New Rig

[CaptQuakers]

Hey guys I'm looking to buy a Pc tower. Just want to know If there Is anything I should avoid or look for In the Pc.

The only think Is It needs to be able to link upto my Tv.And be able to play games to a high level. My budget is around £400-700

Any advice is more than welcome.

Cheers.

 

[Conza]

Hi there, when you say 'link up to my TV' how do you mean?

For example, I currently 'link up' my PS3 to my computer monitor and computer speakers - is that the type of thing you need to do?

You could, theoretically, have the video out from a television (say, HDMI), go into some sort of video recording card on a computer, there by, allowing you to use said computer as a DVR/Media PC, which would be quite nice actually... Is that what you're trying to do perhaps?

If that is, I can't help with specifics, as I haven't looked into it. Closest thing I've got is a Digital set top box, for my PS3, so the PS3 becomes a DVR (however, the software is quite poor, and I'm limited by my 250GB hdd unless I upgrade).

Hope some of this is helpful, if I'm on the right track anywhere, please let me know.

P.S. 700 pounds, currently trade as $1141.4 USD, 790 Euro, or $1069.4 AUD.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

Hey guys I'm looking to buy a Pc tower. Just want to know If there Is anything I should avoid or look for In the Pc.

Save cash buy building your own PC. If you can use a screwdriver, read a manual and plug things together you can build a PC. There's usually a few people hanging around in here that will suggest builds (lists of parts) for you.

Avoid integrated graphics like the plague. Figure on spending 1/4-1/3 of your budget on a good GPU card - which is where a lot of prebuilt machines fall down - they drop in gutsy (and expensive) CPUs but only multimedia level GPU cards (ie, not meant for gaming).

The only think Is It needs to be able to link upto my Tv.And be able to play games to a high level. My budget is around £400-700

Using a tv as a display? All depends on what input sockets your tv has. HDMI is best for the job because that handles video and sound from your PC to your tv, saving a lot of fuckarsing about with extra speaker cables and shit. Not only that but most GPU cards these days either have HDMI ports or HDMI adaptors in the box for the ports they do have.

 

[CaptQuakers]

I perhaps should have made the original post a bit more expansive. I am using a HDMI cable to enable my Tv to be the monitor right now so that would be the preferred option. However building my own Pc Is out of the question I simply don't have the know how or the money to replace items I have damaged though naivety.

I'm just looking for a rig that could play WOW to the higher levels due to the fact my current laptop is running at around 4-10 fps and is unplayable. I'm not looking to play many games like cod or such If that makes any difference

I've been looking on over clockers but I'm sure about which graphics card to use or much of the other stuff too. I guess I'm at a bit of a loss :S

 

[CaptQuakers]

Right I have decided to go and have a look at Pc's. I would appreciate If you guys would just give me a yes or no on whether It would work as a gaming pc

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/hp-pavilion-p7-1058uk-desktop-pc-metallic-finish-10452263-pdt.html

or

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/advent-dt1310-desktop-pc-10553868-pdt.html

Just need to know If I'm in the right sort of area tbh due to the fact I really do know so little about Pc's

 

[CaptQuakers]

You can build a PC, it's not hard. It is literally "put cable A into slot A, cable B into slot B". You can do it, seriously. If you are worried about breaking it, don't. When I was overclocking my CPU manually it wouldn't boot about 4-5 times and it was simple to fix every time. PC components are resilient unlike the PS3 or XBOX which melt when the temperature reaches anything above room temperature...



