Computer Gaming?

[Sparky]

I got given an xBox 360 by microsoft just over a year ago, I kind of enjoy playing it but lots of people I know are addicted to PC games, question is 2 fold, one is PC gaming better?

Second is if someone who knows more than me could suggest any changes or improvments to this list (or if it will be no good at all for gaming):
This is a list of parts I am tempted to order to build a Gaming PC:


Mobo - http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/...llchipsetmotherboards/90-mibfy0-g0eay0gz.html
76.99


ram - http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/memory-pc/ddr3-pc3-12800/1600mhz/cmz8gx3m2a1600c9.html
44.99


graphics - http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/...scards/nvidiagts450fermiseries/nov-450d3.html
78.98


processor - http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/processors/amdphenomx4/hdz955fbgmbox.html
http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/processors/amdphenomx4/hdz965fbgmbox.html#reviews 99.98
92.99

Thanks in advance,

 

[Silent_Scone]

That's not going to be up to much... at all

Budget??

 

[Munson]

TBH the Xbox will outperform that.

 

[st3ve]

That's not a bad setup, you went completely wrong with the graphics card though.

If you're looking at nvidia, you want at least a GTX470 imo.

I take it you have a case and HDD's already?

 

[Sparky]

Yeah, I have a case, PSU and HDD, my budget is really £450 but potentially could find another £50, I know people use £1600 to make a pc but still, I currently have a macbook and just want something that could handle better

 

[wozzaa]

Is the PSU good enough?

How many watts how many amps on the rails?

It is all well and good thinking you have stuff that will work but bit more to it than that especially if it is an older PSU.

 

[Ex-User (19928)]

With a £450 budget you could get a 560 card I'd have thought.

 

[Sparky]

Is the PSU good enough?

How many watts how many amps on the rails?

It is all well and good thinking you have stuff that will work but bit more to it than that especially if it is an older PSU.

My neighbour has a video editing business, with loads of computers, and he gave me one when he ordered too many, I think its 750watts and its about 3 months old

 

[Will.]

Oh dear. I thought you had retired.

 

[Sparky]

Oh dear. I thought you had retired.

Retired? No, I just have gone 2.5 months without a phone and internet, you still at uni?

 

[Space Cadet]

I think a dedicated Games platform like the PS3 or X-box will be much better than a PC at gaming until you start spending serious money on a PC build.

1000W+ power supply, Dual or triple GPU’s, SSD hard drives, Lots of RAM, I7 CPU, Decent SATA-6 motherboard, Lots of cooling, Etc etc. Probably best part of £2k though.

I’ve built myself a gaming PC and its absolutely fantastic playing games like Crysis 2 and recently RAGE where I can turn the graphics settings up to max.

My advice would be to spend your budget on a couple of good GPU’s like GTX570’s, (or if you don’t have the space spend it all on a GTX590) and then wait until you can save up and then upgrade the motherboard and so on. As far as I understand for gaming the graphics card is most important.

 

[Sparky]

So is it not worth trying to build a cheaper build (£400-500 max) to begin with, or just stick to xbox for a few years?

 

[Damo_Sport]

£500 will get you a PC to run simcity 1 on.. stick with xbox

 

[Space Cadet]

Do you have a PC to start with that you can upgrade as you go along?

If so then spend your £400-500 on a graphics card/s and pop it/them in your current PC.

If not then save it until you can put another £1k (at least) and do it all in one go.

Otherwise your £500 build will be wasted money as nothing really, except maybe the case and cables will be carried over.

 

[Will.]

Retired? No, I just have gone 2.5 months without a phone and internet, you still at uni?

Nope. Finished and got a job. I also got a qualification in being a c**t which is why your OP is w**k.

 

[Sparky]

Do you have a PC to start with that you can upgrade as you go along?

If so then spend your £400-500 on a graphics card/s and pop it/them in your current PC.

If not then save it until you can put another £1k (at least) and do it all in one go.

Otherwise your £500 build will be wasted money as nothing really, except maybe the case and cables will be carried over.

I only have a MBP & MB Unibody atm,

 

[Space Cadet]

Macs are lovely bits of kits to use and they look great, not sure if they’re any good for gaming though.

My advice would be to stick with your X-box which has 100 times the choice of good games and if you really want to, save up for a gaming PC.

The difference between a decent gaming PC and an X-box/PS3 is IMO the difference between say DVD and Blu-Ray, not night & day or twice as good, just perhaps 25% better.

I don’t have an X-box or PS3 so my PC is also our ‘family’ PC for the internet and the odd word document, so if you have an X-box already would stick with the Mac.

