. Round about £893 after tax. That's $1780...

BUT - if you can stretch to those few extra quid, it's a kick-ass system

moriz · Jul 02, 2008, 10:09 PM // 22:09

17.5%??

wow, and here i thought we canadians have to live with terribaed taxes...

Snograt · Jul 02, 2008, 10:38 PM // 22:38

Value Added Tax. It's a tax on consumers - businesses can claim it back, hence the exc. VAT prices.

It is a truly evil tax - everyone gets charged at the same rate regardless of income.

moriz · Jul 02, 2008, 11:16 PM // 23:16

if costs get too high, consider dropping the graphics cards for these:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...)%20-%20Retail

drastically cheaper, and you'll only notice the difference if you run games on a 30" monitor at 2560x1600 or something.