Buying a Gaming Pc

[Griff]

Same GPU and CPU as me. They'll be fine.

Only negatives are the PSU and case you've chosen. Invest in a decent PSU rather than just the highest wattage for the cheapest price you can find. Regarding the case it's personal opinion but I'd rather pay extra and get one with decent airflow and cable management.

 

[ClioRT88]

Excellent, thanks. Could you recommend a PSU as looking through them I didn't really have a clue.

 

[Josh]

id go for something like this:

Its from overclockers, the cpu is already overclocked so you don't need to worry about that, and IMO AMD are better cpu's for gaming. All you would have to do is put it together.

 

[Griff]

Excellent, thanks. Could you recommend a PSU as looking through them I didn't really have a clue.

On your tight budget this -

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-031-OC&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=1098

(That's absolutely fine for your proposed system. If you want to go down the route of SLI/Crossfire at a later point then you might want to look at a more expensive psu)

 

[ClioRT88]

Seems good to me, looks like a really good offer on the overclocked bundle. Thinking about ordering it this week before I have chance to change my mind and getting the other bits as I go.

Probably a can of worms, but am I better going with XP or Vista if im gaming?

 

[Darren S]

Seems good to me, looks like a really good offer on the overclocked bundle. Thinking about ordering it this week before I have chance to change my mind and getting the other bits as I go.

Probably a can of worms, but am I better going with XP or Vista if im gaming?

Each person has their own opinion, but for me, XP rules over Vista in terms of gaming. I've had some quite shocking decreases in performance in Vista with the settings setup like for like against XP. Left 4 Dead being a prime example. The DX10 support of Vista (currently, imo) is nothing more than for fashionistas. Sure, Company of Heroes has glossier explosions and smoke effects, but they aren't worth installing a seperate O/S for.

However, Vista is far better suited to multi-core CPUs than XP is. I've only got a dual core CPU in mine, so XP does me fine.

Put another way, I have a retail-boxed Vista Ultimate case on my shelf, containing both 32-bit and 64-bit DVDs. And I'm using nothing other than XP32 at the moment. I probably will until Windows 7 starts to make some decent inroads.

D.

 

[dazmo11]

check this site out for good idea on bits http://www.advancetec.co.uk/

 

[Griff]

Probably a can of worms, but am I better going with XP or Vista if im gaming?

In a word.. Neither.

Windows 7 is just around the corner so I can't see the point in buying either OS at the moment. If you can "get by" for a few months then do that.

Otherwise you'll regret buying an OS only to find a much better OS available shortly after.

 

[nokey99]

i work with computers and you could really do with a quad proccessor for high gaming, i dont think the price difference is alot either.

IMO xp is better for gaming aswell as vista, with all the built in aero graphics seem to hog the graphics card more than xp does

 

[Mike_182]

You could buy my gaming rig for very reasonable budget...

 

[Mike_182]

Oh, and ref quad core, maybe. Wouldn't buy one myself without quad now, but dual will still do. Personal preference os-wise is dx10 on Vista...

 

[Andy.]

In a word.. Neither.

Windows 7 is just around the corner so I can't see the point in buying either OS at the moment. If you can "get by" for a few months then do that.

Otherwise you'll regret buying an OS only to find a much better OS available shortly after.

Agree with this. Windows 7 is the one to wait for. Release date is only in October so you can wait and build a PC then and get an OEM licence (a lot cheaper than a retail version but only possible to pick up when buying PC components) or else buy a pre built PC from a manufacturer who allows you to upgrade for free when 7 is released.

Quite a few were doing this with the XP/ Vista update IIRC.

 

[ClioRT88]

Ok, well I missed the week only deal on overclockers but they seem to be the best place to buy parts from, even though prices seem slightly more.

I've got a basket ready and am ready to pay as not to miss out again, but not having the 'best' computer knowledge I want to get some opinions first. The last thing I want to do is find out what I have is in fact, rubbish.

So opinions please? Am I going to be able to run most games with decent settings?

 

[Griff]

Change the PSU to this - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-032-OC&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=1098

Only £12, more future proof and recently came top in Custom PC PSU tests.

Other than that it's fine for your budget. I still think you should spend more on a better case but I guess that's a luxury rather than an essential you don't specifically need.

Edit - You can also get that same DVD drive without Lightscribe and save a few quid. I doubt you'll ever use LS anyway.

 

[Darren S]

Change the PSU to this - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-032-OC&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=1098

Only £12, more future proof and recently came top in Custom PC PSU tests.

Other than that it's fine for your budget. I still think you should spend more on a better case but I guess that's a luxury rather than an essential you don't specifically need.

Edit - You can also get that same DVD drive without Lightscribe and save a few quid. I doubt you'll ever use LS anyway.

I agree. I don't know of anyone that has!

D.

 

[Cookie]

I've used it for creating disk sets for servers.. and that's about it

 

[Jason_E]

Each person has their own opinion, but for me, XP rules over Vista in terms of gaming. I've had some quite shocking decreases in performance in Vista with the settings setup like for like against XP. Left 4 Dead being a prime example. The DX10 support of Vista (currently, imo) is nothing more than for fashionistas. Sure, Company of Heroes has glossier explosions and smoke effects, but they aren't worth installing a seperate O/S for.

However, Vista is far better suited to multi-core CPUs than XP is. I've only got a dual core CPU in mine, so XP does me fine.

Put another way, I have a retail-boxed Vista Ultimate case on my shelf, containing both 32-bit and 64-bit DVDs. And I'm using nothing other than XP32 at the moment. I probably will until Windows 7 starts to make some decent inroads.

D.

Same. My windows Gaming PC is running XP pro, my laptop is on Linux, and my MacBook OSX. As for windows PC's, IMO XP is your best bet.

Oh just a quick Q. Ive effectivly had my head stuck in the ground in the Comp Building world for ages now (as i havent had money to build my own for a while) How does the Phenom compare to its Intel counterpart?