 

[CountryBumpkin.]

Oh dear. I thought you had retired.

He's busy attending SW meets.

 

[Gareth]

A PC can be a better games machine than a console, but it does cost a LOT more to get one that way. The resale value of said PC is also minimal, so do it only if you are enthusiastic about it. Otherwise stick to console gaming (IMHO).

 

[mx1_champ]

what about buying a used gaming pc, you said the resale value is minimal.. so surely there will be some good buys about ?

 

[Sparky]

what about buying a used gaming pc, you said the resale value is minimal.. so surely there will be some good buys about ?

That idea may have potential!

 

[Sparky]

He's busy attending SW meets.

Some of us have to go to uni and work 20+ hours a week to afford uni, so I used to go SW meets but generally I can't afford to travel far, skip work etc. Plus lets be honest, CS seems to have gotten more bitter and less friendly over the last few months...

 

[sbridgey]

Go for this, just over budget though

PC spec by sbridgey, on Flickr

could save £20 with this
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-...shader-clock-1526mhz-336-cores-2x-dl-dvi-i-mi

That is a very good system for the money in my opinion

 

[Sparky]

Go for this, just over budget though

PC spec by sbridgey, on Flickr

could save £20 with this
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-...shader-clock-1526mhz-336-cores-2x-dl-dvi-i-mi

That is a very good system for the money in my opinion

That looks promising, especially as I have a case and PSU I can save a lot of money already, is this your custom build or just made up then for example?

 

[sbridgey]

i just made it up, i would be very careful using an old power supply, remember all of your expensive components are connected to it so if it fails your whole computer may well be also destroyed.

 

[Ex-User (19928)]

I would honestly stick with the XBox. It's convenient and cheap, buying a PC exclusively for games is an expensive way of doing something for slightly better graphics, a mouse and keyboard. Unless it's for PC exclusive games (which excluding a couple of titles and RTS' is mostly just MMOs these days).

 

[G3 NYX]

I got given an xBox 360 by microsoft just over a year ago, I kind of enjoy playing it but lots of people I know are addicted to PC games, question is 2 fold, one is PC gaming better?

Second is if someone who knows more than me could suggest any changes or improvments to this list (or if it will be no good at all for gaming):
This is a list of parts I am tempted to order to build a Gaming PC:


Mobo - http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/...llchipsetmotherboards/90-mibfy0-g0eay0gz.html
76.99


ram - http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/memory-pc/ddr3-pc3-12800/1600mhz/cmz8gx3m2a1600c9.html
44.99


graphics - http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/...scards/nvidiagts450fermiseries/nov-450d3.html
78.98


processor - http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/processors/amdphenomx4/hdz955fbgmbox.html
http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/processors/amdphenomx4/hdz965fbgmbox.html#reviews 99.98
92.99

Thanks in advance,

Alright, my company builds custom PCs for gaming and other purposes so I can help you out.
Can get you cheaper parts as well.

What games are you looking to play on your PC?

 

[Sparky]

Alright, my company builds custom PCs for gaming and other purposes so I can help you out.
Can get you cheaper parts as well.

What games are you looking to play on your PC?

Looking at playing games like counter strike source, sky rim, battlefield etc, obviously the main issue is my limited budget (around 400-499), I have a case and may need a hard drive as I only have a 2.5 laptop HD

 

[Munson]

Did someone just recommend a GTX590 in a £450 budget PC build? A £600 GFX card in a £450 PC.

M3 IIRC.

 

[Sparky]

Did someone just recommend a GTX590 in a £450 budget PC build? A £600 GFX card in a £450 PC.

M3 IIRC.

I think the OP must have just misread the initial post, All info is helpful anyway

 

[Munson]

GTX590 is for paupers who can't afford twin GTX580s BTW.

 

[G3 NYX]

Looking at playing games like counter strike source, sky rim, battlefield etc, obviously the main issue is my limited budget (around 400-499), I have a case and may need a hard drive as I only have a 2.5 laptop HD

Do you know what size case you have (ATX or Micro ATX)

£500 should be enough, you won't be able to play Skyrim on max detail though

I would spend as much money as possible on the Graphics card.

As for ram, 4GB is fine, games don't use allot of it and speed wont matter at that price because there will be a bottleneck on the motherboard.

I'm a Intel / nVidia fanboy, Ati cards are cheaper and are very good for gaming, but please don't touch an AMD processor.