Ok here is my UK build that is the same as the above. I'm not joking, build a PC. This one I have linked below is so much better value and is MILES ahead of anything you linked. Simply put this is a very good gaming rig.

i5 2500k £159.77
http://www.ebuyer.com/251596-intel-core-i5-2500k-3-3ghz-socket-1155-6mb-cache-retail-boxed-processor-bx80623i52500k

Gtx 560 Ti £163.79
http://www.ebuyer.com/254483-kfa2-gtx-560ti-oc-1gb-gddr5-dual-dvi-hdmi-out-pci-e-graphics-56ngh6hs4ixz

650W PSU £46.08
http://www.ebuyer.com/191847-powercool-650w-modular-psu-80-dual-12v-v2-2-high-efficiency-psupc650aubam

CM Elite 330 Case £29.99
http://www.ebuyer.com/127584-coolermaster-elite-330-black-mid-tower-case-rc-330

8GB 1600Mhz DDR3 RAM £35.01
http://www.ebuyer.com/264750-g-skill-8gb-2x4gb-ddr3-1600mhz-ripjawsx-memory-kit-cl9-9-9-9-24-1-5v-f3-12800cl9d-8gbxl

MSI P67 Mobo £112.38
http://www.ebuyer.com/261289-msi-p67a-gd55-b3-p67-socket-1155-8-channel-hd-audio-atx-motherboard-p67a-gd55-b3

Samsung F3 1TB £45.50
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-HD103SJ-internal-SATAII-7200RPM/dp/B002MQC0P8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1314918152&sr=8-1

DVD Burner with Software £13.98
http://www.ebuyer.com/176026-liteon-ihas124-19-24x-dvd-rw-dl-ram-sata-optical-drive-oem-ihas124-19

Noctua CPU Cooler £40.86
http://www.ebuyer.com/239842-noctua-nh-u9b-se2-socket-775-1156-1155-am2-1366-am3-aluminium-with-copper-nh-u9b-se2

Total Price: 647.36

What's different about this build compared to the one I quoted from an old thread

I made the cooler part of the build and is no longer optional as the motherboard has overclocking software that requires no skill to use and can add a large performance boost to your CPU. There is now 8GB of 1600Mhz RAM rather than 4GB of 1333Mhz and there is a better DVD drive.

Simply put, this build blow's those 2 PCs linked above clear out of the water. The first one linked has a better CPU but has no GPU which means it's 100% shit for gaming and it can't be overclocked while this one can be if you use the built in software (or the BIOS itself which I doubt you will use). Once overclocked the CPU I linked will be much better than the i7.



Here are some benchmarks for the 560 Ti.

http://www.techspot.com/review/359-nvidia-geforce-gtx-560ti/page4.html

Dirt 2 Maxed out. 71-79 FPS at 1900x1200.

Bad Company 2 60 FPS at 1920x1200 with 8x AA and 16x AF at High Quality. Simply put, that's extremely good.


Seeing as you will no doubt refuse to build a PC and thus muss out on saving hundreds of pounds in comparison to retail prices for this build I will stop adding things to this post unless you post back.

Hmmmm the only thing is there is no HDMI port on the case with more at least 4 usb ports ? So would I be able to change the case to something else. I did look at the cases but I couldn't find anything with 4 usb ports and a hdmi port. Also can I upgrade stuff with my left over budget ? I also take It I'm going to have to but an OS ?

I must admit I'm quite surprised by the help your giving me I do appreciate It.

 

[CaptQuakers]

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I will build It because It will give me a chance to buy over time which makes It seem alot cheaper (To me at least) And I can go at my own speed. Also It seems a fun way to learn more about pc's.

This question will show how truly naive I am but here goes. You said the motherboard has the usb and the hdmi ports yet there is no space for them on the case so how does that work ? :S

Is there any order I should go In. I was thinking case 1st or shall I just get any parts whenever I can. Also Is It better to buy all the parts and Assemble all at once or can I put It together a little bit at a time ?

Once again BIG thanks mate your a god send

 

[CaptQuakers]

Aha that makes It easy to understand now.

I take It all cases are like this then ? Just in case I find a cool looking one

When you actually see the inside It makes It look so much less confusing. There seems to be only around 6 or 7 major components and the rest Is just wiring and such.

If I can fix a mountain bike I'm pretty sure I can handle this

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

You can get a different case if you want, just make sure it is mid sized or bigger.

You should probably point out that 'mid-sized' in this case means mid tower ATX. The OP probably doesn't know about form factors so wouldn't know to avoid mATX, uATX and mITX cases because the mobo in your build specs won't fit in those.