Get a cheap Intel processor and overclock, most games don't even support multi-cpu's, which is a shame.
So a 3.0Ghz Dual core would be better for CounterStrike than a 2.4Ghz Quad Core.

Heres what I recommend for £500 is you have a hard drive, PSU and case.

http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/motherboardbundles/mbb-i7264b.html

and

http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/nvidiageforcegraphicscards/nvidiagtx560fermiseries/nov-560oc.html

Comes to £520.

 

[Sparky]

Okay thanks for your help - its an tax which I believe is compatible to your suggestion. Thanks for your help

 

[Sparky]

Do you know what size case you have (ATX or Micro ATX)

£500 should be enough, you won't be able to play Skyrim on max detail though

I would spend as much money as possible on the Graphics card.

As for ram, 4GB is fine, games don't use allot of it and speed wont matter at that price because there will be a bottleneck on the motherboard.

I'm a Intel / nVidia fanboy, Ati cards are cheaper and are very good for gaming, but please don't touch an AMD processor.

Get a cheap Intel processor and overclock, most games don't even support multi-cpu's, which is a shame.
So a 3.0Ghz Dual core would be better for CounterStrike than a 2.4Ghz Quad Core.

Heres what I recommend for £500 is you have a hard drive, PSU and case.

http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/motherboardbundles/mbb-i7264b.html

and

http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/nvidiageforcegraphicscards/nvidiagtx560fermiseries/nov-560oc.html

Comes to £520.

2 questions...
Will I need anything else to over clock it in the future, and what rate psu would you suggest would be required for this setup

 

[G3 NYX]

2 questions...
Will I need anything else to over clock it in the future, and what rate psu would you suggest would be required for this setup

Anything other than the stock CPU cooler will work for overclocking, a cheap liquid cooling system for £40 will be perfect.

I would say 600watt is fine, but always get the best you can afford.

 

[sbridgey]

Anything other than the stock CPU cooler will work for overclocking, a cheap liquid cooling system for £40 will be perfect.

I would say 600watt is fine, but always get the best you can afford.

For a CPU cooler look at benchmarks, alot of them are rubbish and no better than stock.

Cheap liquid cooling, really?

I think saying any 600w isn't a good idea either, you need to get a good quality PSU cheap 600w ones will be 600w peak wheras expensive ones will be 600w consistently, look for an 80 plus logo on the PSU for a good one. I would reccomend corsair though.

For components look at websites such as scan, ebuyer and overclockers, they are all reputable companies and i would not be buying from novatech they seem a bit pricey to me.

 

[G3 NYX]

For a CPU cooler look at benchmarks, alot of them are rubbish and no better than stock.

Cheap liquid cooling, really?

I think saying any 600w isn't a good idea either, you need to get a good quality PSU cheap 600w ones will be 600w peak wheras expensive ones will be 600w consistently, look for an 80 plus logo on the PSU for a good one. I would reccomend corsair though.

For components look at websites such as scan, ebuyer and overclockers, they are all reputable companies and i would not be buying from novatech they seem a bit pricey to me.

http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/cooling/watercooling/0-761345-77085-9.html
Full of win, I have it in my PC (i7 930 @ 3.5Ghz) and it runs as cool as ever!

As for PSU, always go branded, no Foxconn!
Corsair, Coolermaster, OCZ are some of the best.

 

[sbridgey]

would rather spend more and go for this, http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop/customer/product.php?productid=12136&cat=0&page=1

anyway i would not reccomend water cooling at all, there is just too much to go wrong

 

[Darren S]

Macs are lovely bits of kits to use and they look great, not sure if they’re any good for gaming though.

My advice would be to stick with your X-box which has 100 times the choice of good games and if you really want to, save up for a gaming PC.

The difference between a decent gaming PC and an X-box/PS3 is IMO the difference between say DVD and Blu-Ray, not night & day or twice as good, just perhaps 25% better.

I don’t have an X-box or PS3 so my PC is also our ‘family’ PC for the internet and the odd word document, so if you have an X-box already would stick with the Mac.

^^^ - good post that, apart from the red bit

The PC platform has a back catalogue that any console, past or present, simply cannot match. I tried (just for the hell of it) - running a fan-ported text adventure from 1979 the other week and it ran fine on my Windows 7 x64 PC. I had no need to do so - but I could do if I so wished. That's part of the PC appeal. The sheer scope and flexibility of it as a platform is unrivaled.

D.

 

[Munson]

I love my gaming PC, but I wouldn't be without my PS3 or Xbox.

I enjoy my PC more in a personal way, but I love the consoles for social reasons. Not to mention Uncharted.